MSE News: Got Sky TV? Why you still can't cancel penalty-free if it hikes your price mid-contract

brewerdave

YouMe said:

My SKY TV contract has ended without any renewal by myself, or without any attempt by SKY to get me to renew either. My SKY Superfast Broadband expires on 10th May 2025.
I am seriously fed up with these price hikes part way through a 'contract', so I am thinking of contacting SKY to give them 1 months written notice for me to leave completely.
Will I suffer any ££ consequences in doing this, and if so what do you think those ££ will be?

As far as the TV is concerned ,there will be no ££ consequences.
DON'T cancel the broadband - if Sky won't offer a better price for renewal after 10th May ,then look around at other ISPs. If you find a better deal let them handle the changeover.

us2000

I am annoyed that I didn't read Sky's terms properly. My dad pays £23.50 for Sky TV (only agreed that 3 months ago) but has increased the price to £27.50. The reason is that Sky can increase the package by up to 10% on the undiscounted price (from £36.50 to £40). This will happen again next year, so a deal we signed 3 months ago at £23.50 over 2 years will be £31.50 at the end of the two years. That's a 37% increase versus the price I agreed! Whilst it's not something I can do anything about, I'm going to send this to Ofcom, as I think Sky could have been more transparent with me on the price increases I would expect. If I would have known that, I would switched to EE TV.

andylloyd1986

I'm really not happy with how sneaky they are with these increases at all. Also, the undiscounted price of my Sky Signature is going up from £36.50 to £40.50 which is an 11% increase which breeches the 10% anyway so shouldn't I have a case to cancel?

Plugman99

Well I joined sky stream yesterday and within 2 hours of activation they have sent me an email saying price is going up in May. I can still cancel as within my 31 days. They did thank me for my loyalty though. 😄😄😄

finallycruising1

Having eventually battled my way to speak to somebody who could answer my question about my 15.8% increase, I was given the same information as mentioned above. Increases of up to 10% are added to the full price, not any price you may have negotiated at renewal - these are shown on the bill as fixed discounts per month on the full price. It seems the wording of paragraph 11.7 in the SkyQ contract allows for this: “we may increase the then standard price of each TV subscription service only once in any 12 month period and the increase will not be more than 10% or the increase in the UK RPI…. whichever is greater…”

Is that a fair contract?

Neil_Jones

finallycruising1 said:

Having eventually battled my way to speak to somebody who could answer my question about my 15.8% increase, I was given the same information as mentioned above. Increases of up to 10% are added to the full price, not any price you may have negotiated at renewal - these are shown on the bill as fixed discounts per month on the full price. It seems the wording of paragraph 11.7 in the SkyQ contract allows for this: “we may increase the then standard price of each TV subscription service only once in any 12 month period and the increase will not be more than 10% or the increase in the UK RPI…. whichever is greater…”

Is that a fair contract?

Perhaps with all due respect if you'd read what you were agreeing to before committing it wouldn't come as a surprise. Sky have always had an up to 10% price clause in their T&Cs since at least the launch of Sky+HD and maybe even before that.  Its not a new thing.

Anyway - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-write-fair-contracts - "Some of your terms may be exempt from the fairness test – namely, those describing the main subject matter and setting the price, provided these are clear and prominent. There is also an exemption for wording covered by law or rules, for example words that legally have to be used."

Other TV providers are available.