MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Our sky contract is about to go stratospheric as our original 18 month contract is up.
Any tips on how to keep it at cost before I get on to the calls later this afternoon?
ah I remember those long days riding my bike in the hills.....
Ask to speak to Retentions.
Always Be Closing
Be prepared to leave. Show no fear to the enemy and you will get your deal :).
Threaten to leave. And leave.
I left a year ago and actually don't miss the TV. I've managed fine with Catchup for the BBC, ITV, 4, 5 etc and a Prime Subscription. I watch TV less.
They haven't stopped pestering me with a rejoin offer. I get a letter at least every few weeks.
I'm in the same camp as Freester.
Not missing Sky one bit.
To be fair to them, Sky are actually pretty receptive to haggling, unlike BT
We just got a great deal (thanks to Mrs Binners negotiating skills) and have ended up moving the whole families mobile contracts onto Sky too
I’m afraid I can’t do without Sky Sports and I’ve got the lads coming round for the derby this afternoon for beers and shouting at the telly 😃
As above, be prepared to leave. They might think you're bluffing, but I'm guessing a lot of people are genuinely cutting out subscriptions right now due to cost of living increases.
Chances are they will renew at the same price you're currently paying if you just ask to.
Honestly, if you're prepared to leave, then just leave, you'll get deals elsewhere that are better, but if you want to stay, go through the retentions bit, then speak to them about deals, they have the standard offers they are allowed to give, and those they can seek higher up.
I went through it last month, got mine down by 30%, i enjoy Sky Sports, i also have Sky Cinema as i like the app and being able to watch the movies there.
One tip is to avoid the bits they offer that are for 1 month or 3 months, you end up having to cancel them if you don't want them, and Sky is a nightmare to cancel anything on these days, i notice with my dealings that you can add anything you want via the website or app, but you can't cancel anything, you have to phone!
Remember NowTV is ‘bits’ of Sky without the contract if you want to ween yourself off. Always plenty of offers too and when you bin off the rolling monthly contract (cos the offers up or you watched a box set) then there’s another offer not far behind.
As for ‘nightmare to cancel’, NowTV is completely the opposite. Sure you need a bit of discipline but they always give you to end of the month / end of the offer even once you’ve cancelled which is all online.
thoughts & prayers, @binners
Tell me about it @scaredypants. I'll be watching it through my fingers, drinking beer nervously, and hoping it doesn't end up as a cricket score.
It'll also be quite an odd experience as I'll have two scousers round who will obviously be supporting United. I'm very confused and conflicted with this state of affairs
Get prices for BT/Virgin etc (if available in your area) and, and if they are better than the new Sky price, quote them to the retention call handler.
Is there anyone else in the house that could take the bill in their name, as a new customer/better price
I prefer to use their chat service to haggle.
Our broadband was due to go up from £25 a month to £32 cos the contract was up so I clicked on the chat thingy, guy says 'oh I see you've been with us for ages, your custom is really appreciated' & all that crap. I mentioned Plusnet & Top Cashback, he mentioned £22 a month with a £20 admin fee, I told him he could whistle for that, he said ok.
So we're paying £3 a month less than before!
you can usually have a browse on here and see what people are getting.
https://www.avforums.com/threads/how-to-get-a-good-sky-q-deal-part-2.2116721/page-117
I’ve tried the ‘leave’ threat before with them and it didn’t work at all, even when I had left
Find the best new customer sky deal you can and tell them that’s what you will pay and nothing more
Yeah, i get the feeling that threat has long been a rumour, i remember years ago having it work, being sent to retentions, but now, they do tend to just put an offer to you, if you say no then they will just let you leave, it's not the same landscape it was a decade ago, they all seem quite intertwined, BT/Sky/Virgin/Now, they all kind of live off each other these days in this game.
Personally I never have asked to be put through to retentions, as it implies you know how they operate and probably doesn't give the first tier of support anything to log other than 'Another one thinks they know how we work' type.
We got our deal this time by being nice to the first customer service we went to but saying quite firmly that we can't justify the new prices and is there anything they can do. When they came back with no there are no deals to be had, we then expressed sadness and said we'd have to cancel, where we were passed onto the cancelation team.
The first question they asked was why, to which we said we felt the cost was now going to be too high and we wanted to stay with Sky but their previous colleague had said there was nothing they can do. This new person then advised they might be able to look at something for us as they have more authority because we are on the verge of leaving, and asked what we have and want to pay.
Low and behold, this retention, sorry cancelation team member then gave us a good enough deal to stay another 18 months.
Could possibly have squeezed it further tbh but I got the deal we wanted and I'm not one for pushing things so far they snap occasionally.
I used to go down the route of threatening to leave, but the last couple of times It has not really been necessary. My contract was up for renewal last month and the offers Sky emailed me or offered me online were an increase of about 30% on what I had been paying.
Before I phoned them to negotiate a new deal, I looked online and found what the best deal that was being offered on Sky to new customers for the same package I wanted. When I talked to them I said I couldn't afford the increase and as I have been a customer for X amount of years would they offer me the same deal they are offering new customers. The advisor asked what the deal price was, checked online then talked to his manager who authorised it and I started a new 18 months contract for £5 cheaper a month than the previous one. I maybe didn't get the best deal possible, but I was happy and didn't feel I got mugged. I also found the Sky customer advisers pretty helpful.
We renewed last year and got a decent deal but refused the first offer then left it until the day before disconnection to ring back. Make sure you speak to the manager rather than the first person too as they can offer better discounts.
Our TV renewed this year (broadband mid last year) Sky were adamant the only package they could offer would cost more then what I was paying, tried some haggling and asking to match new customer prices but didnt work, put in the request to cancel, started a thread here as was curious about Apple TV's or Google Chromecast TV to replace, 7 to 10 days before the sky contract was due to end a letter came through the door with an offer much lower then what I was paying.
Went to accept it online and their website wouldnt offer the same prices, went on the livechat and ended up with an extra couple of quid off.
Make sure you speak to the manager rather than the first person too as they can offer better discounts.
I do wonder when you ask to speak to their manager they simply tut and hand the phone over to the call centre person sitting right next to them!
Interestingly, despite being with sky TV for 19 years, after I cancelled my contract I've heard absolutely nothing from them.
Thankfully 😁
I do wonder when you ask to speak to their manager they simply tut and hand the phone over to the call centre person sitting right next to them!
I maybe phrased it incorrectly as it's not the manager you need, it's another department that I can't remember the name of. The first person you speak to can pass you on to them for the better deals.
How do you find the Sky live chat a few of you mention?
I'm also finishing my 18 month term with them but cannot find a live chat anywhere on their terrible website?
After finding the live chat I got my contract which was at £28 then went up to £35.50, back down to £28.50.
Although on moneysupermarket I've found the same product at £26 p/m with a £100 gift card included, so might cancel and get that instead!
Personally I never have asked to be put through to retentions, as it implies you know how they operate and probably doesn’t give the first tier of support anything to log other than ‘Another one thinks they know how we work’ type.
We got our deal this time by being nice to the first customer service we went to but saying quite firmly that we can’t justify the new prices and is there anything they can do. When they came back with no there are no deals to be had, we then expressed sadness and said we’d have to cancel, where we were passed onto the cancelation team.
You didn't ask to be transferred to Retentions, so instead you spent a chunk of time with someone who was never empowered to help you in the first place, and then got transferred to Retentions anyway.
The front line bod won't care whether you 'know the system' or not, they'll likely be glad to be rid of you. The shorter their calls, the more they can take, the better their statistics look to Management.
When I spoke to Retentions it was because my partner at the time was out of work. We negotiated a new deal and then they told me to ring back when it was due to end and they'd see what they could do. I was honest, I said I probably wouldn't need to as I expected that my temporary cash flow issue would be resolved by then, she was insistent that this didn't matter and I should absolutely call back anyway. Why? I'm guessing that it's the same as above, it's their job to retain customers and the more accounts they can rescue, the better it looks on their stats.