SKY £1.50 price increase - HOW TO AVOID!

[Wayne0]

Hi guys,

 

Just aiming to help other consumers out there...

 

I got a letter in the post today from Sky informing me that my services were going to increase in price, to the tune of £1.50 for tv, and few other increases...

 

I am still in a 12 month contract (until november 2012), as i recently upgraded my services adding HD, multiroom ETC.

 

Now long story short...

 

Simply call up to the "thinking of leaving us department"

 

tell them that your not happy with the price increase so they can cancel all of the services provided by them.

 

They will then (hopefully) give you a £1.50 credit (and credit for the other amounts depending on the services you recieve - ie: sports, movies etc, all have seperate increases)

 

They are applying these increases across to everyone, new, existing ETC... even if your in a fixed term contract...

 

HOWEVER: the UTCCR 1999 regulations state the following:

 

"And incase you are not aware of UNFAIR TERMS IN CONSUMER CONTRACTS REGULATIONS...

Section 5 and Schedule 2 of the UTCCR sets out a non-exhaustive list of terms considered unfair:

•(i) irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which he had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract;

 

•(j) enabling the seller or supplier to alter the terms of the contract unilaterally without a valid reason which is specified in the contract;

 

•(l) providing for the price of goods to be determined at the time of delivery or allowing a seller of goods or supplier of services to increase their price without in both cases giving the consumer the corresponding right to cancel the contract if the final price is too high in relation to the price agreed when the contract was concluded;

 

this is a little paragraph from my orange complaint, but is relevant here...

 

also, bear the following in mind:

 

if your out of contract, you have more legroom for discounts "fueled" by the price increase... - dont be happy with the £1.50 credit, tell them you want the best available deal, as you can get services by XYZ service (IE: Virgin Media, BT Vision ETC).

 

My current offers on account are:

9 months free telephone line rental (expiring jan 2013)

12 months free hd package (expiring july 2013)

£1.50 credits to counteract price increase (expiring july 2013)

 

my offers are due to a multitude of failures by sky (took them over six months to activate my broadband etc)

 

but I am a little annoyed that the sky adviser i spoke to tried to argue with me that i wouldnt of been able to leave either way... despite their price increase terminating the validity of their "lock in clause" lol.

 

hopefully if anybody else has some info to add

 

and i do hope this helps you guys avoid being ripped off!

 

Wayne.

[IdaInFife]

They can only increase the amount if you have been active with sky for over 60 days.

 

And your above argument does not apply as it is not a fixed term contract.

[Wayne0]

if you are a new customer you are in a 12 month "fixed term" agreement... much like a mobile / landline supplier ETC...

 

weather or not you end at the end of the "Fixed Term" is up to yourself by giving 30 days...

[locutus]

I think you'll find it's a 30 day rolling contract with a minimum term. "Fixed term" means it runs for so long then ends.

[Wayne0]

Oh, Sorry, wrong word

 

MINIMUM TERM!...

 

Sorry, I linked it to the fact your Fixed into the minium 12 months

[The]

I always find that if phone up enough times you find the right customer service guy willing to give you stuff for free. You should try it, works every time

[dark vader]

sky always manage to have a annual increase regardless of any situation. dump them and go on topup tv if you just require the sports channels , i always ring them up for deals £19 for sports 1&2 and espn for a month and no contract . also dump there broadband and calls and swith to tesco as this gets you all calls 24/7 WITH UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD £20 per month 12 month contract. £39 per moth for the lot

[Wayne0]

well, i dumped sky...

 

after cancelling my multiroom / hd package, i was no longer allowed to use the paid services (download movies etc)... called them up and was rude to me, so i cancelled it...

 

my broadband is on a free linerental deal until the end of jan. so i will move then...

 

i paid 20 quid for a new aerial, and a signal booster, and now use freeview - along with online services i can view all my shows (including new sky1 stuff )

 

even if i download every ep of the programs i watch on sky1 and pay for them, it comes to about 5 quid a month... still a massive saving.

 

the only thing i miss is the sky+ but i loaded my laptop with my daughters dvds, and now she can stream them via the PS3 to the tv easily... ( 90% of my sky+ was cbeebies recordings lol)

 

TBF, with my tv usage, i am considering cancelling my tv license and switching to simply watching dvds/movies etc... even then with 12 quid a month cost it'll still be cheaper...)