Downgraded sky package, didnt go as planned

mdwexford

Just rang Sky there to downgrade my package which is currently costing me 123 euros a month which is mental.

Got straight through to the Cork centre, told them the story fully expecting them to offer me some sort of deal like ive heard of on here so many times before but no, they just agree to take off my HD and 2 of my entertainment packs and thats it.

Kind of annoyed they called my bluff but also annoyed ive been paying that much for the past 13 months and i dont get offered anything for free or any kind of deal for a few months. Seriously considering ringing back tomorrow and cancelling Sky altogether.

nicelives

Cancelled the Movies a couple of months back after years paying for them, was also kind of surprised too that they were keen to get rid of me, no carrots at all. Guess all rewards are for new customers rather than loyalty.

Happy enough with a much more basic package, will probably join the masses to freesat once RTE sorts its saorsat so it's no major loss.

Sky don't seem to need to be competitive in Ireland at the moment, but they will.

snaps

The odd one here and there leaving/cancelling wont make sky do anything. Ive said this many many times, because of the beauty of Direct debits people dont realise they are paying so much each month to Sky. Imagine what you can do with that 123€ a month you pay sky.............?

In 2 months you could have a decent FTA HD with Irish DTT setup!
In 6 months you would have had enough for a sky Italia sub!

The big question is.....How much of your tv viewing is of pay channels (Disney, movies, sports, lifestyle channels?) I bet less than 10% of your viewing is of pay channels and the other 90% are of channels that can be got for free (RTE, BBC, ITV, Ch4, sky news etc etc?)

Cantona's Collars

No point ringing Cork call centre as it's only a glorified order taking service-they won't give you any kind of retention deal.
It's usually people that ring expecting to get a deal are the ones that don't-I rang before the World Cup to take off Sky Sports for the summer(sorry Snaps-I hate cricket and that's all Sky had) Didn't expect or ask for discount but got 20% off my bill for 6 months and still kept Sky Sports:)
You're better off ringing UK call centre-it seems the op only had Sky for a year when they rang to downgrade,a lot of people downgrade after first 12 months so discounts there would be a rarity-if you had it longer maybe then a deal would be offered.

monkeypants

Why are people's bills so expensive? Do you all have multiroom or something?

adox

I did the same at the end of last year, cancelled the movies and sports package, which nearly halved my monthly bill.

They offered me 20% discount for 6 months, which I declined.(I rang Cork also). Probably around June of this year I got a call on my mobile from Cork and they offered me the movie and sports pack for 1/2 price for 3 months which i did take. I cancelled again the other week as now you have to give 31 days notice.

snaps

zerks wrote: »

(sorry Snaps-I hate cricket and that's all Sky had)

You don't have to apologise mate, its like all sports, you either like them or don't! Possibly 95% of Irish people wouldn't watch cricket, but then i know a few who do!!!

monkeypants wrote: »

Why are people's bills so expensive? Do you all have multiroom or something?

Sky full package+Setanta+ESPN+HD pack is about 120€ a month alright!

I know someone that was paying nearly 160€ a month (I think all his multi rooms where SKY HD), which he didnt even realise until one day he was going through his bank statements. You can guess now, that he soon downgraded his sky package BIG TIME!

watty

Downgrading to zero works for me. We buy DVDs instead now and have just FTA TV. About 2,500 channels we never watch

helimachoptor

Only a new customer monthly bill is €28, had serious issues getting installed rang up and said i didnt want to pay my first bill due to the hassle, straightaway the guy said i cant give you that but i can give you 6 months at half price

Minstrel27

I always say that you should never expect to be given an offer just because other people were, as sometimes they will do as you ask.

When I cancelled ESPN in May I was given it free for 4 months but my Sky has been completely cancelled since then.

monkeypants

I pay about €60 a month for all the TV channels and Movies. I'm probably looking to get rid of the movies soon.

Last time I called up they talked me out of it saying that I'd just paid a month in advance and that if I cancelled, I wouldn't get that money back. Is this true?

Minstrel27

monkeypants wrote: »

Last time I called up they talked me out of it saying that I'd just paid a month in advance and that if I cancelled, I wouldn't get that money back. Is this true?

Surely not. If you pay in advance then they turn them off at the end of the month. That sounds to me like someone was lieing so you keep the channels. They then get a nice little commission for doing so.

mdwexford

snaps wrote: »

The odd one here and there leaving/cancelling wont make sky do anything. Ive said this many many times, because of the beauty of Direct debits people dont realise they are paying so much each month to Sky. Imagine what you can do with that 123€ a month you pay sky.............?

In 2 months you could have a decent FTA HD with Irish DTT setup!
In 6 months you would have had enough for a sky Italia sub!

The big question is.....How much of your tv viewing is of pay channels (Disney, movies, sports, lifestyle channels?) I bet less than 10% of your viewing is of pay channels and the other 90% are of channels that can be got for free (RTE, BBC, ITV, Ch4, sky news etc etc?)

Im not too up on the FTA and DTT stuff or Sky Italia to be honest.
What channel can i get with those.

Most of my viewing is Sky Sports HD and ESPN HD.

zerks wrote: »

No point ringing Cork call centre as it's only a glorified order taking service-they won't give you any kind of retention deal.
It's usually people that ring expecting to get a deal are the ones that don't-I rang before the World Cup to take off Sky Sports for the summer(sorry Snaps-I hate cricket and that's all Sky had) Didn't expect or ask for discount but got 20% off my bill for 6 months and still kept Sky Sports:)
You're better off ringing UK call centre-it seems the op only had Sky for a year when they rang to downgrade,a lot of people downgrade after first 12 months so discounts there would be a rarity-if you had it longer maybe then a deal would be offered.

I rang the 0818 719 819 number which usually gets me through to Scotland.

I have had Sky digital for the past 4 years but just upgraded to HD with multiroom 1 year ago.

lord lucan

I recently got rid of Sports,Movies,ESPN and kids pack. Never got an offer from them but tbh i wasn't looking for one,just wanted to reduce my bill. I've gone from €100 per month to €46 and i'll get that down to €31 in December when my 12 month HD is up and i get rid of it.

galtee boy

Are programmes like the Sunday Game and Champions League etc still blocked out on RTE via Sky in NI ? I'm asking because I'm begining to think that it might be worth going to the hassle of getting a HD NI Sky subscription.
I have a ROI Sky HD pack for sports etc, but compared to the same pack in NI, I have no CH4 HD, no FIVE HD, no ITV HD ( and ITV/UTV & FIVE SD are not on epg either ) on the epg and very shortly no ITV 2,3 & 4 HD on the epg either. I know there's no TV3 on Sky NI, but ITV shows pretty much the same programmes and in any case, a combination of Sky NI and in time a Saorview pvr would give everything that I want. I'm prepared to pay for my sports in HD, but the NI epg gives a lot more bang for my buck ! Anyone agree ?

Cantona's Collars

Afaik the live sport on RTE is blocked in the North.I agree with the fact that even taking exchange rate into consideration the price here compared to sterling is exhorbitant.Get an NI sub and use ariel for RTE reception (dtt if possible) would be best,problem solved and few quid saved.

mdwexford

Haha my double bluff worked a treat.

Just rang there and threatened to cancel my Sky altogether, got a deal to take my bill down to 80 a month instead of 123 for 6 months and keep all my channels and HD etc, makes a pretty big difference so im happy with that.

Headshot

I got a letter in the post offering me half price sky sports and movies

Minstrel27

galtee boy wrote: »

Are programmes like the Sunday Game and Champions League etc still blocked out on RTE via Sky in NI ? I'm asking because I'm begining to think that it might be worth going to the hassle of getting a HD NI Sky subscription.
I have a ROI Sky HD pack for sports etc, but compared to the same pack in NI, I have no CH4 HD, no FIVE HD, no ITV HD ( and ITV/UTV & FIVE SD are not on epg either ) on the epg and very shortly no ITV 2,3 & 4 HD on the epg either. I know there's no TV3 on Sky NI, but ITV shows pretty much the same programmes and in any case, a combination of Sky NI and in time a Saorview pvr would give everything that I want. I'm prepared to pay for my sports in HD, but the NI epg gives a lot more bang for my buck ! Anyone agree ?

GAA wont be blocked as RTÉ own the rights for all of Ireland.

ITV1HD isn't available on the Northern Ireland EPG either.

moany

I told them UPC were in the area and offered 3 months free sports and movies if i joined them. Sky offered me my package of movies and sports for 36.50 for six months , this was after having 20% off the previous six months.:D

Greds

Just rang them a couple of weeks ago and advised I wanted to cancel the sky sub €64 per month and asked what they could offer me. They agreed to knock it back to €32 per month for 6 months. Could have got 25% off for 12 months. And it was to the Cork centre.