Soldato
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Is there any discount on the normal q price or is it still £56 a month.
*** Sky TV Cancellation & Negotiation Thread ***
- Thread starter psd99
- Start date
Just the upfront discount, nothing off monthly. Negotiate a new deal then take my Q offer.
Only if you don't have Multiscreen and take it.
I dont have it, dont need it though. Still tempted
current box is deff on its way out.I dont have it, dont need it though. Still tempted
Without it the box will always be £199 unless you can get a bit off through cancellations.
Associate
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Cancellations can offer the Q 1TB box for a £20 one-off installation fee, no need for QMS to be added on currently. This discount comes with an 18-month contract however.
They used to be able to also do the 2TB box for £65, but for the last month this discount is only available with QMS, otherwise it is standard £199 for them too.
They used to be able to also do the 2TB box for £65, but for the last month this discount is only available with QMS, otherwise it is standard £199 for them too.
I think it's mental you have to pay £199 up-front to rent the 2TB box (as you have to return it at the end of the contract).
I got my 2TB box free, as I had issues with my 1TB box, that weren't issues with the 2TB box, so it might be worth at least trying the 1TB box first, and seeing if they can upgrade you, if you have issues. Otherwise, I guess if you upgrade to the 2TB box mid-policy, you may get it cheaper. But still, I wouldn't pay for the box, as like I said, you are only renting it as you need to return it at the end of the contract.
I got my 2TB box free, as I had issues with my 1TB box, that weren't issues with the 2TB box, so it might be worth at least trying the 1TB box first, and seeing if they can upgrade you, if you have issues. Otherwise, I guess if you upgrade to the 2TB box mid-policy, you may get it cheaper. But still, I wouldn't pay for the box, as like I said, you are only renting it as you need to return it at the end of the contract.
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I am not sure whether 'rent' is the right word, as it implies a monthly charge for the privilege of having the box, and there is no monthly charge if you do not want or need QMS. Sky themselves say they offer the box at no cost, and the customer is paying for the installation, as they need to send the engineer out to install it and change the LNB.
The reason they decided to go down that road is simple; customers who had (or still have) Sky+HD would often not be aware that they own their boxes (which were given to them for free at the start of the contract, they were only paying varying amounts for the installation, starting at £10) and when they were cancelling, they were asking Sky to come and take the box back or uninstall the satellite dish. Moreover, whenever their boxes stopped working for whatever reason, they were calling the company to ask for an engineer visit, but they were not happy with paying for the service call (even if it was their box that broke down) because they were saying it was Sky's box and Sky who provided the box to begin with, so they should provide the engineer as well, or else they would be cancelling. As a result, many customers were getting free engineer visits, and if their box was faulty, the engineer was replacing it for free, so in many cases the customers were getting a new box for free, a box that they would own. Not to mention that many customers were and are still cancelling every day, so their boxes are lost, sold, thrown away, etc.
As a result, instead of wasting money on free engineer visits and replacement customer-owned boxes, Sky decided to change things. They still own the Q, they are probably planning on using the returned Q boxes for parts or for refurbishments in the future, but they are also offering free engineer visits and warranty for life for these Q boxes (meaning that many customers can cancel their Sky protect, or take their Sky+HD boxes off the insurance policy, meaning they are saving money that way too). This essentially means that after paying for the initial installation, the customers do not need to pay for the boxes again (unless they cancel, rejoin, decide to take out extra boxes, etc.).
The reason they decided to go down that road is simple; customers who had (or still have) Sky+HD would often not be aware that they own their boxes (which were given to them for free at the start of the contract, they were only paying varying amounts for the installation, starting at £10) and when they were cancelling, they were asking Sky to come and take the box back or uninstall the satellite dish. Moreover, whenever their boxes stopped working for whatever reason, they were calling the company to ask for an engineer visit, but they were not happy with paying for the service call (even if it was their box that broke down) because they were saying it was Sky's box and Sky who provided the box to begin with, so they should provide the engineer as well, or else they would be cancelling. As a result, many customers were getting free engineer visits, and if their box was faulty, the engineer was replacing it for free, so in many cases the customers were getting a new box for free, a box that they would own. Not to mention that many customers were and are still cancelling every day, so their boxes are lost, sold, thrown away, etc.
As a result, instead of wasting money on free engineer visits and replacement customer-owned boxes, Sky decided to change things. They still own the Q, they are probably planning on using the returned Q boxes for parts or for refurbishments in the future, but they are also offering free engineer visits and warranty for life for these Q boxes (meaning that many customers can cancel their Sky protect, or take their Sky+HD boxes off the insurance policy, meaning they are saving money that way too). This essentially means that after paying for the initial installation, the customers do not need to pay for the boxes again (unless they cancel, rejoin, decide to take out extra boxes, etc.).
Surely the installation is the same whether it's a 1TB or 2TB box though? So why a smaller "installation" cost for the 1TB box? So, because I have already had Sky Q, and simply need to pluf the F-cable into the back of the box, I shouldn't have to pay this installation cost as there will be no need for an engineer visit? I thought not.
Of course they would ask for a replacement box or they would cancel. If the box was still under warranty, then it would be replaced / repaired for free. If it's out of warranty, then the chances are the customer is also out of contract, or on their second or third contract. Where they could have cancelled, and received another, new box, for free, if they signed up again. And if they do not repair or replace the device that allows the customer to receive the content, why would they NOT cancel?
People having separate insurance policies for Sky equipment were ripping themselves off, for the reason I mentioned earlier. I was repeatedly called to try to extract money for sky box insurance. As if.
Associate
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The installation cost is the same for both boxes, which is £199, as it is the same amount of work. That is the full price, so if customers decide to pay this, they are most likely getting the 2TB box (double storage capacity, more recording capability, possible 4K content).
It's Sky's decision whether to discount this price or not, and they have decided to offer the 1TB box with a much cheaper installation fee than the 2TB box.
I completely agree. This line of thinking on the customer's part is also what led Sky to adopt a 'we own the box' stance with the Sky Q, and it seems to be working for them.
Superdumper / MissChief, Thanks both for you input - it makes for interesting reading. I've read about the recent changes to Sky, and thought I'd offer my 2p worth. My biggest bug bear and biggest hurdle to moving to Sky Q is the above. If i was to move to Q, I'd want equipment to be 4k / UHD ready, which at the moment means going for the 2TB box, which currently incurs a £199 installation cost, over (at time of writing) £20, for the 1TB or £65 if multiscreen is taken.
Which brings me to hurdle number 2. I'm a one telly / 2 person household - paying £12 p/m on top of £5 p/m for HD, makes 4k / UHD an expensive premium - I'd echo what a lot of people have said, in this day and age, should we expect to be paying more HD? I wouldn't. Does it not make more sense to split the costs of multiscreen and 4k / UHD up, with HD included in a 'UHD pack'? - it'd be more appealing to me, to just pay for UHD / HD, but not £17 a month.
Finally, Sports, I don't watch football, but feel by getting the sports pack, I'm paying a large chunk of the £20 for the billions Sky have paid in acquiring the rights to show it. The recent 'pick your sports' concept was a step in the right direction, but for me personally not far enough - those wanting to watch the 'expensive' football, should they not be prepared to pay a greater amount for that and the other sports offered at a lower price?
I've manged to get a deal at £39 p/m for 'everything' on Sky+HD for 18 months, which I'm happy with. But, if the situation remains the same, in 18 months, I won't be prepared to pay an additional ~£20 to watch the same suite of channels on an ageing platform and hardware. Plus, with Sky Q prohibitively priced (in my opinion) would leave me with no option, but to cancel my subscription.
Interested to hear your thoughts (if you have any!)
Cheers.
@Jez mainly other sports; F1 and Rugby League are the main ones (Both off season at the moment!) Coverage for both is either poor or non-existent elsewhere. Sky cinema is a luxury i could probably live without, but the catalogue is very good; better than Netflix / Prime IMO. I barely watch anything live, other than Sports, so the box sets are useful, along with the odd TV series. Annoyingly, it seems to be the Sky produced ones at the moment!
Associate
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To be honest, from what you're telling me, it does not make sense for you to upgrade to Sky Q right now, unless you really-really want 4K content. The majority of people who upgrade every day do it due to technical issues, and the vast majority prefer the 1TB box due to the low installation cost. I personally would suggest considering a Sky Q upgrade at the end of your current contract (as it sounds like you have a good deal), to renegotiate for the whole account, and if you're not happy at that point, go away for a year and then see what offers are available to sign up again later on, but that's just my suggestion, and I do not know your needs or wants.
The way the packages and the Q options are structured right now, means that not everyone will benefit from these changes or prices, but if Sky decided that it makes sense for them and for the vast majority of customers, after 'extensive customer research' as they say, then that's what they'll do. As you said, it is all an expensive premium (especially a niche product like 4K), and I am afraid that it also is what it is, as I mentioned to someone else the other day. If it were up to me or MissChief, we would be doing things differently, as we both have customer-friendly ideas which in our minds make sense (as we're both customers too), however these ideas do not make much sense for big corporations who are out there to make money.
Agreed, 4k is the biggest pull to Q, but also the biggest hurdle - and not something I'm currently actively wanting as I don't think the amount of content currently warrants the extra cost. However, in 18 months that may be different. I do find it odd that Sky, who I assume are investing significant amounts of money in 4K services, are not making it as accessible as perhaps they could? Surely they'd want as many people viewing / paying for those services to begin to recover the costs? I do agree with you at the moment - 4K content on sky is niche, and I suppose you've got to want it.
To me, I find it odd that sky don't incentivise customers to be on the latest and greatest, and as a result have people who are left way behind - I believe you mentioned steps are afoot to change this. It must be a pain from a support point of view to have such a wide range of equipment out there?
if Sky on my call to renegotiate would have offered me Q @ £39 p/m with even a small installation fee, I'd have considered taking it, but at the moment, we've got this:
Which for me, the first half is great... but then there's the unwanted portion of the £12 p/m for multiscreen plus a half price mini box that I don't need.
Obviously Sky are hugely successful and are doing alright for themselves, but they do seem to be missing some obvious tricks; Perhaps they should listen (harder?) to the feedback from customer-facing roles? I doubt I'm the only one who thinks this, and would be prepared to spend more with Sky, if some of their services were less prohibitive to access?
To me, I find it odd that sky don't incentivise customers to be on the latest and greatest, and as a result have people who are left way behind - I believe you mentioned steps are afoot to change this. It must be a pain from a support point of view to have such a wide range of equipment out there?
if Sky on my call to renegotiate would have offered me Q @ £39 p/m with even a small installation fee, I'd have considered taking it, but at the moment, we've got this:
Which for me, the first half is great... but then there's the unwanted portion of the £12 p/m for multiscreen plus a half price mini box that I don't need.
Obviously Sky are hugely successful and are doing alright for themselves, but they do seem to be missing some obvious tricks; Perhaps they should listen (harder?) to the feedback from customer-facing roles? I doubt I'm the only one who thinks this, and would be prepared to spend more with Sky, if some of their services were less prohibitive to access?
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You'd be surprised with the amount of people who don't have or are not interested in HD (let alone 4K). For us it's a given, but we are also writing on a tech-loving forum. A good percentage of Sky's customers are on packages that do not offer them HD, so Sky has a reason to charge extra for it. Plus, all other providers do it too, so if Sky ever do HD as standard, you can bet they will raise the prices first and will present it as a big deal and a game changer.
As for the Sky Q upgrade, the minibox is not mandatory. Yes, Sky do offer it for half price (or free at times, during promotions), but if you don't need it, you do not need to take it - many people elect to take the minibox due to paying for QMS anyway, but it's not mandatory. So basically, currently the cheapest upfront installation fee you can get for the Q 2TB is £65, but for this you also need to take QMS (you do NOT need to take the minibox), which is £12 per month on an 18 month contract. It would cost you 12x18=216, +65 for the upfront installation, 281. That's a little more than £199, but that way you also get the 4K content you want.
As for the Sky Q upgrade, the minibox is not mandatory. Yes, Sky do offer it for half price (or free at times, during promotions), but if you don't need it, you do not need to take it - many people elect to take the minibox due to paying for QMS anyway, but it's not mandatory. So basically, currently the cheapest upfront installation fee you can get for the Q 2TB is £65, but for this you also need to take QMS (you do NOT need to take the minibox), which is £12 per month on an 18 month contract. It would cost you 12x18=216, +65 for the upfront installation, 281. That's a little more than £199, but that way you also get the 4K content you want.
Which might be easier to swallow if you loot at it as 82/12 = £6.83 a month for the 4K subscription. Since the initial £199 is required for the 2TB box anyway.
Associate
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It's actually 82/18, so £4.55 a month for 4K. It's an 18 month contract for QMS, not 12.
Has anyone managed to leave a Sky Q contract early? I have a reasonable deal (£40 for box sets, cinema and multiroom for the 4K) with about nine months to go, but I’m just not watching it anywhere nearly as much as streaming services that cost less.
I expect the answer is ‘No’ unless my Sky box burns the house down.
I expect the answer is ‘No’ unless my Sky box burns the house down.