Sky - Not just TV Price rises

Leebobs

Dear All,

I received a letter from Sky today setting out their TV price rises in June (I'm leaving them when I'm out of contract on 3 May anyway but this just added to the reasons) MSE News: Sky TV customers to be hit with price hikes.

Tucked in with that little nugget of joy was a further letter headed "Clearer call rates for everyone".

It then blames Ofcom for requiring Sky to charge an "access charge" if calls are made to 08, 09 or 118 numbers. Sky's charge being 9.5p per minute on top of what the company you call charges.

The letter then says "If you're not happy with this access charge, you can cancel your Sky Communication Products. If you want to leave and you are within your minimum contract period, you'll need to call us within 30 days of receiving this letter to avoid incurring early termination charges."

Does this mean I can cancel my Sky Talk and Fibre package as well? I have another 6 months to run on those... may just move wholesale to another provider...

Cheers

Leebobs

jhp

Yes Ofcom have issued a directive on making cost of 08/09/118 calls clearer.

See http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uk-calling-clear-call-rates.html where its explained.

Also see official site. http://www.ukcalling.info/


Interesting that Sky are allowing customers to leave .

In answer to your question it would appear you will be able to cancel all your Sky Communication Products penalty free as without the phone line they would not be any use.

Quentin

Leebobs wrote: »

It then blames Ofcom for requiring Sky to charge an "access charge" if calls are made to 08, 09 or 118 numbers. Sky's charge being 9.5p per minute on top of what the company you call charges.

.......

jhp wrote: »

Yes Ofcom have issued a directive on making cost of 08/09/118 calls clearer......
.

These charges don't apply to "08" numbers (which would mean 0800 calls are no longer free.


They are applied to "084" and "087" numbers (as well as 09 and 118 numbers)

Ian011

The current arrangement is that the retail cost of calling an 084, 087, 09 or 118 number is made up of two parts. One is the part retained by Sky for connecting and conveying the call. The other is the Enhanced Termination Charge to the benefit of the called party and their telecoms provider. Sky present only the combined total price plus a connection fee.

Ofcom are not forcing any additional charges. Ofcom are forcing price transparency for these calls by requiring the two existing components to be separately declared. They are also banning connection or set-up fees on calls to 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers.

Sky's portion of the call charge is currently around 2p to 5p per minute on calls to 084 and 087 numbers, and very much higher on calls to 09 and 118 numbers. The amount varies depending on the number called. Ofcom are banning this variation and require the same rate to be set for all 084, 087, 09 and 118 calls.

You have stated that Sky have decided to set their Access Charge at 9.5p per minute. Does the letter explicitly state 9.5p per minute? Ofcom's announcements seemed to suggest that charges will always be a whole number of pence (correction: that applies only to the Service Charge). Whether this represents an average of their previous non-transparent rates, or not, is unknown.

If that is the level, then from 1 July 2015, the total call cost of calling any 084, 087, 09 or 118 number from a Sky landline will be 9.5p per minute plus the Service Charge advertised by whoever you are calling. Ofcom has published a provisional list of Service Charges "SCMS" on their website.

Compared to current prices, the total cost of calling some numbers will go up and the total cost of calling others will come down. In some cases, such as some 09 and 118 numbers, the price drop will be significant.

egrescrimp

I received the email this afternoon about the price rise for Sky Talk and about being able to cancel if not happy:

Your Sky Talk call plan

From 1 July 2015, if you make calls to 08, 09 or 118 numbers, they will consist of an access charge from Sky and a service charge from the company you called. The access charge for non-inclusive calls to service numbers made from your Sky Talk landline will be 9.5p per minute.

If you're not happy with this access charge, you can cancel your Sky Communications Products. If you want to leave and are within your minimum contract period, you'll need to call us within 30 days of receiving this letter to avoid incurring early termination charges.

For more information about our access charge please visit sky.com/tariffguide

Thank you for continuing to choose Sky.

The Sky Team

Grimbal

I've just received the same email too - I'm confused as they say 08 numbers, of which 0800 is surely one ?

egrescrimp

I think they are referring to the ones which have a cost involved

I confirmed with Sky that you can cancel broadband connections or move to another provider without penalty.

Ian011

egrescrimp wrote: »

I received the email this afternoon about the price rise for Sky Talk and about being able to cancel if not happy:

It depends which numbers, 084, 087, 09 or 118, you call as to whether it is a price rise or a price cut.

Most NHS services, post sales helplines for retailers, traders and passenger transport companies, government departments, their agencies and other public services, banks and various other organisations have swapped their 084 and 087 lines to the matching 034 or 037 number or to a new 030 or 033 number. There is now hardly any need to call 084 or 087 numbers and the cost of calling them is becoming largely irrelevant.

The most important thing at the moment is to make sure you are on the best deal for calling 01, 02 and 03 numbers. Generally this means being on an anytime inclusive call plan.