The Lifestyler: Is it harder than ever to get a good deal?

The LifeStyler likes getting a good deal but lately, that has not been going so well. There seems to be a bit of a trend.  Let me explain.

For my broadband, I use Optus and have always managed to get a good deal normally because I also have my mobile with them.  Six months ago I swapped to the NBN before I was paying $65 a month for Optus cable and they wanted to charge me $70 for the same speed on NBN.  I phoned them up went through to the customer retention team and they said they would give me $5 off for six months to match my old rate.  Six months later my bill reverts to $70.  I phone them they offer me a rate of $75 with $5 off for a year.  Why bother when I was already paying $70.

Next, I get a letter from AGL who supply my electricity.  My 12-month contract was up and I was coming off a 28% discount to be replaced by 7%.  No problems I think, I will just find the best deal and speak to there customer retention team and they will match it.  It has always worked before.

Nope, they would do no better than their published deal which was 13%.  Needless to say, I changed providers but only got 17%. Just shows if I had not done anything they did not even offer there published best deal till I asked.

My house insurance renewal arrives the 2020 increase is up 33% for no reason. The 2019 increase was 20%.  I shop around for a better deal and my existing deal is still far better than anything else I can find even after the massive increases.    For the same house with no claims, this equates to a 60% increase in premium over 2 years. (Uncle Trev can I have a 60% pay rise?)

If we now consider the inflation rate for 2019 and 2020 has been running at around 1.5% all three of these situations have increased far above that. My conclusion is competition is not as great at this time and companies are not doing the deals they have been doing in the past. 

I won’t, however, give up and next year I will try again! Cheers!