Why I quit Sky

[Mountgrove]

After 14 years and also now out of contract and with some reluctance I have decided to cancel all my sky subs. (Broadband super fast, Anytime Talk, UHD, HD, Netflix (bundled) Signature TV, Sky Q 2TB and 2 mini boxes). 

So I have switched to Freeview and my new broadband will be with BT (no multiroom) and payg landline.

I spent some time "haggling" with retention but they would not get it to below  a  B-E  (the centre of a  dartboard, look it up if you are not familiar with rhyming slang that is prevalent in some parts of our capital) .Their offerings are very complex as you get different prices and offers depending on whether you take TV bundles with Broadband. Also, new subscribers get all the same deals cheaper. 

I even attempted to cancel and then got my wife to subscribe as a new customer (with a blue-light discount). But even that was confusing because if you just want broadband it is priced higher if you do not bundle it with say the Sky Signature, UHD & HD. Also the Bluelight discount only applies to bundles.  The other drawback would be that we could not retain the same landline number and we would lose all the recordings as the current boxes would have to go back and they send an engineer with new ones.  

Perhaps in retrospect I am partly to blame for overpaying while out of contract but it was just getting irritating being given so many confusing options to sign up. I am honestly not looking forward to switching but Sky customer services seem to think that customers are not likely to leave - so I decided to take the plunge and prove them wrong !

I live in hope that Sky may reconsider once they see I am serious and my broadband switchover via BT is actually in progress.

Anecdotely I have heard this is the case - like a last minute attempt to retain a customer. 

Any thoughts from other customers who went through a similar process ?

If something changes I will keep you all posted !

One last thing does this forum permit Sky customers to post how much they are paying ? If so I will post a breakdown . (I am out of contract).

[PandJ2020]

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@Mountgrove wrote:

I spent some time "haggling" with retention but they would not get it to below  a  B-E 

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Getting all of that under £50pm was an unrealistic target imho...  But if you don't think it's worth that much then indeed leave.

I recently paid 'chicken' with them and they did offer a better deal (I was going to switch to FreeSat etc.) but you have to be realistic if you want the services.

[Mountgrove]

I was offered a  price in April to go on a new contract for identical services but I declined and took my time to shop around but they will not offer that price any longer. So my decision to leave and go to BT broadband  with Freesat/now TV /Freeview is obviously much cheaper monthly. Plus the box is my property. I'm not sure if my dish will work with the Freesat box because it may have been altered when I purchased subscription to sky q and 2 mini boxes. But probably can be modified by a satellite engineer if necessary I hope!

[PandJ2020]

The latest freesat 4k work with Q LNB...

[statler]

I think alot of your points are valid. im a similar long term user and in the process on being within my notice period, although i did get a decent deal on my broadband which i was going to move anyway but wanted to cancel the tv packages. currently paying approx £75 for signature, hd, movies and 1 multiroom. when i thought about it earlier this month the box has basically become an expensive but very convenient recorder. 99% of shows i record are on terrestial tv, apart from a few on discovery. Movie content post covid is pretty poor, not skys fault but movies in general, currently top up with netflix,prime,itvx and disney subs on top of this so its a decent chunk of money. No current deals available worth noting so cutting the chord for a period and see how we go

[TimmyBGood]

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@Mountgrove wrote:

Broadband super fast £25

Anytime Talk £8

UHD, HD £13

Netflix (bundled)

Signature TV £28

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A quick review of advertised new customer pricing would suggest that as @PandJ2020 said you are extremely unlikely to get that bundle for £50

[chris234]

I was looking to join Sky, moving away from Virgin, I found Sky's site so confusing to compare what I have at the moment, full TV package, mobile SIM, landline, broadband, I have seen your post and decided it isn't worth the effort to move, shame Sky have no one you can speak to!

[TimmyBGood]

@chris234 

Sky can co-sell television and broadband, but not mobile: that's a separate transaction. 

'Landline' calls are bundled with broaband as a default PAYG service with add-on inclusive minute options.

[chris234]

Thank you for the info, similar to Virgin, mobile is done through O2, but both are closely linked