Sky Contract after "upgrade"

bleary

Hi there,

My girlfriend rang to cancel our sky contract on Saturday, we are a few months out of the minimum 12 months now. Anyway, they worked out a "deal" for us which after looking closer isn't actually that good, 25% off only the tv package, so still full price for HD, multiroom etc etc...

Question is, under the distance selling regulations do we have the right to cancel still? I have called sky on her bahalf this morning and they are flat refusing to cancel now as they say we are locked in for another 12 months.

Is this definately the case, or can we decide against the "offer" they gave us on Saturday evening?

Many thanks!

McKneff

Were you cancelling because you wanted to cancel or were you hoping for a 'deal'

bleary

McKneff wrote: »

Were you cancelling because you wanted to cancel or were you hoping for a 'deal'

Basically we dont watch any of it, kind of just caught off guard and a moment of madness she agreed to take all of this stuff that we just dont need.

So I called this morning and tried to cancel they said I cant BUT they can reduce the package, so at least straight away I managed to remove some excess, i.e cancelled multiroom, removed movies and sport - but they wouldnt cancel in full like I wanted.

Now when you get a new install it seems you have about 28days after install to cancel - so does this mean we should get the same cancellation rights when "upgrading" ?

Also - while I think of it, surely we shouldnt need to be in a 12 month contract again as all we are now doing is adding a few extra mixes compared to what we had (we cancelled right down to the minimum package last month)

They have my head spinning, think i need a coffee to unwind haha :rotfl:

macman

Distance selling regs do not apply, as this is not a new contract.
You agreed a new 12m contract, which they will hold you to.

bleary

macman wrote: »

Distance selling regs do not apply, as this is not a new contract.
You agreed a new 12m contract, which they will hold you to.

Oh dear...so no cooling off at all?

I thought when you agreed to enter into any new contract you had some sort of cooling off period? In the exact sense of the phrase, she/we needed time to cool off as she was pretty much talked into staying and paying more - when the initial call was to cancel....surely? :eek:

macman

No, there is no cooling-off applicable. She wasn't 'talked into it'. She agreed it. The Sky retentions dept did their job, which was to retain your business. If she wasn't sure, she could have called them back later and asked them to hold the offer.
If you phone up to cancel and then accept a better deal, then clearly you didn't 100% intend to cancel.
The fact that you have now changed your mind does not invalidate the verbal contract you made.

bleary

macman wrote: »

No, there is no cooling-off applicable. She wasn't 'talked into it'. She agreed it. The Sky retentions dept did their job, which was to retain your business. If she wasn't sure, she could have called them back later and asked them to hold the offer.
If you phone up to cancel and then accept a better deal, then clearly you didn't 100% intend to cancel.
The fact that you have now changed your mind does not invalidate the verbal contract you made.

She was talked into it though and did ring up with the intention of cancelling. Then they spend a couple of hours persuading her to stay offering x y and x...making it sound too good to be true etc...she gave in and accepted something which really she shouldn't have.

Yes the guy done his job, of course he did, he persuaded someone calling up to cancel to take out a new 12 month contract and pay more money than they were paying at the time. For him, job well done.

Oh well, you live and learn.

MrsMalthouse

I did something similar a while ago-nobody told me that it meant I would have to stay with them for another year-I feel cheated.

macman

It's irrelevant what her intention was when she phoned up. Everyone single customer that gets put through to retentions has the intention of cancelling, their sole function is to persuade them otherwise. Your OH had two hours in which to say 'sorry, not interested, I want to cancel'. She's an adult and made her own decision.
The only possible get-out would be if the account is not in her name and therefore she could not authorise the upgrade unless you gave Sky permission to speak to her about it, or she had knowledge of your security details.

macman

MrsMalthouse wrote: »

I did something similar a while ago-nobody told me that it meant I would have to stay with them for another year-I feel cheated.

How have you been 'cheated'? You presumably got an improved deal (lower tariff or extra services) from them, did you think Sky would want nothing back in return?
Why would they give you a better deal and then just let you leave 30 days later?

McKneff

Well I was very happy with Sky last night, rang up to cancel Multi Room, when i was asked why i told them I was having to cut costs.

They then offered me half price package for 6 months at the end of which i can cancel Multi Room if I wish.

I grabbed it with both hands.