Shopping around for a better deal, customer loyalty doesn’t exist

I’ve just had a reminder that the offer I have on my Virgin Media account is about to expire and it has reminded me to do a post I have been thinking about for a while, all about customer loyalty and getting the best deal.

When it comes to things such as your tv, phone and insurances, do you shop around for a better deal?

So many people feel that their customer loyalty is rewarded, however, it is not. Many companies will not put you on a better deal or renewal rate without you doing a little bit of pushing first. This is why I spend some time each renewal making sure I am getting the best deal possible. My approach all depends on what is up for renewal, I am going to walk you through some of my simple steps though that I follow to try and get a better deal.

Insurance

We’ve all had it, our insurance is up for renewal, whether it is a car, home or pet insurance. The renewal price comes through and regardless of you not making a claim, it has gone up yet again. We had it this year where our car insurance went up £150. Firstly, regardless of whether you think your renewal quote is good or not, everyone should do a quick comparison of their insurance. I use Compare The Market, simply as it stores details so it is easy to do. Even if your details are not stored, it takes a few minutes to get a comparison.

Once you have this it then makes your next move a little easier, if your renewal price is good then you can go for it. If like mine, it was massively inflated, you can now start to shop around. Some prices you receive on comparison sites are better than those you can get by going direct. It is always worth going through a cashback site like Quidco and trying to get a better deal directly with the company from your compare prices if this works you get the added bonus of some cash back, I have written a post before on how to use cashback sites. If it is not any cheaper, you can go through the comparison site for the better price.

It is worth considering your current provider may price match, however, this year was the 2nd time I had an inflated price so I refused to even entertain it this time round. If they wanted my custom, they would have offered me the best deal they could! Regarding life insurance, you can compare quotes for free using award-winning broker; Reassured

TV & Broadband

This week I had an email to say my tv & broadband package is coming off its current deal and will be going up £40 from next month. Now, this is not a value I am prepared to pay for my package and I will be looking to change this.

Now unlike the insurance, I do tend to stick with the same supplier as they broadband we get is far superior to any other around here. As I need it for my job, I need to ensure that I can access the internet at all times!

I don’t, however, use this to make sure I am stuck into a deal that is far too expensive for what we are getting. First thing I will do is call the customer service team up and look to see if they can give me a better deal, failing this, if I can’t get a deal I will cancel my plan. This may seem a bit extreme but once you do this, you get put through to the customer retention team. They will try and offer you a deal to keep you, at this point, it is up to you what you do from here. It may be you get a great deal, in which case take it and then you are set for the year, if not you can move on to the next step which is holding tight that you are leaving. Usually, within a few days you get a call to discuss why you are leaving and what can they do to keep you, normally resulting in an even better deal.

It is important before you start this that you look at the deals they are offering to new customers, as this will give you a pricing idea of the package you are after. There is no point in trying to get a deal that is completely unrealistic.

There are some companies out there who really do value their customers, however, many not so much. Being brand loyal unfortunately does not always pay when it comes to your bank balance so we need to start being a bit wiser on how we take deals out.