Sky TV retention deals ( post your haggling successes )

n1guy

So currently is cancellation and phoned to see if there were any offers, the girl told me that the win back team won't really do anything until the equipment is received back because even though I'm in the process of cancellation I'm still seen as a customer.  Is this true?  Seems a bit of a hassle returning all to have it all sent back out again but tbh if I send it all back I might not even bother again unless it's a super offer. I'm on Sky stream btw.

deanos

n1guy said:

So currently is cancellation and phoned to see if there were any offers, the girl told me that the win back team won't really do anything until the equipment is received back because even though I'm in the process of cancellation I'm still seen as a customer.  Is this true?  Seems a bit of a hassle returning all to have it all sent back out again but tbh if I send it all back I might not even bother again unless it's a super offer. I'm on Sky stream btw.

 No it's not true 

MouldyOldDough

Here are sky's latest offers for NEW customers - This really riles me - why should new customers get a  far better  deal than someone who's been a customer for 22 years ?

MarzipanCrumble

I agrMouldyOldDough said:

Here are sky's latest offers for NEW customers - This really riles me - why should new customers get a  far better  deal than someone who's been a customer for 22 years ?

Totally agree.  The offer I got was twice £25 for that combo but think with Netflix at 10.99.  Wonders how long you have to be 'not a customer' to become a new customer?

antuk

MarzipanCrumble said:

I agrMouldyOldDough said:

Here are sky's latest offers for NEW customers - This really riles me - why should new customers get a  far better  deal than someone who's been a customer for 22 years ?

Totally agree.  The offer I got was twice £25 for that combo but think with Netflix at 10.99.  Wonders how long you have to be 'not a customer' to become a new customer?

Stream is much more expensive than Q if you add everything, hoping they still offer Q deals come renewal time

Easylinkselecta

MouldyOldDough said:

Here are sky's latest offers for NEW customers - This really riles me - why should new customers get a  far better  deal than someone who's been a customer for 22 years ?

Be aware that those 'deals' are for Essential TV only. This is a reduced channel package which only includes the basic free-to-air channels along with Sky Atlantic. You need to add another £7 to those prices to get Sky 'Ultimate' TV if you want all the other Sky channels like Witness, History, Comedy, etc. 
Sky are really, really sneaky these days, always with a new way of weedling some extra money out of customers. 
Personally, I'm so glad I left them earlier in the year. You can get everything, and yes, I do mean EVERYTHING that you can get on the Sky Ultimate TV package from other apps, for a lot less money. All you need is a streaming device like a Firestick, Roku, Apple TV 4K, Android TV or Google TV device. Many smart TVs already have all the apps built in too. BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, My5, U, NOW, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Discovery+, TNT Sports, etc, etc are all available without needing Sky. 
With a bit of rummaging you can get excellent deals on individual streaming services which are much more flexible and often cheaper than Sky. You can easily stop and start them if money is tight or there's nothing on you want to watch. You don't have the hassle of having to ring Sky or return the Stream puck every time you want to cancel.
Honestly, it was a breath of fresh air when I removed Sky from our lives. Less stress, less hassle, and more money in my pocket! 

hulahula11

Finally plucked up the courage to Sky haggle.

*First call meant I was dealing with someone fairly robotic but clearly given a little bargaining power.
*Currently paying £94.50pm - Sky Signature, Broadband Superfast, Talk Anytime Extra with 1571
*First offer - £77.50pm for everything. I cancelled everything.
*Standard confirmation emails and a few hours later, I get a text message to call them. Actually, got to speak to someone with personality and actual suggestions to help to get the price down.
*Second offer - £73.50pm for everything or £57pm if I reduced to Freeview. Said I would think about it and was given the chap's call handle number in case I encountered difficulties if I wanted to accept. Wasn't given any pressure and have come away to think on it. I did call them back to check contract term which was 24mths.

How does that sounds? Accept or hold off for a better offer?
I'm a bit unsure on whether to drop to Freeview or not. Any advice there?
I've been with them for almost 20yrs and have been paying for my elderly mum who quite frankly only really uses the TV, Wifi for any mobile/Hive (which I manage) and the landline is really an back-up just incase thing.

deanos

hulahula11 said:

Finally plucked up the courage to Sky haggle.

*First call meant I was dealing with someone fairly robotic but clearly given a little bargaining power.
*Currently paying £94.50pm - Sky Signature, Broadband Superfast, Talk Anytime Extra with 1571
*First offer - £77.50pm for everything. I cancelled everything.
*Standard confirmation emails and a few hours later, I get a text message to call them. Actually, got to speak to someone with personality and actual suggestions to help to get the price down.
*Second offer - £73.50pm for everything or £57pm if I reduced to Freeview. Said I would think about it and was given the chap's call handle number in case I encountered difficulties if I wanted to accept. Wasn't given any pressure and have come away to think on it. I did call them back to check contract term which was 24mths.

How does that sounds? Accept or hold off for a better offer?
I'm a bit unsure on whether to drop to Freeview or not. Any advice there?
I've been with them for almost 20yrs and have been paying for my elderly mum who quite frankly only really uses the TV, Wifi for any mobile/Hive (which I manage) and the landline is really an back-up just incase thing.

Free view is well free , so £57 for phone and broadband seems a lot , do you really need a landline , i did away with mine last year and don’t miss it at all, you may be better switching broadband , do you have any local companies on fibre , we have a couple here and they are not on the comparison sites 

hulahula11

deanos said:

hulahula11 said:

Finally plucked up the courage to Sky haggle.

*First call meant I was dealing with someone fairly robotic but clearly given a little bargaining power.
*Currently paying £94.50pm - Sky Signature, Broadband Superfast, Talk Anytime Extra with 1571
*First offer - £77.50pm for everything. I cancelled everything.
*Standard confirmation emails and a few hours later, I get a text message to call them. Actually, got to speak to someone with personality and actual suggestions to help to get the price down.
*Second offer - £73.50pm for everything or £57pm if I reduced to Freeview. Said I would think about it and was given the chap's call handle number in case I encountered difficulties if I wanted to accept. Wasn't given any pressure and have come away to think on it. I did call them back to check contract term which was 24mths.

How does that sounds? Accept or hold off for a better offer?
I'm a bit unsure on whether to drop to Freeview or not. Any advice there?
I've been with them for almost 20yrs and have been paying for my elderly mum who quite frankly only really uses the TV, Wifi for any mobile/Hive (which I manage) and the landline is really an back-up just incase thing.

Free view is well free , so £57 for phone and broadband seems a lot , do you really need a landline , i did away with mine last year and don’t miss it at all, you may be better switching broadband , do you have any local companies on fibre , we have a couple here and they are not on the comparison sites 

My mum lives on her own, no other family/support and I'm an hour away. Memory issues also play a part, so its likely she could/will lose her mobile and I'm reluctant to change too much from a memory point of view. It's a safety back-up more than anything.

The £57 includes Sky's Essential TV. Sorry, I probably got the terminology wrong. It breaks down as:
£15 Sky Essentials (£31.50 if Sky Signature)
£24 Broadband
£18 Sky Talk w/voicemail

BomberHQ2

Here's my recent experience for the record ...

My elderly Dad has been a "loyal and valued"  customer for nearly 25 years. I'd always assumed he was paying about £30 a month so nearly fell off my chair when I saw a recent bank statement showing just over £100 a month for a basic package plus Sports!
So thanks to this and other forums I went into a polite but painful battle with them just over a month ago. We agreed we wanted ...
Sky Q 1TB box with Sky Signature basic package (replacing an old Sky+ box)

Sky Multiroom with 1 minibox (so mum can watch in bed)
Netflix Standard with no ads

I figured I could haggle this to around £55 per month.

First of all, internet chat is a complete and utter waste of time and effort. In 2 prolonged (over an hour each) chats during Black Friday week I was offered conflicting and contradictory packages at a multitude of prices. I was clear I didn't want broadband or mobile, but they kept reoffering these deals. Whenever I would read back the deal I thought we'd struck, they would come back with a different package or price!

In the end I just told them to cancel the whole contract. It took over 40 minutes for them to actually agree to cancel. You have to be patient, dogged and determined!

In the past month I've had a couple of bland emails and texts i.e. "You don't have to leave. Call us to explore your options", but no direct contact from them. I called the last number (03337 594 451) a couple of days before the end of the contract and got straight through to a UK agent. I had to force them to stay on focus (they don't really seem to know their own packages in detail) and just price up the deal I wanted. In the end (15 minutes) I got their best and final price of £65 per month.

I politely declined and said I was sticking to my target of £55 per month.

Noone has called me back and the contract ended yesterday. My dad still wants Sky Sports, so I'm going to get him 6 months on NowTV for £26 per month, then we'll look at options again when his broadband goes out of contract in July.

In my opinion Sky are lazily shooting themselves in the foot by having incompetent first line customer service and little appetite to negotiate clearly and concisely. Dad must have paid them at least £15,000 over 25 years! That's a lot of money just to watch TV!