We usually phone VM when our contract ends to negotiate a discount. Our last call to them was in June 2022, when we secured another 18-month contract at a discounted rate of £72/mth (not as cheap as our last discounted rate of £64/mth but significantly less than the £97.75/mth they were intending to charge us!)
We're now in new territory as our current contract does not end until November 2023, yet we received an email on 14th February 2023 informing us that our bill will be increasing by £15/mth, i.e. 20.8%, from 1st May 2023.
With the changes to their T&Cs coming into effect on 1st May 2023, is it still possible to call them just now and negotiate a new contract that is excluded from the 1st May price increase, or are their fixed-term contracts no longer immune from mid-term increases? In other words, should I wait until after the 1st May to haggle a cheaper price so that the next mid-term price rise won't happen until 1st May 2024?
PS - Out of interest I logged into my VM online account and clicked 'Change My Package'. This is usually where you can 'pimp' your current package by adding extra benefits for extra cost. The interface has changed since I last logged in, and I think (or rather I hope) that I've spotted a potential loophole... By keeping my package as it currently is and clicking 'Checkout', does this mean that I've effectively replaced my existing £72/mth contract with another 18-mth contract at £72/mth starting from today? I haven't taken this any further in case it kiboshes my chances of negotiating a discount over the phone but it would be good to know if this can indeed be done as simply as this through my online account as the phone calls to CS can be tedious.