Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

From another forum but extremely reliable source.


What’s happening?
Over the last few months you’ve been going through the eLearning training course to find out about the big
change to our packages and pricing in September.
Within the communications and eLearning training course you heard that existing customers will receive a
maximum of £1 increase in their prices. We’re really pleased to let you know that we’ll now be freezing our TV
prices until 31 August 2012 in UK, so customers will receive no increase. We’re also freezing prices in ROI until
31 August 2013.
What does this actually mean?
On 1 September we’ll automatically move all existing customers on to one of the new packs: Entertainment or
Entertainment Extra, at no extra cost.
We’ll make sure they keep the channels they have already and many customers will get even more channels – for
the same amount as they’re currently paying.
Another great reason for existing customers to stay with Sky. And, all new customers who join before 31
August 2011 are also included in the price freeze, giving them another reason to join now!
Why have we made this change?
· The economy is tough for our customers and it looks like the recession will continue for longer than we
first thought
· Cost of living is continuing to rise – petrol and fuel costs keep going up
· We want to give our customers peace of mind and help them manage their monthly bills
· It’s the right thing to do for our customers – we’re putting them first because we value them
· It will also make your conversations with existing customers much easier – when we move to the new
packages they’ll have no increase in their subscription price
What do I need to do?
· Make sure you understand this change and start telling customers the good news
· Choose to be positive about the changes – its great news for customers, we should be proud
Reminder of the key info from ELearning
The e-learning training course told you all about what’s happening, here’s a quick reminder:
New basic TV Packs
· On 1 Sept we’re reducing our basic TV packs to two: Entertainment and Entertainment extra
· Entertainment includes the Variety and Style & Culture packs
· Entertainment Extra includes all 6 existing packs
· All existing customers will be moved onto one of these new packs on 1 September
· Customers will keep all the channels they currently have and many customers will get more
New TV Pack prices
· New customer pricing will be £20/€25 for Entertainment and £25/€33 for Entertainment Extra
· With today’s change, existing customers will receive no increase in price so when they move to the new
pack, they’ll pay the same as they’re currently paying.

Good news for all

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Where's Virgin's price freeze then unless they have got a surprise in store for us.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

The surprise is another price rise lol. Have you not seen the adverts offering 6 months half price for new VM customers? Someone has to pay for it.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

They need to have more offer's for existing customers.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

To be fair you'll be hard pushed to find any service provider EG

SKY,O2,VM,BT,TALKTALK, ECT who will give you anything while you're in contract with them.

An if you're out of contract with VM, customer relations will usually make you a decent offer if you agree to stay.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

But it is the existing customers who hands over 130.00 a month to them.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Great news I'm happy with that , Sky World , ESPN , Sky 3D and Sky GO to come and probably more HD and no increase in subs now that is a result.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

I see they are talking about the tv service in post number 1 does the freeze also apply to line rental and call costs also i cannot see it mentioning them at all.? Also i wonder if it appied to their broadband prices again it does not say so,leaving the door open for stealthy back door increases possibly.;)

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

only the ones with more money than sense......;)

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Well some might dispute that l have not got much sense and l have not got that much money as my brother pays half towards our subscription.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Line rental with Sky is 11.25 and goes to 12.25 in September however this is still over a pound cheaper than VM and if you pay a year upfront it can be had for 9.25 a month currently plus Sky line rental includes evening and weekend calls or anytime from September for 17.25 compared to 21.90 on VM , BB unlimited remains at 7.50 if you have Sky Talk.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Thanks Muppetman11 the i see they do have some wriggle room at the moment.

To be honest the phone line rental with vm is ok when bundled and not taken on its own.The call plans are quite pricey when compared to sky BT though.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Yes that was a gripe I have with VM , the phone bundle prices they are way over the top. Sky are also dropping the per Box HD charge from September , basically if you have the HD pack you will get HD on all boxes.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Thats looks like a bit of a blow for vm customers if the agreement with sky states that those that take sky sports/movies HD on vm will still have to pay a per box fee.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

True , but I really can't see them getting away with that unless its until a contract ends.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Then Virgin will have to change their pricing so that you only have to pay one HD charge no matter how many boxes a customer has.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

I would suppose that would depend on the commercial agreement sky and virgin media have in place denphone..

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

And they are not going to tell us anything.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

I would like to point out that VM have upgraded me from 512kb to 2MB and then up to 10MB without being asked to do so and indeed provided the upgrades for free.
Not sure any one else has done anything similar.;)

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

But will they still charge the £49.99 fee to "activate" the HD?

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

My partners dad has been the same as well.

---------- Post added at 21:05 ---------- Previous post was at 21:04 ----------

Yes they may will but at least they will not have the ongoing monthly fee for the HD:confused:

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Another good point of how VM have increased charges and one I had forgotten about.

You now have to pay an "upgrade" fee to get what was once free so technically yet another price increase for long standing customers.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Now I know I'l be £13 better off every month for at least 12 month :)

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

I get this feeling you don't like Virgin Media very much, but have a thing for Sky

---------- Post added at 23:31 ---------- Previous post was at 23:29 ----------

Virgin Media customers have always had to pay to upgrade to the next tier up, but upgrades on the same tier are free. That hasn't changed

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Last time I cable it was called Telewest and you could upgrade/down grade whenever you wanted free of charge no new contracts.

I don't have a preference for either company I have stated VM's services when running correctly and billed correctly are very good.

The phone service is too expensive for me and the TV service didn't offer what I wanted but I still have the broadband.

If VM let me ditch the broadband tomorrow for free would I? HELL YES but thats personal preference.

I'm used to my broadband workin for xboxlive and youtube, it doesnt on Virginmedia.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Alot of investment has occured since Telewest, which has to be paid for somehow

But as this is a Sky price change thread I'll not drag it off topic any further

Back to topic, if all Sky telephone customers are getting a price increase, isn't the topic title misleading?

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Yes it should be Sky TV prices to be froze.

As for telephone increases a Sky customer from September pays 12.25 and gets line rental and evening + weekend calls for 12.25 compare to a whopping 13.90 + 4.00 = 17.90 with VM a difference of 5.65.

You can also pay a year upfront with Sky at 9.25 a month so from September 10.25 saving you 7.65 a month over VM L phone package.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

I never paid any fee to activate HD...

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

neither did i, then again at the time my HD was activated i had access to a massive HALF a channel (BBC HD)

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

I have had both and i think there both as bad as each other vm are having a line rental increase of 91p in august but prices for sky are also going up for line rental as for skys 'Price freeze ' as normal there advertising is missleading us there will still be increases on there line rental or broadband services and i have seen on there website that there will be a slight increase for sports / movie packages. vm have recently done foc activation for all already excisting customers who applied for it via there web site and charged £20 for delivery of the box vm supply hd channels on there packages foc as long as you have the box they only charge extra if on movies and sports premiums. I am currently with vm now in my new home and am in a contract for this, i can and have called vm in past and upgraded and downgraded my packages sometimes puts me in contract but on the most when doing a downgrade no contract is needed. only thing i will say broadband with vm is 10 times better then sky will ever be .

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Sky TV prices are frozen for existing customers , their line rental is going from 11.25 to 12.25 still a lot cheaper than 13.90 with VM , Skys basic line rental also includes evening and weekends unlike VM which is weekend only to add evening and weekend with VM is another 4.00. Sky BB has remained the same price.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

So, in summary, Sky have frozen prices, except for the ones they haven't....;)

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

i have evening and weekend calls in my package for the line rental price and they start at 6pm not like 7pm with sky granted there call chages are a little higher but at least they have now included 0870 in there packages fom august

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Maybe you do however that is a deal you must of been given a new customer has to pay L pack which is line rental 13.90 plus 4.00.

---------- Post added at 09:07 ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 ----------

I agree Hugh , it would of made sense to say Sky TV prices frozen to existing customers.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

i moved my account I have a loyalty discount on account contract for 12 months(due to move) then after keep discount for a further year, obviously though i will go back after contract to see if any other offers. but for a standard customer if upgrade with a contract like my friend did vm included the calls for evenings in package so she only had this charge showing on her bill and that was a 12 contract but as you say if only looking at phone alone they have 3 levels weekend only, evening and weekend and 24/7 calls

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Hi,

I've been a watcher of this forum for a while an just thought I would have a little say on this lol.

The frozen price is good if you join sky now, I just left Virginmedia after unfortunately I had a Tivo installed but after 3 weeks of appalling picture quality and a constant red doughnut spinning in the middle of my screen I returned it.

Sky have only charged me £10 line rental as I paid it in advance, they also gave me a great 12 month "welcome back" deal. So its not just old customers its new as well.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Yes the 10.00 a month if you pay a year upfront makes it an even cheaper option.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Good business sense - the money is in their bank account, rather than yours.....

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

The end result though you save 27.00 a year , would 120.00 in the bank net you that ?

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

It wasn't a criticism of Sky - it is a good deal for both sides; they get the money up front, the customer gets a discount.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Its a great deal, A one off payment of just over £100 and your phoneline is sorted for 12 months. I would guess VM do the same I know BT do.

An don't forget you get some inclusive calls in there aswell as caller ID.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

A 1 year price freeze, isn't this what you expect from a contract anyway? If a company increases its prices during your contract, you have the right to leave.

It's just another way of getting people in, they've run out of things to hoink people in, now they are copying energy firms whatever next!

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Well only the people in a 12 month contract would be effected by the "get out clause" of a price rise,everysingle sky customer in contract or not gets this price freeze. Only a virginmedia customer would moan about a price freeze, .

Lets not for get Virginmedia have had 2 price rise this year,Plus the Tivo tax on top of that if you have Tivo.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

No disrespect, but are Sky paying you*? - your general tenor since you joined the forum is to attack VM and it's products, and praise Sky to high heaven.

Just saying......;)

*perhaps for surfing lessons....:D

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

The comment you quoted also stated that VM and BT offer the pay in advance for line-rental as far as I'm aware. It was in no way an attack.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

You appear to have missed "general tenor", which refered to your posting history, not that specific post, and "praise to high heaven", which did....;)

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Oh ok, I don't mean to come across like that, oh and reference to your comment about getting money to go surfing, I don't surf.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

That's right - you don't surf.:D

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

£1.50 price increases don't mean a thing to me, it's nothing if it was something like £5 or more, then I would definately be moaning.

And to be honest no advertisements of any kind would attract me of going to Sky,I've moved quite a lot but remained in the same borough and the home move service at Virgin Media is brilliant, in fact been in three houses and have managed to keep the same number from 2005! I thought I would try Sky so I enquired about service, they tell me the TV service would take 2 weeks to install and then phone and broadband would be set up 2 weeks after the TV is installed, Too long!!!!!!!!!! and when I finally compared prices, I would be £6 worse off every month and 10MB of internet slower!

So it's a thumbs down on this occasion for Sky :td:

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

But the TV service price increase by around £1.50 per month, then the phoneline rental went up by another £1 a month and thats fine with you.

But Sky freezing and for some reducing there monthly fee is a bad thing to you? lol.........

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

You appear to have accidently misread his post - he stated the reason for the thumbs down was

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Hi,where did you get the information about sky dropping the hd pack charge per box? I`ve looked on skys webpage and found nothing about it,nor was there any mention about it in the letter they sent me recently about the tv pack changes.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Here you go

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-HD/S...om/td-p/132651

Or here were it says more from your HD

http://www.sky.com/mysky/indexb.html...yCOM_enjoymore

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

And I just recieved a letter today, which mentioned the HD charge now covers all boxes. No good to me, I only have myself to please.

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

Thanks for that muppetman:)

Re: Sky to freeze prices until 2012.
 

BT - regular ADSL to Infinity, free of charge, contacting customers to arrange install of new equipment as and when the service becomes available.

EDIT: Actually several others did too when BT began their 8Mb -> 20Mb upgrade.