Thinking of leaving Sky - advice please. (already have Firestick / streaming subscription)

james00744

I'm paying £46 for a bare minimum Sky HD+ box (Not Sky Q) package. No sports, no movies, just the standard Sky channels, which seems pretty steep when compared to what new customers get it for.

It should be the other way around - someone who's been with Sky for 30 years should get a better deal than a new customer! But anyway...

I cancelled Sky Sports as my streaming subscription already has all the sports and films. If I cancel Sky, I understand I'll get Freeview channels, so I might as well?

Or could they offer me the package I'm on now, for £20-25 cheaper if I say I'm leaving?

elsien

The fine art of haggling. Call them, tell them you are thinking of leaving and wait to get through to the retentions department.
Haggling tends to work better if you can find a similar but cheaper TV deal elsewhere that you can tell them you are considering, and see if they can match it. 
Always worth a try.
Not tried it with sky but I always ask for a discount on my phone and broadband. Sometimes it works, sometimes I've had to walk away and move to the cheaper deal. 

james00744

elsien said:

The fine art of haggling. Call them, tell them you are thinking of leaving and wait to get through to the retentions department.
Haggling tends to work better if you can find a similar but cheaper TV deal elsewhere that you can tell them you are considering, and see if they can match it. 
Always worth a try.
Not tried it with sky but I always ask for a discount on my phone and broadband. Sometimes it works, sometimes I've had to walk away and move to the cheaper deal. 

The thing is, in this instance, I don't need a cheaper deal elsewhere as I'm genuinely not too bothered about cancelling. I have my streaming so have all sports and movies, and from what I gather if I left, I'd still be able to use the Sky box for Freeview channels.

But if they did offer something such as £25, then to have the ability to record, I'd probably take it. A win-win for me I guess.

la531983

Doesn't your dodgy firestick have all the Freeview channels on it anyway then? I assume this is what you have as you talk about Sports streaming. 

james00744

la531983 said:

Doesn't your dodgy firestick have all the Freeview channels on it anyway then? I assume this is what you have as you talk about Sports streaming. 

How very dare you! :-D

It does, but I like the ability to record - the subscription is best suited for watching football games and the odd film.

I'm sure I saw somewhere that if I cancelled Sky, I could pay them a small monthly fee to keep the ability to record? So I could use the Sky box as freeview and use the reminder/record feature? Or did I imagine that?

oldernonethewiser

You could get a record capable box from Humax, for example.

You need an aerial as Freeview isn't delivered via dish.

james00744

oldernonethewiser said:

You could get a record capable box from Humax, for example.

You need an aerial as Freeview isn't delivered via dish.

Ah yes, sorry I mean free sat.

I read on here that the Sky box will show free sat channels, which vary slightly from Freeview but there still seems to be a lot of channels on free sat.

tightauldgit

oldernonethewiser said:

You could get a record capable box from Humax, for example.

You need an aerial as Freeview isn't delivered via dish.

Don't know if anything has changed as its been a while since I had SKY but all the Freeview channels were delivered by dish and still watchable without a sub when I had a box. I guess it's not technically 'Freeview' its just a selection of channels that are available if you have a SKY box and no subscription.

Peppa537

If you've got a Sky+HD box then that's yours even if you leave Sky and you can watch the freesat channels on it without the need for a subscription. If you want to record, live pause etc these freesat channels you will need to pay Sky though. I'm not sure what this would be but the Essentials (freesat) channels pack that some get with a Q box is £15 a month at full price, but usually can be had for £5. If you decide to buy a freesat recordable box avoid the newer Arris one as it has a lot of issues, is over £200 and the hard drive doesn't seem to last long. A 2nd hand Humax will be ok if you can find one somewhere. 

james00744

Peppa537 said:

If you've got a Sky+HD box then that's yours even if you leave Sky and you can watch the freesat channels on it without the need for a subscription. If you want to record, live pause etc these freesat channels you will need to pay Sky though. I'm not sure what this would be but the Essentials (freesat) channels pack that some get with a Q box is £15 a month at full price, but usually can be had for £5. If you decide to buy a freesat recordable box avoid the newer Arris one as it has a lot of issues, is over £200 and the hard drive doesn't seem to last long. A 2nd hand Humax will be ok if you can find one somewhere. 

One of the reasons why I don't trust Sky.

The Indian operator on Chat told me I'd have to return it.

He also wouldn't accept my request to cancel, so I had to leave the chat as I wasn't getting anywhere.

Isn't it illegal for them to refuse? I've been on a rolling contract for months.

Neil_Jones

james00744 said:

Peppa537 said:

If you've got a Sky+HD box then that's yours even if you leave Sky and you can watch the freesat channels on it without the need for a subscription. If you want to record, live pause etc these freesat channels you will need to pay Sky though. I'm not sure what this would be but the Essentials (freesat) channels pack that some get with a Q box is £15 a month at full price, but usually can be had for £5. If you decide to buy a freesat recordable box avoid the newer Arris one as it has a lot of issues, is over £200 and the hard drive doesn't seem to last long. A 2nd hand Humax will be ok if you can find one somewhere. 

One of the reasons why I don't trust Sky.

The Indian operator on Chat told me I'd have to return it.

He also wouldn't accept my request to cancel, so I had to leave the chat as I wasn't getting anywhere.

Isn't it illegal for them to refuse? I've been on a rolling contract for months.

The Sky+HD box is yours and has been since the day you were given it.

The Q boxes are rentable and must be returned (I suspect your chat operator thinks you have Q) at the end of your contract.

Re: cancel request, your T&Cs say you cannot cancel the TV package before the end of your minimum term.  However if you are out of contract your notice period is 31 days.

Rather than sitting on online chat you would do better to phone them up.