Getting money off your Sky (etc) bill
Discussion
My Sky bill is bloody high - All the TV options + broadband I think I'm paying around £145 a month.
I know all the people like Martin Lewis say you need to haggle, or threaten to leave, lots of talk about the retention team and so on.
What actually is the way to do this? Do I call Sky and (politely of course) ask straight away to speak to the retention team and just say I want to leave? Or do I say that my bill is too high and I'll have to leave if we can't do anything about it?
The reality is I don't really want to change from Sky, and don't really want to trim down my package either, but I also don't want to keep paying £145 a month for stuff other people might be getting for a lot less?
I know all the people like Martin Lewis say you need to haggle, or threaten to leave, lots of talk about the retention team and so on.
What actually is the way to do this? Do I call Sky and (politely of course) ask straight away to speak to the retention team and just say I want to leave? Or do I say that my bill is too high and I'll have to leave if we can't do anything about it?
The reality is I don't really want to change from Sky, and don't really want to trim down my package either, but I also don't want to keep paying £145 a month for stuff other people might be getting for a lot less?
Keen to know also...
I've with Virgin and pay over the odds as I need good internet for working from home. I have friends and family on a similar package paying less so was advised to say I'm leaving if they can't do anything with the price.
I did just that and they let me leave, no retention deal offered. I left it a week of being disconnected before ringing them back up asking to be reconnected. Couldn't wait it out much longer tethering my phone.
Now tied in for a further 18 months at the same extortionate rate. Tried Cityfibre a couple years back but the connection kept dropping and they couldn't fix it.
No other high speed options in my area so Virgin have me cornered.
I've with Virgin and pay over the odds as I need good internet for working from home. I have friends and family on a similar package paying less so was advised to say I'm leaving if they can't do anything with the price.
I did just that and they let me leave, no retention deal offered. I left it a week of being disconnected before ringing them back up asking to be reconnected. Couldn't wait it out much longer tethering my phone.
Now tied in for a further 18 months at the same extortionate rate. Tried Cityfibre a couple years back but the connection kept dropping and they couldn't fix it.
No other high speed options in my area so Virgin have me cornered.
Hammy98 said:
Keen to know also...
I've with Virgin and pay over the odds as I need good internet for working from home. I have friends and family on a similar package paying less so was advised to say I'm leaving if they can't do anything with the price.
I did just that and they let me leave, no retention deal offered. I left it a week of being disconnected before ringing them back up asking to be reconnected. Couldn't wait it out much longer tethering my phone.
Now tied in for a further 18 months at the same extortionate rate. Tried Cityfibre a couple years back but the connection kept dropping and they couldn't fix it.
No other high speed options in my area so Virgin have me cornered.
That's not encouraging, having my bluff called is not what I'm after I've with Virgin and pay over the odds as I need good internet for working from home. I have friends and family on a similar package paying less so was advised to say I'm leaving if they can't do anything with the price.
I did just that and they let me leave, no retention deal offered. I left it a week of being disconnected before ringing them back up asking to be reconnected. Couldn't wait it out much longer tethering my phone.
Now tied in for a further 18 months at the same extortionate rate. Tried Cityfibre a couple years back but the connection kept dropping and they couldn't fix it.
No other high speed options in my area so Virgin have me cornered.
There's a whole thread for the Virgin do me a deal / retention dance, will contain the same sort of stuff for Sky .. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
BoRED S2upid said:
Yeah you phone up and check you are on the best package. We did it for an uncle in his 80’s after the sky engineer told him he was paying far too much. The next week they sent a new box, new dish and reduced his bill by £40 a month.
So is it a case of simply being on the best package available, rather than the person on the phone having the power to knock, say, 25% off your current bill without it being a specific package? And I guess all of this needs doing near end of contract, or out of contract?
I've always found that there's no need to call them up on the aggressive side and threaten to leave - especially if you actually want to stay.
In the past, I've just phoned them up and asked if I can re-contract my various services depending on what deals are on.
They look at your package, ask about what channels you're actually watching, put you on to any deals that are available at the moment (be prepared to be locked in for a while) and reduce your bill.
They are quite happy to do this and pretty helpful I've found.
Last time I did this, they removed the Kids TV (we don't have children), put me on a broadband deal (with better speed) signed me up to movies for free for 6 months (need to remember to cancel) and I got my bill under £100 per month IIRC (TV, Phone & Broadband)
In the past, I've just phoned them up and asked if I can re-contract my various services depending on what deals are on.
They look at your package, ask about what channels you're actually watching, put you on to any deals that are available at the moment (be prepared to be locked in for a while) and reduce your bill.
They are quite happy to do this and pretty helpful I've found.
Last time I did this, they removed the Kids TV (we don't have children), put me on a broadband deal (with better speed) signed me up to movies for free for 6 months (need to remember to cancel) and I got my bill under £100 per month IIRC (TV, Phone & Broadband)
Like you my Sky bill was something like £160 a month...... Including TV & Broadband
I got a deal on Gigaclear Fibre for £20 a month so called Sky to cancel the Broadband, keeping the TV.
They tried to reduce my Broadband bill from £50 a month to about £40 a month, not getting that I had a replacement at £20 a month, but in the end they reluctantly cancelled my Broadband and then commented on my TV bill. Without prompt they reduced all the Sky packages and dropped the whole lot by £20 a month.
If they know your'e serious, they'll do something. I'd get some quotes from other providers, and ask to leave quoting your're new deal.
I guess they're clued up on people trying to call their bluff.....
I got a deal on Gigaclear Fibre for £20 a month so called Sky to cancel the Broadband, keeping the TV.
They tried to reduce my Broadband bill from £50 a month to about £40 a month, not getting that I had a replacement at £20 a month, but in the end they reluctantly cancelled my Broadband and then commented on my TV bill. Without prompt they reduced all the Sky packages and dropped the whole lot by £20 a month.
If they know your'e serious, they'll do something. I'd get some quotes from other providers, and ask to leave quoting your're new deal.
I guess they're clued up on people trying to call their bluff.....
UTH said:
BoRED S2upid said:
Yeah you phone up and check you are on the best package. We did it for an uncle in his 80’s after the sky engineer told him he was paying far too much. The next week they sent a new box, new dish and reduced his bill by £40 a month.
So is it a case of simply being on the best package available, rather than the person on the phone having the power to knock, say, 25% off your current bill without it being a specific package? And I guess all of this needs doing near end of contract, or out of contract?
They won't just discount your bill. You need to fit to a suitable package and be out of contract on that element to enable a switch to it.
UTH said:
BoRED S2upid said:
Yeah you phone up and check you are on the best package. We did it for an uncle in his 80’s after the sky engineer told him he was paying far too much. The next week they sent a new box, new dish and reduced his bill by £40 a month.
So is it a case of simply being on the best package available, rather than the person on the phone having the power to knock, say, 25% off your current bill without it being a specific package? And I guess all of this needs doing near end of contract, or out of contract?
If you are out of contract then before you speak to the retention team or cancellation team ( depending on the provider ) see what the nearest competitive offer is , work out exactly what you need , know what the increase is and then call.
Be polite ( overly so ) but realistic in your expectations.
Don’t start with “ I’m cancelling “ but give your concerns on pricing and affordability.
Stress the point you made about not wanting to leave them.
If you get nowhere ( and I doubt this would be the case ) just make sure you end with “ let me think about things “ and then try again a few days later.
Good luck.
Be polite ( overly so ) but realistic in your expectations.
Don’t start with “ I’m cancelling “ but give your concerns on pricing and affordability.
Stress the point you made about not wanting to leave them.
If you get nowhere ( and I doubt this would be the case ) just make sure you end with “ let me think about things “ and then try again a few days later.
Good luck.
I cut my sky package down to the basics and they wanted £34 pm. I asked if they could do any better and they offered £24pm. I said no and cancelled for no charge as i was out of contract. I called a few weeks later and went for the Stream instead and they gave me a 50% discount for the first 9 months so I signed up again. They wouldn't budge on the price for sports though!
It will always come down to what other companies are offering in your area at the time for new customers.
I ended a 25 year contract with Virgin media (dating back to when it was CableTel) last summer. My intention was to switch to CityFibre/Vodafone who were doing a £40/month deal for 1Gig FTP. As it was CityFibre couldn't make the connection from street to my office without bodging it. It was a health-and-safety farce that amounted to them refusing to climb a ladder to follow an existing exterior cable-run that their rivals had put in without question, meaning they wanted instead to take a cable through four internal walls including a floor-to-ceiling tiled bathroom!!
So, I cancelled within the 14 day cooling off period, by which point my address qualified as a new customer with Virgin Media as I had settled my outstanding bill and sent back all the old equipment. Wife signed up for an 18month 1Gig internet only package for £40/month (price matched to Vodafone) which was up and running as soon as the new modem arrived.
At some point during that 18 months (when the weather gets better) I am going to run a Cat 6 cable along the route CtyFibre were too scared to follow so that if I decide to give them another shot in future they can fit their equipment at the front of the property and f
k off.
I ended a 25 year contract with Virgin media (dating back to when it was CableTel) last summer. My intention was to switch to CityFibre/Vodafone who were doing a £40/month deal for 1Gig FTP. As it was CityFibre couldn't make the connection from street to my office without bodging it. It was a health-and-safety farce that amounted to them refusing to climb a ladder to follow an existing exterior cable-run that their rivals had put in without question, meaning they wanted instead to take a cable through four internal walls including a floor-to-ceiling tiled bathroom!!
So, I cancelled within the 14 day cooling off period, by which point my address qualified as a new customer with Virgin Media as I had settled my outstanding bill and sent back all the old equipment. Wife signed up for an 18month 1Gig internet only package for £40/month (price matched to Vodafone) which was up and running as soon as the new modem arrived.
At some point during that 18 months (when the weather gets better) I am going to run a Cat 6 cable along the route CtyFibre were too scared to follow so that if I decide to give them another shot in future they can fit their equipment at the front of the property and f
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