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

alrightdave

I am on the full package with Sky (Sports, movies, ESPN, HD).

I called today to cancel sports and movies over the Summer due to the football season ending. They offered me 20% off for 9 months and free ESPN for 4 months. This is a saving of almost £20 per month for the first 4 months and then £10 per month for the other 5 months.

I am really pleased with this deal and the lady I spoke to was very helpful.

ExTrolly101

Looking at the whole household expenditure need to cut down just like everyone else.
Phoned Sky to cancel as it's costing just under £50 per month, which is a scary £600 per year!
We have line rental and a package to call foreign countries for £5 p/m basic telly no movies or sports and unlimited broadband.
Spoke to a delightful young man in retensions and explained it was just too much and I would have to leave. going onto freeview and use plus net which would bring my costs down.

I've got it down to £28.50 per month.:j:j:j
They are paying my line rental at £12.25 reducing my broadband from £7.50 to £2.00. I've kept my viewing package, but was frustrated at the fact I couldn't get anytime + or the shop as I don't have a HD+ box. Didn't want to be tied into a contract so he told me to either buy a sky hd+ box from car boot/ebay or I could have one for £15 if I fit it myself and no contract!! Very happy bunny!! Was on phone for over an hour but mainly chatting as he's moving to Leeds, so I gave him local info. I didn't threaten just gently explained and asked him if there was a better price if I changed my package if I didn't leave. I am very happy it's more affordable. Be gentle with them it pays dividends.

kingcog

Inspired by this very helpful thread, I thought I would have a go. I have been with Sky for 10 years on a variety of packages (currently on entertainment and sports) and never had, or asked for, a discount.

I said I couldn't afford it anymore and wanted to cancel. The lady coughed up 25% off for 1 year with no contract straight away. When I said that was not enough,she tried all sorts of bundled deals which did not interest me. I said I simply needed a lower price but she could not comply.

Finally she tried to submit the cancellation and spent 20 minutes battling the system which said it was unable to cancel. She then said it would take up to 4 days to fix and I should call back then. I lost my rag slightly at this point and demanded that someone call me to confirm the cancellation.

It all seems very fishy to me that a company like Sky cannot process such a simple request. Is this some kind of ruse on their part or was I really just unlucky?

I am genuinely not bothered about leaving so if I do not get a callback with at least 50% off for a year, then so be it.

Gratis

The best strategy to adopt if that happens is to wait for half an hour or so (have a cup of coffee and chill out from the experience) then call Sky again and choose the option to go straight to Cancellations.

Cancel the account and confirm the date on which your Sky service will be terminated.

Leave it at that. Don't ring Sky again. Wait for as long as it takes for Sky eventually to call you back, or e/mail you, with an offer.

kevoncooper

Hi Gratis,

I am new to this forum and also to sky..

Please let me know new offers present this summer...

miss_trust_2

kevoncooper wrote: »

Hi Gratis,

I am new to this forum and also to sky..

Please let me know new offers present this summer...

Are you in contract? If you are, seldom are you offered anything as you are in contract for 12 months so cannot cancel anyway, offers tend to be available once you are out of contract to prevent customers from cancelling - you may be offered something that is not on your package - ie sports/movies but that will add to your bill and not take anything off

Gratis

miss_trust wrote: »

Are you in contract? If you are, seldom are you offered anything as you are in contract for 12 months so cannot cancel anyway, offers tend to be available once you are out of contract to prevent customers from cancelling - you may be offered something that is not on your package - ie sports/movies but that will add to your bill and not take anything off

miss_trust,

You give a lot of helpful information on this board, for which I both applaud and thank you. :T :A

But will you please stop misusing the terms “in contract” and “out of contract”. :mad:

Doing that confuses people. :huh:

I know that many badly-trained and sloppy people at Sky do it, too, but that doesn’t alter the law nor make the practice acceptable.

When somebody signs-up for Sky they enter into a 31-day rolling contract which has a minimum term – usually of 12 months – during which they cannot cancel.

What expires after those twelve months is the minimum term, not the contract.

The contract continues, in perpetuity, until one party or the other ends it by cancellation and Sky disables the subscriber’s access to its service(s).

As a rule of thumb, if you’re still receiving Sky’s subscription channels through a Sky box (of whatever variant), you’re still in contract.





kevoncooper,

kevoncooper wrote: »

Hi Gratis,

I am new to this forum and also to sky..

Please let me know new offers present this summer...

Welcome to MSE.

To do this for you, I would require that you enter into a 31-day rolling contract with me, for a minimum term of 12 months. And my fee for it, would make your eyes water and a Sky subscription look like peanuts. You’d also have to pay VAT on it.

If you wish to go ahead, please make an initial deposit of CHF 10,000 with my bank in Lugano, using the name “Optimist”.

beetwaste

Just called Sky. Asked to leave.

Offered 25% off for 12 months.

I could, perhaps, have haggled further, but to be fair I'm happy with that. If I put movies on later, it still applies, and I'm not tied in.

Chap on the phone was very helpful. 5 minutes work, saved about £110 next year. Can't complain about that! :j

dilemma-man

dilemma-man wrote: »

Hi guys,

I wanted to report a problem with the recent Sky deal which was posted on Wednesday 28th March 12.
The deal was offering £100 M&S vouchers and also the £125+ cash back from Topcashaback.

Well the dilemma is that i placed an order online via TCB on Thursday eve and was given a ref number from Sky after completion of the entire application order. However the next day i got a phone call from SKY claiming that there were issues with their computer system last night and as a result i would need to reorder sky again over the telephone which i declined as if i did that i would loose out on the above deal.

The guy from Sky gave me no choice but to cancel and i was wondering if anyone else has complained about this or if you have been made aware of this already.

Can you advise me further

Thank you

Can some please help me witht the above situation an update i did try to speak to SKY about this problem but they still insisted i needed to start a fresh application!!:mad:

Gratis

dilemma-man wrote: »

Can some please help me witht the above situation an update i did try to speak to SKY about this problem but they still insisted i needed to start a fresh application!!:mad:

Yes; Jeremy Darroch, the Chief Executive of Sky can.

Email his team on jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com

Bear in mind, however, that Sky has no incentive to assist you to obtain a £125 cashback from TCB which Sky itself will ultimately have to fund.

But if you have a reference number given to you by Sky for a completed online contract, you’re holding an ace in your hand.