Moving house and needing service in both places for two month overlap

[Prasdfasdfa]

Hi all,

I've recently purchased a home and am doing some renovation work in the new property before fully moving in.   I've asked Sky on the phone to allow me to start a new contract this week for TV and broadband at the new property and allow me to exit my current contract at the end of Feb without penalty.  They're saying I'll need to pay the termination fee for my current contract (£450) which doesn't make sense.   Anyone have any suggestion on how I can handle?  

Again, I want to stay with Sky. It just so happens I will be splitting time for two months with the move and need broadband services at both properties for a 7 week timeframe.    All advice welcome! 

[SKY1992bf]

@Prasdfasdfa  if you're in contract then sky are within their rights to hold you to it as your discovered you have asked the question and received there answer 

[Prasdfasdfa]

That's not what I'm asking though - I'm able to (within the terms of the contract), move my service without an early cancellation fee.  I'm asking for advice from the community on how to potentially navigate the overlap between two properties for a small period of time.  

[Daniel0210]

@Prasdfasdfa 

I've not come across this scenario before. I would normally advise you to call Sky and ask the question… but you have and received their response. If you're confident the agent knew exactly what you were hoping to achieve then that seems to be Skys stance. 

You could try again I suppose. Certainly with TV subscriptions the latest T’s and C’s explicitly state you can’t cancel when still in a minimum term deal unless Sky agree. (If they agree you’ll have to pay the remainder of your discounted term). 

[Prasdfasdfa]

Yeah, the customer service person seems to think the only way for me to overlap is to start a new contract at the new place and then exit the old one when I've fully moved house (and pay the cancellation fee)

Seems like a horrible policy and one that's ineffective in keeping me as a customer. I've been with Sky for 9 years and have largely been happy.  If I'm exposed to a cancellation fee regardless, I might as well move to a new provider.  There's no reason for me to stay despite me not looking to move providers initially!   Again, seems like a policy that they should consider revisiting to make their service sticky with customers as they go through big life moves. 

[SKY1992bf]

@Prasdfasdfa  My understanding is exactly the same as @Daniel0210 hence my first post 

doing a google search of ofcom regulations states the following 

"customers can leave penalty free only if there's a price increase within the minimum term and they notify the provider within 31 days of receiving the notification of their intention to cancel"

(this only applies to broadband contracts and excludes tv contracts)

[daveNOS]

@Prasdfasdfa There is no mechanism to have 2 properties serviced without having 2 independent contracts, i suspect that would be the same for all providers.

[MightyQuinn]

Hi @Prasdfasdfa   No doubt, the computer says no. Flexibility with systems in a very large company is not going to happen.

[Daniel0210]

@Prasdfasdfa 

As I said, I've not heard this set of circumstances before so I doubt it's one that crops up often enough for the policy to require changes. 

[Prasdfasdfa]

Update on this - Virgin have offered me £200  credit towards cancellation fees if I switch so I think I'll just go that route.   Too bad as I've enjoyed Sky but this lack of caring about the customer has put me off.    

[Anonymous]

Good for you

Merry Christmas

[Prasdfasdfa]

Thanks, you too!

BTW, the tone and general vibe in this community forum is weirdly aggressive and slightly depressing.  Hope that's not the case normally and people are just having a bad day.... yikes!