Martin Lewis urges Sky, Virgin Media, EE, TalkTalk customers to make phone call
Martin Lewis has urged Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk customers to make a phone call to get money off. The ITV The Martin Lewis Money Show star has laid bare how to haggle - and, just as importantly, which companies it is worth haggling with.
Mr Lewis says nearly 8 in 10 of breakdown cover customers who tried to haggle at call centres had success haggling, with the AA and RAC the most successful. When it comes to mobiles, Sky customers found success with haggling, alongside EE.
Virgin Media and TalkTalk were best for haggling with in terms of TV and broadband, while when it came to insurers, AA, Hastings Direct and Admiral customers saw the most joy as the Cost of Living crisis continues across the country.
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The total success rate was calculated by combining votes for both small and big successes, as a percentage of total votes for each company. Results were rounded to the nearest percentage point, the ITV show went on to add.
Mr Lewis said: “These are mature industries where everybody’s already got a product. So the way they make money is either by charging you more, or by winning customers from other companies and by retaining their own customers.
“And that’s why you are holstering a huge weapon near the end of your contract. They are desperate to retain you and keep your loyalty.” Martin added: “If you have no joy, the powerhouse move here is ask to cancel. Customer retentions - those are the departments whose job it is to keep you.
"They have more discretion, more ability to keep you generally more able to give you a discount. So you want to go through to disconnections if you’re not getting anywhere in the first instance.” Martin added: “Always be polite and charming, never rude.
"Please don’t be aggressive.” One MSE reader wrote into Martin last year, saying: "Best advice I can give is be really friendly and nice, and a little bit cheeky – I always give a better deal to people I get on with and have a chat with."
"Followed your advice on being nice on the phone when haggling for a better deal on my Virgin TV, broadband and home phone package, and got £16 a month off my bill plus £20 bill credit!" emailed a second.