My Sky package was activated at an increased price.

ross105

I agreed to buy Sky Full Fibre 500 based on a Contract Summary stating £29.00 per month for 24 months, in Jan. My service never started at £29. It started at £32 (first bill) when it was activated in April. I received no notification of this increase.

Is Sky in breach of contract ? at the minimum should I have not received at one month of £29.00 ?

flaneurs_lobster

If the contract says that the price is £29/mth and you have received no notification of an increase then that is a breach.

Are you sure about the notification? Sent to email spam folder?

What does your online account say the monthly price is?

ross105

I could not find any notification, nor could the agent produce any evidence of any price increase notification.

The first bill was for £32.00, the contract was for £29 a month for 24 months. I understand the price increase but should I not at the least start on £29 ?

I sent an email to the complaints team, the wrote back saying their prices increased in April, hence the £32. They did not provide any answers about the notification etc

flaneurs_lobster

It was generally known that Sky were increasing their prices in April.

You could take the view that you expected the increase and just suck it up.

Otherwise, if Sky cannot produce evidence of having informed you of the price increase (and therefore given you 30 days to cancel your contract) then you would have grounds for a formal complaint, the resolution you would be seeking is presumably the reduction in price to £28/mth until such time that they send you an increase notification.

Worth the hassle?

iniltous

why did you buy in January but not actually become a Sky customer until April ?

Any prices that were current and agreed in January were accurate then , not 3 months later , Sky’s widely advertised price increase took effect 1st April , if you didn’t receive personal notification, it’s probably because your activation was so much later than your order , expecting a personal notification in (for example) in March , when presumably you were not even a customer in March , ( at that point just a prospective customer ) is probably a little optimistic on your part , if you were advised personally before April 1st , what would you have done , cancelled your order (the only way to not accept the increase is to leave during the price increase notice period) , but how can you leave someone you haven’t yet joined ….you don’t , you cancel .

….if your service started exactly April 1st ( or later ) the £3 increase is perfectly valid ,so £32 not £29 is correct , if you actually were activated a little before 1st April , so you had a few days of service in March you are entitled to some sort of pro rata refund for those days , but at around 0.10p per day , it’s hardly worth stressing about , if they owe you a day or two at the previous rate .

ross105

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82078697#Comment_82078697

I signed up in Jan, the installation took place mid April.

I was a customer (not prospective) in March since I had entered into a contract in Jan, I was also receiving notifications (emails) after I signed up.

My issue is not no much about the increase but the fact that I did not see a single bill with the agreed upon contract price and received no notification of the same.

iniltous

When did your service actually start ? ,

you are not really a customer before the service starts , as stated if the service start date were late March , then you are owed around 10p per day refund if you have been charged the increased rate for those days , to reflect the tariff in place in March .

If you had (for example) contacted Sky in early March about joining them on April 1st , because the price increase for April 1st had been already been confirmed , no doubt customers enquiring in this month would be advised of the impending increase , back in January, although it was pretty obvious a price increase was coming on the 1st April (as it had done in the preceding years ) as it hadn’t been confirmed, no requirement for Sky to advise customers of anything in January or February , I dare say most new customers will want to start service with Sky , a week or two maximum after ordering, not in 3 months time , and unhelpfully covering the month the usual increases are applied.

If you joined effectively in April , where would you expect to see the tariff that ended in March on the bill , as stated it’s only because you joined so far in advance of the actual start date this is even a discussion, and you haven’t said why 3 months elapsed between ordering and activation, if it were not your choice and due to some delay you had no control over , then you may be due compensation for a delayed installation, obviously if it were your choice to request service starting in April , 3 and service started when you asked for it , then no compensation is due .

I doubt many people contact the new provider so far in advance, and as stated, if the call you made or online application you made in January could have been made in March without any difference to you , you would have had it confirmed that the price from 1st April was £32 not £29.

Exodi

Having just signed up to Sky myself, I'm quite surprised you were able to sign up in January with an activation date in April. My activation date was 2 weeks from when I ordered the service, I didn't realise you could change it, especially that far out (to be fair, I didn't look as I needed it ASAP).

I'm in two minds about this, because I wholeheartedly agree increasing the price without telling the customer is wrong and I think you have a valid complaint there… on the other hand, you signed up months and months before the service started, so I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect prices not to increase? Sky's increases were also plastered everywhere in public media (they were made the poster child of the above inflation price mid contract increases caused by the Ofcom increase changes, despite many providers doing the same). E.g.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2026/02/sky-price-hike-april/

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/guides/sky-price-increases-what-are-customer-options/

etc.

It's also relatively simple to see how this happened - since you didn't have an active service, they didn't notify you. I suspect most people activate shortly after signing up so this isn't usually a problem.

What remedy do you want (it's important to think about this before you decide on your course of action). If the desired outcome is for them to refund you the £3 difference, provide you notice of their increase, then have you pay the increased rate the following month - is it worth the effort? Or, assuming they give you 30 days to leave penalty free within the increase notification, would you change provider - would it be any cheaper?

ross105

I signed up mid Jan, Sky could only get it installed and activated mid April. The delay was due to them.

I agree that £3 is not worth the time/effort, however when one sees a contract that clearly states "£29.00  for 24 months" and the first bill received is for £32.00, can be frustrating especially when no notification is received, or a option to back out of the contract is provided. Honestly their contracts have no value unless it benefits them, like when you want to leave before end date.

Re:Sky's increases were also plastered everywhere in public media, - Ok, but this is not clear to customers whose service has not been activated, I'm new to Sky so I was not aware this applied to me.

Also, it is against Ofcomm rules to promote £29 deals a few months before the price increase ?

oldernonethewiser

"Also, it is against Ofcomm rules to promote £29 deals a few months before the price increase ?"

Why would it be? It would be possible to sign up at £29 and have Sky installed prior to any price increase.

I appreciate that was not the case for you.

QrizB

Also, it is against Ofcomm rules to promote £29 deals a few months before the price increase ?

No, it isn't, as far as I can tell.

One upside to this is that, at the end of your current 24m fix, you'll be looking for a new deal around March 2028. That's my renewal date too, and (if you look carefully) you'll probably be able to find a deal where you only get one increase during the term, not two.

See for example my thread from March 2025.