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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Sky won't let me leave!

20 replies

IveNameChangedAgain2020 · 02/12/2021 22:52

Wondered if anyone had tried doing something similar recently.

About to move and found out Virgin do 1gb broadband line to the new property and it will cost the same amount to get that plus their TV as what I'm paying for just Sky TV.

So I call Sky and say I'm sorry I'm leaving and I know we've been together for 15 years but this is just one of those things. They say, "we can move your sky to your new property" - I say no thanks. They say well you'll still need to pay monthly until your contract ends in 2023.

They won't let me pay an early exit fee nor will they let me pay the full year amount and close the account! 🤣🤣. Apparently I have to pay monthly and call the month before the end of contract and give them notice:

Not what they say on the website and I've been promised a copy of my contract but it's not arrived yet. 😂

Anyone have any advice? Because I think they're behaving like a batshit boyfriend that I'm trying to dump.

OP posts:
justasking111 · 02/12/2021 22:55

Did you enter into an amended contract with them, have they replaced any hardware altered programming?

Original poster
IveNameChangedAgain2020 · 02/12/2021 22:58

Yes we took Sky Q out a few months ago.

OP posts:
justasking111 · 02/12/2021 23:00

Ah there's an 18 month contract on that. Suggest you make a note of when it expires give them 31 days notice to cancel

tallduckandhandsome · 02/12/2021 23:01

Well just keep paying it 🤷🏻‍♀️

And get new contract in new house.

SoniaFouler · 02/12/2021 23:18

Welcome to the Hotel California

Cryalot2 · 02/12/2021 23:40

Give them notice when you are quitting. Check your agreement.
Then cancel your payments
We had awful trouble with the National Trust years ago.
Cancellation of payment sorted it.

MajorNeville · 02/12/2021 23:45

@Cryalot2

Give them notice when you are quitting. Check your agreement. Then cancel your payments We had awful trouble with the National Trust years ago. Cancellation of payment sorted it.
This is not good advice, this is not like the National Trust. Sky will get debt collectors in.
NekoShiro · 02/12/2021 23:49

If you're happy and willing to pay it in one lump sum just keep paying it, recheck your contract when you get it and set reminders to cancel, unlucky you recently signed a contract to pay them for 18 months. Maybe wait til this one runs out then switch?

saltinesandcoffeecups · 02/12/2021 23:56

Have you seen the meme about the person trying to cancel their contract? Finally tells them he’s going to prison. Allegedly it worked 🤣

CRLong · 07/12/2021 18:56

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Roselilly36 · 07/12/2021 19:04

Sky are an absolute nightmare, we moved at the beginning of the year,as we had been with sky for 18 years and they said they would switch everything over to our new property, we thought ok. I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating it all was, firstly nothing happened on time, then engineer arrived, refused to install as due to COVID he couldn’t enter the property! I am not kidding, he asked us to drill through the wall, and tack the cable around and then he would talk us through the technical installation! Needless to say we said no! Booked with Virgin, engineer sorted everything out, without any fuss. Queue months of threatening letters from sky. I would not go back to sky under any circumstances. They are constantly emailing me with offers to return. Useless company, who lies and let’s down loyal customers.

IntemperateSpirits · 07/12/2021 19:07

Can we swap?

Virgin want me to either -

  1. Pay the same money as I currently do but for fewer TV channels and less broadband, or
  2. Pay £20 more for the same as I currently get.

But I can also just not sign a contract and keep getting the same deal for the same money. I'm so confused Shock Grin

gogohm · 07/12/2021 19:10

You signed a contract for 18 months - just move it and then switch at the end of your contract

LakieLady · 07/12/2021 19:25

Sky are bastards and I hate them.

When I worked with vulnerable tenants, they were always getting sold all sorts of shite they didn't want, and found they were having to spend a week's income on some ludicrous package that was totally unsuitable. They sold superfast broadband to a client whose only internet access was via his phone, the cheeky fuckers.

A family member moved house a few months ago. He contacted Sky well in advance to check how much notice they needed to move everything over etc, and they told him.

When they got the completion date, he rang again to let them know and they took details of the new address (which they hadn't asked for before). Only then did they tell him that they couldn't provide Sky at that address.

"Ok", he said, "I'll have to cancel it then". They agreed to cancel and then told him that he'd have to pay for the remaining 2 years+ that the contract had to run. It came to well over a grand!

He was not amused, and argued the toss, ie that it wasn't his fault that they couldn't supply the new house (which isn't in deepest countryside or anything, it's a 70s built house on the outskirts of a big town), and that they should have checked the address when he first enquired etc, but got nowhere.

He put in a complaint, and still got nowhere, so took it to Ofcom. It only took a few weeks and they capitulated, apologised, and I think he got £50 or something for the aggravation.

I hate them and would give up tv rather than pay them a single penny.

MinnieGirl · 07/12/2021 21:53

@IntemperateSpirits

Can we swap?

Virgin want me to either -

  1. Pay the same money as I currently do but for fewer TV channels and less broadband, or
  2. Pay £20 more for the same as I currently get.

But I can also just not sign a contract and keep getting the same deal for the same money. I'm so confused Shock Grin

Don’t sign a contract. Let it go for a few months. Then ring them and say you are off contract and what can they offer you… it’s helpful if you’ve been with them a whole, but even if you haven’t, they will offer you a cheaper deal to get you back on contract…
Hippychicken1 · 07/12/2021 22:13

Tell them you died 😂 well obviously not you tell them because you can’t if your dead

But when my dad passed away I just rang them said he was dead and that was it no checks or anything didn’t have to prove or send anything to them - even refunded me the last two months payment 😂

DoncasterHombre · 07/12/2021 22:14

No idea what the early exit fees for Sky are but don't assume Virgin Media are the untouched, holy, pussy you wish to dip your HDMI cable into. There was nothing sweet or innocent in my recent dealings with them having moved to a property they can't supply their service to (which I'd happily have taken with me if they could have).

That said, if you're planning on staying put for the length of your potential new contract then fair enough. Similarly, if you have a contract with Sky, they probably have you bang to rights. Don't see how there is no way of you paying an early exit fee though and that sounds like duff info from whoever you spoke to. Try again if you're willing to pay it.

IntemperateSpirits · 08/12/2021 08:09

MinnieGirl I've been out of contract for years and I regularly try to pay less on a new contract but I'm on some legacy deal which they claim they can't beat, unless I'm a new customer of course in which case I could have the TV channels and 1GB broadband for twenty quid cheaper per month.

Really I need to go to Sky for 18 months and then swap back but I'd have to call VM again and I can't face it at the moment.

TheViewFromTheCheapSeats · 08/12/2021 08:41

Virgin are hellish to deal with! Don’t imagine it’s easier!

I moved recently, out of contract- you think that’d be easy.

Firstly you have to call. No email, form or checking a box online. On average half an hour to get through at anytime. The first person just pretty much listens then forwards you to the correct person. Then on hold again. Calls each time were 40-55 minutes, whatever time I tried.

-first call: nothing happened after the call, wasted hour of frustration
-second call: arranged to end it properly and was sent a bag to post them the virgin box back
(Posted box etc, receipt confirmed)
-third call: despite having my box AND confirming they have ended my connection they sent letters wanting two further months of payment. I actually spoke to 4 people until someone could grasp that if they’d have my box since June and cut me off I wasn’t paying for July/ august when I didn’t even have a contract. Gave up and compromised. As ‘goodwill’ apparently they cancelled the ‘late payment’ for the month I had paid already (not late either), cancelled august and I paid July just to get them to go away and stop sending red letters.
-a few weeks later I got a cheque in the post for overpayment for the month they’d forced me to pay before they’d close the account.

I wouldn’t recommend them. This was such a simple out of contract ‘I’ve moved house to a house with no cable’. I wasted so much time while they either ignored me or tried to get me to keep the contract over and over. I’ve never dealt with such madness, I got pretty stressed and wasted hours.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 08/12/2021 08:55

I'd rather deal with Sky than Virgin!

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