Sky, Virgin & BT TV Haggle down prices and get serious discounts Article Discussion

Gratis

Deeonehere wrote: »

....(Sky) offered me 25% off for 12 months, they said they could no longer offer any better deal (50% off) as customers found it hard going back to full price once the deal had ended??

Interesting comment. I suspect they’ve realised that once somebody has had 50% off for a year, they aren’t prepared then to pay “double” to continue. Particularly in a recession.

Were you able to negotiate any discount on the £10.25 a month for HD?

SamDude

After going through the cancellation in early November, the wife was on my case to get Sky reinstated. I wasn't missing the extra channels, but she wouldn't stop nagging!

I called Sky a couple of times in the last few weeks and they were still 'only' offering the 25% off for six months discount. I held my nerve against taking them up as I knew it was only a matter of time that a better offer would come round.

A couple of days ago (nearly a month to the day that the TV channels were turned off) we got a flyer through the post inviting us back at half price for 12 months. We originally had Multiroom and the HD pack at a discounted rate, but they would not discount them this time. In the end, I only took up the EE channels and will hold my nerve that a better offer to add HD and/or multiroom will come up.

If you hold out for an offer, eventually it will come - they need your money more than you need their TV!

monruth

Hope this is the right forum to assist me. We have just purchased a new HD 3d Tv and hubbie wants SKY sports only for football. Can see that would cost £50.50 a month. What alternatives are there to SKY ? Cable is not available in our area. What is Top Up TV ? Could not find their website. Thanks

brewerdave

Try http://www.topuptv.com/skysports/
Various packages BUT you need a decent Freeview signal and Topup TV is not HD.

Part-Time_Samurai

My first 50% off for 6 months is just about to end with Sky. Has anyone had any luck in recently in getting back to back 50% of deals? If so, what was your tactic?

afc80

Part-Time_Samurai wrote: »

My first 50% off for 6 months is just about to end with Sky. Has anyone had any luck in recently in getting back to back 50% of deals? If so, what was your tactic?

phone up and say you want to cancel, say you love the channels but money is tight. If they only offer 25% off, then go ahead and cancel.

They should phone you back just before your SKY is about to go off and give you 50%.

you will definitely get 25% as that is what i got after being on 50% for the past year.

I just couldnt be ersed haggling on the phone for 30 minutes for the sake of another £10 per month.

They try to manage your package by seeing what you can do without, dont fall for that as all they are trying to do is get your package price down to what you would be getting anyway if they discounted you on your current viewing package.

I told them that all i watched was sports but you have to take an entertainment package to get sports so if they didnt discount my package it would be best for me to cancel my whole sky package.

Part-Time_Samurai

Told them I wanted to cancel as money was too tight to absorb the upcoming increase in cost. Asked me if I would like to drop some channels, which I refused, and accepted my cancellation.

Gratis

Part-Time_Samurai wrote: »

My first 50% off for 6 months is just about to end with Sky. Has anyone had any luck in recently in getting back to back 50% of deals? If so, what was your tactic?

The usual routine is that if you get 50% off for a year and you ring up to cancel, you can usually get 50% for another six months (although Sky will prefer you accept 25% off for a year, which it describes as “the same”.)

After two lots of 50% off, Sky will dig its heels in. Initially, it will offer nothing, but, if pushed, it will offer you 25% off for a year.

Sky worries, with justification, that if you get too used to receiving its service at half price, you are then more likely to balk at the prospect of paying “double” when your discount ends. So, it tries to wean you off 50% deals by offering only a 25% discount.

If you aren't just trying it on and truly aren’t prepared to pay Sky’s full tariffs for what it offers, you will, eventually, have to prove that to Sky by cancelling and going through with it. Only then, after receiving no money at all from you for a couple of months (which Sky greatly doesn’t like) will Sky accept that if it is going to resume getting any money out of you it has to make you an offer that is acceptable to you. The golden rule, at this stage, is to make Sky blink first.

Consider, too, that, for some people, with full packages including 3D plus HD plus multi-room(s), even just a couple of months without Sky will pay for an equivalent (and more reliable) HD FreeSat recorder.

With regard to negotiating, read this.

Bear in mind, also, that you have to give Sky 31 days’ notice of cancellation and that new deals take effect immediately. So, if you ring up to cancel, a month before a 50% deal is due to expire, and negotiate a further six months of 50% off, it only amounts to five because you are sacrificing the final month of your original deal. So, there is merit in considering waiting until the day your existing discount does end before ringing to cancel: the most this tactic could cost you, if you don't get a new, immediate, offer is a month at full price (during which you can continue to enjoy its programmes).

Self-evidently, the advantage of six months at 50% off as opposed to a year at 25% off – which Sky calls “the same”, because it would be, over a year – is that you reap the entire benefit in the first six months and are then free to negotiate a further deal. But you need to take into account the previous point because with two six-month deals you could twice lose the 50% discount on the cancellation month.)

Sky needs to retain the validity and credibility of its full tariffs: otherwise its whole business model will collapse. In that, it is not unlike hotels and cruise ships. If they are faced with earning nothing from a room (or cabin) come evening time (or when the ship is about to sail) they will prefer to sell it for something because they will still have to pay their considerable overheads on it even if it is empty. But they have to offer discounts privately and discreetly to prevent the process undermining its pricing and customers who are paying the full whack feeling cheated. Sky must be furious that it has been made so public by MSE.

In that context, a moral :eek: point to consider is that the more people who can afford the full tariffs but blag a discount out of greed or boastful MoneySaving, the less scope Sky has to assist those who have fallen into genuine need because of redundancy or an accident and need some temporary help and indulgence to tide them over for a few months.

Consider. Those who wheedle a State Benefit without actually needing it leave less money to give to those who do; those who earn millions but avoid paying any taxes on it [STRIKE](step forward “Sir” Philip Green)[/STRIKE] are a parasitic burden to those who pay for the roads they drive on, the police who protect them and the Accident & Emergency wards they may end up in; those who obtain a Disabled badge, but aren’t, make it sometimes impossible for those who are to find a parking space.

But, of course, it’s all about MoneySaving, innit? :money: – Me first, regardless of the cost to others who genuinely can’t afford to subsidise it.

afc80 wrote: »

I just couldnt be ersed haggling on the phone for 30 minutes for the sake of another £10 per month.

Golden Rule. Never think in “per month” when dealing with Sky; think always in “per year”.

A discount of £10 per month amounts to £120 over a year. You need to be earning £240 an hour, after tax, to make it not worth spending half an hour to obtain that.

And, properly done, it takes less than five minutes.

shortchanged_2

I had come to the end of a second 6 month stint of 50% off, phoned up to see what I could get and was offered 25% off my package for a year plus my multiroom subscription for £2.50 a month, so all in all only about £2 more than the 50% deal so I was happy enough with that.

Amy56

niandsa wrote: »

We are with Virgin and rang up this morning to see if they could save us any money.

We currently have:
XL Phone
XL TV
L Broadband
V+ Box
Caller display

for £53 per month


Apparently we are on their best tariff but after asking to cancel we eventually got:
XL Phone
XL TV
L Broadband
500mb TIVO box
V+ box installed in another room
Caller Display

for £52 per month (a massive saving of 80p!) :rotfl:

The lady in retentions knew that we were too far from the exchange to get any sort of decent broadband down a phone line and that we are regular users of around 12gb per month. I'm guessing that if you can get good broadband from other providers that Virgin would be more competitive.

Still at least we got something for nothing although we are tied in for another 12 months for the tivo box. We asked about deals on sports and movies packages but nothing was forthcoming.

Just phoned Virgin as saw this post - we have virgin phone/broadband but have Sky Plus. Just rang virgin to ask how much to upgrade our package with them to include TIVO and V+ upstairs in our bedroom. Was told that for the TV part alone it would mean an extra £35.50 for the XL package plus 2 lots of £49.95 installation. That seems a lot of money to me (it would bring our monthly Virgin bill to £65.50 inc phone and broadband).

I did say that I would have to go away and speak to my husband as that seemed quite expensive, but she didn't 'bite!!!!

Do you think I have a chance of bargaining or do you think thats as good as I am going to get?