Hit by broadband price hikes? Here are the top firms to haggle with
Following a raft of price hikes in recent months, MoneySavers are increasingly able to haggle better broadband and TV deals with big names such as BT, Plusnet, TalkTalk and Virgin, according to a recent MoneySavingExpert.com poll.
The insight – obtained via our annual poll on haggling with service providers – comes in the wake of price hikes from four broadband and TV heavyweights:
In April, Sky hiked prices for millions of broadband and TV customers by up to £36 a year.
In June, Plusnet increased broadband contracts by up to £12 a year.
In September, BT hiked broadband prices for the second time this year.
Virgin Media is hiking prices for five million broadband, phone and TV customers by an average 4.5% between now and November.
According to our poll results BT, Plusnet and Virgin Media have all become easier to haggle with, compared to the overall haggling success rates of our 2017 poll.
In the case of BT, 80% reported some kind of success compared to 72% the previous year – which was the biggest increase we saw out of six broadband and TV firms.
If you're on a poor TV, phone or broadband deal, our tool can help you compare costs.
What did the poll show?
Our annual poll on haggling with service providers ran between 11 and 18 September, and asked MoneySavers to say whether they'd had a big success, small success or no success when haggling with broadband and TV firms, their mobile provider, breakdown companies, insurance firms and banks.
The results show TV and broadband providers dominated in our top 10 UK service companies to haggle with rankings – taking five of the top spots.
Sky was seemingly the easiest company to haggle with among the TV, broadband and phone category, with over half (55%) of its customers reporting a 'big success' and 30% reporting a 'small success.' This was a slight dip from an overall success rate of 86% in 2017.
In second place was Virgin Media, with 39% of its customers reporting a 'big success' and 43% a 'small success' – an increase of 4% overall compared to last year's poll.
And for BT, 44% of customers reported a 'big success' and 36% a 'small success' when phoning up to ask for a better deal – a jump of 8%.
Here's a breakdown of haggling successes from the TV, broadband and home phone category. We've put last year's results in brackets.
| Company | Big success |
Small success | Overall success rate |
| 1. Sky | 55% (56%) | 30% (30%) | 85% (86%) |
| 2. Virgin Media | 39% (38%) | 43% (40%) | 82% (78%) |
| 3. BT | 44% (32%) | 36% (40%) | 80% (72%) |
| 4. TalkTalk | 30% (31%) | 50% (42%) | 80% (73%) |
| 5. Plusnet | 38% (36%) | 40% (41%) | 78% (77%) |
| Only companies with 100+ votes have been included. EE received less than 100 votes this year. Poll carried out in September 2018 – see full results. | |||
What else did the poll show?
Our poll also asked how successful you were when haggling with other companies. Here are the results for the other five companies featured in our top haggling rankings:
RAC was the most likely of all service providers to offer a discount to existing customers – a whopping 90% of you reported a success when haggling with the company.
Admiral came second overall and topped the insurance category, with 89% considering their haggle attempt successful.
AA breakdown came in third, with 88% reporting some kind of success.
EE and Vodafone took ninth and tenth place as 77% and 76% had success haggling over their mobiles.
For the full data, see our haggling poll results.
Ready to haggle? See our sector and company-specific haggling guides for detailed help in striking a better deal: Breakdown Cover | Car and Home Insurance | Mobile | BT | Sky | Virgin
10 December 2024
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