Can I Save By Moving Provider?

chambta

I've been with Sky Broadband for the past couple of years without much in the way of an issue. However in recent months, without any change in our usage they've moved from the 'free' package to the £10pm deal.

I pay £12.00pm line rental to BT but wouldn't bother if not for the internet as it's not used for calls at all.

We don't actually download anything so cannot understand why Sky have suddenly decided to charge us £10pm on top on the TV package. We do watch programmes via BBC I Players and 4OD etc if that's an issue, I don't know.

In terms of mobiles, I have a contract with 3 and my other half in PAYG with 02.

A cashback deals are available via Quidco but I guess our best saving would be from somehow knocking the landline on the head. Is this possible?

penrhyn

Wuuld that be the Everday package? If so Sky are discontinuing that from June and moving folks gradually to the unlimited package which will cost you £12.50 or £7.50 if you take Sky Talk.

You must have been downloading more than 10Gb/month for them to do this , did you ever check your usage monitor on the mysky site?

chambta

penrhyn wrote: »

Wuuld that be the Everday package? If so Sky are discontinuing that from June and moving folks gradually to the unlimited package which will cost you £12.50 or £7.50 if you take Sky Talk.

You must have been downloading more than 10Gb/month for them to do this , did you ever check your usage monitor on the mysky site?

Thanks for the reply fellow Derbyshire person.

Yes, I looked at it but couldn't fathom why. Unless watching streamed sports, youtube etc or viewing BBC I Player etc counts as downloading then absolutely nothing is downloaded.

It's the unlimited package we've been moved to I believe and we do have Sky Talk but £10pm stuck in my head.

penrhyn

Yes that is the case, its a mistake that many make.
All internet activity, viewing a webpage etc contributes to your monthly allowance.
For example watching the Eurovision Song contest on the iPlayer represents a download of 2.2 Gb, which is more than the Sky free broadband monthly allowance all on its own!

mk-donald

Given you've already an o2 PAYG, as long as you can get o2 Standard (or Premium, as it's only £2.50 more) from o2 Home Broadband VIA a cashback site such as Quidco or TopCashBack, you can bolt their broadband onto your BT landline - net cost after £50 cashback & 3 months free = £17.50 (assuming the o2 PAYG gets topped up at least £10 every 3 months). That's £17.50 net-cost for the YEAR, not per month. So versus £120 for Sky, saves you £100.

In 12m time you will likely be able to blag another 3m free and pay £7.50/m ongoing, or else look around for other deals.

Note the current £back might change at any midnight and calendar month ends = common change date (though £50 for Standard is fairly common, but has been as little as £0 for a week!); and the current first 3m free is due to end today, though is likely to last another month.

This ASSUMES the o2 website offers you STANDARD. If it offers you "ACCESS" then you don't want to sign up - that's £17.50 and NOT recommended by (m)any users.

MKD

chambta

mk-donald wrote: »

Given you've already an o2 PAYG, as long as you can get o2 Standard (or Premium, as it's only £2.50 more) from o2 Home Broadband VIA a cashback site such as Quidco or TopCashBack, you can bolt their broadband onto your BT landline - net cost after £50 cashback & 3 months free = £17.50 (assuming the o2 PAYG gets topped up at least £10 every 3 months). That's £17.50 net-cost for the YEAR, not per month. So versus £120 for Sky, saves you £100.

In 12m time you will likely be able to blag another 3m free and pay £7.50/m ongoing, or else look around for other deals.

Note the current £back might change at any midnight and calendar month ends = common change date (though £50 for Standard is fairly common, but has been as little as £0 for a week!); and the current first 3m free is due to end today, though is likely to last another month.

This ASSUMES the o2 website offers you STANDARD. If it offers you "ACCESS" then you don't want to sign up - that's £17.50 and NOT recommended by (m)any users.

MKD

I've read on here some horror stories about their customer service.

Worth a shot though, perhaps.

macman

Please can you supply a link to 'horror stories about 02 customer service'? Their CS is one of the best in the business. The only thing to avoid on O2 is the O2 Access package. As long as you can get O2 LLU on your exchange you can't go wrong with it.
Re your former 2GB monthly cap, it's not a download limit, it's a data usage limit. So whether you are uploading,downloading or streaming, it all counts. Every time you view a web page or send an email, data is transferred. The Sky 'free' 2GB allowance is simply a device to hook you in, as only the lightest users will not go over that limit.

chambta

macman wrote: »

Please can you supply a link to 'horror stories about 02 customer service'? Their CS is one of the best in the business. The only thing to avoid on O2 is the O2 Access package. As long as you can get O2 LLU on your exchange you can't go wrong with it.
Re your former 2GB monthly cap, it's not a download limit, it's a data usage limit. So whether you are uploading,downloading or streaming, it all counts. Every time you view a web page or send an email, data is transferred. The Sky 'free' 2GB allowance is simply a device to hook you in, as only the lightest users will not go over that limit.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2499599

Just one.

chambta

I've decided to go via Quidco for the £70 cashback and the Premium Package. Get three months free and with the cashback I'll be £££s in over the year. Hope also for a better connection - believe it or not I occasionally have to call our landline to get the broadband working; yes I am that much of a techy whizz!

macman

chambta wrote: »

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2499599

Just one.

Indeed, that's the only one I can find. All the others relate to O2 Access.

kwikbreaks

chambta wrote: »

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2499599

Just one.

That's pretty a-typical. In fact it's the only such complaint that I have seen although I can relate to the "pointless 24 hour tests" issue as that coupled with the sending a replacement router (to the wrong address) when there was an obvious line fault was why I cut and run so that I didn't miss an excellent cable cashback deal while they wasted my time instead of calling out an ADSL engineer (which is what the 5th voice engineer to fail in fixing the line fault said was needed).

Like many ISPs O2 want to make 100% sure that you've been over all the typical user equipment problems but seem incapable of recording that information against the customer to avoid repeated pointless tests. So long as like probably 99.9% of people you have no line fault you'll be fine. You probably will eventually even if you do but it would be a frustrating experience for sure with many ISPs as well as O2.