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

Duplada

I have been with Sky since the 1990's have a Sky World package with sports and movies and HD and 1 multiroom.

For the last 4 years I have phoned Sky and have cancelled. Irrespective of what they offer initially I go through and cancel. Without fail every year they have phoned me to cut another deal of 50% or better.

I am just coming to the end of a 12 month 50% off TV with 50% off HD and multiroom and £100 credit. I told then I have retired now and I am going to make do with Prime Instant and BT Sport. They offered straight away 50% for 10 months which I declined and cancelled. The 50% offer for 12 months offer then appeared on my Sky account.

I shall just wait for them to call. If they don't I shall renew when the 60% offer arrives after cut off. So far I have never failed to get a good deal before the 31 day notice period expires.

If you are reading this and wondering whether or not to cancel, then just do it, cancel your TV subscription and wait for the deals to be offered. At worst you will get the 50% off any TV package for 12 months which will appear in your My Sky account.

I Will report back how I get on.

I wrote the above on the 1st December When I cancelled. On the 14th December I received a telephone call from Sky offering 50& off for 12 months with no Contract + £50 credit. After 15 minutes of negotiation I settled for 50% of TV 50% of HD and 50% of Multiroom for 12 months with No Contract plus £100 credit to my account. Which is a net result of £33 per month over the twelve months For the Sky World package in HD with Sports and Movies + multiroom, should be £87.50 per month or £1050 per year.

Happy with that and I still had two weeks of my notice period to run. Could have held out for more but didn't want to push my luck too far.

It just shows that you can achieve multiple years on over 50% off. I am always super friendly when they phone, I don't get upset when they attempt to suggest I could slim down my package to achieve savings. I just point out that by utilising Amazon Prime Instant for movies and BT Sports for sport, both of which I already have, I can ditch Sky and save £1000 per year. I further point out that I realise Sky is much better and I will miss it, but the significant savings of £1000 cannot be ignored for someone who is retired, which could mean another holiday, which is very tempting.

The Sky representative who phoned me agreed. Anyway I said "if it doesn't work out I can always give you a call in the future". That's when he caved in.

Try it and you will see the results.

Anon

CashStrapped wrote: »

Do Virgin do renewal contracts/deals (for existing customers) for 18 months?

All my renewals have always been for 12 but some seem to suggest being offered 18 month deals on here.

It may be possible but with Virgin they put their prices up at least once or twice per year (twice this year with above inflation rises each time) so whatever deal you think you are getting does not last long anyway as they simply put up the base price.

danlightbulb

I've just had a letter through from Virgin saying my price will increase by £3.99 in February. Time to start looking elsewhere I think, following a call to see what they will offer.

FoxyLady54

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone on here with the excellent advice re haggling. I was nervous as my husband would go ape if he lost his precious sport on Sky, but I rang and said that as I am now retired and my income has halved (true) I needed to cancel my Sky TV subscription. Was offered £10 discount per month but declined and said I wanted to go ahead with the cancellation. Seconds later I logged in to my account and there was an offer of 50% off for 12 months if I stayed, which I have accepted. I know others have haggled further with success, but I am over the moon with the saving - thank you again for the valuable help and also thank you to this great website, which has saved me money in lots of other ways over the last couple of years!

babymable

Well I am in the position where I am now out of contract with Sky and refuse to continue paying them £85 a month for Family Bundle, Sky Fibre Unlimited and Sky Talk International. I had a half price deal for the first 6 months and full price for the last 6 months. I called today to 'cancel' (try and get a better deal) I was offered a £16 discount £10 off tv and £6 off broadband, I told her I would think about it and hung up. I then went on to Sky Chat to speak to someone on there and he called me is offer was again £16 off plus a £20 credit to my account. That was still not good enough for me so I cancelled, I told him I was disappointed that I was a Sky customer for 2 years and that new customers were being offered better deals then their loyal customers, he then told me that I would probably be receiving a call in the next week or 2 offering a discount trying to get me to stay. We will see what happens. (I will update)

batch_2001

Just to report back with my not very persistent renegotiations

Sky - 50% deal was ending - would only go 20% on phone through cancellations. Cancelled. Walked back to sofa, logged into mysky on laptop "stay with us, 50% off any TV package for 12 months". Reactivated discount through live chat in 10 mins!

BT - out of contract on 20th Jan. Was paying £28 something for line rental + BT infinity 1. Renewed, now pay £31 for same thing (12 months). I know its cheaper switching to Sky (+ quidco) but I quite like having BT Sport Lite and BT wifi - even if I am paying for it now. One word of caution - they weren't pushy after being firm but they did try to upsell BT TV (can't get proper freeview here so not an option for me)

Even so, worth 30 minuted of anyone's time!

2ofclubs

Took 60% off for 12 months and £50 credit. I joined Sky at Christmas which is a bad time to get cut off really with kids. Getting multi room installed at half price for 12 months.

Got to be happy i suppose with that deal

AndyPK

Just had an email from virgin saying my bill is going up £3.49 from Feb.
I am out of my minimum term contract.

If I was to ring up and do a deal or remove a service, would I be locked into a 12 month contract ?

KTF

AndyPK wrote: »

If I was to ring up and do a deal or remove a service, would I be locked into a 12 month contract ?

Call them and ask the question.

AndyPK

Yes, will do.

When your BB and landline cost more than your gas bill somethings not right with the world ! IMO

or is that normal ?

My gas is ~£370 year