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Virgin Media is the top broadband ISP and mobile operator for haggling, a new survey of more than 3,000 UK people has revealed, showing how successful customers have been in getting cheaper prices from providers by negotiating with their retention departments.
Like it or not, it’s no secret that a little haggling can save you a lot of money, although only one in ten people actually try it. In general, if you’re happy with the service you’re on, then negotiating should be your first port of call before switching, unless your provider traditionally offers big discounts to new customers, as those ISPs are less open. can This type of approach (we’ll touch on it again later).
However, it is a different story with the biggest and most competitive players, most of whom have their own dedicated retention departments for such reasons. Speaking of which, the best time to haggle is usually around the end of your contract, or following a mid-contract price increase, and you can find some useful advice for doing this in our Retention Tips Article
A new customer survey from Now MSE provided a useful indication of which providers might be more suitable for such an approach. The study found that Virgin Media came out on top, with only 15% of people “No success“, while another 85% were able to reduce their bills a little or a lot.
Interestingly, MSE’s top ten table actually reflects a wider pool of companies (not just communications providers), but we find it very telling of the industry that almost all of the businesses named are broadband and mobile operators.
Top 10 UK companies for haggling low prices
| Provider (Total Votes) | No success | Overall Success Rate (Previous Year Rate) |
| 1. Virgin Media (748) | 15% | 85% (83%) |
| 2. RAC (253) | 15% | 85% (86%) |
| 3. Sky Broadband / Sky TV (1,132) | 16% | 84% (81%) |
| 4. AA (468) | 19% | 81% (84%) |
| 5. Admiral (233) | 23% | 77% (85%) |
| 6. TalkTalk (208) | 23% | 77% (81%) |
| 7. Three UK (166) | 27% | 74% (73%) |
| 8. Sky Mobile (142) | 27% | 73% (79%) |
| 9. O2 (216) | 28% | 72% (70%) |
| 10. Virgin Mobile (128) | 29% | 71% (70%) |
Interestingly, BT (inc. EE and Plusnet), the largest broadband provider in the market and also infamous for the biggest post-contract increases in the industry, does not appear in this table and may be something that your future Influence provider selection.
However, as mentioned earlier, it is important to underline that not all ISPs are the same. Some adopt fairly standard prices and avoid discounts, which means haggling won’t get you very far as both new and existing customers will already be paying the same or similar amounts. But most customers tend to use larger providers, where first-year style discounting is more common, and this can result in a wide difference in costs between new and old subscribers.
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