Sky pricing mystery solved!

[nlel]

A few months ago I posted to this forum about upgrading to the full Sports pack

http://www.avforums.com/forums/sky-sky/1625638-upgrading-sports-pack.html

At that time if I upgraded via the website it wanted £ 40.25 inc VAT or £ 33.54 ex VAT at that time I chose not to upgrade because the footy season was over.

So if you add the £ 2.50 inc VAT (£ 2.08 ex VAT) rise onto £ 40.25 you get £ 42.75 inc VAT or £ 35.63 ex VAT which is exactly what Sky have quoted me.

What I cannot understand is how it can go from £ 40.25 inc VAT to £ 47.50 inc VAT in the space of three months on the website! a £ 7.25 inc VAT price rise.

EDIT: Of course when I checked how much to upgrade to the full Sports pack as an existing customer I was offered the more favourable £ 40.25 inc VAT its the new customers who are being shafted for £ 47.50 inc VAT!

 

[andyfoulds]

I knew you were right all along niel as I am currently paying £ 40.25 inc VAT for Entertainment Extra and the Sports pack which will increase by £ 2.50 inc VAT in September.

I am not sure whether the other posters were deliberately trying to throw you off course or they simply weren't sure themselves.

 

[nlel]

I suppose from a new customers point of view I am on a preferential rate although I don't regard it as that because its all I have ever known and didn't require any extra negotiating with Sky its just the way things turned out.

Sky have raised prices by £ 2.50 inc VAT and I don't think they could have raised it by a further £ 4.75 inc VAT bringing them in line with the new customers pricing because a £ 7.25 inc VAT rise would be extortionate.

 

[davemurgatroyd2]

The whole confusion here is caused by the way Sky applied the change from their previous 6 mix system to the current Entertainment/ Entretainment Extra 2 pack system. The current Entertainment pack consists of two of the original 6 mixes - Entertainment and Lifestyle whereas Entertainment Extra is all 6 of the original mixes. If at the time of this change your package was two to five mixes consisting of Entertainment plus any other mixes than Lifestyle you were automatically upgraded to Entertainment extra at no extra charge. Thus existing subscribers could be paying anything from £20.50 to £25.50 (££26.50 if you already had all 6 mixes) per month whereas new subscribers would be paying £26.50 per month. It would appear that Sky have not yet raised the prices to those existing customers benefitting from this and raised their subscription to the full price of £26.50

What packages were you both on prior to August 2011?

 

[logiciel]

I am not sure whether the other posters were deliberately trying to throw you off course or they simply weren't sure themselves.

I'm quite sure what they were doing - what they were doing was saying what the Sky web site says, and saying what they themselves are paying - nothing diverting or unsure in any way at all.

 

[nlel]

What packages were you both on prior to August 2011?

I was on Variety & Knowledge packs and didn't want or need the extra channels but was happy when I got them for free.

It seems Sky will now have a hard time justifying increasing the prices for those customers who benefitted positively from the pack changes and some like Logiciel who paid full whack to begin with aren't benefitting in anyway financially.

I also cannot understand how Logiciel is paying £ 21 a month for the Sports pack when a couple of years ago it was only £ 18 a month and I would have thought he was a long term Sports pack subscriber and/or would have been offered a good deal as an existing customer to upgrade to the Sports pack.

One thing is for certain Logiciel is being shafted like a new customer and he does not deserve it!

 

[logiciel]

Thanks for that nlel.
What's actually happened though is that I've changed "packs" and therefore subscriptions several times since the last increase, so none of the original terms apply.

 

[nlel]

Thanks for that nlel.
What's actually happened though is that I've changed "packs" and therefore subscriptions several times since the last increase, so none of the original terms apply.

I thought that might have been the case. It seems somewhere in the purple haze of your frenzied pack changes Sky have stealthly introduced an extra £ 4.75 inc VAT to your bill without you noticing and I think its mainly on the Sports pack. Time to email [email protected]

EDIT: In fact its £ 1.95 inc VAT on Entertainment Extra & £ 2.80 inc VAT on the Sports pack or £ 4.75 inc VAT in total.

 

[logiciel]

Changes were carefully engineered to produce the channels that I wanted at the time for the least possible outlay.
The sports channels are included only because they are necessary in order to receive the 3D channel.

 

[nlel]

Changes were carefully engineered to produce the channels that I wanted at the time for the least possible outlay.
The sports channels are included only because they are necessary in order to receive the 3D channel.

I still think it might be worth you contacting Sky and threatening to cancel your subscription unless they give you the Sports pack for £ 18.20 inc VAT which I believe is what I am paying although don't quote me on that.

Its simply not fair to you as a long term customer that you should be paying the new customer rates that others such as myself aren't paying.

EDIT: I have run a couple of google searches to try and find out how the price increases are affecting other people as I cannot believe I am the only one not paying the new customer on the website prices and in this thread;

Sky Help Forum - New prices from 1st September 2012 - Help & Support from the Official Sky Forum

if you scroll down you will see one participant is currently paying £ 22.50 inc VAT for Entertainment Extra which goes up by £ 1.50 inc VAT in September to a mere £ 24.00 some £ 2.50 cheaper then the £ 26.50 on the website if a new customer!

I am quite surprised there aren't more people on this forum coming forward with similar stories although its probably down to a lack of interest or boredom.

EDIT: This is how my billing got to be where its at today from when I first subscribed to present day.

Subscribe to Variety & Knowledge £ 16.17 ex VAT per month
Add Sky Sports 1 from September 2010 + £ 7.66 ex VAT per month
Add September 2010 price increase + £ 2.13 ex VAT per month
Minus February 2011 price decrease - 0.54p ex VAT per month
Add May 2011 price increase + £ 1.87 ex VAT per month
Add Sky Sports 2 from September 2012 + £ 6.26 ex VAT per month
Add September 2012 price increase + £ 2.08 ex VAT per month

Total £ 35.63 ex VAT per month or £ 42.75 inc VAT per month.

EDIT: and the February 2011 decrease of 54p wouldn't have appeared on most peoples bill because it was an adjustment due to the 2.5% VAT rise and I was credited back some 54p ex VAT. This is of course due to the fact I am a Channel Islander who doesn't pay UK VAT hence why I quoted ex VAT prices above.

 

[nlel]

EDIT: This is how my billing got to be where its at today from when I first subscribed to present day.

Subscribe to Variety & Knowledge £ 16.17 ex VAT per month
Add Sky Sports 1 from September 2010 + £ 7.66 ex VAT per month
Add September 2010 price increase + £ 2.13 ex VAT per month
Minus February 2011 price decrease - 0.54p ex VAT per month
Add May 2011 price increase + £ 1.87 ex VAT per month
Add Sky Sports 2 from September 2012 + £ 6.26 ex VAT per month
Add September 2012 price increase + £ 2.08 ex VAT per month

Total £ 35.63 ex VAT per month or £ 42.75 inc VAT per month.

Just logged into MySky and it now shows my current monthly order total of £ 33.54 ex VAT for Entertainment Extra and the Sports pack http://tinypic.com/r/2cx4bt/6

Then just add the £ 2.08 ex VAT price increase onto that and you come to £ 35.63 ex VAT which is what Sky told me it would be.

So for sure I am only paying £ 42.75 inc VAT a month not the £ 47.50 inc VAT as per the website.

If you are paying £ 47.50 for these packs it might be time to threaten to cancel or at least plead for a temporary or preferably permanent reduction of prices.