# Phonewatch renewal - tip for others to save



## ang1170 (26 Mar 2014)

I received my renewal notice from Phonewatch today, the first since they're no longer owned by Eircom.

 The cover letter extoled the virtues of their new service: lifetime warranty, unlimited service calls etc. etc. No mention of cost.

 The attached agreement had the cost: only (!) €371.05 per year, some 20% more than I paid last year.

 I e-mailed them to say I wasn't going to pay this, and then got a phone call from them. Apparently they no longer have multiple levels of service, so there was no option to move to a monitor only service. When pressed, they offered me 10% discount, as a "good will gesture for this year only". I declined this, and said I was unwilling to pay more than last year. Anyway they put me on hold, and then came back with a 20% discount for the full service, bringing it to fractionally less than I paid last year.

 In other words, one phone call saved more than €70. I know I could have probably saved more by going elsewhere, but the saving vs. effort equation worked for me, so I went ahead and paid.

 I'd suggest others try the same tactic.


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## Squonk (26 Mar 2014)

Thanks ang...that's good feedback. It drives me nuts to pay that Phonewatch bill each month, and would drive me even more nuts if it was 20% extra. I presume your 20% discount is just for 1 year, and not in perpetuity? Meaning you'll have to make that call each year.


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## ang1170 (26 Mar 2014)

Squonk said:


> I presume your 20% discount is just for 1 year, and not in perpetuity? Meaning you'll have to make that call each year.



I presume so too (the "this year only" was only mentioned in relation to the initial offer of 10%, but I'd be amazed if I don't get a demand for the full amount again next year).

I guess we'll cross next year's bridge when we come to it. .


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## MrEarl (26 Mar 2014)

Hello,

Thanks for the heads up.  These guys are making a fortune from us, given once the equipment is paid for an installation completed, there's almost no work to be done ....

We need a bit of healthy competition to help keep their prices in check.

As anyone ever explored moving to ADT, to see what their prices or service is like ?


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## fluffy47 (4 Aug 2014)

A neighbour recently mentioned he was moving his business to chublock. Will check that out for sure later and post back.


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