New Customer DealsM

Tisiphone

My contract with my broadband & tv provider ran out years ago.  I'm now moving house and they've offered me new contracts.  They're also offering the same deal £20 cheaper to new customers.

If I end my contract with them when I leave my old house and then sign up again at the new address, I won't be an existing customer, but will I  be a 'new' one?

DullGreyGuy

Read the terms of the offer... many deals are for new sales not technically new customers and so as long as you arent in a minimum contract period now and have time to give them notice before you leave you can just end your old contract and take a new one at the new address.

Some offers are explicitly for new customers only, "new" can be defined as anything from "not currently in contract" to "have never had a contract with us" but the terms of the new offer will state. I've never qualified for a First Direct switching bonus because I had an ISA with them when they first started and so I fail the never been a customer test. 

Some people may choose to switch whose name the new contract goes in to help, assuming you dont live alone. Again sometimes terms will state if you've "ever benefited from" to exclude such tactics. 

Finally, there is the ability for the company to actually police their terms... some have more restrictive clauses but are bad at catching people. Sky used to not allow a free installation for a second time but 99% of people got away with it. 1%, or maybe more like 0.01% did get caught and Sky would bill them the £350 or whatever it was for an unsubsidised install, back when you owned the boxes. 

A_Geordie

If you are talking about Sky as your current provider, it used to be that they defined a new customer as someone who hasn't had a service for 12 months. Then they cottoned on to the fact people in the same household would just switch between names to attract new customer deals at the end of the contract. Now I am certain it says somewhere on their website (or it used to) that a 'new' customer is an individual who has not received a service  for 6 months after the cancelled subscription. 

That said, sales people are always wanting commission so I would not be surprised if this is abused and they agreed to give you the new customer deal.

Edit: Alternatively, if you see a Sky rep in the shopping centre, they'll probably do it as they don't typically give a toss and will put anything through.

user1977

A_Geordie said:

Edit: Alternatively, if you see a Sky rep in the shopping centre, they'll probably do it as they don't typically give a toss and will put anything through.

Virgin Media's call centre seemed quite happy to actively suggest I do this when I last switched.

Tisiphone

thanks very much. Yes it is Sky and I live alone so that's very helpful.