Virgin v Sky

brian.betty

I have been with Virgin for a number of years. I had a letter come from Simply Digital saying they might be able to save me a lot of money. So I thought why not I'll give it a go. They quoted me a figure that Sky could do an equivalent service for me. In the meantime I rang Sky direct they quoted me a similar figure.
With Virgin I have:- Talk O8 2; Talk Unlimited; Caller Display; TV XL; Broadband Size M. I pay £50.04 this includes a loyalty bonus. Very good deal I believe.

The opposition quoted me £36.75. They didn't tell me that this was for a very limited number of channels. I normally use about 3.5mb broadband per month, whereas I would be limited to 2mb per month so this would immediately increase the bill by £7.50 per month. To get all their HD channels would cost me an additional £10.25 pm. Virgin make no charge for call outs, to cover their call outs I would have to pay £8.25pm. Always check when you get quoted a certain figure that this includes all the extras!!!!!

Heinz

The £8.25 is, like PPI (nice little earner), for an optional insurance policy. I can't remember ever taking out an insurance policy on a piece of electrical kit, it's just not worth it.

Mark_In_Hampshire

I'm suspecting you mean GB not mb

With Virgin cable they own the box and it's maintained/included e.g. if it goes wrong they replace it

With Sky you own the box and if it goes wrong you have to pay for it to be fixed or replaced. However even in such cases the monthly subscription remains payable even if you can't use it. If the box breaks, your commitment carries on. So the insurance is so as to avoid a bill for replacing the box at some point.

Heinz

£99 a year in case one box goes wrong? And people pay that?

I pay less than that for my combined buildings and contents insurance.

Niv

You can buy a box for less than that from e-bay (or similar type site). I really do not understnad why anyone pays out for this insurance.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Sky offer it because, in practical terms, if the customer's box packs up after a month - and I'm not saying Sky boxes are unreliable, but they are cheaply mass-produced, they have to be - the customer (probably not having read the terms) and is more than a bit hacked off with the idea of paying another 17 months subscriptions without access to the service. So Sky are keen to sell that insurance as a benefit. As Niv says, the cost to replace is less than the cost of the insurance when it's second hand, I've no idea what Sky charge a new one at.

brettcta

sky don't sign people up to 18 month contracts

spike7451

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

Sky offer it because, in practical terms, if the customer's box packs up after a month - and I'm not saying Sky boxes are unreliable, but they are cheaply mass-produced, they have to be - the customer (probably not having read the terms) and is more than a bit hacked off with the idea of paying another 17 months subscriptions without access to the service. So Sky are keen to sell that insurance as a benefit. As Niv says, the cost to replace is less than the cost of the insurance when it's second hand, I've no idea what Sky charge a new one at.

The boxes Sky fit on service calls are reconditioned ones,I went to a service call when HD first came out & the Sky+HD were around £350,needless to say the punter wasn't too happy when he found out his HD box he'd had for about a month & had already been replaced,was getting a second reconditioned HD box! Irony is the fault wasn't even with the HD box,it was down to customer education,he was expecting every HD channel to be Dolby Surround Sound (or whatever it's called,cant remember...old age!)

macman

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

Sky offer it because, in practical terms, if the customer's box packs up after a month - and I'm not saying Sky boxes are unreliable, but they are cheaply mass-produced, they have to be - the customer (probably not having read the terms) and is more than a bit hacked off with the idea of paying another 17 months subscriptions without access to the service. So Sky are keen to sell that insurance as a benefit. As Niv says, the cost to replace is less than the cost of the insurance when it's second hand, I've no idea what Sky charge a new one at.

But the box and other equipment is in warranty for the first 12 months anyway. If it packs up in month 13, you're already out of contract, so a call to Sky threatening to leave will usually result in a free service call.
And the worst case is that even a chargeable service call is a lot less than the insurance.