Sky TV retention deals ( post your haggling successes )

brewerdave

ppsears said:

My Sky TV contract is up now and on the basis I'd received an email from them on the 30 March to say my discounts had been extended for another 12 months, I'd hoped I'd avoid the normal renegotiation "dance" with Sky for a little while anyway.  Am glad I checked my upcoming bills as it's going up from £64 to £86.  When I spoke with Live Chat yesterday, they had no knowledge of any such deals being offered via email.  Long story short, I've lodged my 30 day notice period and will see what phone calls, etc are forthcoming.  Just interested in whether anyone else got that email - pretty disingenuous to make that offer to people and then (a) not apply it and (b) have no knowledge of it.  Cheers.   

I had a similar offer last year, for my contracted 18 month deal which was due to end in December 22 HOWEVER when I looked at the detail my price was going from £38pm to £53pm as all the individual items were at a reduced rate of discount ,albeit still less than " list price".
Like you ,I refused the deal - renegotiated via cancellation route, and got an upgrade to SkyQ for the same package at £38pm again, now gone up to £43pm - still a lot less than I would have been paying if I'd accepted last November !!

Goldust

Got the comeback stuff from Sky... went of live chat and they offered me £39.50 for Signature, Kids, HD and multiscreen.

Told them to shove it and they offered me a measly £1.50 more off.  So I guess the boxes are going back... I was aiming for £20 as per the benchmark suggested on a previous page.  That works out half price which isn't a huge ask given how generous Sky usually are.  But hey ho.  

Danszagl

Goldust said:

Got the comeback stuff from Sky... went of live chat and they offered me £39.50 for Signature, Kids, HD and multiscreen.

Told them to shove it and they offered me a measly £1.50 more off.  So I guess the boxes are going back... I was aiming for £20 as per the benchmark suggested on a previous page.  That works out half price which isn't a huge ask given how generous Sky usually are.  But hey ho.  

I sent my boxes back a couple of weeks ago and they keep sending the comeback stuff too. I find their offers really quite insulting as my original deal was better, not to mention the improved deals I got on chat before that.

Totally not missing it, there are plenty of ways to watch TV these days.

I might even turn my marketing communications off if I get sent any more ridiculous offers. I mean, where's the logic? You offer a previous customer a worse deal than they had before they left? What the actual F?!

Eirambler

My latest 18 month deal is up at the end of the month so I contacted them today to put through my cancellation.

A lot has changed in that 18 months and we're a lot less reliant on Sky than we used to be. I'd say 95% of our TV use now is other streaming services. So when they asked (on the chat service) if I wanted to discuss reducing bills it was easy to just say no and let them put through the cancellation, which they have done.

If they come back with a good offer later I'll reconsider. If they don't, as seems more likely judging by the feedback on this thread, then they'll never have been missed less by us. Which is why it seems ironic that at a time when they seem to be in their weakest position, with more competition than ever before, they're actually choosing to be less competitive.

Anyway, I have one question. I never upgraded to Sky Q as pretty much everyone else seems to have done over the years. I just stayed with Sky+ and never switched over. My understanding is that, when I first signed up to Sky+ 9 years ago, I then owned the Sky+ box I was given, which is still in use today. I believe that was standard practice at that time.

However the person on the chat was insistent that I'd have to return it to avoid paying a fee, even when I explained that it was my Sky+ box, not their Sky Q box. I just want to check that I have this correct, does anyone know for definite what the situation is with Sky+ boxes?

I have no idea if it will even work as a Freesat style box once the cancellation goes through, but it's more the principle - why should I have to send them back something that I own?

OldDIYer

You own the Sky + box. Discussion here:
https://www.digirepairs.co.uk/can-i-buy-my-own-sky-box-do-i-own-my-sky-boxes-yes/#:~:text=No, you actually own your,in fact simply not true.

Goldust

Q boxes sent back. Direct Debit cancelled (as it wouldn't be the first time they took money off me for this incorrectly).

I think we'll be fine - Sky isn't the draw it once was. Just annoying all my aerials and cables go into another room but that's no biggie. They had their chance to offer me a realistic deal and didn't so sod them.

hez12

Been with Sky for around 11 years, always had a fairly basic package. As with others on here, have always negotiated a "deal" each year and stayed. This was the first year I have actually cancelled. Was paying £30 and then increased to £32 a month for Signature, HD and multiscreen (have main Sky Q box and 2 mini boxes). Initial offer was £39 a month and then £42 a month. So let it cancel and am currently in the period between it being turned off and needing to send the boxes back.

Have just been offered the following:

Sky Signature - £16
HD - £5
Multiscreen - £10
Total £31

Was also offered:

Sky Signature - £16
HD - £5
Multiscreen - £10
Sky Sports complete inc HD - £14
Total £45

And also:

Sky Signature - £16
HD - £5
Multiscreen - £10
Sky Sports complete inc HD and Cinema - £20
Total £51

I enquired about adding Sports and Cinema in order to see if it brought the price of my initial package down, i.e. opened up more discounts, but it didn't. I was also thinking it might make it appear better value if I was paying a little bit more, but getting more than just Freeview + NOW TV.

This was on the online chat and decided to leave it. The agent said they would be leaving the deal on the account and also passing it to their manager and they may be in touch with a better deal. Won't hold my breath though.

Will see what they do and go from there.

hez12

Have been thinking about the above deal and whether to go for it or not.

With there now being TV via wifi options such as Sky Stream and Virgin Stream (which I only knew existed because of this thread), do we think there will be a Freeview version of this soon? i.e. a Freeview box that connects over wi-fi and has a full TV guide with live channels and no aerial required.

One alternative that I am playing around with on an old Apple TV is the app called TV Launcher. It is a full TV guide with all the channels showing from the various apps you have installed (iPlayer, All4, ITVx, NOW etc). You can click on the programme and it takes you straight into the relevant app and loads up the live channel. You can also scroll back and click on something that has already been on and it again loads it straight up from the relevant app.

This is close to what a Freeview version of these streaming boxes could be, but still relies on the various apps so whilst very handy is more clunky than a proper Freeview version would be.

mits999

hez12 said:

Have been thinking about the above deal and whether to go for it or not.

With there now being TV via wifi options such as Sky Stream and Virgin Stream (which I only knew existed because of this thread), do we think there will be a Freeview version of this soon? i.e. a Freeview box that connects over wi-fi and has a full TV guide with live channels and no aerial required.

One alternative that I am playing around with on an old Apple TV is the app called TV Launcher. It is a full TV guide with all the channels showing from the various apps you have installed (iPlayer, All4, ITVx, NOW etc). You can click on the programme and it takes you straight into the relevant app and loads up the live channel. You can also scroll back and click on something that has already been on and it again loads it straight up from the relevant app.

This is close to what a Freeview version of these streaming boxes could be, but still relies on the various apps so whilst very handy is more clunky than a proper Freeview version would be.

Get yourself a fire stick 4K max lots of free channels and apps, and ditch sky!

hez12

mits999 said:

hez12 said:

Have been thinking about the above deal and whether to go for it or not.

With there now being TV via wifi options such as Sky Stream and Virgin Stream (which I only knew existed because of this thread), do we think there will be a Freeview version of this soon? i.e. a Freeview box that connects over wi-fi and has a full TV guide with live channels and no aerial required.

One alternative that I am playing around with on an old Apple TV is the app called TV Launcher. It is a full TV guide with all the channels showing from the various apps you have installed (iPlayer, All4, ITVx, NOW etc). You can click on the programme and it takes you straight into the relevant app and loads up the live channel. You can also scroll back and click on something that has already been on and it again loads it straight up from the relevant app.

This is close to what a Freeview version of these streaming boxes could be, but still relies on the various apps so whilst very handy is more clunky than a proper Freeview version would be.

Get yourself a fire stick 4K max lots of free channels and apps, and ditch sky!

I have a Firestick 4K (not max) and also have smart TVs. I’m happy with this route, but my wife can’t get used to it and says she doesn’t know what’s been on or if she has missed anything. She’s very used to having everything sat there for her in the recordings section.