Cancel SKY Q or Pair it back or these options...

[Dexta22]

Yes, EE TV is UHD included in the price.

Netflix via EE TV for the top end package requires an upgradse of £9 over the free version they give you.
~
The big win with EE TV is taking your broadband with them.

So my broadband is £33 anyway .

But for £44.99 I get the broadband AND SKY signature and basic netflix AND multiroom for a whopping £11 quid.

I love SKY but the numbers no longer add up.

[outheir]

Its made me realise that I'm not a numpty, I agree with having lots of choice but it takes so much time sorting out. Time is important too, especially the older a person gets

[Dexta22]

Sorry not following?

[oj01]

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@Dexta22 wrote:

Reposting this as it ended up in the wrong place somehow.

My costs have spiralled to nearly £2k a year and looking at the rate of price increases SKY adopts it may overtake that.

I've decided enough is enough.

Note, I have Disney, Apple, :PRIME and Netflix anyway.

So some choices :

1. Option 1
   ~Pair Back SKY to the basic Signature package with SKY HD, That should run me around £37 , (£8 + £29.50) unless I fully cancel and may get a few ex quid off.
   
   Ultimate TV addon £8, that's cheaper than Netflix charge me anyway.

Mutiroom £14 - - Really do need this it's one of the reasons I have stuck with SKY (Annoyingly £5 to new customers currently)

So I could reduce from a £160 a month approx to £59 .

That would leave me with the fantastic sky box and access to the 100 odd films I have bought through sky over the decades.

Option 2: 
https://www.sky.com/help/articles/tv-essentials
Essentials for freeview, retain the box etc for £15 quid  just get the only important packages from SKY Entertainment + HD via NOW TV for £13

So £28 +multiroom = £42 a month. 
Not sure whether that saving of £10 a month is worth it but NOW TV does offer a lot of flexability.

Option 3:
Give up on SKY entirely. Go get a freesat HD box - or Humax for normal channels
Retain useful functionality like record and a great EPG etc add an Expresso 3 for multiroom . 

Zero monthlly charges of any kind
Just grab NOW T HD for £13 a month done.

Option 4:
Not sure if possible, insert a freeview card into a SKY Q and just pay SKY the £150 to keep the box?

Option 5 
EE TV added on to my broadband package
As I have broadband with EE anyway, their packages are crazy appealing.
Multiroom is FREE
Box has record function etc

£44 a month for SKY signature basically but INCLUDES the broadband 

Really good value other than I like not having to rely purely on wifi.

These options seem sound, any others?

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Going back to your initial post, Option 4 isn't an option. If you cancel Sky Q the equipment goes back to Sky. There is no option to pay Sky to keep the box.

[Dexta22]

Online it says Sky simply charge you for keeping the equipment:

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/charges-for-not-returning-sky-q-equipment

• Sky Q 1TB box - up to £117
• Sky Q 2TB box - up to £135
• Sky Q Mini box - up to £52
• Sky Max Hub - up to £75
• Sky Broadband Hub - up to £53
• Sky Q Hub - up to £50
• Sky Max Pod - up to £68
• Sky Broadband Booster - up to £33

[oj01]

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@Dexta22 wrote:

Online it says Sky simply charge you for keeping the equipment:

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/charges-for-not-returning-sky-q-equipment

• Sky Q 1TB box - up to £117
• Sky Q 2TB box - up to £135
• Sky Q Mini box - up to £52
• Sky Max Hub - up to £75
• Sky Broadband Hub - up to £53
• Sky Q Hub - up to £50
• Sky Max Pod - up to £68
• Sky Broadband Booster - up to £33

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Sky do charge you for non return of their equipment, but it remains their equipment and still needs to be returned. The customer can no longer use it and Sky will deactivate it.

[Dexta22]

I don't follow. Why have a returns price list of £135on the SKY Q box if you can't keep it.

Also why would anybody pay for hardware that is deactivated.

Something doesn't add up ?

They statte:

When you'll be charged

You’ll be charged a Non-return charge for any equipment that’s not returned to us, including if you’ve lost your equipment or if it’s been stolen (but you might be able to claim this charge back on your home insurance).

We’ll send you texts, emails or letters to remind you to return your equipment, if we haven’t got it back. And then, if we still don’t get the equipment back in the time frame given, you’ll get a letter or email confirming what you’ll be charged.

So I really don't think you return it AND pay the cost of the kit.

It's one or  the othher.  That's what a "non-return" fee literally means surely.

[Dexta22]

That said, all moot if you can't insert a freeview card and they disable the hardwarrfe.

[oj01]

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@Dexta22 wrote:

I don't follow. Why have a returns price list of £135on the SKY Q box if you can't keep it.

Also why would anybody pay for hardware that is deactivated.

Something doesn't add up ?

They statte:

When you'll be charged

You’ll be charged a Non-return charge for any equipment that’s not returned to us, including if you’ve lost your equipment or if it’s been stolen (but you might be able to claim this charge back on your home insurance).

We’ll send you texts, emails or letters to remind you to return your equipment, if we haven’t got it back. And then, if we still don’t get the equipment back in the time frame given, you’ll get a letter or email confirming what you’ll be charged.

So I really don't think you return it AND pay the cost of the kit.

It's one or  the othher.  That's what a "non-return" fee literally means surely.

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It's not a price list. It's a charge for failing to return it as per the contract the customer agreed to. In circumstances where the customer subsequently returns it I believe the charge has been refunded.

But, either way, the box will not continue to function.

[Dexta22]

It would be fair  to say you are quibling over terminology and semantics fella.

You said there's absolutely no option to keep the box and pay.

I showed you that was entirely incorrect. You can do exactly that.

Call it a  "non return charge"  or a price to retain it. Tantamount to exactly the same thing.

Then you said it was a non return fee but you still have to return the kit.

Again, sorry, not accurate. You can dig this up online. 

Once you have paid, SKY are not requesting the equipment back. That is clear as day.

**But, either way, the box will not continue to function.**

I wonder if that is entirely accurate either after doing some research.

It will certainly be locked as far as SKY Content is concerned.

I won't elaborate further. But it's certainly not impossible and is being done right now in the real world. Currently plenty of instructions exist off this site., but it is a poor solution. No record etc.

Not a sensible solution. Better to send it back and buy a proper decent Freesat box.

[Dexta22]

For anybody that's interested.


So after a lot of analysis, comparing EE TV to SKY with a truly accurate comparison in each element. It turns out if you match the Netflix package, once you add on EE TV multiroom which is no longer free, once you take into account the extra sky channels over NOW tv's version and so on, EE TV only shaves off about £10  month if you're taking movies, and sports .

If you're fine without movies and sports, then EE TV is significantly cheaper than SKY. YOu can essentially get Netflix and SKY signature for £11 on EE TV but as soon as you add packages, it levels out and SKY doesn't become significantly more expensive.

There's no doubt SKY Q is a better hardware and  you don't have to rely on streaming.

I think I'll call in, if I can get the discounts to match some of the deals online after being a cutomer for 25 years, I will stay withSKY.

If not, screw it  I'm going to survive with free sat  and disney, netflix, apple tv and prime.

[Doc5907]

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@Dexta22 wrote:

For anybody that's interested.


So after a lot of analysis, comparing EE TV to SKY with a truly accurate comparison in each element. It turns out if you match the Netflix package, once you add on EE TV multiroom which is no longer free, once you take into account the extra sky channels over NOW tv's version and so on, EE TV only shaves off about £10  month if you're taking movies, and sports .

If you're fine without movies and sports, then EE TV is significantly cheaper than SKY. YOu can essentially get Netflix and SKY signature for £11 on EE TV but as soon as you add packages, it levels out and SKY doesn't become significantly more expensive.

There's no doubt SKY Q is a better hardware and  you don't have to rely on streaming.

I think I'll call in, if I can get the discounts to match some of the deals online after being a cutomer for 25 years, I will stay withSKY.

If not, screw it  I'm going to survive with free sat  and disney, netflix, apple tv and prime.

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@Dexta22 

Just another thing to throw into your debate. EE tv is woeful, especially if you compare to the Sky Q system. Read their forums for further reference.

[Dexta22]

Yeah. This appears true. Even the folks who love EE TV admit the SKY Q system is superior.

I have no issue with SKY Q.  After seeing a friends SKY Stream perform I would NEVER use SKY Stream and I suspect EE TV suffers the same issues.

I also only run around a 70Mb line here so I'm concerned how bandwidth heavy it must be streaming some UHD content while the  rest of the house is connecting on various devices and doing their own streaming etc.

Then there's multiroom. Sky's implementation is perfect. EE TV's mini units can only play back on the one device it was specifially selected to record on.

Also, if you go for SKY Sports and movies, and multiroom (which is no longer free with EE) it only works out around £120 a year more expensive for SKY.

That said if you have your broadband with EE and only want sky signaure and basic netflix, it's a WAY better deal. You can get everything SKY charges nearly £40 for, for about £11 .

But again, is the hardware up to it. I think SKY Q is a beautiful bit of kit. Not once in as long as I have had it, has it ever died or let me odwn in anyway .

Guess that is worth taking into account.

Just so damm pricey for TV nowadays.

Between Netflix, SKY,  PRIME, Apple and Disney , 

I dread to think what it's topping out at, SKY alone is reaching  £2k a year for me.

[xenon81]

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@Dexta22 wrote:

It would be fair  to say you are quibling over terminology and semantics fella.

You said there's absolutely no option to keep the box and pay.

I showed you that was entirely incorrect. You can do exactly that.

Call it a  "non return charge"  or a price to retain it. Tantamount to exactly the same thing.

Then you said it was a non return fee but you still have to return the kit.

Again, sorry, not accurate. You can dig this up online. 

Once you have paid, SKY are not requesting the equipment back. That is clear as day.

**But, either way, the box will not continue to function.**

I wonder if that is entirely accurate either after doing some research.

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You can keep the box and pay the non-return charge but it will just be a doorstop. Sky Q boxes are deactivated by Sky (unlike previous Sky boxes) and will not function when your subscription is cancelled. Perhaps as you have doubts, you should go for this option and let us know how you get on. 

[Dexta22]

Dark web says different with a little hassle but if you read my entire post I made it clear it's not worth the hassle when the cost of keeping the SKY kit is barely any different from getting a brand new Freesat box with record.