Don't be fooled by 'Martin Lewis' scammers
Beat BT’s price hike, a year’s 2 for 1 at 300+ gardens, ‘FREE’ £11ish Nails Inc polish and beware courier scams. These are our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis’ Deals of the Week.
Plus Martin warns of scammers who are ringing and knocking for the elderly pretending they were sent by him - please don't be fooled!
Remember, deals can change quickly, even while I’m on the programme. So always double-check the terms and conditions before spending. Plus, while I hope these deals will save you cash, don’t spend if you can’t afford it, don’t need it, or won’t use it.
Beat BT’s home phone and broadband price hike
From 3 July 2016, BT is raising the price of its home phone, broadband and sports subscription, which’ll affect about 10 million people. Though by how much will depend on your package – some with standard line rental, fibre and unlimited calls could see their bills rise by as much as £55/year.
Yet when prices are increased and you weren’t told they could when you first took out the contract, rules mean they have to allow you to leave penalty-free. And BT is allowing you to leave penalty-free anyway, but you have 14 days from when you get your letter telling you of the rise to tell it that you’re moving to another provider. So if you want this do watch out for the letter – it’s already started to send them out.
More so though, this provides the perfect opportunity for you to haggle. Before you call, benchmark the best deal elsewhere so you can ask for a realistic discount. For example BT’s increasing its standard line rental to £19 but it’s available elsewhere at £13 and if you get line and broadband with BT its standard price is around £430 but there are deals for as low as £216/year plus you can get a £100 M&S voucher.
If it says no, then tell it you’re going to leave and ask to be put through to disconnections, known internally as ‘customer retentions’. As their job is to keep you, they have much greater discretion to give you better deals. In fact, in my poll in December, 73% of BT customers who tried to haggle said they’d succeeded.
‘Free’ year’s 2for1 pass to 385 gardens
Pick up a copy of May’s BBC Gardeners’ World magazine by Monday 30 May (costs £4.50) and inside you’ll find a card giving you 2for1 entry (adult tickets only) as many times as you like to 385 UK gardens until 14 April 2017.
Gardens include the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon (normally up to £26.25 per adult), Eden Project in Cornwall (normally £25 per adult), Kew Gardens in Surrey (normally £14 per adult) and Sudeley Castle Gardens in Gloucestershire (normally up to £14.50 per adult).
There’s no need to book in advance, just turn up at any of the gardens listed and show your card. You can use it as many times as you like, but even if you visited just one garden costing more than £4.50 – which most gardens are – it's worth buying the magazine. If you don’t have anyone to take with you, the card will also give you up to 50% off 154 of the gardens when you buy a single adult ticket.
Martin’s quickies:
- Free £11ish Nails Inc polish in £4ish magBuy the June edition of InStyle magazine (£3.99 with Chloe Moretz on the front) before Wednesday 25 May and you’ll get a free full-size 10ml Nails Inc nail polish in one of four colours – California Dreams (pink), Texas Talking (red), Oregon’s Out (blue), Ohio Desire (grey/purple). The polish usually costs about £11 each. Plus turn to page 51 and you'll also find a code for 20% off online at Nails Inc until Wednesday 25 May.
- If someone calls you or knocks on your door saying I sent them, they’re a liar!Sadly recently the police have reported a number of cases of courier fraud. This is where scammers phone up pretending to be from organisations the victims trust – such as banks, the police and fraud investigation teams – and then trick those targeted into handing over bank cards, cash and PINs to a courier who arrives at their home.
Yet in this case fraudsters have been calling up elderly claiming they are calling on behalf of “Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com” trying to get them to part with their valuables. I’m sickened to the stomach that these foul people would try to utilise the trust I’ve built up this way.
Neither I nor anyone from my site would ever call, knock on your door or ask for your password – no matter how plausible it seems. Anyone who is doing that is a liar, here's what to do if this has happened to you and who to contact:
- Never deal with cold callers on the phone or in person, no matter how polite or friendly they are. Saying 'No thank you' and shutting the door or hanging up the phone is not rude.
- Your bank, the police or anyone legitimate will never send a courier to your home to collect your money, your bank cards, and they will never ask for your pin number. Close the door, lock it, and call the police.
- If you do hand over your bank details or cards, don't panic. Call your bank immediately using another phone, such as a mobile phone, explain what's happened and cancel your cards.
- Legitimate callers will never try to rush you, scare you, or force you into anything. If you feel scared or pressured at any point, hang up or shut the door and tell someone what's happened.
- If you receive this type of call, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. In an emergency dial 999.
- If you don't want to speak directly to the police you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.