£10 admin fees

[aaron67775]

Hi,

Just called to see the best current deals, been with sky for over 20 years and a Dianond VIP. The best offer they gave me was the same as a new customer plus £20 admin fee. I questioned what the Admin fee was for, the person could not answer, don't mind paying for it but needs to be reasonible. 

This cannot be normal practice to charge existing customer for discounts to be added so the cost aligns to new customers, then  not have a clue what the charge is paying for. 

Any idea what the £20 cost covers (cannot be the call to customer services, as the call was heppening anyway). 

[caesarome]

It is a bit of a money making exercise for Sky really but sadly they have been charging such fees for a few years now.

[Daniel0210]

@aaron67775 
It is common practice. Admin charges are usually added to discounted deals (new or on renewal), and it’s normally £10 per discount. 

[aaron67775]

But what is it paying for, I cannot find anything on the website for what the admin cost covers. 

[Daniel0210]

@aaron67775 

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@caesarome wrote:

It is a bit of a money making exercise for Sky really 

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[aaron67775]

Totally agree, but they must be reasonible, to understand if they are reasonible they "must" detail what the admin fee is for, no one seems to have any detail.

Banks had this issue until they were all found to be unreasnible, as it was just clicks on the screen. 

I have just cancelled as far as I can see it is not reasonible. 

[Daniel0210]

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@aaron67775 wrote:
The best offer they gave me was the same as a new customer plus £20 admin fee. 

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@aaron67775 

Entirely up to you of course but cancelling seems a big over reaction. Most customers would snap Skys hand off to have discounts bringing the cost down to the equivalent of a new customers deal. 

[aaron67775]

I think you have hit the nail on the head..  Sky offsets new customer discounts with people who have paid for years and Loyal customers should be happy with that.

If they could explain what it was for and I could then understand if it was reasonible or not. There  is no information on what these admin fees are for. 

I will just rejoin in partners name and get the topcashback money - Silly business model. 

[Daniel0210]

@aaron67775 

The admin fees equate to £1.11 a month over 18 months. I definitely wouldn't be cancelling in those circumstances which entails returning all the equipment, losing all recordings, losing VIP status etc but as already stated that's your decision. 

[aaron67775]

I think you are missing my point, it is not the fee but what the fee covers.

"We may charge a reasonable administration fee for making any changes to your TV option which we will let you know about before you make a change".

Every other company I have dealt with can explain what the admin fee covers, then I or the ombusman  (FOS / Ofcom) can determine if it is reasonible, but sky cannot ????

I suspect this is why most companies / banks have dropped Admin fees as the tasks cost pennies to do, so never stand up to any reasonability test. 

[Mark39]

I assume it covers the cost to Sky of negotiating a new discount offer with you and setting it up - i.e. the administration involved. 

[aaron67775]

It can't be.  In the T&C's it is to cover making the changes, and suspect the changes are "Click on the Screen" approach in the CRM system so takes seconds to make.

£20 would be around 20 - 40 mins looking online.  This is all I am after what are you doing in this time, gone of the days  where companies can just charge any "Admin Fees"  the FCA / FOS put pay to that. 

"We may charge a reasonable administration fee for making any changes to your TV option which we will let you know about before you make a change".

Anyone who works for Sky on here who can explain. Just looking at raising this to the ombusman, like the poster before said I will lose a few things due to unreasible admin fees, that no one can explain or even point me to. 

Even on here no one seems to have a clue what they are for, but just look to justify them. 

[PandJ2020]

Personally I think it's ridiculous too - I've always negotiated a deal without such fees.  I would cancel too if they won't waive it...

[aaron67775]

Its a joke, basically you have to pay £10 per discount added as an admin fee to update your package, I have raised in another "legal" forum around this. 

The advice they have given me is do not cancel, do the change and pay the admin fees and then request a break down of the cost of the the admin, and how the charges are made up. If I cancel I have no right to go to the ombusman as I have not paid the unjust fees. 

Looks like I will go that route, have been given some good links to look at it seem quite "dodgy" as the £10 fee is not even documented. 

[Mark39]

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@aaron67775 wrote:

The advice they have given me is do not cancel, do the change and pay the admin fees and then request a break down of the cost of the the admin, and how the charges are made up. If I cancel I have no right to go to the ombusman as I have not paid the unjust fees.. 

 I wonder how that will stack up if Sky offer to waive the charge when challenged, which is what they've done in the past.