A MARTIN Lewis fan has explained how she saved over £740 on her Virgin Media bill by haggling.
The fan explained how she threatened to leave Virgin Media after the provider told her it was planning to more than double her bill.
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She featured on The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV last night after tweeting that Virgin Media wanted to hike her monthly bill from £51 to £109.
That would mean she would have been forking out an extra £58 a month – or £696 a year.
That would have put her annual bill up to a whopping bill of £1,308.
The viewer, who tweeted her story to the show under the handle Zee Kay on Twitter, then haggled with Virgin using Martin’s tips to get a much better deal.
She told Virgin Media she would go to Sky instead – who were offering the same package for £48 per month for a year.
Virgin Media then offered her a cheaper rate of £47 for 18 months to convince her to stay – which is £564 a year in total.
That means she’s saved a total of £744 a year just by haggling prices.
“I followed your advice of getting all my facts and prices in place in advance and stayed friendly,” she tweeted to Martin.
Martin’s tips for haggling
Martin also revealed his top haggling tips to viewers looking to bag a better deal on their bills.
Be polite
Martin said the best way to bag a better deal was to ring up the firm and be polite and charming – not aggressive.
He recommends smiling when you’re on the phone as “people can hear a smile in your voice”.
Use cheapest deal as a benchmark
Martin added that you should use the cheapest deal on the market as a bargaining tool to get a better rate.
The best broadband deal depends on where you live.
When The Sun checked deals around North West London using price comparison website Uswitch, we saw that Shell Energy Fast Broadband had the cheapest monthly price at £16.99.
“If you can get it cheaper elsewhere, then why give them your loyalty?” he said.
Martin added that 86% of Sky customers have successfully haggled their deal, followed by 77% of BT, TalkTalk and Virgin customers and 71% of Plusnet customers.
Get rid of channels you don’t need
Asking your firm to get rid of channels you don’t need can be another way of haggling to drive down costs on your digital TV bill.
Martin said: “What channels do you actually watch that you are willing to pay for? Get rid of the ones that you’re not.”
Combine broadband and digital TV contracts
If you have separate contracts for your broadband and digital TV bills, combining them to have both deals with the same company can save you money.
Martin said: “Talk to both providers and see who will give you the best deal for combining them, and you’ll normally save some money.”
How else can I save money on my other bills?
Households are taking a battering right now as many bills are taking a hike from this month.
Millions of households saw their energy bills go up by £139 in the latest price cap rise.
While council tax could soar by more than £250 on top of a National Insurance hike to pay for rising social care bills.
Here’s other ways apart from haggling you can save on your bills.
Switch to a water meter
Think about whether you could save money by using a water meter.
As a guide, if your home has more bedrooms than people living in it, there’s a good chance you may be able to lower costs.
Check out the CCWater free calculator to see if you’ll be better off.
Turn the thermostat down by one degree
Notch the thermostat down by one degree Celsius.
Comparison site uSwitch.com reckons this can save you £75 a year on your heating bills.
Unplug devices and switch off standby mode
Once you’ve finished work for the day, don’t leave laptops and other devices on standby.
You can save around £30 just by remembering to switch off standby mode, according to the Energy Saving Trust.
Martin Lewis gives his verdict on energy crisis with gas bills set to soar for some
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