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Haggle with BT

Shave £100s/yr off costly bills

Chris Knight
Chris Knight | Edited by Gary Caffell
Updated 4 June 2024

When it comes to phone lines and broadband, BT is the nation's most popular provider. While it's not the cheapest, many of you like to stay with a name you know, but don't stick with higher prices and multiple price increases – haggle your way to a cheaper deal.

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Not what you want? Other related guides... 
Top 10 Firms To Haggle With | Compare Broadband, Phone & TV | Broadband Haggling | Cheap Broadband | Mobile Phone Haggling | Haggle with Sky | Haggle with Virgin

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'I'm saving a whopping £468/year'

In our last haggling poll, in December 2023, 76% of BT customers who tried to haggle told us they were successful in negotiating a better deal, showing what's possible.

To see who else this works well on, see the Top 10 Firms To Haggle With, but here are a just few good examples of MoneySavers who've slashed their BT bills by haggling.

I saved £300 a year following your tips on haggling with BT. Managed to reduce my monthly bill from £57 to £32 (saving £25 a month), plus call charges (which are very small). Thanks for your very useful guidance on your website.

- Chris, by email

I switched from a £59 BT package to Sky but faced a penalty for breaking my BT contract. After planning to leave BT post-contract, they matched Sky’s £32 monthly offer for a two-year renewal. Your consumer tips are much appreciated!

- Maria, by email

Hi there. I followed Martin’s haggling advice on getting a better deal on my BT broadband and line rental now that I’m out of contract. I have been with BT for years and had never got round to ringing but when I did my monthly fee went from £68/month to £28.99/month - a whopping saving of over £468 per year!

Thank you Martin.

- Jane, by email

Thanks so much for your comparison tables and hints on how to haggle.

My contract with BT expires in 3 weeks and I managed to get all Sky Sports channels added on, an upgraded BT Box and...all for £40 a month less!

- Kevin, by email

After the end of my contract with BT, followed by months of paying over the odds and not getting round to making 'the call', I have just successfully saved myself £318/year off my broadband package (which includes landline rental & 700 minutes) using your 'Haggle with BT' tips.

- Carol, by email

Please let us know how you get on by sharing your success stories - and otherwise - via the MSE Forum, by emailing successes@moneysavingexpert.com or by tweeting @MoneySavingExp.

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Don't settle for pricey BT packages – make it fight to keep you, or switch

If you're fed up with price hikes or your bills are going up because your promo deal's ending, don't sit back – there's plenty you can do about it. If you want to stick with BT, and many do, particularly given some of what it offers isn't available anywhere else – don't underestimate the power of haggling.

Now we know haggling's often seen as something you do in backstreet bazaars, but it's very much alive and kicking in the UK. There are huge savings to be made on BT's services - in particular TV, but broadband and line rental too.

In a nutshell, call up and ask for a better deal. Say you're paying too much or rivals' deals are cheaper. If that doesn't work, tell them you're leaving. Usually you'll then get put through to companies' super-powerful hidden deals departments.

Why haggling works...

Here's the key thing to understand:

Companies make their best deals only available for newbies, and they LOVE loyal customers as they stay with the firm through thick 'n' thin, paying full price and never looking for a better deal.

This lets them rake in regular, guaranteed, easy profit. So ask yourself a question: do you want to be a customer whose business is fought for? Unless you want to be taken for granted, take the haggle challenge.

Haggling is just one of your price cut weapons – check new deals too

Haggling can be mega powerful, but think of it as just one part of your battle to get the best deal. Sometimes 'new customer' offers from alternative providers are simply unbeatable. So by all means haggle, but always check the price you secure against the top deals from switching by comparing broadband, phone line and TV deals.

Eight top BT haggling tips

The best prices are usually reserved for new customers, so existing ones lose out on cracking deals. If you're willing to take the haggle challenge, you could beat a price hike.

Here are our top tips to haggle with BT – for other providers, see Top 10 Firms To Haggle With.

  1. Timing is crucial – if you're out of contract, or close to the end, it's easier to leave without penalty

    Haggling works best when you're near or beyond the end of your contract. There's no harm in giving it a try earlier though – if you struggle, note in your diary when you'll be nearing the end of your contract and call back then.

    Even if you do forget, don't panic as telecoms and pay-TV companies are now forced to tell you that your contract is ending. This can be via a letter, email or text between 10 and 40 days before it ends.

    Furthermore, if a provider hikes broadband or line rental prices (or TV prices depending on how your contract is structured) you may be able to leave your contract penalty-free, even if you're still in the minimum term. This may also be the case if the price of additional services you frequently use is hiked, causing you "material detriment".

    If this happens you'll have 30 days from receiving notification of the price hike and right to leave penalty-free to decide what to do. It's a great opportunity to haggle or move to a cheaper provider.

  2. Benchmark the best deal – find out what newbies are paying so you have a realistic goal

    It's important to have the factual arsenal at your fingertips before you pick up the phone, so do your homework.

    Research the deals, discounts and codes that Sky and its competitors offer to act as a basis for negotiation. Compare broadband deals to find the best buys and sign up to our weekly email to get the latest offers.

  3. Get through to the retentions department – be nice and use the phrases that pay

    Remember, if you're coming to the end of your contract, or you're already out of it, you're wielding a powerhouse weapon – customer loyalty. It's simple to use too – just tell 'em you're going to leave. 

    If you don't have any luck via the advertised ways of getting in touch, then it may be worth trying another route to the 'customer retentions' department – aka the Holy Grail of haggling – instead. (Note: This department might be called 'disconnections' externally, but make no mistake, customer retention's their job.)

    If you call customer services and tell them you want to leave they should put you through, but to get through as quickly as possible, call BT cancellations on 0800 783 1401 – it starts as an automated service to find out why you're calling, but you should get put through to the right place after a couple of minutes.

    Alternatively, we've seen some of our users haggle by chatting to BT online so you don't even have to call.

    Use charm, chutzpah, cheek... and a smile

    Aggression or anger will just put their back up and won't get you anywhere. You're asking for a discount, and they're just as much within their right not to give it as you are to leave. Aim for polite, friendly, non-combative yet firm.

    Use the phrases that pay

    You may find that your BT customer service rep will only offer a small discount at first, but if you don't agree with the price, try phrases like: 

    - "I've worked out my budget, and my absolute max is £[insert price here]/mth."
    - "[Sky/Plusnet/TalkTalk/Virgin Media] can do it for less."
    - "I need to think about it."
    - "I think my other half will go bonkers if I pay that."
    - "It's still a lot of money."
    - "What's the very best you can do?    "

    Don't panic if they call your bluff and say they'll disconnect you

    Some people worry and get nervous to try this in case they're disconnected. Martin's easy 'get out of jail free' card on this is the phrase: "Hold on, I'll call you back on that. I'd like to check with my wife/husband/dog/goldfish first."

    Don't say yes to the first offer they give

    You should never go with the first offer. Chances are, it's not the best deal they can do. Remember, be firm.

    Don't fill the silence

    They may push you to agree because it's a "limited-time offer", but don't feel pressured into agreeing to the new price or deal unless you're certain. 

    As negotiations come to a close, a classic sales technique is to stay silent. They want you to feel awkward and fill the silence. Make them fill it with a cheaper offer.

     

  4. Think about what you REALLY need

    Unless you have a lot of people in your home or you need the fastest speeds for bandwidth-intensive activities, such as streaming or downloading, then standard 'copper' broadband will likely be plenty fast enough.

    So if you're paying for superfast fibre and you don't think you need it, use it as a basis to haggle down the monthly cost.

    Get more info on whether you really need the fastest speeds.

  5. Problems mean discounts

    If you've had problems with your provider in the past, such as slow speeds (compare the advertised speed of your package to what you actually get by doing a two-minute broadband speed test) or long customer service call-waiting times, then politely mention them when you haggle. The firm should want to attempt to make it up to you.

  6. Ask if they can throw in extras

    If they won't slash the price, see if they'll include any extras, such as an upgrade to a faster speed, their latest router or a set of Wi-Fi extenders.

  7. If you fail try, try and try again

    While they're unconfirmed, we hear rumours that staff members at some providers have different quotas of deals they can offer – for more info, see our Insider MoneySaving tips.

    Even if that's not true across the board, it's certainly worth bearing in mind  that you may have called the wrong person at the wrong time – calling back a few days later and speaking to someone else could pay dividends.

  8. Finally, if BT really won't play ball, vote with your feet

    If you don't get what you want then you should seriously consider leaving. Remember, new customers normally have the pick of the best broadband deals and there are plenty of other providers out there. Compare cheap broadband deals in your area with our free Broadband Unbundled tool to find the best one for you.

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