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

thommy

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Sky will only offer what was available on that account anyway. Telling the operator that a 75% offer has been received will be clearly a lie and, in itself, achieves nothing.

Sorry, with respect, it's a naive thing to say. There is plenty of preceding evidence to disprove your statement. You don't need to read too far back to see that, written quite succinctly and in none-too-difficult-to-understand wording, people have received discounts, in this way, without the Sky rep so much as insinuating any...um, fibbing.

It is simply NOT true that Sky will only offer what is on a respective account. Simply not true. In fact, you don't even need to 'lie'.
Sometimes, as most folk already know, good old fashioned negotiating can do the trick: When I rejoined Sky, last year, there were no offers on my account. I rang and said I had a voucher for 50% off (which I did vis MSE) but it was still more than I wanted to pay. 'Were there any better offers, please'? Lo and behold, after a few minutes of the 'Wait, let me see what I can do', I got the full HDTV for £5.25 pm. After 5 of the 6 months had gone, on this deal, I rang and gave my cancellation notice. The pleasant person said 'I suppose you'd like it for the same again'. Me (nicely): 'Yes, please, or it will go off'. Again, the magical 'Let me see what I can do'...Comes back ' Yes, that's done for you. 6 more months'. Me - 'Thank you very much'.
So, you see, second time round, I didn't even need to have it switched off. I didn't need to receive offers. I didn't need to make sure my settings were on or off. Your advice is not completely wrong but it is not completely right, either. I have been fortunate and not everyone can get the best deal. I may well have used up all my good luck. But, the way of going about getting the best deal is not cast in stone. Sky will do what they need to, to maintain subscriber numbers ( Levels of Subscriber figures = levels of Advertising revenue ). A lot of it comes down to (in no particular order) the luck of current offers, the magical rep line 'let me see what I can do', your history as a subscriber, the timing of your call, the person you speak to, your dtermination to get the best deal, your negotiating skills, etc. etc. etc. It is not simply 'only what is on your account'.

[Deleted User]

thommy wrote: »

Naive thing to say. There is plenty of preceding evidence to disprove your statement. You don't need to read too far back to see that, written quite succinctly and in none-too-difficult-to-understand wording, people have received discounts, in this way, without the Sky rep so much as insinuating any...um, fibbing.

It would be a very foolish Sky rep who directly accused a customer of telling lies in a (recorded) call.

thommy wrote: »

A lot of it comes down to (in no particular order) the luck of current offers, the magical rep line 'let me see what I can do', your history as a subscriber, the timing of your call, the person you speak to, your dtermination to get the best deal, your negotiating skills, etc. etc. etc.

I agree except for the part about "negotiating skills", I don't think these come into it at all.

thommy wrote: »

It is not simply 'only what is on your account'.

I disagree.

thommy wrote: »

In fact, you don't even need to lie

Isn't this exactly what I said earlier?

mikemoore_2

My story here as this page helped me with the right contact number which i called yesterday.

Sky went off in october. was offered 50% when cancelled but thought id wait for 75% as had this for 2 years running. didnt hear anything and forgot about not having it until i saw the upcoming footy fixtures:) so call the 0844 number listed here.

Was very very polite but laid cards on the table and said id sign up again if the deal was as good or better than i previously had. Straight away offered 75% and the option to add HD with the same discounts. Told very nice lady that no use as didnt have the HD box! offered free HD box and 75% instantly on top package (under 12 month contract but discount lasts duration)....works out at £15ish a month for 12 months. result!

chap114

Having been a long time lurker of this thread, I thought it only fair that I post my experiences in the chancethey might help someone else.

At the time of cancellation my package consisted of Entertainment Extra+, Sports, HD, Multiroom and Movies(although movies were only active for the previous 2 months on discountedrate).

Any current deals I had, 10% off package (I think), expired in December 2013.

Phoned on 4th Dec and cancelled my entire package, stating that it was too costly. No effort made by the cancellations team to keep me.

Approx. two weeks later Ireceived a call from sky asking why I left etc. but nothing more than that.

I returned to work on 2nd Janafter Christmas having still not has a call/email from sky. It's only at this time I noticed that my preferences for contact had been unchecked. Whoops....

Against all advice on here I rang sky, asked if they had any offers on my account to stop me from leaving intwo days, but much to the girls surprise on the phone there wasn't a single offer available.

At this point I was stuck as I couldn't update my preferences on sky.com as account was now deemed inactive.

I then contacted sky on 'live chat' online and got them to update my account preferences for me. Bingo, backin the game.

4th Jan, came and past without any contact from Sky. I was now without Sky.

After a few weeks of nothing,I read on here that some people had received a 50% offer through their ‘my sky’account online. I had nothing to lose so rang sky and asked about it.

Yep, that was available. Nice one. I'll think about it. Rang them back the next day asking if they could discount multiroom? Nope, so I left it.

Jan turned to February and I soften my resolve to accept the 50%. Rang Sky on 1st Feb to accept their offer.


All grand, however, on 8thFeb, I got a call from win back team asking me if I would consider re-joining....ermm,ok...I'll see where this goes...

Initially offered me the same deal I had accepted the previous week, which I ‘rejected’, then offered me 75% off, which I 'accepted'. Was slightly awkward when he looked at my account and told me he couldn't apply the offer as my account had been active for the last week, but it was good to see what he went to, he may have went further I'm not sure. This call came 1 month and 4 days after my package was cancelled.



Anyway, hopefully these ramblings may be of assistance to someone.

Good luck.

[Deleted User]

chap114 wrote: »

offered me 75% off, which I 'accepted'. Was slightly awkward when he looked at my account and told me he couldn't apply the offer as my account had been active for the last week

So did you get the 75% off or not?

thommy

You don't think negotiating skills come into it? I'm staggered. Once you ask for more off, or a better package, that's a negotiating skill!! Some people are good, some are too shy to do that. Plenty of people ask for advice as to how to go about it on here! And plenty of people get better results than they expected, not because of a philanthropic Sky rep but because they've negotiated a better deal! A lot of those successes are down to pure negotiation and nothing to do with offers, on-account or not.

If you believe that is simply 'only' what is on your account, why have people who have not received, for example, a 75% off offer, then managed to get 75% off? Why aren't Sky's systems better at cross-checking this? Why don't only they issue individual codes, by flier, or email? Are they that bothered? No. Because it's about numbers, not individuals.
There is ample evidence that it is not 'only' what offer is on your respective account, on this forum. Your statement, on the other hand, is pure guesswork and puts people off from having a go at getting the best deal for themselves. You could argue it's a Sky policy but, again, you've no documentary evidence to support this. Even if it is Sky policy, it's a rather flexible one. One that they'll frequently flex to keep current subscribers on-board.

Edit: If mikemoore and chap114 haven't helped kick your argument into touch, then, there really is no answer....

chap114

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

So did you get the 75% off or not?

Since you asked so politely...

chap114 wrote: »

Was slightly awkward when he looked at my account and told me he couldn't apply the offer as my account had been active for the last week...

[Deleted User]

thommy wrote: »

You don't think negotiating skills come into it? I'm staggered. Once you ask for more off, or a better package, that's a negotiating skill!! Some people are good, some are too shy to do that. Plenty of people ask for advice as to how to go about it on here!

I just think you have to convince them that you will cancel (and that you mean it) in order to get better deals to stay. It's not "shyness" that stops the best deals being offered, but a readiness on some people's part to accept any deal.

thommy wrote: »

Your statement, on the other hand, is pure guesswork and puts people off from having a go at getting the best deal for themselves.

Surely advising people that they have to have "excellent negotiating skills" will put them off far more than telling them the deals are dependant on their account history?

thommy wrote: »

There is ample evidence that it is not 'only' what offer is on your respective account, on this forum.

This forum is no more evidence than my "guesswork" is.

I'll leave it there, you're just attacking me rather than discussing the best means to save money.

[Deleted User]

thommy wrote: »

Please re-read what I've said and you'll find that I am actually promoting a wider-ranging approach to saving money with Sky. .

I'm challenging your challenge.
You have said my approach actually puts people off seeking a deal. I think your advice that only people who aren't shy and have "excellent negotiating skills" get the best deals is far more likely to put (some) people off.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

I'll leave it there, you're just attacking me rather than discussing the best means to save money.

Wow, really?

You make incorrect assertions, have them pointed out to you and proven wrong - all very politely and well constructed - and now you're being attacked.... please....... :eek: