A SAVVY saver has knocked hundreds of her Virgin Media bill by haggling.
The tip comes just days after the telecoms company announced it will up prices for millions of customers.
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The bill rise is the latest blow for households facing a cost of living crisis, and will add £50 a year to outgoings for customers.
It comes as BT, EE and Three also announced mid-contract price hikes in recent weeks too.
Posting in Facebook’s Reduce Your Supermarket Spend group, the customer said she received an email from Virgin updating her off upcoming price changes.
The email said her bill would be going up by £9 a month from May 1, up from £35 to £44 – this would be a £108 a year increase.
Disappointed with the news, she immediately phoned Virgin to explain that she wasn’t happy with the hike as like millions of people in the UK, she is struggling with rising prices.
After saying she wasn’t happy Virgin agreed to keep the price at £35 for the rest of her contract, saving her £108 a year.
She said: “Hi all, if you are with Virgin please check your emails as I have received notification today to tell me that our bill is going from £35 to £44 on the 31st May.
“I have called them and it is now staying at £35 until the end if my contract.”
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Some people commented on the post to say that they’ve had similar emails from their provider and said they can’t afford the increase.
One person wrote: “Call them and call their bluff by saying you’re leaving, then they will come back to you and negotiate.”
Another said: “I did same they reduced it till end of contract too and said next contracts will be same price we pay now – please everyone ring them.”
Many telecoms providers increase their prices annually based on the rate of inflation plus an extra 3.9%.
The current rate of inflation sits at 10.5%, so most bills will rise by 14.4% – however not all companies follow it exactly, so make sure you’ve checked what your provider is doing.
We’ve got the full list of providers and what they’re doing here.
Most customers will see their bills increase from April 1, though some customers will have already seen an increase.
Customers still within their contract, or at least still within their minimum term, can’t do much about the hikes, though it’s always worth haggling.
However, if you’re out of contract you don’t need to pay the extra price.
If you’re not happy with the rise, then you could try and haggle a cheaper deal
If you think your bills are too high and want to reduce them, the first thing to do is find out what the cheapest deal on the market is.
You can use this rate as a bargaining tool to get a better offer from your provider.
Get in contact with your provider to see if they can match this rate – if not, you might want to switch instead.
If you’re mid-contract though and wish to leave, bear in mind that you could face an exit fee so check with your provider for any charges.
Virgin Media customers unhappy about the bill rise have the right to cancel mid-contract without a fee, within 30 days of being notified about the change.
Plus, it could be harder haggling with these prices as they come most years from all providers.
For more ways to cut your phone bill, we’ve got eight tips for slashing costs.
How much will my bill increase by?
Your internet provider or mobile network should contact you to let you know how much your bills will increase in April.
If you’re an BT, EE, Plusnet or Three customer, there’s an easy way to work out how much more you’re set to pay from April.
Just find out what 14.4% of your current monthly bill is – you can use an online percentage calculator to work that out.
If you’re a Virgin customer you’ll need to use 13.8% instead, though remember this is an average rise.
Then add those two figures together – this will give you your new monthly payment.
To find out your annual cost, times that total figure by 12.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
