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

lmcamoes

Hi,

I had what I think was a good Sky deal.

I was Sky costumer for TV, phone and broadband paying £16.4 for phone line, £7.50 for Broadband and £33 for TV package.

To cut costs I decided to cancel the TV package.

They tried to convinced me to down size the TV package instead of cancel it but I was determined and said that it was to do to financial problems and did not want any TV deal with them.

They eventually canceled the TV and for my surprise they offered me the Broadband for free for 12 months if I extended the contract for another 3 months.

My contract for Broadband was ending in December and now is ending in March but I have the Broadband for free.

From a bill of more than £55 it is know £16.40

I hope that my example helps others to get a good deal.

Mr_Giraffics

This is a bit of a boring read, but please stick with it.

I've just arranged to cancel my SKY contract, I have been with SKY for about 5 years. I have decided to go with VIRGIN because, among other things, they offer a free TIVO recordable box.

Whilst cancelling my SKY contract, I was told by SKY that if I stayed I was in fact eligible for a Free SKY+ recordable box to replace my ordinary box - sadly I had to go through the cancelling process to find that out.

I was offered a free SKY + box
AND I was offered a 10 month deal ON my existing bundle,
which would have brought my payment down by £12 to £38.30,
but this would have risen back to £50.40 after the 10 months.

I was very polite and appreciative of the help but I said I would still go to VIRGIN, I told the SKY rep that if it didn't work out with VIRGIN I could always come back to SKY as a new customer in 18 months - she told me if I did that I would lose all the loyalty benefits I had built up. Loyalty benefits?

According to the SKY website,
if I was to join as a brand new SKY customer right now,
I could get a Free SKY + box and the EXACT same Bundle for about £42 for the first 12 months, rising to just £45.40 thereafter, £5 less than I pay SKY now.

Contrary to what the SKY rep told me, there seems no benefit whatsoever in being a 'loyal' customer, in fact on my SKY Bundle it is definitely better to be a brand new customer.

I think, as with other services, Banking, Insurances etc, it might be a good idea to move around - until these services can prove there are REAL and GENUINE benefits to loyalty. Sadly they are not pro active, they are re active, they only care when you try to move on.

Innys1

Mr_Giraffics wrote: »

This is a bit of a boring read, but please stick with it.

I've just arranged to cancel my SKY contract, I have been with SKY for about 5 years. I have decided to go with VIRGIN because, among other things, they offer a free TIVO recordable box.

Whilst cancelling my SKY contract, I was told by SKY that if I stayed I was in fact eligible for a Free SKY+ recordable box to replace my ordinary box - sadly I had to go through the cancelling process to find that out.

I was offered a free SKY + box
AND I was offered a 10 month deal ON my existing bundle,
which would have brought my payment down by £12 to £38.30,
but this would have risen back to £50.40 after the 10 months.

I was very polite and appreciative of the help but I said I would still go to VIRGIN, I told the SKY rep that if it didn't work out with VIRGIN I could always come back to SKY as a new customer in 18 months - she told me if I did that I would lose all the loyalty benefits I had built up. Loyalty benefits?

According to the SKY website,
if I was to join as a brand new SKY customer right now,
I could get a Free SKY + box and the EXACT same Bundle for about £42 for the first 12 months, rising to just £45.40 thereafter, £5 less than I pay SKY now.

Contrary to what the SKY rep told me, there seems no benefit whatsoever in being a 'loyal' customer, in fact on my SKY Bundle it is definitely better to be a brand new customer.

I think, as with other services, Banking, Insurances etc, it might be a good idea to move around - until these services can prove there are REAL and GENUINE benefits to loyalty. Sadly they are not pro active, they are re active, they only care when you try to move on.

Anyone with sense would have worked that out over ten years ago, if not more.

Rev

Called Sky on behalf on my Aunty today.

She was visiting and mentioned she had another letter saying her package was going up to £30 a month from £27. And she thought the bill was becoming quite expensive.


Asked her a few questions about her package, turns out she doesn't even have a box capable of Sky+ never mind HD etc. Was really annoyed to be honest. She's a pensioner and not very knowledgable about these things. Her son set it up for her years back so I assumed he would be making sure she was getting the best deal etc but no. She's been paying full whack and still has one of the old style white boxes. No Sky+. No catch up nothing. But then again that's not Sky's fault. They're not going to call and tell her she's being ripped off are they.


Called Sky and all the could offer was removal of the music/kids/documentary channels and 10% off with a free box capable of recording. She's not fussed about HD. So £16.50 for 10 months. Then back up to full price for two months. So basically not much.


The rep tried telling me this was a great deal due to them waving the £60 fee for the box. I told her new customers get a free box and installation plus a £100 reward or a free 32" TV and if 10% and a free box was the best they could offer a customer who has been paying full price for their package for 15+ years then they could go ahead and cancel.


Will take her shopping some time next week and sort a freesat box.


Gave them my mobile number as the account contact because of they call her trying to offer a deal she will be very easily convinced that they're doing her a massive favour and will agree to a new contract.

chatmac481

I left sky 2 months ago but kept their unlimited broadband for £12.50 per month. Today they offered me 60% off ANY tv package plus £100 credited to my sky account. Their "original" package is £21.50 or £8.60 after the discount. with the £100 credit thrown in it leaves £3.20 to pay for the whole year or 27p per month !!. well happy

KTF

The £100 credit comes off the whole bill so if you have phone/Bb as well then it's gone in a few months. It isn't ring fenced and taken off the tv part of the bill only.

Innys1

chatmac481 wrote: »

I left sky 2 months ago but kept their unlimited broadband for £12.50 per month. Today they offered me 60% off ANY tv package plus £100 credited to my sky account. Their "original" package is £21.50 or £8.60 after the discount. with the £100 credit thrown in it leaves £3.20 to pay for the whole year or 27p per month !!. well happy

Does that include line rental?

Rev

To be honest she's not that bothered. I've shown her what channels are available with freesat and explained what she'll lose if she doesn't have sky and she's happy with that.


I did tell her to have a think and be 100% sure and if she decided she wants sky I'll do as you've suggested but any less and I'll tell her to leave. Honestly can't believe she's been paying almost £30 for Thor most basic package. No HD, no sky+ nothing.


When I was with sky I had everything besides movies and did t pay £30.

lonestarfan

Can anyone give me an idea of what I should be able to get my package reduced to if I ring them to cancel. I have Sky sports, sky plus, all the tv channels, line rental, broadband, Sky go, anytime calls. I pay £82.40 pm
I'm not willing to lose any channels or services as its for my nephews who are sports mad and use that fully. They use Sky go regularly too. The family use the BB and telephone so it's all used. Have I got any chance at all of a good reduction do you think? If so what should I try to get it reduced to? Thanks.

Also would prefer not to have to go through the cancellation charade as I don't want to cancel and then re connect as I have sick pple in household who can't be troubled by the upheaval.

mije1983

lonestarfan wrote: »

Can anyone give me an idea of what I should be able to get my package reduced to if I ring them to cancel. I have Sky sports, sky plus, all the tv channels, line rental, broadband, Sky go, anytime calls. I pay £82.40 pm
I'm not willing to lose any channels or services as its for my nephews who are sports mad and use that fully. They use Sky go regularly too. The family use the BB and telephone so it's all used. Have I got any chance at all of a good reduction do you think? If so what should I try to get it reduced to? Thanks.

Also would prefer not to have to go through the cancellation charade as I don't want to cancel and then re connect as I have sick pple in household who can't be troubled by the upheaval.

You could try phoning up to negotiate, but I doubt you'd get much further than 'we can reduce your bill by dropping x, y & z from your package'. You usually have to put in your cancellation notice to get the half decent offers.

You'll often get offers within your 30 day notice period but if you don't, and if it's that much of a hardship being cut off, then you can always phone up on the last day and cancel your cancellation if you know what I mean.

If the TV gets cut off, it's literally flip a switch and it's back on instantly. So that shouldn't cause much unheaval. BB and phone are more complicated though.