Sky and BT refusing to refund customers in sports contracts

Mar 15, 2020 -- 11:53AM, lurka wrote:

Maybe Wolf but in circumstances where there will be mass cancellations and they are already losing a loads in ad revenue, I doubt they are going to throw good money after bad and chase people for relatively small amounts. Did you cancel your entire bundle contract or just the sports package when they chased you?

I subscribed to an 18 month contract but cancelled it a few months in but with whats going on with this virus I think the circumstances are different as you say. This was in 2016

I only had BT sports and they hounded me for what amounted to under £200 for an 18 month contract

I agree but the niggle is if you are also tied in with BB, phone deals and they cut you off completely leaving you with no internet, sorting out new suppliers at the moment would be a potential pain in the ar5e.

BT are paying £400 million pounds a year for Champions League and Europa rights, if people do cancel I cannot see them chasing millions of people considering those millions are within their rights considering they can simply argue that was the main reason they signed up, and it would create so much bad publicity if they tried going after so many, and it wouldn't be in their interest to target small numbers either if they've lost millions of other customers, they must be really worried.

hopefully football will be cancelled for 2/3 more years and the coonts will go out of business

It does make u feel that way Coachbuster. The way that loyal customers in their keep net are treated is unbelievable.

I too wish the bubble bursts and Sky and the like go out of business.

So long as the the sheep keep towing the line and paying their £1k+/year subscriptions though this seems highly unlikely...............

I caught some of the sports news on the BBC this morning saying the premiere league clubs will have to give back the money to sky if they dont play the games.

It would not surprise me in the slightest if sky then continued to hold customers to pay for the service as well.

I havn't paid the scrotes a penny for many a year after they took 2 payments one month and I went to the ombudsman with all the evidence who agreed with me.

that's the trouble pushkin .

yes dusty ,i do thinks clubs should pay Sky back in fairness and Sky in turn pay the customers ..as it stands some of the clubs are every bit out to rob the fans /watchers too .

they can't hold people to their contracts if people all cancel en-maase, and people are within their rights to considering they are no longer offering the sport that they paid for, it may not be Sky's fault but that's by the by.

Too much top level sport has been lost from Terrestrial TV to subscription based TV over the years, Formula 1, Boxing and Champions League football all used to be on free to air tv, it's may be ok for Football but it's harder for sports like F1 and Boxing to grow when they're not put in front of people's faces. Even the Europa League, people used to laugh at clubs playing on Channel 5, now it's cool because it's on BT, which makes no sense.

I remember the Arsenal taunting us that we were live on five on Thursday when they came to Anfield.

How the mighty have fallen. How the tables have been turned.

The tables have been turned, however, it could still be Arsenal 3-0 Liverpool in prem league titles.

If it is dambuster so be it.

The FA, UEFA, FIFA etc. will have to finish season 19/20 somehow, else they will be sued by those missing out, the likes of WBA, Leeds United, the other United to name but a few.

I saw an article today that Sky and BT Sport are not going to reduce the subscriptions for their subscribers. Even though the vast majority of the subscribers have taken out their subscriptions on the basis that they would see live sport.

And there now hardly any live sport on TV, save for the likes of darts, badminton, dominoes and tiddly winks..........................

And like a funny film, it's kinda cute
They bought the bullets and there's no one left to shoot ...........

It sure is Angoose, Sky and BT paid such premium price for live footie, that has driven the excessive wage demands of ever greedier players, and their even more greedy agents. As peabrain might have said if he was still around, a case of chickens coming home to roost

I wouldn't blame any SKY or BT Sports subscriber if they cancelled their subscription and DD even if in their contracted period. They are not getting what they paid for and it's gonna be a long time before they do.

On the contary, they are increasing the basic price from April 1st... not a joke..

If that is correct, I hope their very many subscribers tell them where to go.............................

it is correct i got the email on sunday, £2/month from 1 april for me. i am not in contract and was prepared to hold on for a bit but i just rung them up and cancelled. about 20 minutes on hold, the lady in scotland was good. i cancelled bt as well, also not in contract there.

I suspect the trickle of subscribers cancelling subscriptions will turn into a torrent once reality sinks in about how much they are paying SKY and BT Sport -typically around £1k/year for those in the keep net - now they are no longer getting any real live sport for the forseeable.

After waiting for nearly an hour to cancel my BT Sport I ended up keeping it. I was paying about £42 a month for internet and sport now paying £34 for both on a two year contract. Apparently costs now only go up inline with inflation.

Is it true that Sky are now offering to suspend subscriptions for Sky Sports, or is that just in Ireland?  I can't get through on the phone and can't find an email address.  I tried to do it online via "manage my account", but that didn't work.

pro tip. if you really want to cancel subscriptions , say your being sent to prison. what for is up to you.

Mar 17, 2020 -- 11:31PM, RioGrande wrote:

pro tip. if you really want to cancel subscriptions , say your being sent to prison. what for is up to you.

Ring BT and tell them you're doing a stretch for bashing the Sky offices up when they wouldn't let you out of your contract and vice versa for Sky

If there is no sports coverage then people may find other things to interest them and when it comes to renewing they'll say no.

Be very interesting to see if Sky and BT Sports do the right thing and suspend subscriptions. Can't see it myself................

Sky have confirmed that paying customers can pause their Sky Sports subscriptions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The channels will have reduced sports coverage over the coming months with almost all sporting events currently cancelled or postponed, including the Premier League and Football League.

only just seen this..do you have to ring them to pause

Apparently so, except so many people are calling to do just that you are unable to be get through!

Apparently Sky have said that customers will be able to pause their Sky Sports subs online from Friday.  I tried phoning earlier today but the holding time was over an hour.  I will wait until Friday and check the website.

just back from Beni yday chased up easyjet Sunday - 1st call 3hrs on hold gave up - went back to room after being kicked out of main reception area where only decent internet connection was and plugged phone into charge for fone  ........ 3 hrs 46 mins later they answered my call only to tell me feck all i didnt know "your call matters to us" blah blah blah and meanwhile my mates missus booked me a seat on an emergency flight back - on same flight that had been cancelled - a good twelve hrs b4 easyjet sent me email telling me my flight was cancelled - i kid you not

Here's my report, I was paying about £100 for everything  all tv, brooadband line rental, the lot, but that was a deal itself, just noticed that the deal ended and they bumped it up to 140.

Phoned them up and after a few minutes, the bird said they could only knock 10 off, but I can put you through to someone else which she did.

Hour later got through to Scotland and the chap (Michael)knocked it back down to £97 for 18 months, which includes an increase to the broadband speed and for the first 3 months sky sports free which brings me down to 75 for the first 3 months.

Very happy with that.

Sky are actually missing a trick here, they should tell customers that if they don't pay up they will send Idris Elba round to make them a cup of tea

0333 202 2135 - i believe this is the number for the sky retention team in scotland, as has been said on other threads they are excellent.

Scottish branch are great, and helpful. After reading this thread I obviously need to talk to them this weekend

Mar 18, 2020 -- 9:19PM, ian merseyside wrote:

Apparently Sky have said that customers will be able to pause their Sky Sports subs online from Friday.

Text went missing:

While we expect that many of the recently postponed sports events will eventually go ahead, if you wish to pause your sports subscription you will not be charged a fee to do so or be held to any notice period. Meanwhile, we continue to provide high quality content across all of our 11 sports channels.

Easy to do just log-in to your account and then one-click.

At least SKY would have appeared to do the right thing making it simple to pause your sport,BT on the other hand have made it virtually impossible ,I would expect a large number of their customer’s to leave at the first chance they get which can be difficult if tied in with other stuff.But hopefully they will lose huge numbers over the coming months

Can I pause my subscription by going Interactive because I can't find anything when i do so .. or do i have to phone them?
There is a covid 19 update which says I can do most things online using my Sky box ... does that include pausing my subscription ... if so where is it?
Thank You

tried online yesterday but was very busy ( queueing to get online !!), got this number and took about a minute- dont even need to speak to anyone- just voice activated and give postcode. 08001512747 is that number.

just first say ' cancel sky sports '

cheers m2

np

I did it online Friday morning no hassle and already my bill as been adjusted so for once well done to SKY.

BT are going to lose a lot of customers over this.

Just postponed my subscription to Sky Sports on line and next bill already showing as removed.  Good service

bt are still showing live sport

If you pause the subscription the channels are still in, you just don't pay for them..So you can still watch Gary Nevilles  soccer box or whatever.

Just so I've got this right tobes, if I pause the subscription, will the sky sports channels still be available to me??

Yes

Thanks

So pausing is just choosing not to pay for a while

Or do you only continue to get pictures until your next payment date and then you lose them ?

I get Sky Sports through Virgin and we don't have a pausing option (or not yet anyway)

Sky Sports
Pause your Sky Sports subscription

In light of recent sports event postponements, you can pause your Sky Sports until the action resumes.

Your Sports subscription payment will be paused until the action resumes
All 11 Sky Sports channels plus your recordings will remain available
As soon as the action returns, we will reinstate your Sports subscription. You don’t need to do anything.

So if that's the case, WTF do they not just automatically roll that out to everybody?!?  ****s.

Sorted, but it would only process for me from my phone.  Just get a spinning wheel after clicking pause from my PC.

https://sky.com/pausesports

Maybe some Sky sports subscribers might want to donate 30 pounds a month to Sky A bit like with the "just 3 pounds a month" charities advertising on their channels, except this one 10x as needy

Rupert requires to continue his life in the style to which he has become accustomed.

took me 20 mins yesterday very nice lady i spoke to saved me 27 pound a mth get no sky sports

all you have to do is call the number M2 gives below & you should get through within secs ... all done without waiting to speak to a telephone operator

Just did this via their website, took about a minute.

Slightly off topic but I was looking for a film to watch last night on Box Office and Sky have made a big deal about "bringing the cinema to you" when people can't go and there is indeed 3 films available that are on at the pics at the moment. So in these times of need and strife Sky are indeed thinking about their valued customers...... the price to rent one of these films? £15.99 that's fifteen fkcing pounds 99 tw@tting pence.

Thanks Sky.

I remember when Sky first came out and my mate got it . Skysports was brilliant . Look at it now . Skysports - £25 per month .. BT .  £25 per month etc etc etc . I understand times change and we adapt etc but remember years ago when we had great stuff on normal tv , european football , boxing { tyson , benn , eubank , collins , etc etc etc etc }

To be honest the world is full of greedy bstds and i will play no part in it . £25 a month for BT to listen to that birdbrain Macmanaman refer to his equally brainless mate Jermaine Janus as JJ is nothing short of a disgrace .

What happens in the poorer communities where young kids have no access to sports and i mean basic one what we all had when we were younger  like european football as well as domestic stuff ???

This is the worst era ever where money means absolutely everything to many . Denying the kids from poorer backgrounds access to something which would probably cost pennies to stream into their house is PATHETIC .

SKY HAVE COMPLETELY RUINED FOOTBALL as well as many other sports . I would not have the sports channel for NOTHING .

NONAYNEVER - just get rid mate . simple

Greed is a terrible thing , its such a shame they got involved in all of this shyte . £15.99 for a film rental is absolutely appalling .

Zealot once my current contract is up I will be getting shut. To profiteer in these times under the guise of having their customers needs to the forefront of their thinking is the lowest of the low.

There is no reason at all why Sky couldn't actively pause everyone's sports subscriptions until the live sport resumes. So why make people ring/e mail/go on line to do it? In the hope that if only 10% of the people with the sports package think, "I can't be bothered" or elderly people who may not be tech savvy etc, it will mean Sky are still receiving the income when not offering a product - or a product that people enter into the contract for.

As for the film thing, it was the final straw for me. When the more important things at the moment are sorted, I seriously think the government should look into this and give Sky whats coming to them.

Anybody had any luck getting BT to see sense yet?

from TheHeraldScotland


THERE is a list going around. You may have seen it. It's got the names of those businesses or businessmen who have sought to capitalise on the financial uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak; with a growing swell of vocal critics insinuating that their antics will not be forgotten when normality – whatever that might look like three, six or even 12 months from now – returns.

On the flip side, other companies with a conscience (let's call them that for now since there may well be a kicker down the line) have sought to alleviate the financial burden or at least face reality. Sky, for example, have allowed customers to pause their Sky Sports subscription until normal service resumes and they are in a position to broadcast live sport again. Sky, and I can't believe I am saying this, deserve full credit for being ahead of the game in this. Ultimately, though, they are doing what you would expect in the circumstances.

Meanwhile, BT Sport have offered a similar but different option which is causing plenty of consternation among subscribers. At the time of writing – and in this current climate everything is subject to change in an instant – BT had still not offered a blanket solution to a problem which at best looks like egregious customer service and at worst a ruthless means of protecting income while serving up an incomplete product.

A statement on BT Sport's website as of Friday afternoon reads: “We understand that this is a difficult time for customers and if they wish to discuss their BT Sport contract or other options, would ask they give us a call. Alternatively customers on our new flexible TV package can pause their sport subscription and switch to a different pack should they wish.”

The website does not give any advice, however, for those not on the new flexible TV package. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests customers are engaged in a futile exercise – with phones not answered at call centres, no easy method online for pausing their subscriptions and no coherent policy on what options are available – with some customers being allowed to cancel, others receiving half-price offers for two years and some being given a month's free subscription despite the Premier League announcing last week that there would be no resumption of football until April 30 at the earliest.

The BT Sport statement goes on to admit that high call volumes and staff shortages are part of the problem as the company seeks to adhere to government guidelines on Coronavirus.

All of which may be true but, unfortunately, it looks like a cloak of convenience and smacks of opportunism. Either way, it is a public relations disaster and one which people are unlikely to forget. Indeed, making the job easy would have bought goodwill and, in all probability, have brought customers back when football – with fans desperate for a resumption – returned.

Above all, it is always the lack of availability of a simple resolution that irks customers most, the more so when paying for a service that's not being provided and the onus was on BT Sport to provide the solution.

It prompted Labour MP, Carolyn Harris to say: “BT are without doubt a total disgrace. I'm appalled that in this time of national crisis they are totally heartless in their business practice. Whilst the rest of the country come together in a spirit of unit and survival, they use the situation to profit, whilst not fulfilling on their commitment.”

When the new financial reality emerges and people come to take stock of what they need and what they don't need, those companies who acted with compassion will be remembered and those who did not won't be forgotten.

I called Sky the other day to pause my Sky Sports subscription ... seemed to go well as it was an answer service where you left your details & only took a minute ... i assumed everything would be changed for billing purposes
However, I used my Interactive button on my TV earlier today & went into ^Manage Your Account"
It still shows the full price due for next month and the month after (should it reflect the reduced charge i believe is due) ... thought i'd check with sky but I couldn't get through on the phone so have e-mailed them ... automatic response says they will reply within 48 hours
Lets hope they are acting fairly

I work for Sky. On the system the pause option shows shows as '3 month' so if people are looking at their future bills then June will show a partial payment for Sports and July onwards will show in full, but the pause will be indefinite.

Geordie, if is not showing a reduction in your next bill, then sounds like your request will be directed to a back office operation so possibly takes a day or two to work through those requests. The call centres are all open though as we are apparently 'key workers' so you can call to clarify. Only half - if that - the staffing levels but I was hoping the call volumes might drop as people assume we won't be open now.

latest BT advice

How to cancel BT Sport subscription

If you're not lucky enough to be on the flexible package, cancelling outright is probably your best bet. Just make sure you request a cancellation at least 2 days before your next billing date to ensure you don't get charged for the following month. The process is similar to if you're pausing:

Head to the BT website and log in

Click 'Your products' and then 'BT Sport'
Under 'Your BT Sport', click 'Manage' under the relevant subscription
Enter your details to verify the account and there will be an option to cancel your subscription
However, BT has warned that with large numbers of people trying to cancel and a reduced workforce it may be better to call them. The number you'll need is 0800 783 1401.

BT do not yet have a company-wide policy on cancellations, so you may be offered a month for free or two years at half price while they work out a longer term strategy

Cheers for the sky comment tobermory

Any chance if you get your BT Sport through SKY tobes?

You would just have to phone Sky to get it cancelled at the moment I think

Just took a 18 month contract which included both sports. Have managed to pause SKY Sports. Would I be able to cancel BT??

I'm sure you would though the call centre agent might have to pass it to their manager to action.

Ok. Nice one tobes. Cheers.

Haven't been able to read all thread.
I but my Sky & BT via Virgin.

Can I still pause ?

Thanks

It looks like Virgin customers are now getting the same option to pause sky sports (not BT sports)
.
https://www.virginmedia.com/help/thinking-of-leaving/talk-to-us

Many thanks.

On BT site you have a couple of choices including being refunded for a months sport.

Froze sports and Bill is £30 less this month, been with them for 20 years, takin da pee this mob nowadays. The games they show have decreased last few seasons as well

Decided to pause Sky a couple of weeks ago and credit where credit is due my payment that just went out is £30 less already. Also offered me landline and fibre broadband for £27 a month for another 18 months. They were brilliant when I moved in 2018 as well.

The main issue I have is the reduction in football especially Champions League. Having said that I am begining to hate the football business finances and enjoyed the cricket and rugby far more last year.

One of my problems with sky is there p155 poor content.
I mean,
THeyve got 25 years of epl history and they have nothing to show for it.
BT sport have been producing brilliant films like Greavsie and they have the espn 30for30 films. All sky show in the way of sports history is football years with that daft b1nt georgie thompson narrating over a soundtrack of godawful popular music.
Its like they dont care.
You would have thought sky would rolled out free movie channels or given freebie downloads for their sports punters.
Maybe they know the days are numbered for their possibly outdated subscription service.

Just rang the number Tobermory put up,got through straight away and they paused it for me and knocked a tenner a month too as being the mug I am was paying 29.99 a month,also got a better deal on landline and broadband,thanks tobermory.

Can you have Sky Sports and no other package. I have got Sports and Variety. Would like to get rid of Variety.

Sometime ago I was told by a Sky rep that towards the end of your contract you should haggle with them especially from March onwards as they need a certain amount of subscribers each year.

After cancelling my TV and broadband contract with Sky I took my broadband to another supplier (the Post Office,never ever again) and then received an email from Sky offering me a TV package for just £12 a month or TV and broadband for £25 a month....

Just phoned them and was told I cant have Sports only. Need to have another package.

I phoned sky yesterday and got a message saying only key worker, emergency services, oap, etc were allowed to phone atm. How does that work if you really nned to speak to them about getting ripped off. Said to do it online, but that can't sort what I nned to do.

If there is an option to press to say you are a key worker, OAP etc then just press that and you should get through. The agent isn't going to start asking you what your job is.

Wonder how many subscribers Sky have lost since March 26th.

Was thinking of doing that, they don't seem to have a live chat atm either. Will be doing that very soon, come out of a contract with them and they're saying my next bill is £89. Need to sort another one out. Cheers tobes
.

May 18, 2020 -- 8:36PM, darren_discombobulates_sports wrote:

Wonder how many subscribers Sky have lost since March 26th.

Not many as moving suppliers involves a bit of risk at present.

Sky call centres right now typically have 35 minute gaps between calls coming in. Totally dead. Mainly because there are no new installs since March. Screw ups with installations and complaints that people didn't get what they expected usually drive the call volume up.

moving suppliers? who's been moving anywhere there's barely any sport which is Sky's biggest seller, most people I knew cancelled their subscription by direct debit online, some a bit later on paused theirs, nobody would be signing up. I'd have thought they'd have lost a substantial number.

The sports pause means they don't need to pay for it. It is a big revenue for Sky but still I think 60% of TV customers don't have Sports at anytime.

Is that 60% of subscription based tv subscribers or  tv owners full stop because that's a big difference, a lot of people I knew did not know about the pause feature to begin with. That would be very surprising if 60% of those that pay for satellite tv don't have sport, I would have thought that was Sky's biggest seller surely.

I answered "yes" To the automated key worker(not actually one) question and did get to speak to an actual person!!!!

May 18, 2020 -- 9:59PM, darren_discombobulates_sports wrote:

Is that 60% of subscription based tv subscribers or

^
why does that sh1t only happen when u type a really long post

Basically I was gonna say that a while back Sky had 10 million customers and 4 million Sports subscribers. Though the 10M may have included broadband only people, of which there were maybe a million or so at the time.

A lot of people had Sky dishes rather than the normal aerial installed during the digital switchover and like the functionality of SkyQ or Sky+. Then you have women, teenagers who like Boxsets, MTV and Kardashian type stuff, blokes who like Discovery,Nat Geo etc and then a big factor is the Kids channels like Nickleodeon/Disney that you can't get on freeview.

Sports is a big revenue factor for Sky but the majority with Sky TV don't have it.

The sheer amount of money Sky have poured into football over the years you'd have thought at least 50% of their viewership were paying to watch the sport. Though they do have more subscribers to sport via NOW TV passes.

I've no numbers to back it up but I've suspected that in the last few years BT and Sky were using monies from non-football subs like normal tv and broadband etc to fund their footy rights deals. BT got the PL rights monopoly opened up because they knew Sky would be in a position to offer broadband and saw it as a threat to their broadband market share. I think they both see the whole thing as a package now, which it is for a lot of subscribers, and if you don't have footy to stop people switching then you lose the lot to the other. They both pay well over the top for their exclusive footy rights to ensure they aren't outbid. Almost like they have an agreement with each other to carve up the market.