Advice wanted - Getting a better deal from Sky

[Fromtherough]

I've been a Sky subscriber for well over 10 years. We have the full package including sports and films. We also have HD and multi-room and our broadband is provided by Sky too. I pay £105 per month for this privilege.

On my round yesterday got chatting with my playing partners about the extortionate prices we pay to watch tv. Was shocked to learn that even though some of my mates had similar packages to me, there were large disparities in the monthly charges. I'd not really considered it and I guess I assumed it was a standard price charged depending on the package that you had. One of the guys was paying over £400 per year less than me which is crazy.


Hate being ripped off so I'm going to ring them this week to "negotiate". However, it's fair to say that I'm not a natural haggler. It's also tricky as I have no real bargaining position. I don't want to move to virgin as find their system cumbersome. If I threaten to leave and they call my bluff I'm likely to cave in as I couldn't do without sky sports for my football and golf fixes.
So does anyone have any advice for getting a better deal out of Sky? Anyone done it previously?

 

[Jon321]

Think I currently have half price hd, and 10 quid a month off tv just by asking for a discount. You can also save a fair bit paying you line rental upfront rather than monthly.

 

[John_R7]

Try, try & try again.
I am led to believe (and I think this goes for all call centres) that they can give a certain number of 'deals' over a certain time. Once they are gone they offer nothing until the next set of deals comes along.
If you have no luck wait a couple of days and try at a different time i.e. am then pm, early, late etc.

We were half price for 6 months and now free for 6 months (only about £62 package) but we WERE willing to let it go. Both times we were offered nothing, cancelled and then the day before cut off they phoned back up. First time they phoned at 8.30pm the night before cut off. If you are NOT willing to let it drop you could still try this and phone up at the last minute or after a day of no Sky? A little risky and inconvenient to go to nothing though if you are not prepared to do it.

 

[SaintHacker]

When you eventually get through ask for the cancellation department. Works every time.

 

[blackpuddinmonster]

When you eventually get through ask for the cancellation department. Works every time.

This^^
Like you we had the full package. Phoned up saying we could no longer afford it, fuel prices blah de blah, 20% discount straight away. Also canceled movies and saved another tenner on top. :thup:

 

[mikee247]

This^^
Like you we had the full package. Phoned up saying we could no longer afford it, fuel prices blah de blah, 20% discount straight away. Also canceled movies and saved another tenner on top. :thup:

Weve always been able to negotiate the rates wit sky... though we have been a customer for over 10 years now and on the same package as you for about £70 quid I think..... If you have a full package like you do then I would expect you'll get a discount straight away if you plead poverty as you would be a big loss if you cancelled the lot. If you only have half the add ons then it becomes harder but you normally have to upgrade for a cheaper overall price for that package. My wife is the one that negotiates the Sky stuff.... it for some reason seems to flow better with customer relations....

Some people dont even know why or what they pay... take my mate who had the oldest version of Sky with no + or HD and a basic sports package and was paying over £50 a month for it..... hes now got all of it for the same money but prob over paid for 5 years!! Thats where they make the money from unsuspecting customers... negotiate negotiate negotiate You'll get what you want after a few attempts.

 

[ColchesterFC]

I phoned up and cancelled our package as it was costing too much and they also wanted £40 to re-install us as we were moving house. Within a couple of days we got a standard "Come back to Sky" letter through offering half price for 6 months and free installation.

 

[DappaDonDave]

As stated, ring up, say it's too expensive and you want to leave. Even if you don't, they'll never say, ok bye now. They'd rather get £5 than nothing, it doesn't cost them anything once you're installed so any income pays off their purchasing fees for shows etc

I've currently got full channel listing, phone, broadband and movies for £36 a month. I've not paid full price for about 4 years.

 

[Pin-seeker]

I constantly on 20% off. Just takes a phone call once a year saying your leaving. Got their latest router free last month aswell.

 

[CMAC]

said I was leaving after 16 years, they said ok


so I did, and now have BB d/loading at 61MBPS and the same package I had with Sky for £30 a month less (albeit an 18mth contract now)

 

[sawtooth]

I negotiated a deal with Sky about 2 months ago when I finally got round to getting a HD TV.

I ditched the old Sky+ box, they gave me the brand new Wifi 2Tb Sky box for a one-off £49 (advertised as £149)

The monthly payment is 20% less than it should be , I pay £53 for the full package inc. HD and 3D

I said I may leave Sky and that I didn't want to pay more than £50 a month , didn't quite manage that but I got a good enough deal. Only tied in for 12 months so will renegotiate again when it ends.


However, the so called state of the art brand new sky box has a problem which is driving me mad. Keeps saying that there is no disk space even though it says 85% free.:angry:

 

[DappaDonDave]

I negotiated a deal with Sky about 2 months ago when I finally got round to getting a HD TV.

I ditched the old Sky+ box, they gave me the brand new Wifi 2Tb Sky box for a one-off £49 (advertised as £149)

The monthly payment is 20% less than it should be , I pay £53 for the full package inc. HD and 3D

I said I may leave Sky and that I didn't want to pay more than £50 a month , didn't quite manage that but I got a good enough deal. Only tied in for 12 months so will renegotiate again when it ends.


However, the so called state of the art brand new sky box has a problem which is driving me mad. Keeps saying that there is no disk space even though it says 85% free.:angry:

Try a planner rebuild

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-HD-Recording-Playback/Sky-HD-amp-Sky-Planner-Rebuild/ta-p/583396

 

[sawtooth]

Try a planner rebuild

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-HD-Recording-Playback/Sky-HD-amp-Sky-Planner-Rebuild/ta-p/583396

Thanks. that's what I have been doing and it does fix it temporarily. Seems like I'm having to do this once a week which is a royal pain in the backside.

I might have to do the system reset but I will have to make sure I watch everything I want on planner first as I will lose it all.

Apart from the picture quality I prefer my old Sky box, I never had this issue and I don't like the UI on the new box either. Grrrr!

 

[DappaDonDave]

Thanks. that's what I have been doing and it does fix it temporarily. Seems like I'm having to do this once a week which is a royal pain in the backside.

I might have to do the system reset but I will have to make sure I watch everything I want on planner first as I will lose it all.

Apart from the picture quality I prefer my old Sky box, I never had this issue and I don't like the UI on the new box either. Grrrr!

OK, try this:

1.Own a sky box
2. Power the box off at the mains power supply.
3. Locate the backup button on the front/top of the box.
4. Press and hold in the Backup button, and while doing this switch the box back on at the mains supply.
5. Continue to hold the Backup button after you have powered on, you should see within 60 seconds 3 more lights come on the front of the box? At this stage you can release the Backup button.
6. If you have 4 lights lit, it means the box is going through the forced download procedure. Leave for 15 minutes then try to see if your Issue is resolved.

This one will restore your HDD...be warned

1. Power the box off at the mains power supply.
2. Locate the left and right arrow buttons either side of the select button on the front/top of the box.
3. Press and hold both the left and right arrow buttons in together, and while holding power the box back on and continue to hold the buttons after the red light comes back on.
4. Continue to hold the buttons, you should see within 60 seconds, the blue/green circle light in the centre of the box light up a full circle.
5. Let go the buttons then press select button on the box twice.
6. You should see the blue/green circle light moving anti-clockwise and the record and play lights in the centre flashing on/off.
7. Once the lights go off, the box will have rebooted and you will now only have the red standby light lit on the box.
8. If you can now wait 2 minutes before switching the box back on from standby to see if the fault has resolved

 

[Fromtherough]

said I was leaving after 16 years, they said ok


so I did, and now have BB d/loading at 61MBPS and the same package I had with Sky for £30 a month less (albeit an 18mth contract now)

Sounds decent. Who was this deal from?

 

[Fromtherough]

I'll be getting on to sky sometime this week.

Sounds like the best option is to either feign poverty, threaten leaving or be cheeky. Will let you know what I opt for and how it goes.

 

[DappaDonDave]

I'll be getting on to sky sometime this week.

Sounds like the best option is to either feign poverty, threaten leaving or be cheeky. Will let you know what I opt for and how it goes.

Just try all three, something like;

It's too expensive, I'm leaving for virgin if you can't do me a deal

 

[CMAC]

Sounds decent. Who was this deal from?

Virgin......:smirk:

P.S if you sign up via Quidco you get another £75 cash back as well:thup:

 

[Deleted member 18121]

I tried my luck with Sky recently and the only deal they offered me was half price sports and movies for 6 months.....unfortunately (or not) I signed up to their broadband and telephone package only about 6 months ago, so I'm stuck for a while.

I think the days of them bending over backwards to keep you are long gone.

 

[DappaDonDave]

I tried my luck with Sky recently and the only deal they offered me was half price sports and movies for 6 months.....unfortunately (or not) I signed up to their broadband and telephone package only about 6 months ago, so I'm stuck for a while.

I think the days of them bending over backwards to keep you are long gone.

They just gave me free movies for 2 months. The selfish weasels..maybe...just maybe...you aint got the gift of the gab