MSE News: How to beat Sky price hikes

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  • prettypaddy123
    prettypaddy123 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I phoned sky informed them l could not afford the increase, last year l saved £60 that way, they replied due to your loyalty as a long term customer we will not increase your subscription, so this year l will be saving £42, and l will continue to haggle at every sky increase.
  • erskine
    erskine Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Your hints are great. But I have no cable and freeview is unreliable even though I am only 35 miles from London.
    It limits your bargaining power. I wonder if others have the same problem
  • womble65
    womble65 Posts: 578 Forumite
    Photogenic First Post First Anniversary Mortgage-free Glee!
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    Just phoned sky and got a £15 a month reduction for 10 months. Sky chap was very helpful and call only took 10 minutes.
    :EasterBun Everyone seems normal until you get to know them
  • mrich74
    mrich74 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I rang on Saturday after getting a £4.50 increase through. It was the third increase in 12-18 months. Total bill was going up to £98.50 for tv, phone and broadband. I said I was considering cancellation and I also quoted the fact they had just paid £5b for Premier League rights plus last week they announced just short of £1.2b operating profit and yet they were putting my bills up. I'd also been having problems with my phone line affecting incoming calls and sometimes broadband speed.

    I have managed to get an increased TV package from the Family Bundle to the Variety Bundle plus they have upgraded my broadband to Fibre Unlimited from the standard unlimited with the new hub and switch on fee thrown in for nothing. Tied into the TV for another 12m and broadband for 18m but my price with the upgrades is around £70 for the next 10m before increasing back to full price (with the new package it should be around £115 a month). They did say however to call back in 10 months and they will look to negotiate again to try and keep the low price. Oh, phone line fixed as well for nothing!

    Used some of the tips from this website but the most important advice I can give is don't get frustrated. Keep it sweet and build up a rapport with whoever you are talking to as it goes a long long way.
  • gaoler
    gaoler Posts: 4 Newbie
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    I just did an online chat with Sky and asked if when I had a replacement HD box supplied my contract was automatically renewed, I have been out of contract for many years. I was told it had renewed as effectively it was the new warranty on the box, the chap then asked why and I explained about the having notification of the new rise. After abut 5 minutes of chatting I was "rewarded" for be a loyal customer with a £15 a month reduction for 10 months if I renewed my contract again, considering I was only a couple of months into the "new" contract t made no odds to me so gladly accepted. £36 down to £21, more like it should be really.
  • GSMGuy
    GSMGuy Posts: 4 Newbie
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    Just rang to "cancel" due to price increases, and was offered 60% off TV, yes 60% for 12 months, and no new contract! (we are way out of contract) Our monthly bill has now gone from £104.65 to £76.45 for the next 12 months, a saving of £338.40 over the year! (Our bill is high as we have Variety, Movies, 4 HD boxes, Bband and phone)

    CSR guy said he's never sen such a high discount, esp with no new contract!!

    Go haggle!!

    Mike
  • GSMGuy
    GSMGuy Posts: 4 Newbie
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    erskine wrote: »
    Your hints are great. But I have no cable and freeview is unreliable even though I am only 35 miles from London.
    It limits your bargaining power. I wonder if others have the same problem

    I lie - I cannot get cable at home, but I always tell Sky that I can! Works wonders..

    Mike
  • ellielovesem
    ellielovesem Posts: 144 Forumite
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    stephenliverpool1 wrote: »
    All,

    For info, I am my third year with with Sky on a 50% off deal for Sky entertainment and Sky Sports packages. I am now paying £23.50 per month for this. Every year when my deal/contract is coming to an end, I just give 30 days notice to cancel it. I don't phone Sky during these 30 days and just let them contact me. I make sure the marketing box is ticked on Sky account.

    Then as soon as the 30 day period has elapsed, I get a 50% off deal. This year I went online and had a chat with their offshore team in India to get the deal.

    Anyone can do it and most people get offered the 50% off deal. Some people, who actually go through with their cancel and wait a few weeks, will get at least 60% off deals for their TV package but I have never tried this.

    My b/band and phone is with Plusnet and I only pay £12.50 per month (inc line rental) but that is another story.

    This is my advice if you don't want any hassle and is exactly what I did. I transferred phone and broadband over to Plusnet to give me good leverage for the TV stuff. The TV did actually get cut off and went without for a day or two but once I signed up again it came on straightaway. I will be doing the same when my deal runs out in September although I may try and hold out a bit longer this time to see if I can get a bigger discount :D
    :eek: - Just because I love this emoticon!
  • timmo44
    timmo44 Posts: 244 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    If you are through to retentions and not getting what you want, do the standard threaten to cancel and go with Freesat, BT etc. Then the golden manoeuvre, say to the person you are speaking to:


    "OK so I've decided to cancel the service completely and confirmed that to you. I have to go, can I take your name and leave you to action that for me?"


    This tells them that you really are going to cancel and they'll desperately try to keep you on the call then ask someone senior there to make you another offer. I did this with them to get a 2TB box cheap when I'd already had a discounted 1TB box. They would not budge. I really meant it and they credited the discount amount off the box to my bill. Job done.
    BE NICE - IT'S FREE!
  • Anthony_S_Kravitz
    Anthony_S_Kravitz Posts: 3 Newbie
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    As part of my former work, I was a negotiator. So, based on the messages on the Forum I thought it would be a doddle to reduce my £82.94 bill (going up by the full £4.50). I took on all the tips mentioned here. I also told him that I was retiring shortly, so money will become tighter (both true) and that we were considering cancelling Sky altogether (also true).

    The Sky representative was charming and very chatty. Then, the offer I was made was poor: firstly I was told that any offers made today are for 6 months only. The best they could do worked out as a reduction of £45 over those 6 months. I declined.

    I told him that we would contact Virgin before deciding what to do. Some of our neighbours have Virgin and don't seem to be as disappointed as the many one reads about. It didn't phase him at all.

    I'll try again in a day or so, or we'll go through with the cancellation and see if that moves them.
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