SKY Upgrade to SKY + ( Best way is to cancel then its free)

normannewell

I have been a customer of SKY for quite a number of years and have the normal box so i thought why not see about SKY+ i rang the customer support centre in Cork ( is this a premium Number as it cost a fortune) To be told that will be €199 for the box and €50 instal. Now a freind of mine cancelled his subscription last year six months later he gets a call from the SKY customer win back team offering him free SKY+ Box and Install and half price for 3 months. So i send an email to sky just saying all i want is the free box and free install save themselves the bother of missing out on 6 months rental and give it to me now. I am still awaiting a response over a week since i sent the email. So it seems the only way to get satisfaction out of sky is cancel your subscription any comments
Norman

aidan_walsh

If that was the case, I am sure Sky would have come begging to install your box for you. They haven't, so its not.

normannewell

I am not sure what you mean by not being the case the fact is he did cancel and they did call six months later and he did get Sky+ box for free and he did get Sky instal for free and he did get 3 months reduced.
norman

dudara

What exactly is the Consumer Issue here? You asked SKY for a quote and they gave you one. You didn't like it so you didn't accept.

Then you email them essentially looking for a freebie.

There's no Consumer Issue here that I can see. Convince me otherwise or I'll move this thread elsewhere.

axer

OP tell them you want to cancel your account and they will then offer you all of those things or if you want tell them you will cancel your account unless you get those things free.

techdiver

dudara wrote: »

What exactly is the Consumer Issue here? You asked SKY for a quote and they gave you one. You didn't like it so you didn't accept.

Then you email them essentially looking for a freebie.

There's no Consumer Issue here that I can see. Convince me otherwise or I'll move this thread elsewhere.

The consumer issue is that the company whether it be SKY or UPC have nothing but disdain for existing customers and never offer the same deals that they offer new customers. I know the usual retort to this is that all companies do the same but that doesn't make it right.

I only wish that existing customers would revolt against this behavior and leave in bulk and force these companies to change their practice of treating existing customers like dirt.

normannewell

Dudara
I guess it’s nice for you to have such power to make such massive decisions to threaten to move my thread because you believe that it’s perfectly ok to have a customer for over 5 years and then try and charge them €250 for something you are willing to give away for free to a new customer. Or in fact an ex customer to bring them back on board.
As a sales person for some 30 years now I have always believed it’s important to look after your existing client base. I think just about every business person would agree.
Also I think most would agree its good customer care to actually answer a customer query or maybe you disagree with that as well
I tell you what you use your super power to support bad business practice and poor customer service do what you want with the thread ok.
And we wonder why the economy is in the sewer!!
Why do we have people who believe its ok to be treated with such distain?
I wonder if you will even post this given i have challenged your super power lol:D
oh yes and it's obviously ok to charge calls at a pemium rate for customer care is it??????????????????

axer

normannewell wrote: »

Dudara
I guess it’s nice for you to have such power to make such massive decisions to threaten to move my thread because you believe that it’s perfectly ok to have a customer for over 5 years and then try and charge them €250 for something you are willing to give away for free to a new customer. Or in fact an ex customer to bring them back on board.
As a sales person for some 30 years now I have always believed it’s important to look after your existing client base. I think just about every business person would agree.
Also I think most would agree its good customer care to actually answer a customer query or maybe you disagree with that as well
I tell you what you use your super power to support bad business practice and poor customer service do what you want with the thread ok.
And we wonder why the economy is in the sewer!!
Why do we have people who believe its ok to be treated with such distain?
I wonder if you will even post this given i have challenged your super power lol:D

Wow, some people are a little slow.

There is a reason why Sky (and other companies) do not give the special offers to existing customers and that is because they need a return on the cost of these special offers which they hope to make back over time. If they always gave the offers to existing customers then it would cost them a fortune resulting in having to increase the fee charged to the customers.

Your problem is not a consumer issue just like the mod said it wasnt. You want to get more than you are entitled to but which you think you are entitled to it just because you are a customer. Sky are entitled to only make this offer available to new customers. If you don't like that then cancel your account (although as I already explained they will then offer pretty much the same to you then).

normannewell

normannewell wrote: »

Dudara
I guess it’s nice for you to have such power to make such massive decisions to threaten to move my thread because you believe that it’s perfectly ok to have a customer for over 5 years and then try and charge them €250 for something you are willing to give away for free to a new customer. Or in fact an ex customer to bring them back on board.
As a sales person for some 30 years now I have always believed it’s important to look after your existing client base. I think just about every business person would agree.
Also I think most would agree its good customer care to actually answer a customer query or maybe you disagree with that as well
I tell you what you use your super power to support bad business practice and poor customer service do what you want with the thread ok.
And we wonder why the economy is in the sewer!!
Why do we have people who believe its ok to be treated with such distain?
I wonder if you will even post this given i have challenged your super power lol:D
oh yes and it's obviously ok to charge calls at a premium rate for customer care is it??????????????????[:mad:]

techdiver

axer wrote: »

Wow, some people are a little slow.

Great comment, well done.:rolleyes:

Customer service should be the primary goal of all business. Bad word of mouth is very hard to combat and can effect long term expansion. You are taking the simplistic view of the initial short term financial gain or loss and not the long term revenue growth and retention.

axer

techdiver wrote: »

Customer service should be the primary goal of all business. Bad word of mouth is very hard to combat and can effect long term expansion. You are taking the simplistic view of the initial short term financial gain or loss and not the long term revenue growth and retention.

No I am looking at this from a marketing/business perspective. Even though this customer is annoyed by not getting a special offer (which is not for existing customers), sky will make more money by signing up new customers with the offer. This OP will probably stay with Sky anyway since they dont have much choice even though he/she will b1tch about it here first - who else are they going to go with?

The OP knows how to get this offer from Sky even before posting this thread but is choosing not to go about it that way. Sky is not going to give this offer to existing customers UNLESS they know they are losing a customer and then they will offer it. It would cost them way too much to give the offer to everyone. Is that hard to understand?

The good thing is that when you understand their motives (their business reasoning) you can play them at their game and threaten to leave only to be offered something to stay. Which is what I told the OP in my first post but the OP instead attacks a mod instead of using his/her head and doing as suggested. Silly way to behave imo.

normannewell

Sorry for being so slow
So let me see I cancel and then they miss out on my revenue and then they give it to me for free anyway and also give me a reduced rate for 6 months ( I checked and this is what he got €10 per month for six months not three as i originaly thought) So they lose out on €228 but end up giving me the box and install for free just to get me back to where i wanted to be anyway.

So this allows them to get a better return on investment, wow all these years in business I thought getting more revenue hence more profit was a better return.
Thanks for your great insight on how to get the best return but i think i will stick to actualy retaining my revenue stream and happy customers who stay with me and hence allow me to expand my services to them and recomend my business to to others

axer

normannewell wrote: »

Sorry for being so slow
So let me see I cancel and then they miss out on my revenue and then they give it to me for free anyway and also give me a reduced rate for 6 months ( I checked and this is what he got €10 per month for six months not three as i originaly thought) So they lose out on €228 but end up giving me the box and install for free just to get me back to where i wanted to be anyway.

So this allows them to get a better return on investment, wow all these years in business I thought getting more revenue hence more profit was a better return.
Thanks for your great insight on how to get the best return but i think i will stick to actualy retaining my revenue stream and happy customers who stay with me and hence allow me to expand my services to them and recomend my business to to others

Apology accepted.

Its a numbers game. The number of people that actually threaten to leave are relatively low and they do not cost much to keep afterwards since there is no marketing involved in keeping them (i.e. no advertising etc) they just need to give them an offer instead like they offered your friend. The crucial part here is that only a fraction of the customers will threaten to leave because they did not recieve this offer. Most just can't be bothered and will continue to pay for the service regardless. This is the reality of the situation. Its just plain marketing/business.

You say that sky will lose out of 228 euro? Now look at the difference they would lose if they offered this offer to existing customers - to all the ones that don't threaten to leave. It would be more than the 228 that they are losing from you and the few others that demand the offer.

I am not having a go at you I am just saying you have to play them at their game because that is the way it works - understand their motives and you win the game. They dont care so much until you threaten to leave because it really is a numbers game.

normannewell

I suppose the good news for my customers is I don’t play games with them I don’t have an agenda except good customer care, no premium rate calls for customer care and I answer their queries promptly.
Thankfully I have never ever put a customer in the position that they feel the need to threaten me either
the other point is I am always aware of the competition who will want to take advantage of a disgruntled customer. So tomorrow I ring my local cable company and they will get my business. ( not a good return i would suggest as it means no revenue for them)
One point I would like to make I don’t make threats in business as I believe its bad practice. I simply asked them was it their policy to allow a customer to cancel and then give them everything they wanted anyway + more and if so was this then the way they recommend I go (no threat just a question). Their response so far Nil, however when I have emailed looking to spend more in the past response has been almost immediate.
Anyway I’m not going to waste any more time on this I have made my decision and just hope people change their attitudes and start to expect good customer care and stop settling for less.:cool:

penexpers

normannewell wrote: »

i rang the customer support centre in Cork ( is this a premium Number as it cost a fortune)

0818 numbers are not premium numbers.

dudara

normannewell wrote: »

Dudara
I guess it’s nice for you to have such power to make such massive decisions to threaten to move my thread because you believe that it’s perfectly ok to have a customer for over 5 years and then try and charge them €250 for something you are willing to give away for free to a new customer.

normanwell wrote:

Also I think most would agree its good customer care to actually answer a customer query or maybe you disagree with that as well
I tell you what you use your super power to support bad business practice and poor customer service do what you want with the thread ok.

normanwell wrote:

I wonder if you will even post this given i have challenged your super power lol:D

Take a step back and look at the job I do here. I just make sure that the CI forum runs smoothly, contains relevant threads and posts and ensure the posters treat each other with respect. I am not out to get you.

If you want to vent your spleen, please make sure that you are directing it at the correct target. You seem to be confusing me with some omnipotent being. Moving your thread to somewhere more relevant hardly constitutes support "bad business practice" on the part of SKY or any other organisation.

To be honest, I still don't see the Consumer Issue here. I see a perceived customer service issue. SKY haven't done anything wrong here, although their practice of segregating new and old customers doesn't leave a pleasant flavour in the mouth.

For future reference, if you have an issue with a mods decision, then PM the mod in question or take it to the Feedback/Helpdesk forum. Abusive and rude posts will not be tolerated.

dudara

axer Take it easy with the "slow" comments.

fitzgooble

penexpers wrote: »

0818 numbers are not premium numbers.

its charged at a local rate off a landline, extra off mobiles, on the issue of 249 for a sky plus upgrade, its not fair on the existing customer who may have handed over several grand over the term of their subscription so they should be able to avail of special offers like the ones sky use to attract new customers, as a satellite installer i come accross this on a daily basis, thus leading to people 're-baptising' their accounts(cancelling then re-joining) sky take a dim view on this and are clamping down in a big way, like everyting there's a way around it, for those in the know!;) hint-different ph no.

Taltos

OP

I would suggest you just call them and tell them you want to cancel.

I did this last yr being on Sky HD - they offered me 6mts 1/2 price.
I politely refused, when asked why I informed them that I had already decided to leave, while I appreciated their offer I would have preferred to have received it while I was still a loyal customer.

I have now been without SKY for a few mths - just the free-to-air channels & RTE on the net. Cannot say I am missing it all that much - but I know I am really enjoying the extra money each month.

So 3 things might happen here.
1. They accept your cancellation request no quibble - and you end up with more money in your account and maybe some free time to spend with the family.
2. They offer you some deal to keep you there - maybe reduced rate / maybe HD.
3. They contact you in a few mths and ask you to come back. (They did call to my door 3 wks ago - but since I hate anyone calling to my door I sent them away pronto with a firm instruction to remove my name from their cold calling list...)

Mike...

Sky are great for offering upgrades if you cancel, they have a dedicated win backs team, turn the the first 2 offers they give ya

jor el

The mistake you made, OP, was telling Sky that you'd stay with them if they offered you a goodwill upgrade. This isn't how it works. You don't mention that at all, you just go through the cancellation requests, and if they want, then they'll offer you an upgrade to stay. If they don't, then you can't force it.

Ringing them up and telling them you know how the system works and you'd like to save them time and money by doing it your way is never going to work. They don't have an official free upgrade policy, it's done on a case by case basis, and not everyone will get the offer.

squibs

I cancelled with sky also, going back about a year ago. They certainly haven't been going out of their way to tempt me back. I think I got one offer of cheap sky+ installation addressed to me. There have been a few more to "The resident". You definitely can't rely on getting a great deal in 6 months if you cancel.