New customer better deals

[Tony11849]

That's an excuse, not a reason, rip off 

[PandJ2020]

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@Tony11849 wrote:

That's an excuse, not a reason, rip off 

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We have no idea which post or comment you are replying to.

[daveNOS]

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@Tony11849 wrote:

That's an excuse, not a reason, rip off 

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@Tony11849 care to elaborate? 

[Robert288]

(Removed) I raised a complaint with sky. Explained my issue. Chap from the valued team called tried to apply the new deal. It would not work so he applied £180  discount added to my account the amount I would of lost over the next 18 months. (Removed)  follow your belief try try try again

Moderator note: Removed incorrect information.

[daveNOS]

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@Robert288 wrote:

I listened to this impartial chap lol.. he said new deals are few new customer only.

I raised a complaint with sky. Explained my issue. Chap from the valued team called tried to apply the new deal. It would not work so he applied £180  discount added to my account the amount I would of lost over the next 18 months. My advice DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE IMPARTIAL NOT EMPLOYED BY SKY. follow your belief try try try again

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@Robert288 No one here has ever said don't try to negotiate, all we have done is try to explain the reason why new customers usually get better deal.

[Daniel0210]

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@Robert288 wrote:

I just watched an advert. A brand new customer can get a sky glass basic package exactly same as I have for nearly 10 pounds a month cheaper fixed for 18 months.

As an existing customer 22 years I pay more!!!  New customer get cheaper loyal pay more so so wrong. My contract ends in April so me my glass mobiles Internet will leave

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@Robert288 

There was no suggestion in your original post you were prepared to negotiate. You were leaving at the end of your discounted deal full stop. Sky are not obliged to offer you any discount so if you've now been offered something that you find acceptable then fair enough. 

[dormouse]

I have to say that Sky's current approach is not as flexible as the past. As a Q customer who's contract ends in March I thought I would switch to Stream. I contacted them and hoped to get a good deal. However, they would not give me a package equal to their current Black Friday new customer offers.

I complained and was contacted by the Value Team but they would not match the new customer price for me. It was about £7 a month dearer for me.

I understand the new customer discounts, but in the past Sky would have offered me a good deal to keep me as a customer . After all I was looking to switch to their newest technology, pay more than I am now for Q and sign up for a new 18 month contract?? Poor customer approach in my opinion.

[PandJ2020]

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@dormouse wrote:

I complained and was contacted by the Value Team but they would not match the new customer price for me. It was about £7 a month dearer for me.

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That does seem to be the case nowadays.  Looks like I'll be leaving next August then...

[MarkGoldsmith]

It because the cost of obtaining a new customer is more expensive than retaining existing customers, as it requires marketing costs and good deals to attract new customers. Generally the percentage of customers that leave a TV subscription service is lower and they can retain the customer base for a longer period of time (at least several years), so for a corporate company it hits there profit margins more if they offer existing customers the same cheap deals as new customers.

I'm not saying i agree with the approach, but a lot of service based companies do this and put their strategies together based on the cost of obtaining a new customer vs retaining a customer and it makes a big part of their underlying profit.

If you always want the best deals and values you need to constantly keep switching your service provider to get those new customer deals. It works for most services in a competitive environment (tv, broadband, mobile, insurance, prior to the energy crisis the energy market as well).

[PandJ2020]

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@MarkGoldsmith wrote:

It because the cost of obtaining a new customer is more expensive than retaining existing customers

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indeed, but it seems many providers don't want to keep existing customers and give the best deals to new (expensive to obtain) ones...

[MarkGoldsmith]

That's because once they have obtained you they rake in the money due to retention and renewal rates generally being quite high. That's the reason they want to attract new customers and concentrate on that. Once they get a customer in on a cheap deal for 18 months the majority end up renewing for another 18 months, then again 18 months later. These renewals then become "cheap" for sky.

the model would only change if the majority of customers did a ditch and switch to other services every 18 months at the end of contracts but that's not how the majority of the customer base works.

[PandJ2020]

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@MarkGoldsmith wrote:

That's because once they have obtained you they rake in the money due to retention and renewal rates generally being quite high. 

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Yup, that's probably true but I think things are changing...  I've always negotiated a great rate and have actually cancelled to get it.  But if that door is closed I will walk at least.

[loftyhites]

I agree that regularly changing provider to get cheaper deals (like you would with annual car insurance) might be the way forward.

 After 19 years with Sky, I tried to renegotiate my £135 a month subscription and told that the best they could offer me was to put it up to £137!! I'm now with Virgin with the same provision, including Netflix and unlimited O2 SIM card for £95. No doubt, in 18mths when this Virgin contract ends then I'll have to shop around again. Sky did keep mentioning that I'm a VIP customer but I've never really got anything out of that other than higher subscriptions than those that aren't.

[doc-ab]

Skys churn rate is rising. It seems daft that following the logic that many have posted ie it costs more to sign up a new Sky customer why lose customers by offering lousy deals? In the insurance market it is now illegal to offer new customers a better deal than existing customers. 
Sky, BT, Vodafone and Talk Talk have agreed to ofcom advice to offer new customers the same price as existing customers if they take out a new contract,  can same rules be far away for pay tv?

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@doc-ab wrote:

Skys churn rate is rising. It seems daft that following the logic that many have posted ie it costs more to sign up a new Sky customer why lose customers by offering lousy deals? In the insurance market it is now illegal to offer new customers a better deal than existing customers. 
Sky, BT, Vodafone and Talk Talk have agreed to ofcom advice to offer new customers the same price as existing customers if they take out a new contract,  can same rules be far away for pay tv?

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The unfortunate thing in the insurance market is that the end result is all customers being out of pocket as the insurance prices generally went up as a result for all customers. To be honest I quite preferred the old model of having good new customer deals because if you could be bothered and were on-top of your renewal dates you could actively get deals and make a saving. That option has essentially be taken away now (even more annoying when certain types of insurance you obviously have to have for various purposes like car insurance).

I doubt any such legislation would be enforced for TV services, as unlike insurance and broadband, a TV subscription service isn't an essential.

A lot of customers who call for these types of legislation changes which the regulators sell as being "great for customers" generally are never good for your bank balance. The regulators make changes with the idea of making things clearer and more upfront on contracts for those that don't read the T&Cs before or just after signing up, which ends up leading to prices rising throughout the industry.