Sky broadband exit charges

Shedgal83

I had sky talk, broadband and q box installed in January. A few weeks later and after noticing that the broadband was going to have a price hike, I received a call from BT offering me broadband with free BT SPORT (which I was paying for extra) so I moved to BT. Now I thought I was perfectly ok to move without being charged from Sky seeing as they’d notified me of an impending price hike, but they’ve sent me a letter saying they’re charging me £155!!!
Where do I stand on this? Do I have to pay this? It seems a hell of a charge!

JJ_Egan

You where in contract .
Sky notifies you of an increase .
You phone Sky and say you are cancelling under Ofcom rules due to the price increase.
But you just swapped ISP instead of cancelling .You owe Sky the balance of your broken contract .
You can ask them nicely to reduce the charges .

boatman

When you got a letter from Sky saying sorry to see you go(would have been shortly after signing up with BT), were you less than 30 days from when you received a letter from Sky telling you about the price hike?

Shortly after you signed up for BT, BT would have told Sky they were taking over your phone and broadband, this counts as 'notice' to Sky that you are leaving, there is no requirement for you to contact Sky personally.

Sky informed you that you are free to leave penalty free within a 30 day window, so they know full well that if you leave during this time, they cannot charge a termination fee/penalty.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2015/05/a-guide-to-switching-uk-broadband-and-phone-provider-after-june-2015.html

Gaining provider led process
This is by far the most common process and is as easy as telling your new provider you're ready to make the switch, either by ordering a package online or over the phone.

Both your new and old provider should then contact you by post or email, with details of:

• the services which will be affected
• the services which are unaffected, and
• any early termination charges for the service your currently using.

The letters should also include further details of the switching process, including a reasonable estimate of how long it will take.

littleboo

I'm not sure of the wording of the Sky letter, but it may be that you have to notify them them that you are leaving due to the price rise and not simply change providers.

teddysmum

I left BT for phone when there was a price rise (only a few days short of my minimum term, due to taking an offer) and allowed Sky to take this and my O2 broadband, I do remember having to tell BT,then accepting Sky's offer. I got BT's email(sorry etc) but did call just to make sure there would be no penalty.


If you just took BT's offer and let them proceed Sky would not know that you were leaving because of a price rise,so charged accordingly.

boatman

teddysmum wrote: »

If you just took BT's offer and let them proceed, Sky would not know that you were leaving because of a price rise,so charged accordingly.

Sky know you are in the 30 day period where you can leave without penalty, they have decided to increase prices, so they are well aware of their requirement under OFCOM rules that you get to leave without penalty, they can't tell you you can leave penalty free then charge, regardless of letters they may 'send in error'. having said all that I would suspect that its probably a good idea to contact the company you are leaving, by phone if you like(most people try to avoid it because of pushy sales people), maybe better by online chat or send an email, at least then you have a record in writing.

If you have Sky Tv I believe you might be able to cancel this as well, depends if you took it out as a package at the same time.

I'm not denying that on the letter you receive it says to contact the company you are leaving, but the reason for that is so they can convince you to stay, there is no requirement to call them, that's why its called a 'gaining provider led process'. The reason the system is set up this way is precisely because OFCOM found that companies who people were leaving made it difficult, so they changed the system so you don't have to call them.

If you are joining or leaving Virgin, then you must contact both providers

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/switching/switching-broadband-provider
Under a 'gaining provider led process', your new provider will arrange the transfer for you.
You only need to contact the provider you wish to switch to, who will notify your old provider of the intended transfer - you do not need to cancel your contract with your old provider.
If you change your mind, you must contact your new provider to cancel your request to switch.
Once you have contacted your new provider to begin the switching process, both your new provider and the provider you're leaving must both send you a notification letter to inform you of the switch.
The letter from the provider you are leaving must include details of:

• the services which are affected,
• the services which are unaffected, and
• any applicable early termination charges that relate to the services you currently take.

The letters from the provider you are leaving and your new provider must also give details of the switch, including a reasonable estimate of the date it will happen.
Your new provider must also keep for a minimum of 12 months a record of your consent to switch services.

phillw

boatman wrote: »

Sky know you are in the 30 day period where you can leave without penalty, they have decided to increase prices, so they are well aware of their requirement under OFCOM rules that you get to leave without penalty, they can't tell you you can leave penalty free then charge,

I don't know what happens if you leave without telling them you were leaving due to the price increase and they charge because they didn't "know" that is why you were leaving & you take the complaint to the ombudsman.

If you have told them, then no they can't charge but they will probably try because of computer error etc etc

boatman wrote: »

If you have Sky Tv I believe you might be able to cancel this as well, depends if you took it out as a package at the same time.

I believe Sky TV has separate T&C and would be regarded as separate, even though it was taken out at the same time. I took out BT Mobile and broadband + line rental & when they increased prices then I could only leave broadband + line rental, but BT couldn't increase the cost of the Mobile (which was discounted due to me being a customer when I took it out).

boatman

phillw wrote: »

I don't know what happens if you leave without telling them you were leaving due to the price increase and they charge because they didn't "know" that is why you were leaving & you take the complaint to the ombudsman.
If you have told them, then no they can't charge but they will probably try because of computer error etc etc

It probably is a good idea to contact them, but do it via an email or online contact form, you then don't get hassled by sales people. If you want to stay and get a new offer from them then you pretty much have to call them.

I believe Sky TV has separate T&C and would be regarded as separate, even though it was taken out at the same time. I took out BT Mobile and broadband + line rental & when they increased prices then I could only leave broadband + line rental, but BT couldn't increase the cost of the Mobile (which was discounted due to me being a customer when I took it out).

Looking at an older thread on sky price rises it seemed to depend on taking the whole lot as a package. I'm not sure why Bt mobile seems to be treated differently, perhaps because some of the features of sky use wifi.

iniltous

Shedgal83 wrote: »

I had sky talk, broadband and q box installed in January. A few weeks later and after noticing that the broadband was going to have a price hike, I received a call from BT offering me broadband with free BT SPORT (which I was paying for extra) so I moved to BT. Now I thought I was perfectly ok to move without being charged from Sky seeing as they!!!8217;d notified me of an impending price hike, but they!!!8217;ve sent me a letter saying they!!!8217;re charging me £155!!!
Where do I stand on this? Do I have to pay this? It seems a hell of a charge!

AFAIK , the Ofcom rules that allow you to leave a communications company (within a set period) if they increase prices, only applys to phone/broadband , not TV.
If you took Sky TV , and you leave the TV service , (regardless of price increase) within the minimum term, you are liable to pay early termination changes,

boatman

By sky Q box do they mean the box under the TV or the Q router?

in_my_bumble_opinion

The date of the letter from Sky is not relevant as to when you can request to leave penalty-free (they might prefer you to believe that).

You can cancel as soon as the notification of price increases appears on their website.

No need to wait for a letter, you have been notified.