Haggling tips!

kirbz · 4 Nov 2008 at 17:37

Hi guys

Loving the look of the C905 and now need tips to get this phone for as lower tariff as I can.

Don't really mind paying £50 for the phone on a £25 a month contract for 18 months. Will this be do-able?

I am the sort of person who rarely goes over my allowance so 400mins - 300 txts would do, I have just come off an o2 contract and want an upgrade.

So guys, what sort of things do you say to these guys in retentions?

DB_SamX · 4 Nov 2008 at 21:33

kirbz said:
Hi guys

Loving the look of the C905 and now need tips to get this phone for as lower tariff as I can.

Don't really mind paying £50 for the phone on a £25 a month contract for 18 months. Will this be do-able?

I am the sort of person who rarely goes over my allowance so 400mins - 300 txts would do, I have just come off an o2 contract and want an upgrade.

So guys, what sort of things do you say to these guys in retentions?

I ask them to cancel my contract (at a month's notice), then wait for them to call me back a couple of days later with a bargain.

slinxy · 5 Nov 2008 at 12:06

all companies will price match their phones and their tariffs as long as you can prove it exist. So shop around and look for store deals then call the provider and see if they can beat it. It may be best to get the phone at a later date as the offers will only get better.

I managed to get a N95 8GB with 420 mins cross network, 1000 text messages and unlimted data bolt on from o2 for free on a 30 pounds a month/18 months contract as an existing customer, whilst the website was only offering that if I paied £150 for the handset. Wierd as the webiste is now charging 230 pounds for the handset.....

kirbz · 5 Nov 2008 at 12:24

slinxy said:
all companies will price match their phones and their tariffs as long as you can prove it exist. So shop around and look for store deals then call the provider and see if they can beat it. It may be best to get the phone at a later date as the offers will only get better.

Yeah I tried this tactic and he said "sorry, but we don't price match I'm affraid", So do they only price match an In-store deal?

Also do they price match with 3?

slinxy · 5 Nov 2008 at 12:48

kirbz said:
Yeah I tried this tactic and he said "sorry, but we don't price match I'm affraid", So do they only price match an In-store deal?

Also do they price match with 3?

??? They should do if they want your business... The offer I saw was a misprint on carphone warehouse's website, as it should have been for a 24 month deal and not a 18 months but I phoned up o2 and they better it with more mins and txt.

3 is a bit weird from my experince as a lot of their free mins and txt are to other 3 phones only and since no one is ever on 3, imho are worthless to me. Just keep phoning them..

Taking a second contract out at the same time works wonders as well, esp on 3...

DB_SamX · 9 Nov 2008 at 00:49

slinxy said:
3 is a bit weird from my experince as a lot of their free mins and txt are to other 3 phones only and since no one is ever on 3, imho are worthless to me. Just keep phoning them...

That's wrong. For years, most of their plans offer free mins to anyone. In fact, with their mix and match plans you get an extra 300 mins free for 3-3 calls.

Morba · 9 Nov 2008 at 01:43

just keep phoning them?
your value in a month period really wont change that much.

Peño · 9 Nov 2008 at 02:34

Called O2 up today (been a customer for 3 years, this will be the third time I upgrade).

Told them I was interested in the Nokia N96 but wasn't too keen on the £249.99 price tag (for a £30 tariff).

Not sure if I haggled well or because of customer loyalty, but I managed to get my contract down to £6.66 per month (400mins, 1000txts, free O2 to O2 calls). Result!

I then went to the Carphone Warehouse and bought the phone SIM free for £500 (again, managed to knock £50 off the labelled price - £500 is too much as it is anyway). The total price of the handset and phone is still much cheaper than any deal I've come across. And since I'm planning to use the phone as a digicam, MP3 player and sat-nav, I didn't mind paying that much.

SAM81 · 9 Nov 2008 at 07:31

Hate to tell you all this but there really isnt much in the way of hagging tips - the only real weapon you have is threatning to leave. What the agent offers you is based on a lot more than just how long you have been with them (infact that rarely ever comes into the equation).

You will have a value attached based on multiple things (average spend, amount of calls into cs, type of calls (international, on network/off network etc).

The agent will also have monthly personal targets and the retentions team will also have a larger overall budget of spend for customers. If your comming up to the end of year then the chances are the operation will have used the vast majority of its retention budget already meaning the offer you get would not be as good as it could have been.

You could be the same value customer upgrading at a different point in the year and recieve much more.

Similary if it is close to the end of the month and the agent is withint close reach of the traget to get their bonus then they may offer a little more to secure the sale.

Hope this helps,

daz · 9 Nov 2008 at 10:44

It's pretty much a case of punching your number into the system and the computer coming out with what they're allowed to offer you... isn't it? It's not really possible to haggle with a computer.

jamief · 9 Nov 2008 at 11:39

daz said:
It's pretty much a case of punching your number into the system and the computer coming out with what they're allowed to offer you... isn't it? It's not really possible to haggle with a computer.

Essentially yes - but the CS agent will be authorised to give you a deal with a maximum value. They will try their best to give you a lesser deal initially, so there is probably some room to haggle with the agent, within the parameters set by the system.