Pricing issue

[Damauk]

My 82 year old father was paying £140 per month from Saterlite (which he never watches), Broadband and phone. He has now had the satellite taken off and was told by Sky that his only option was to pay £70 per month for Broadband and a phone, which is a crazy price!

Is he being ripped off still as I have never had Sky and is this one for Ofcom?

Thanks.

Moderator actions: change title to reflect issue and remove unfounded allegations

[TimmyBGood]

@Damauk 

Ofcom doesn't regulate pricing.

The ISP market is hugely competitive, but that rewards customers who switch supplier.

[Daniel0210]

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@Damauk wrote:

his only option was to pay £70 per month for Broadband and a phone, which is a crazy price!

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@Damauk 

What broadband does he have and also which Sky Talk phone tariff is he on? If he has Sky Talk Anytime Extra for example, that is £17 per month extra (undiscounted) on its own without factoring in any chargeable call features and then the broadband on top of that. 

£70 still seems a lot though. Perhaps check his online bill to see if discounts have expired. 

[martswain]

@Damauk nobody is being taken advantage of, it is up to the customer to keep on top of their subscription requirements.

Everyone has to be proactive these days and not let themselves fall into the position of being outof a discounted period and if the price isn't right you have to vote with your feet and move.

I fall into the "getting on a bit" category but have all my contract dates noted and am ready to haggle whenever the time comes.
 

[Sayek]

@Damauk I understand where you comming as I also have a elderly father. I deal with all his bills from car insurance to switching utility bills at renewal.

His car insurance renewal is the worst.

My father never upgraded to Sky Q so still has the old Sky HD box and uses for freeview without paying anything. You can certainly shop around for internet and phone package thats normally available for £35. Or £25 for internet and  mobile SIM card for under £10.

You will need to keep an eye at renewal.

[Damauk]

Thank you so much for your reply. He finds technology really difficult to grasp, even when I do my best to explain it to him. It feels unfair that he’s paying £70 a month just to check his emails and use the phone. He’s even gone into the Sky shop in Eastbourne to ask for help, but sadly he always comes away just as confused and no better off.

[Sayek]

@Damauk 

There is no reward with longtern customer with most ISP...thats how the industry operates.

I am currently on Sky new customer internet promotion rate internet. End of 24months contract increases by £20 and if from that point every April maybe another £4/5 so imagine my bill after 10 years if left untouched. The new cuctomers are always rewarded with masive discounts.

I was with Virgin Media previous and seen the same when longterm loyal customers are paying 3x a new customer.

Just like a house mortgage. When your 2 years fixed rate end..the banks standard variabe rate is very expensive so shop around for a another promotion 😉

[2muchTV]

A couple of suggestions if your father is unable to figure out his needs etc. 

1. If your father has online access to billing etc see what you can change from there removing what is unnecessary etc. 

2. Give 31 days notice to cancel all your Sky subscriptions using either email or letter. Sky will follow up with a call but dad can say "I will discuss when my son is around."

I pay £55 pm for broadband (no phone) and £68 for Sky Stream (Sports, UHD, Netflix) ie £123.

I am sure dad can get a better price and I am ending my Sky subscription in November for Now TV.