SkySports contract relating to corona virus 13 March 2020 at 2:25PM in TV MoneySaving 27 replies 2.1K views

mrmoneysaver1

Now that a number of sports (including the football season) have been suspended due to the corona virus, sky can’t provide certain sport packages for a number of weeks. Does this break the contract I originally entered into, as I will be paying for a full sports package that they’re unable to provide.

[Deleted User]

No, don't worry, the contract is still intact.

mrben25

Would you be able to cancel penalty free due to sky not providing the service you signed up for?

cajef

mrben25 said:

Would you be able to cancel penalty free due to sky not providing the service you signed up for?

Why do you think that, it is not the fault of Sky that they cannot provide certain sports events.

mrben25

I know its not the fault of sky. 
But at the same time i pay to watch football, f1, rugby and many other sports and if they can't provide these sports, shouldn't customers either be able to cancel or have a payment break until the package i pay for is fully on again.

cajef

You can ask Sky but I am pretty sure everyone knows what the answer will be, there is no guarantee what live sports will or will not be shown.

mrmoneysaver1

mrben25 said:

I know its not the fault of sky. 
But at the same time i pay to watch football, f1, rugby and many other sports and if they can't provide these sports, shouldn't customers either be able to cancel or have a payment break until the package i pay for is fully on again.

That’s exactly what I thought. I spoke sky and the said they didn’t know and would have to look into it.

Farway

A reply from Sky I heard on R4 today was the matches are rescheduled not cancelled, so they will be shown when they're played. Contract not affected so they say, but I guess it depends on how hard OFCOM or whoever leans on them as it is is still evolving

GingerJohn196

Just spoke to Sky. As per previous comment because sports fixtures have only been 'postponed' they are not in breach of contract as they intend to show the events at a later date. However, given that the government is going to make it law to prevent gatherings of a certain amount of people, it is likely this stance will not last very long and Sky will have to change their business statement to reflect this. In the end, you can't keep taking customers money when there is no product. You can be sure that if the worst happens, Sky and other broadcasters will want their money back, just like we do and, pro-rata. You would think Sky would be upfront and inform their customers of there current stance. This would save a hell of a lot of calls to their customer advisers.
Save your energy fighting Covid-19 and wait to see what the government come up with next week.
Incidentally, it would have cost me £60 to remove Sky sports (Only been in contract with for just over a month)
Hope this helps folks.
Stay safe
 .

Neil_Jones

GingerJohn196 said:

Just spoke to Sky. As per previous comment because sports fixtures have only been 'postponed' they are not in breach of contract as they intend to show the events at a later date. However, given that the government is going to make it law to prevent gatherings of a certain amount of people, it is likely this stance will not last very long and Sky will have to change their business statement to reflect this. In the end, you can't keep taking customers money when there is no product.  .

Come off it sunshine, you pay for the channels that show the live content.  Content is not live 24/7 and nowhere does it say it is and nowhere does it say they guarantee live sport.  And you can see the "live content", just not on the days you expect it.

If there is no live content that's one thing but there were no sports channels at all then you would have a claim.  But the channels are there so if you're stuck with Yacht racing as there's nothing else to see then so be it.

[Deleted User]

Farway said: I guess it depends on how hard OFCOM or whoever leans on them as it is is still evolving

I doubt OFCOM will involve themselves in this. The Sky Sports element of a Sky subscription is hardly a large amount in monthly terms, but Sky won't be keen to give out any refunds as that would be costly.

 Of more concern to Sky  will be possible full cancellations by those no longer in the minimum term. 

On a related note, do you think the Premier League will be giving Sky a pro rata refund of the money paid for televising games which will now not be played until "later"?