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

Duplada

Due to financial constraints I phoned Sky in early October to see what savings I could make on my Sky TV package. I have the Sky world package with HD and multiroom, cost £75.00 per month. Their only offer was half price movies for three months, and it was suggested by the agent I spoke to, that if I wanted to reduce costs I should reduce my package by cancelling some elements of it. I pointed out that I had been a Sky subscriber since 1990 and had never received a Free Box of any description other than than the original standard Sky box without any recording functionality. This fact didn't cut any ice with the agent I was speaking to, and he just repeated the movies at half price for three months was the best he could do. At this point I asked to cancel and was passed through to the retentions department. They increased the offer to free movies and sports for 3 months which I declined and cancelled everything. I was due to be switched off on the 5th November and had not received any contact from Sky since I cancelled.

I looked at all the alternatives, Virgin, Talktalk and BT Vision, and the various streaming services like Love Film and noted down the prices.

Today I phoned Sky and was put through to retentions. I explained that in a few days time my Sky notice period would end, and that I had priced up all the alternative suppliers (mentioning them by name) and was interested to know if Sky could offer me anything before I committed to an alternative supplier. I was immediately offered 50% off for twelve months, which I accepted.

I registered here on MSE today just to let you know. Thanks to everyone here who has posted comments which I have found very useful.

afc80

yes i am on a half price deal as well for 12 months.

I would be very surprised if anyone does not get that.

I went through and cancelled the lot, said i only watched sports, but could no longer afford it so it was logical to cancel my whole package.

I got a call a few days before my notice period was up and was immediately offered half price to stay.

Just need to hold your nerve.

I have been on discounts for the last 2 and half years.

Spellbinder

So just in the process of trying to cut bills. Phoned Sky just now asking to cancel as it was too expensive. Not even a question, just told I would not get the same package cheaper.

Not the slightest resistance. Play the waiting game now............ Good luck all.

steeleez

I rang sky yesterday and said I wanted to cancel, the operator proceeded to cancel my account without any offer :eek:, a few hours later my wife rang sky and said that I'd cancelled but she wanted to keep sky and asked if there was anything they could do to the price, worked a treat, I got:

20% off my sky tv package for 12 months
Fibre unlimited broadband for the usual £20 per month but 12 months line rental at £3 per month (normally £14.50), currently with BT paying £18 for fibre capped to 40GB with £14.50 line rental.
No activation fee, normally £50
Free wireless connector, normally £21.95
Also cancelled netflix as we have loads of choice on the anytime movies.

I'm basically paying the same per month, but I now have sky movies, the hd pack, unlimited fibre broadband and the use of anytime on my sky box with the free wireless connector.

kiwichick

Hi All,

Not got a haggle to post as yet am more after some advice please?

I'm currently with Sky for digital tv, only pay £23pm. Phone/broadband/line rental are with BT.
Line rental £14.60pm.
International Freedom (family in NZ) £5.20pm.
Broadband and calls (unlimited evening and weekend, bt total broadband option 1) £14.00pm.
Additional BB usage (which they are ALWAYS charging me!) £5.00pm.

Total for digital tv, broadband, line rental and internation calls coming in currently at £61.80 but is more like £74pm once call costs have been factored in.

I'm thinking of changing to Sky for a bundle as my contract with BT is up this month but I have no idea what prices are like or what I should be aiming for.

Can anyone offer some advice?

Thanks in advance,
Al.

Harrisimo

My first post to this site, but I wanted to share a success story. I've been with Virgin Media for four years now and for most of that time I've been on the following package:

L Broadband (10mb)
XL TV
XL Phone
V+ HD Box
V HD Box

This has cost me around £70/month. Recently I decided this was far too much, especially as I'd been experiencing several faults with the Virgin service, so I called the retentions line (150, option 5, option 3) and asked what they could do to make me feel valued again.

Immediately they were happy to upgrade my broadband to 30mb, with a free superhub, for the reduced price of £57.90/month. Not bad but I knew I could do better.

I asked about a new TiVo box. They said they could supply me with a TiVo box at an installation cost of £49.95, but that would actually reduce the monthly cost further to £52.90. I said I'd think about it then call them back, which I did, about an hour later.

I asked if they could waive the £49.95 TiVo installation fee as it was a bit steep, and after a bit of encouragement they agreed to waive half of it. Perhaps with a little more persistence I could have got it for nothing, but I was happy with the deal at this point, so I agreed. 30mb broadband, XL TV (with HD), XL phone, TiVo, V+ in the bedroom...all for £52.40/month.

I also got them to guarantee the new monthly price for two years (even though I'm only on a one-year contract) so over that period I'm going to save almost £400.

I made sure I was polite and respectful to the reps at all time. At no point was I aggressive. And I made it clear to them that I wanted to stay, rather than threaten them that I was leaving.

Good luck!

A happy VM customer :j

MasterPoo

Hi

Just wanted to share my success story! I have the sky world package, HD and multiroom, i Called Sky end of September to cancel, was offered a rubbish deal, I stuck to my guns and served them with one months notice. I didn't receive any calls, but I did get an email questionnaire, which I completed about 2 weeks ago!

Today was supposed to be my last day with sky, received a "sorry to see you go email, you can still change your mind, please call on this number...."

I called them and was immediately offered 50% discount, and I even managed to get a new HD box for £15 for my bedroom, WHOOOP!

SIDENOTE: I've been waiting to upgrade my phone to iPhone 5 but I don't want a 24 month contract even though its better value for money, I like getting a new phone every 18 months, so I've been haggling with my supplier, who could only offer me 18 month contract if I paid at first £135 for handset. Left it for a few weeks, told handset was now £250 on package I wanted, yesterday I got the handset for free for 18months! WHOOOP

THANKS MSE

sarge123

Am interested in calling SKY for some contract negotiating. What is the number that everyone is calling (preferably not 08 style number)?
Cheers in advance

miss_trust_2

guys thought I would let you know of something that went on when I worked at sky. If certain staff took a full account cancellation (which affects their bonus in a big style especially the skyworld accounts), staff changed the marketing options/preferences on the customer record so that no marketing calls (including those from winback) would be made, no mailshots or emails etc would be sent and the customer would never know, so maybe that's happened to some people here, when I questioned a manager about this, he just shrugged - hardly ethical! and before you ask no I don't work there anymore!

miss_trust_2

sarge123 wrote: »

Am interested in calling SKY for some contract negotiating. What is the number that everyone is calling (preferably not 08 style number)?
Cheers in advance

i got my line rental so I just dial 151, you could always try finding another option on sayno to 0870?