Contract was no price increase for 24 months - they reneged in less than a year

DarrenD_2

I have a phone call recording of when I signed up to Sky. I clearly said I didn't like the mid-contract price increases and the person on the phone offered 24 months no price increase and I accepted. Less than a year on and I get an e-mail saying they are increasing prices by £3 a month and gave me 30 days to call them to if I wanted to cancel to avoid early termination charges. It also said …

These changes won’t affect any offers you have with us.

I took this to mean that "my offer of no price increases" remains.

They have since charged me the £3 increase on the next bill. I called them and said I had a recording of "no price increase". They said that since the e-mail stated a price increase and gave me a timeframe to contact them (which has now expired) they can increase it and if I don't accept then I will be leaving Sky with early termination charges. I have at least another year with them.

Are they able to get me to sign up with "contract X" and then later change to "contract Y"? I didn't contact them since we had agreed "contract X". This seems like bait-and-switch to me. Are they allowed to do this? It seems so unfair.

Should I make a formal complaint to Sky to start the timer before I can contact the Ombudsman?

Thanks

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6665606/contract-was-no-price-increase-for-24-months-they-reneged-in-less-than-a-year

You can certainly put a complaint in but they quite clearly advertise that prices may rise mid contract (every April in effect) and it would have been in all of the communications at the time. The increase is on the base price so the offers you're on have stayed the same. I'm afraid for that particular part, it's on yourself.

Surely you're still within the timeframe to cancel as the prices didn't go up until 01/04/2026 at the earliest?

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

when I signed up to Sky. I clearly said I didn't like the mid-contract price increases and the person on the phone offered 24 months no price increase and I accepted.

Unlike many ISPs Sky contracts don't include mid-term price increases, so the agent you spoke to was technically correct.

Are they able to get me to sign up with "contract X" and then later change to "contract Y"?

Not quite, but yes. They're allowed to propose changes to the contract and, if you don't like their changes, you're allowed to leave without penalty.

Less than a year on and I get an e-mail saying they are increasing prices by £3 a month and gave me 30 days to call them to if I wanted to cancel to avoid early termination charges.

This was Sky proposing the change and giving you 30 days to accept it, or leave without penalty.

You received the notification, you didn't leave, and so you accepted the change.

iniltous

As stated , Sky don’t have automatic annual prices increases set out in the T&C’s but they do put their prices up , and you don’t know in advance what this increase will be this would not be allowed but because they offer a penalty free release if you don’t accept the increase provided you respond in the appropriate time frame it’s acceptable (according to the regulator) …..if the agent mislead you , and you get them to accept that , at best all you will get is a penalty free release but you had that offered when they notified you of the increase anyway .

DarrenD_2

Thanks for the replies.

I have a phone recording where I explicitly said "so that means no price increases in the 24 months" and he said "yes". That seems pretty clear cut to me. If we allow phone handlers to be wrong and it is down to the wording on the signed contract then all hope is lost for everyone, sales people can knowingly lie. I don't think it was that deliberate in my case. Note, I did not sign a contract, a verbally agreed on the phone to what the phone handler said were the Ts & Cs (with no price increases). I do have all of this on a phone recording ("for training and security purposes 😁").

As to my not challenging them within the 30 days, that is definitely on me but I took the "These changes won’t affect any offers you have with us." as being "this doesn't apply to you since you have a different contract to the standard customers". Therefore, my current offer (no price increases) still stands.

If they are allowed to change the contract and I don't disagree in 30 days does that work the other way round? If I can send them a message saying that I want to change the contract to "pay me £50/month" and they don't reject that change in 30 days am I allowed to enforce that? Otherwise isn't it a balance of power issue, the big guy dictating to the small guy? I have an idea how but don't really want to say in public (don't worry it is nothing illegal, possibly underhand/clever but not illegal).

la531983

Do you routinely record all your phone calls and if so, did you tell them?

Ectophile

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81976372#Comment_81976372

I have recorded calls in the past when dealing with companies I don't really trust. I feel no need to tell them if they have already told me that calls may be recorded.

QrizB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81976372#Comment_81976372

Many calls to customer srvice - most likely including Sky, although I have no expereience - begin with a recorded message along the lines of "calls may be recorded for training or quality purposes".

So, that's them giving you permission - "may be recorded" - to record them.

dnpark38

I called within the 30 days got no where with the overseas agent and asked to be put through to the leaving dept. They dropped the March payment by £3 so from April I went up by £3 to what I had being paying in previous months. I have had to be on a further 24 month contract.

I'm hating these 2 year contracts but next time I will leave as I will have done my homework in advance.

The Government needs to sort out these BB companies.

redux

Despite the original promise, the email is later on proposing a variation, and giving you chance to accept or leave. If the initial comment was powerful enough, that future increase would not apply to you, hypothetically it would have suppressed the email.

It's a shame you didn't contact them to clarify this within the time. Maybe a complaint will work, maybe it won't. Good luck

But I go to this in your first post

"They said that since the e-mail stated a price increase and gave me a timeframe to contact them (which has now expired) they can increase it and if I don't accept then I will be leaving Sky with early termination charges. I have at least another year with them."

Is that a typing mistake omission of a word, or in what they said? People who did not accept price could leave [u]without[/u] termination charges, so if someone said there would be in that instance, rather than yours, that would be inaccurate.

Even some of those who cancelled in time are having termination charges notices (see adjacent thread here), and when they phone up they are told generation of this is a mistake and won't be pursued, so not everything there is perfect

JSmithy45AD

"Therefore, my current offer (no price increases) still stands."

It really doesn't.