Sky TV retention deals ( post your haggling successes )

freeganneist

I can see from my predicted bills that my TV Q package (my packs are Signature, Ultimate, Sky Sports+HD, Ultra HD) are due to rise in May. Some of that is due to discounts expiring (I have up to three discounts per pack which all expire at different times) and some of it is due to the base price per pack increasing. I have not received an email or letter informing me of the rises or options.

My current bill is £81 incl broadband (300mbs). The bill for June is projected to be £107.

I'm accustomed to phoning every year, cancelling and then renegotiating. It's a (deliberately?) painful process but I know it needs to be done if we want to keep Q (we do at the moment). I'm on top of dealing with the £3 increase to broadband but need to negotiate the £23 increase to the TV package.

I've had one very painful phone call so far, where I was given a lot of false information (ie I would pay a penalty if I cancel this year, despite the price increases). It was impossible to have any kind of conversation about options due to poor English and strange time lags. I was offered £104 a month instead of £107 but it was impossible to get a breakdown. And I was told that Netflix was an optional extra whereas I thought it was going to be included?

Based on past experience I will need to cancel before I get a better offer. My final understanding from the call, assuming that there weren't mutual misunderstandings, is that I have up until April 26th to cancel the TV without penalty. But without the letter or email from them I really don't know what my options are.

Via the Sky chat I requested a copy of the email to be resent, which they promised to do but it hasn't arrived (of course).

I'm really short on time. I'm now going to be out of the country for almost a month, back on April 24th. I'm worried about cutting it too fine to negotiate a better deal, and have to decide whether to leave it until April 24th and then have a very limited time to haggle, or cancel today and miss any incoming offers/calls while I'm out of the country.

My question is, based on those that have done this haggling thing before, is whether you'd cancel now in the knowledge you'll probably not receive any incoming calls with better deals while out of the country (I will be using an esim while away so will be on a different number) or wait until April 24th and try to do it in a couple of days.

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81938159#Comment_81938159

I would do it now - you can always change your mind before the day if you so wish………….

JSmithy45AD

@freeganneist Yeah, I'd cancel just before you go to maximise your time once back, whether you miss anything meanwhile is unimportant, it's when it gets close to turn off (or even after) that you'll get the best deals.

southlad

Is this normal from Sky?

A family member has been on the SkyQ package where you just get the free channels but with the ability to record. This was £5 per month for the first year but is now £16.

she decided to enquire about Sky Stream as she spotted an ad for the Stream Ultimate TV package for £24 per month, which she thought was good value.

They said as she’s a current customer she’d have to pay £38 per month for the same package.

I’ve advised her to leave to get the best deal but she doesn’t want to do that.

Is there any other way round this?

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954935#Comment_81954935

leave and comeback in 18 months as a new customer !

and start on the roundabout again

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954950#Comment_81954950

Yep, it might not make sense to anyone but that's what you have to do.

Detail_Merchant

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954935#Comment_81954935

Is there another adult in the same household who would be willing to be a 'new' Sky customer for that household? That could be a workaround to get the new customer price.

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81955176#Comment_81955176

I don't think Sky allow more than 1 customer per household so if the first one is out of contract then they'd still need to give 30 days notice.

Detail_Merchant

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81955238#Comment_81955238

Yes, fair point, I hadn't taken @southlad 's comment "I’ve advised her to leave to get the best deal but she doesn’t want to do that." into account.

Lovetofly

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81914329#Comment_81914329

Had an email last week from Sky Customer Feedback asking me to complete a survey. 👇️

"As a valued Sky customer we are really interested in hearing your views about our services and how we can continue to improve. We have a survey that we would love for you to take part in.This survey should take around 15-20 minutes to complete. We always want to know more about customers using our products to help us serve you better, so we’d be really grateful if you could answer these questions.Your feedback will be used to help inform the development of Sky products and our services in the future."

I did and it turned out to be asking me whether I would switch to Sky Stream of Sky Glass. I told them in no uncertain terms that this would be a hard line for me. If my Sky Q becomes obsolete I'll go elsewhere for my TV services. It's hard enough trying to get a decent price for your TV services but changing to streaming is a definite no for me.