Leaving Sky advice

[snes]

Firstly, some fairly positive news - there are signs that legislation may soon be proposed in the USA to make it as easy to cancel/unsubscribe from services as it is to sign up to them. If we had a half decent OfCom, this is something that should have been introduced over here a long time ago!

However, after that major digression, down to the subject of my post.

I have read some of the horror stories on here about people trying to perform the simple act of leaving Sky. As I intend doing the same myself with my basic SkyQ package in the near future, I felt it advisable to seek some guidance from the good people on here. In essence, when my contract nears its end, I need to give 31 days notice to leave. So, when my contract is coming up to that date, surely I can contact Sky over 31 days before, to give that notice?

So, for example, could I contact them, say, 6 weeks before my contract end, to let them know I want to leave on the exact day my contract ends? My understanding is, from what I have read on here, is that you can only cancel exactly 31 days before. Which seems a bit silly! Hence why  I need further guidance on here.

Can anyone clarify this for me? Many thanks!

[SKY1992bf · Accepted solution]

@snes  the notice period starts the day you give it

so if you give it six weeks out your service will terminate 4 weeks later meaning you have 2 weeks early termination charges to pay 

[PandJ2020]

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@snes wrote:

My understanding is, from what I have read on here, is that you can only cancel exactly 31 days before. Which seems a bit silly!

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As explained above, if you give notice to cancel prior to 31 days then you're potentially subject to early termination charges - which is why you give notice at 31 days.

However, if you've read other posts then you'll be aware of the billing process and that it continues completely as normal during this notice period (including paying for the month in advance even if this is past your cessation date).

[TimmyBGood]

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@snes wrote:

Firstly, some fairly positive news - there are signs that legislation may soon be proposed in the USA to make it as easy to cancel/unsubscribe from services as it is to sign up to them. 

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US legislation is of course irrelevant in the UK, otherwise we'd all have firearms.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) which squeaked through during Parliamentary 'wash-up' after the General Election was called contains new powers for the Competition & Markets Authority to set conditions for subscription services, and is likely to result in regulation which requires service taken out online to be cancellable that way, as well as other measures.

Consumers must be given a 14-day cooling off period, as well as the ability to exit the contract “easily” – ie with a single communication (so-called anti-sludge). “Dark patterns” such as continually asking consumers if they are sure, or if they are happy to “lose their benefits” are unlikely to comply with the new requirements.

Consumers will have the:

Right to cancel at start of contract (as under the CCRs);

Right to cancel after a free trial; and

Right to cancel when they renew

The detail on return and refund rules will be set out in secondary legislation and the Government has committed to consult publicly on those rules.

https://www.lewissilkin.com/en/insights/our-guide-digital-markets-competition-consumers-bill-focusin... 

[Roger17]

@snes When I gave notice it was well before the 31 days as I was going to be out of the country 31 days before my contract finished. If you read Skys T&C' you must give at least 31 days notice. All you have to do is tell them that you are cancelling from the day your contract finishes. You will not get charged early termination charges as you are not cancelling until the date your contract finishes. i.e if your contract finishes 1st December you can call them mid October and notify them you are cancelling from the 1st December.

[PandJ2020]

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@Roger17 wrote:

@snes When I gave notice it was well before the 31 days as I was going to be out of the country 31 days before my contract finished. If you read Skys T&C' you must give at least 31 days notice. All you have to do is tell them that you are cancelling from the day your contract finishes. You will not get charged early termination charges as you are not cancelling until the date your contract finishes. i.e if your contract finishes 1st December you can call them mid October and notify them you are cancelling from the 1st December.

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Yes, this should be how it works, but...

[Roger17]

@PandJ2020 I had no problems at all, for once the person I spoke to actioned everything correctly. My contract finished and I only had to pay for the service I recieved from my last direct debit until contract end date. This was taken, then future months showed as £0, Direct Debit cancelled and no more sky.

[snes]

Thank you so much, Roger, this is how common sense suggested to me the system should work. The reason that I wanted to give myself a little extra time was to allow for the offshore agent to somehow forget to action my request or fail to send the confirmation e-mail.

However, I do accept a previous answer suggesting a strict 31 day period, as I am sure our script reading offshore chums may not be wonderful at thinking outside the box.....

Thanks again to all who replied - I do appreciate all your advice!

[Roger17]

@snes  I did always request to speak to an advisor in the UK as i strugggled to understand what the offshore agent were saying. There was never any problem with these requests and the UK advisors have always been very good.

[Roger17]

@snes I also meant to say that the contractual requirement is a minimum so as long as you do not request your service to finish before your contracted date you will not incurr any penalties, in theroy you could give them notice 1 day after taking out the contract that you will end it on the day your cotract expires, its a bit like taking out Disney for a month and cancelling the next day to prevent any further payments.