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

shaf88

Hello, I am currently in a contract with Virgin Media and received a letter about price increases.
Does this mean they have broken the contract and I can leave without paying charges?

Mrs_Dizzy

Sky phoned me last night to talk about new offers. She wanted me to confirm my name & address & give her our password before she would give me any information on what they where prepared to offer. I refused as she had phoned me & I was not prepared to give my details to someone who is unknown to me. She then said she couldn't talk to me?? I told her not to worry as we have been considering going to virgin anyway.
Currently we have sky plus hd & pay approx £45 per month. Any ideas what sort of package virgin are likely to come up with for a new customer

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Mrs_Dizzy wrote: »

Sky phoned me last night to talk about new offers. She wanted me to confirm my name & address & give her our password before she would give me any information on what they where prepared to offer. I refused as she had phoned me & I was not prepared to give my details to someone who is unknown to me. She then said she couldn't talk to me?? I told her not to worry as we have been considering going to virgin anyway.
Currently we have sky plus hd & pay approx £45 per month. Any ideas what sort of package virgin are likely to come up with for a new customer

Little trick for you next time... when they ask for your password, give them a wrong password.... if they accept it then its obviously not sky so hang straight up... if they tell you its incorrect then its obviously them.

Not sure they could do much damage with your name, address and sky password anyway.....

Mrs_Dizzy

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

Little trick for you next time... when they ask for your password, give them a wrong password.... if they accept it then its obviously not sky so hang straight up... if they tell you its incorrect then its obviously them.

Not sure they could do much damage with your name, address and sky password anyway.....

I'm pretty sure it was sky, but out of principal I was not giving my info to someone who had called me. Thanks for the tip on the password though, I will bear that in mind for if I am ever unsure & want to check that who is calling me is genuine:)

tomnat

miss_trust wrote: »

Sky advisors have instant access to a tool which tells them whether you live in a virgin media are or not, if you don't live in a virgin media area don't threaten sky with this as they will know within seconds - just a word from the wise

Thanks, I already knew this but trouble is hubby ignored me and said it anyway...doh!!
I'll have to have a think about what to do as a lot of the channels we watch we can't get on freesat. Just hate it how Sky have us over a barrel with this..ggrrrr

red_devils_88

shaf88 wrote: »

Hello, I am currently in a contract with Virgin Media and received a letter about price increases.
Does this mean they have broken the contract and I can leave without paying charges?

Phone them up and tell them due to the price increases you want to leave. Pretty sure I've seen it in the T&C's although you still need to give 31 days notice.

marie12

shaf88 wrote: »

Hello, I am currently in a contract with Virgin Media and received a letter about price increases.
Does this mean they have broken the contract and I can leave without paying charges?

hiya, i had this happen to me last year with virgin. they gave me extra discount because i was going to leave which i accepted. then just one month later they wrote to me about a price increase on my package. when i rang i was told they can change prices as they wish its in the terms and conditions regardless of what you agree with them. so i asked to cancel and was told i would have to pay cancellation charges as because i had agreed new prices i was tied in for the next twelve months. so it seems they can move the goalposts to suit themselves and we as customers cant do nowt about it

Lifes_Grand_Plan

marie12 wrote: »

hiya, i had this happen to me last year with virgin. they gave me extra discount because i was going to leave which i accepted. then just one month later they wrote to me about a price increase on my package. when i rang i was told they can change prices as they wish its in the terms and conditions regardless of what you agree with them. so i asked to cancel and was told i would have to pay cancellation charges as because i had agreed new prices i was tied in for the next twelve months. so it seems they can move the goalposts to suit themselves and we as customers cant do nowt about it

This is not true, they cannot just change prices as they wish... they may well tell you they can but i'm surprised anyone would believe them :eek:

Thats not to say you can leave them for any change, they are ok to make certain changes but I believe if the change results in a material detriment to the customer then they can cancel.. I forget the details but I seem to remember it is if it will increase your bill by 10% or more then it is classed as a material detriment.

NotHappyChappy

Please help, I am being ripped off by Sky.

I was a long time Sky customer and had Sky+, one multiroom, Sports1, ESPN and Entertainment and was paying £59 per month. I very rarely watched sport and wasn't making use of my subscription.

I purchased a new 3D TV and gave my daughter my old one for her bedroom We decided to cancel Sky and use Freeview in each room plus Blueray rental for occasional 3d on the new TV. I phoned Sky to cancel and was pestered by a lady in retentions to stay. She asked what could persuade me to stay. I said 3D channel and an extra multiroom plus a lower monthly price. She made several offers that I rejected because I was genuinely happy to cancel. Her final offer was HD, 3D which meant I got Sport and full entertainment pack and extra multiroom for £49 per month. In addition, I had to pay £30 instalation and cancel ESPN.

When it was installed I tried the Sports and 3D and found they weren't working. I phoned Sky and was told these weren't included in my package. I explained what I had signed up to and was told the notes on my account do not reflect this. To make matters worse I was told my monthly cost had been agreed at £68 per month not £49. I am now paying £19 per month more than agreed and don't have the channels I was promised.

I complained by phone and was told to complain in writing and ask for the recorded call to be listened to. They originally said they couldn't find the call. I phoned 9 further times and was eventually told it was Glasgow S7 call centre that sold the package and their manager had listened to the call. The manager said the call showed they were right and I had to continue to pay £68. This was a complete lie so I requested a transcript of the call. I was then told that the call had now been lost so I couldn't have it and it can't be listened to again.

I tried to cancel but have been told I now have 11 months of a new 12 month contract remaining and can't cancel.

Please help. Where can I go from here. I've ended up paying more per month for less channels and stuck on a 12 month contract.

Thanks

Lifes_Grand_Plan

E-mail their chief executive jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com

Be very calm and factual, not too threatening... see what happens.

As you say, all seems a bit convenient that the listen to the call but magically manage to lose it....

Definately push for a copy of the call in your e-mail to their CEO.