There was a lot of chat on here, I think around 18 months ago, regarding SKY TV subscriptions and deals you could negotiate. I think it must have been around Black Friday time in November 2019. At that time I managed to negotiate my sub down from around £93/month to £48. Many others of you shared details of similar deals after you had called them up.
In February this year I had an email advising my monthly bill would increase from £48 to £52.50 in March and I just let it go. However, I have just noticed on my bank statement that Sky charged me £76.15 in the month of May. In checking my Sky account online I see that in May they removed some discounts mid-Month and that from June my monthly bill will go up to £106. They have removed discounts totalling £53.50, so have effectively hiked my bill from £52.50 in March to the £106/month they are proposing in June. No warning was given that these discounts were about to stop (assume there is something in the small print from when they originally gave the discount but it would have been nice if they had pre-warned it was about to stop).
I have been a Sky customer for 20+ years and naturally will call them for a rant and threaten to cancel etc. I am assuming others are experiencing the same as me given how so many of you negotiated discounts around the same time and it would be interesting to hear if anyone has had a "debate" with Sky very recently.
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Happens to me every 18 months - price practically doubles and they never give any warning. Trick is to phone them in the last month of our contract so you don't get hammered.
Ring them early in the morning (before they have had scores of people shouting at them and they are in a good mood). You'll get through to the call centre first. They will offer you a cheaper deal BUT SAY NO and ask to be put through to the Retentions team. There you will get through to a person who wants to be your best friend! Be nice back and almost certainly he or she will give you a much better deal than the contact centre offered you. Concentrate on the final price as they will change around the prices they charge you for your package.
One final tip. Check that they stick to the price they offer you in your future bills.
Good luck!
If HBO Max becomes available in the UK I could probably junk the whole thing (tho I am contract for a bit).
Apps rather than linear broadcasting is going to be the future.
I've seen elsewhere that you've got a chance of bigger discounts later in the month, depending on whether they've met their targets or not. So could always try start of the month, say you'll think about it then go back to them 2-3 weeks later...
Their business plan must be shot to pieces as young people turn their back on it and old gits like us either negotiate a saving or just get rid of it. (And I'm sorely tempted to do that if we can stream our games in future)
I quite like Sky - I watch a lot of the sports in UHD and I don’t think that’s available on Virgin or BT (?), there broadband is relatively reliable but I’m paying £111 a month which feels like a lot.
Sky movies- redundant with netflix etc
Disney and fox content- going/ gone to disney platform
Sky only programmes- Now Tv day
Big matches- Now Tv sports day pass
Boxing- Matchroom partnering with DAZN I think which will change the way we watch boxing.
Football- who knows but will be only a matter of time before it changes model and viewing platform.
Broadband - multiple comeptitors
Landline- what's that?
Think as an organisation they will evolve and survive but will just be another platform alongside netflix, amazon and a multitude of others rather than the near monopoly they've enjoyed in the UK for the past 30 years.
I tried to do so a few weeks ago but although I was promised big discounts, the amended contract price was well above what we currently pay which is £ 72pm.
Girding my loins in readiness for the upcoming battle.
Wish me luck !
When I checked future bills it was going up to £126.
Phoned up and got it down to £92.
Waited a week checked again and it had gone up to £132!!
Phoned again and after some back and forth and speaking to managers etc got a new deal at £91 per month.
I recently got Sky to recontract me on everything but for only a few quid extra a month than the Black Friday offer probably due to inflation.
When you talk to them never accept the first offer as others have said and just add that it's still too high and that you'll consider your options elsewhere with other providers.
They then managed to pull out an offer almost as good as the Black Friday offer and all got sorted.
The month before my contract ends I'll get a renewal price, normally about £100 (We have TV, Sports Package and Broadband). Always give them a ring, say I'm cancelling and within ten minutes without fail I've normally got it down to their 'special offer' of £65 which I've had for years now. Not sure at what point it stops being a 'special offer' but it suits me.
It's interesting reading the posts about ringing at certain times of the month though. A few years ago the mother in law was telling me how she paid about £100 just for the basic TV package and movies. I told her very smugly my tactic for reducing the bill and said she should do the same as she'd save a fortune.
Next day had a text from my Partner saying mother in law had followed my advice, rang up threatning to cancel as it was to expensive. Call handler replied 'Sorry to hear that, I've gone ahead and cancelled that for you'. Mother in Law didn't dare to say she was just bluffing so ended up losing her entire package.
To say she was fuming is an understatement.
I firstly spoke to the call centre. After the usual questions regarding whether I wanted to add Sky Broadband etc as that might help with discounts (was not interested), I was told they could bring my bill back down from £106 to £87/month without any change in my package. Told them I thought this was still too high so think I will cancel totally. They asked if they could put me through to the Retentions team before I proceeded with that.
The retentions team told me that they could reduce it further to £76/month. I responded that this pantomime every 18 months or so is ridiculous as when it comes around to the next Black Friday they will offer me significant discounts again. The lady agreed that whereas 10 years ago the type of discounts offered on Black Friday were NOT offered to long-term customers they are nowadays. Nevertheless, those discounts aren't available right now, so £76 was the best they could offer. I advised I wanted to trigger my 31 day cancellation (I am bluffing as I want to watch the Lions rugby games plus the cricket over the next few months). Based on posts from people some time ago, I am hoping Sky will get back in touch nearer the cancellation date with a better offer, so it's a game of chicken now!
I know I could change elements of my package to further reduce the package but it's a pain. I like Sky Sports but probably watch more non-football sport unless a Charlton game is on.
Will update if anything changes.
I just did not use it. They offered upgrades to SkyQ for £20 all in for a service they had put up to £29 only a week earlier. Sent begging emails right up to the cut off date.
Proud of myself for resisting, i wonder how many just took the price rise?
How worthwhile is the UHD content? Is it actually worth the extra money?
Got an offer by text a week later, and then phone calls to discuss and agree a new contract at a much better price than had been offered by the retentions team.
Hold your nerve...!
It is always a job I am leaving until tomorrow. What I will do at some point is connect the non bedroom TVs to an aerial and buy freeview hard drive boxes for them, then cancel all TV and my landline which is only used by my mum and scammers (she can ring me on my mobile). I'll simply stick to high speed broadband and not miss out on anything at all. The only thing stopping me is the hassle and as they keep creeping the prices up by stealth, the tipping point will surely come sooner rather than later.