SKY Broadband 75% less usage allownace

baldelectrician

Had a lovely letter drop through the post today from SKY telling me how lucky I was and how they were inproving their service by moving me from the old 'MID' package to their new 'EVERYDAY' package
The benefits are
More speed (not really applicable as I am quite far from the exchange)

Moving my number to a SKY exchange (meaning I can lose broadband for 10 days if I want to move as a MAC code may not work properly)
75% reduction in usage allownance (from 40Gb to 10Gb)

There is a bit of small print (it took 1 hour and 20 mins to reach someone at SKY who knew about things and could cancel BB)
'Because we have made this change to your service, you may cancel your broadband without charge as long as you do so before this date'

I have SKY BB and SKY talk and SKY tv, I have to keep the line rental for a year, but the small print states on the leaflet you can cancel BB without penalty before 1st August

To sum up- you can cancel SKY BB without penalty before 1st August even it you are within the 1st 12 months

DatabaseError

have you asked them to leave you on the old package?

baldelectrician

I asked about it- there was a bit of confusion on their part (no surprise there). I can keep my telephone line on the BT wholesale network, but there is still the 75% reductuion in usage allowance

penrhyn

This has been much discussed on www.skyuser.co.uk

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/sky-news-announcements/30728-sky-broadband-changes-22nd-june.html

OldGreyFox

Their is already a thread here also.;)

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1761401

ColinAllCars

If you switched your line rental to Sky Talk their increasing it to £11 a month from 1/9/2009 plus their usual annual price increases for digital tv packages.

BexTech

We all knew once Sky started pulling in customers, they'd start sneaking in higher charges, less allowances etc.

People are often warned leave line rental with BT etc.

moneymouth77

Agreed, doesn't paint Sky in the most favourable light... Maybe there's a reason behind it? Obviously BT have had years to work on their long-term strategy at selling options, Sky are new to the line rental game.

Forris

I've just spent the last hour looking at my options now that Sky are making this change. I have listed some possibles with pros/cons. I would be appreciate any comments as my head hurts!!:mad:

Current setup

Sky+ TV £21.50 ; Sky Talk Freetime £0 ; Sky BB Mid (Everyday) £5
Total = £26.50 + calls (approx £7)

Option 1

Upgrade to Sky Unlimited BB (+£5) and Sky Talk Anytime (+£5)
Total = £31.50 (will save £7 on daytime call costs)

Pros/cons - faultless BB, simple billing / feel 'forced' into changing, new 12month contract.

Option 2

Sky+ TV £21.50 ; Sky Talk Anytime £5 ; O2 Std BB £1.95*
Total = £28.45 (*inc customer discount & £50 cashback)

Pros/cons - O2 has good reviews, cheaper / hassle to switch, restricts future mobile options.

Option 3

Sky+ TV £21.50 ; Plusnet U/L BB & Anytime phone £16.33*
Total = £37.83 (*inc £38 cashback)

Pros/cons - telling Sky to (partially) 'shove it!' / more expensive, BB equipment not as flexible


Note - line rental has not been included in ay of the above figures.

Sky+ is pretty much a must-have for us, despite its faults.

Has anyone managed to get Sky retentions to offer anything by threatening to quit over this?

My current thinking is that I'm going to go for Option 1, even though I will hate myself for giving in to their 'bullying' tactics, mainly for the convenience. We don't use masses of bandwidth but probably more than 10GB, and they don't state what will happen if you exceed this limit (costs or throttling connection).

Sorry for the lengthy post.:o

ukmonkey

I've read somewhere about opting-out of this change, does this mean that we'll be allowed to stay on the existing (Mid) package?

The "sky user" thread is 40-odd pages long so can't read it all.

penrhyn

ukmonkey wrote: »

I've read somewhere about opting-out of this change, does this mean that we'll be allowed to stay on the existing (Mid) package?

The "sky user" thread is 40-odd pages long so can't read it all.

You can either accept the change or cancel your account. Mid is no longer available.