Flip me! Sky Digital Price increase? What for?!

sooz

April2 wrote:

Sky's whole subscription pricing structure is changing from 1/9/05 - see HERE.

The non-Premium channels (known as the [£19.50/month] Family Pack at the moment) are being split into 6 'mixes' - see HERE.

2, 4 or all 6 of those 'mixes' can then be combined with any number of Premium channels - see HERE.

They say the increases amount to an everage of 5% but, with inflation running at less than half that, the reason for the increases is, quite simply, PROFIT.

thanks for this.....i tried to get this info from their customer 'service' but apparently they don't yet know the new pricing structure...........

bridiej

OMG, where do I find out about this as I chucked my mag away.........

raeble

I like the way you've got to order 2, 4 or 6 of the mixes. Why can't you order 1, 3 or 5 of the mixes? Typical sky gives with one hand, claws it back and then some with the other. They are going to have to do something better than that to get me to subscribe again.

bridiej

sorry, just saw someone has posted this information - DOH!

Looks like we'll end up having 4 mixes as the channels we tend to watch reguarly are all spread out!

Can live without the music channels & dont have kids anyway...

kingshir

I know no one forces me to have sky but we LOVE rugby and while we can live without all the other channels we would miss the sports terribly. It's a pity you can't pay for specific channels rather than these one-size-fits-all flipping packages!

bridiej

Must admit, I would miss the fantastic live coverage of the World Superbikes and Moto GP - they show all the races at each meet, whereas BBC just tend to show the main races and quite often not live either.

It is a shame as we watch UK Gold quite a bit, and I like Living TV and the Discovery channels etc. so we will end up having four of them and just ditch music and kids.

And that's also a shame as quite often I flick over to VH1 or VH2 and enjoy some of the old stuff, like Guns n Roses etc....

Ah well!

Xbigman

I've now printed off the packages and I could easily cut down to four but there is a package still left in where there is only one channel I watch and lately that is all repeats. Like someone else said, why don't they allow for 3 channels? I will probably drop down to two now and dump the education channels. I used to watch discovery and history a lot but I'm pretty tired of the same old time team, battlefields, tanks, who killed cleopatra, etc, etc, etc. These channels are turning into repeats channels too.

So £72 per year less revenue for sky and £72 per year more for me. Does anyone else think this could bite sky in the bum?
Regards



X

bridiej

I guess you're right, maybe we could scale down and it would probably mean less time sat in front of the box as it's too easy to just sit there flicking around until you find something reasonable interesting....

I wonder what would happen if all of Sky customers just went for the basic package?!

Yes, I do think this could bite them in the bum!

scheming_gypsy

bridiej wrote:

I wonder what would happen if all of Sky customers just went for the basic package?!

Yes, I do think this could bite them in the bum!

they'd put the prices up cos all the sky customers had forced them to do it seeing as they'd be losingmoney

April2

bridiej wrote:

Can live without the music channels & dont have kids anyway...

Same here but, when I e-mailed them (I never use their 0870 numbers) to make that change:

With effect from 1/9/05, I'd wish to amend the channel package on the above account and subscribe ONLY to the below 4 mixes:

• Variety: Bravo (main channel plus catch-up channel, +1), Challenge (+1), E!, E4 (+1), ftn, FX, Hallmark, LIVINGtv (+1), LIVINGtv2, Paramount, Paramount2, Sci-Fi, Sky Mix, Sky One, Sky Vegas Live, TCM, UKTV Drama, UKTV Gold (+1), UKTV Gold 2 (+1).
• Knowledge: Adventure One, Animal Planet (+1), Biography, Discovery (+1), Discovery Civilisations, Discovery Science, Discovery Wings, History Channel (+1), Nat Geo (+1), UKTV Documentary (+1), UKTV History (+1), UKTV People (+1).
• Style & Culture: Artsworld, Discovery Real Time (+1), Discovery Home & Health (+1), Discovery Travel & Living (+1), DW-TV, Sky Travel (+1), Sky Travel Extra, Sky Travel Shop, Star Plus, TV5, TVEi, UKTV Bright Ideas, UKTV Food (+1), UKTV Style (+1), UKTV Style Gardens, Fashion TV.
• News & Events: At The Races, Bloomberg, CNBC, Eurosport UK, Eurosport2 UK, Fox News, Sky News (available without a Sky viewing card), Sky Sports News, Star News, Motors TV, TalkSPORT radio.

I understand my new subscription will be £18/month.

Please confirm receipt of these instructions in writing.

Sky replied (obviously a standard pro forma reply which does not address the message which it's supposed to be answering):

Thank you for your email regarding your new subscription prices.

I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed by the change to your monthly subscription charge. At Sky we are committed to bringing you the best in TV entertainment - and to make sure we keep doing this, we are continuing to invest in our services. To reflect this, our monthly subscription charges have increased.

In 2005, we aim to make our service better than ever. That is why we are investing in ground-breaking programmes for you to enjoy - together with technology to bring you genuinely useful services that will help you get even more out of your TV. As a result, we are confident you will find Sky TV better than ever.

However since the new packages are not available until 01/09/2005, please contact us after this date to discuss your new package options.

I hope you will continue to enjoy great TV on Sky in 2005.

Kind regards

Christine McMillan

Customer Administration

Needless to say, a further e-mail was en route immediately:

I am sorry, you have misunderstood my message.

I am not at all disappointed in the changes you are making to available subscription packages.

In fact, recent changes to my personal circumstances meant that I was on the verge of cancelling this subscription completely when I became aware of the planned changes and that gave me the opportunity to reconsider.

I found that, by opting to receive only the channels in the Variety, Knowledge, Style & Culture and News & Events 'mixes' after 1/9/05, I will (just about) be able me to continue as a subscriber.

As I pay my subscriptions in advance, please note my post-1/9/05 subscription requirements now and implement them in time for my advance payment in August to reflect same.

Please confirm in writing.

To which Sky's stupid reply was:

Thank you for your email concerning your Sky Digital viewing package.

As stated in the previous email, since the new packages are not available until 01/09/2005, please contact us after this date to discuss your new package options.

I trust this information has been of use. If I can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.

Kind regards

Jeanette Fleming
Customer Administration

To which, I replied:

F.A.O. Jeanette Fleming, Customer Administration

As stated in my e-mail reply to Christine McMillan of 4/7/05, you make Direct Debit calls IN ADVANCE for my subscriptions and, as I do not wish to pay more than necessary for my post-1/9/05 reduced 'four mix' subscription (pro rata £18), would be obliged if you would make the necessary arrangements now to adjust the August Direct Debit call accordingly.

Many thanks.

The tale continues ........................