To switch from sky to virgin?

[Lizbiz89]

I've just been quoted £111 a month for my sky package which has gone up significantly from the original £65 we used to pay. I'm now looking at alternative providers and have seen that virgin offer a similar package for a fraction of the price. Has anyone switched from sky to virgin and if so can you let me know what it's like in comparison.

When we had Sky one of the main things that put me off moving to Virgin for tv was that they don't have the Sky Atlantic channel, where most of Sky's new drama series are. We had Virgin for phone line and broadband though (no BT line) and Virgin had poor customer service, very hard to get through.

Have you tried haggling with Sky? You basically tell them you're leaving, you'll probably get a deal! Look on Martin Lewis 's moneysavingexpert website for further information.

Since we moved a few months ago we no longer have Sky or linear tv at all. We use a Smart tv and stream everything, which gives us more variety and we aren't tied into contracts, cheaper too. For Sky programmes you can subscribe to Now.

I@Pemba thanks for your reply. Yes I'm going to phone them next week and say I'm leaving unless they give me a much better deal. It's just taking that leap that scares me 🤣. So used to sky, I've had it for over 10 years. But I cannot justify spending £111 a month for it!

That is a hell of a lot, isn't it? Presumably you have Sky Sports, Sky Movies and everything? If Sport is very important to watch for you/your family that is one element that really bumps up the price I think. You can subscribe to Sky Sports via Now, but I think it comes out around the same price as receiving it through Sky. T
However there is the advantage of not being tied in, you could subscribe for a month or two if there are a lot of sporting events on, then drop it for 2 or 3 months to save money.

The Sky Entertainment, Sky sports and Sky Movies are all separate subscriptions. We are not that bothered for Sport, there's enough for us on the BBC, so we only subscribe to Sky Entertainment and Movies, and currently we're on a 6 month deal, paying £3.99 a month for each of these. Normal price is about £9.99 a month each I believe.

I do think we'll drop the Movies after the 6 months as I feel that Sky Movies has gone down in quality . The selection of films is not amazing and for a lot of the latest films you'd need to pay extra anyway. There's a decent selection of films included on Amazon Prime, Disney plus and Netflix. And even on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

@Pemba no it doesn't even include sports! The movies package definitely isn't what it was that's for sure. The only thing I'd miss getting rid of sky is the stop/start and record option. But if it saves £60 a month I'm willing to make the sacrifice! My brother and sil do what you do and they save so much money and are always threatening to quit certain packages so are always getting deals as well. Definitely the way to go if I make the break from sky.

@Lizbiz89 Wow, I don't really get why you are paying so much then. I'm sorry to say that I think Sky are ripping you off!

Like a lot of services (eg car and house insurance) I think Sky rely on customer inertia to keep their money rolling in. When you phone you do have to say that you are actually leaving and hold your nerve. If they ask why then say your budget is tight you can't justify the cost. Even if they don't offer a deal immediately they will come back to you. I did it a few times during our nearly 20 years with Sky. Hopefully this is still the case, well you can find more on Moneysavingexpert.

I did but it was a few years ago. I prefer the sky interface, seems to be a bit easier than virgin and looks more modern. I don't really care though, virgin has the stop / pause / record functions and has all the channels I want other than Sky Atlantlic but I just have the basic virgin package and pay for Now, Netflix and Prime separately so I get Atlantic.

@Pemba that's what I'll do and see what they come back with. Anything more than £65 and I'll be leaving.

@Cakeandslippers that sounds like an ideal package for me. Can I ask how much you are paying a month for it?

Our Virgin media is now £65-68 just for broadband. I wouldn't count on them being any cheaper than Sky. In fact we had been wondering whether to change.

@cillarill £65 just for broadband without tv!? That is a rip off. I've seen a package on their website for basic tv and fibre for £37 a month so they're definitely taking the biscuit with your deal.

I’m sure that I read recently that companies such as media providers, insurance companies etc will no longer be allowed to offer differently priced deals to new customers - from next year?

I recently renegotiated my deal with Virgin after my package ( broadband, landline and basic tv with old TiVo box) went up to almost £90 a month. I told them that I could not afford the increase and wanted to look at ways to reduce it and mentioned the proposed new pricing limits - which the guy I was speaking to agreed was in the pipeline. After a number of offers, getting lower each time, he eventually offered me the same price for new customers of £54 a month for 18 months which included a better tv deal.

I was happy with that, it was slightly lower than the price Sky quoted me without the hassle of changing providers.

I suggest you try the same tactic and be very polite and welcoming on the phone, the guy actually thanked me for being such a nice customer as he often got shouted at!

It has just gone up to £40pcm and includes 125mb broadband, basic TV package and a landline (which we don't use, it's not even connected, but for some reason it was cheaper to have it than not!).

Was £65 what you paid recently on a contract and £111 the out of contract price, if so maybe ring them and they will sort you out a new contract at a similar price to what you previously paid. Or maybe try Sky Stream or as PP says Now TV instead which are other options where you don't need a contract.

I've been with VM for years and was paying for landline (which I do use, mainly because it is then free to ring VM support and free weekend calls etc.), broadband, and a mix tv package.

I told them I wasnt going to renew as the new "box" they sent me is absolute rubbish. Or rather is less sophisticated than a freeview box I recently got. They get trying to imply it was because I was too stupid? old? female? to understand it, so I said if that was how they were going to treat me I was leaving them.

To cut a long story short, technically I left, got a call from a company that seemed a bit dodgy, checked its number on google and saw it was legit. So I rang them back (they were astonished) and ended up with a contract that was half my previous one.

The box itself (a 360) is just so badly designed its hard to believe they went with it but you can record, pause etc., and have access to a catch up service (free) and on demand (ie like hiring a video for the evening).

I dont miss Sky Atlantic as I have never had it but seem from an article that you can subscribe via VM to Now TV which would include Sky Atlantic, so that woud be an additional monthly subscription to which ever VM package.

So whether you stay with Sky or move to VM definitely challenge the cost of whichever package they offer.

Who knows what you might end up paying.

(This is the article which gives comparisons of different providers packages and costs https://www.choose.co.uk/tv/guide/watch-sky-atlantic/# )

If it's for Sky TV that you're staying then don't, I'd go with whoever you want and just pay for Now TV which you can watch live subscription channels on too as well as streaming.

Never had Sky myself but had it in the family home growing up and ILs have it. I'm surprised people accept the poor service for the amount they pay!

Update - I've cancelled sky!! I feel liberated and a bit nervous at the same time. Been with them for over 10 years so I'm going to have to do some serious research into what to do next.

Did they not offer you a deal, @Lizbiz89 ? I seem to remember that it's necessary to give a month's notice, so you may well find they come back to you with a decent offer near the end of the month, or even after the contract is finished. If they do, you could take that, but you would still be tied in for 18 months I expect. Or do you just want to be free of them? I can't blame you.

Since we have gone to a Smart TV and streaming, I do feel liberated and it's cheaper. To be honest I miss my Sky box in a way though, as it was easier to wind back etc than it seems to be with streaming apps. Plus each app works slightly differently and seems to have different volume levels.

I had got in this awful habit of checking the TV schedules every day on my (umpteen) favourite channels though, so at least I have forced myself to be free of that! Life is too short, etc.

@Pemba yes they did but could only go down to £90 a month and I just wasn't willing to pay that much. Going to see if they ring with a better offer in the next couple of weeks. I know my sisters boss has just renewed the same package as me for £65 a month. If they go down to that I might accept but I'm not paying anything above £70. Sky is great but it's just not worth paying £100 a month for.

Too right! Hold your nerve then. Still unsure why you were paying so much with Sports. Do you have multi-room etc?

I mean WITHOUT Sky Sports

I do have multi room just in our bedroom. I just think their prices have massively gone up. When I think about what me, my husband/kids use, it's mostly just YouTube, normal tv, and Netflix. Obviously sky is more convenient but not for that price!

Hurrah! Keep a record of everything. When I cancelled (granted it was about 10 years ago) they reinstated my direct debit THREE times! Same thing happened to my friend

Wow! I don't have multiroom but we do BT, no subscription TV because we don't tend to watch a lot of live TV, although I think it's £10-20 depending on add ons. We went with the broadband and it was about £33. We were paying £50 previously and I felt it was too much.

We then have NOW TV which is a month to month contract like Netflix or Disney+ and we pick up and drop subscriptions as we want for TV. Although mostly just stick to the one. In our bedroom we have a Roku Stick which I think we paid around £60 for a while back but it's a one off purchase and can watch all the streaming services on there (with NOW TV, iPlayer, ITVX, All4 you can watch live TV on there anyway). One thing I love about our Roku is that the remote allows you to connect headphones and listen so you don't disturb anyone else in the room. You can also get the app to control it on your phone. It's been great with sick children and camping out in bed.

Could that be an option for you?

I moved from Sky some years ago when I had fault after fault after fault that they couldn't fix (same fault - several so called repairs). Went to Virgin. Every time my contract is running out I go an tell them that Sky are quoting me £xx and they beat the quote. Currently paying £35 a month (Full fibre + TV) and I also have Disney+ (because when Fox dropped their channel and moved to Disney I discovered they had loads of what I watch!) and Prime. TBH I wouldn't go back to Sky now if they paid me.

And me - and then they had the cheek to send debt collectors after money that I didn't owe them because they had billed me after I cancelled!

This is what I'm referring to...

Roku Stick