Last Updated on 4 April 2023 by Dan
Hello everyone! In my last article on how I saved £2,500 in a year, I highlighted that after doing a TV audit I had cancelled Sky, and saved quite a bit by doing so. If you’re not feeling quite so drastic however there is another route….
Both Sky and Virgin Media maintain a number of deals which they’ll offer to customers who enquire about them! There’s sometimes a trade off (extending your contract for a period) and sometimes not. This one really is a case of “don’t ask don’t get.”
I’m actually a believer that both companies offer a pretty good product – but they should be considered a premium offering as they’re not cheap. In my very first article on this site we spoke of the need to challenge your spending to make sure you are actually using something, and Sky and Virgin Media are a prime example!
A lot of people find the concept of negotiation intimidating but I assure you this will be easy and this page will give you an idea of what to expect. I can only say that my experience with Sky’s customer services was always very positive and they’re by and large a very cheery bunch, even when you’re calling to cancel.
Most of this experience is based on Sky, as they’ve who I’ve negotiated with recently whereas it’s been quite a few years since my last tangle with Virgin Media…..
At the end of this guide, you should have the confidence to haggle with Virgin Media or Sky!
How to haggle and negotiate with Sky and Virgin Media
Research available deals from both Sky and Virgin Media to negotiate
In order to negotiate effectively, you need to know what a good deal looks like.
In the case of Sky and Virgin Media they’re going to do all the work for us – as they try so so hard to bring in new customers but don’t reward loyalty quite so well…..
So whichever provider you’re with, go to the website of their rivals. Try and work out what package is closest to what you have now vs. what the rival offering and what the price difference is.
For ease:
Sky’s new customer deals page can be found here (it may not appear if you’re logged in) and Virgin Media’s new customer deals page can be found here.
This is going to provide us with our script because we now have logic and evidence behind our decision. You’ve got the means to say something like this:
“I’ve been a loyal Sky/Virgin Media customer for 5 years! I’m paying £75 a month but I’ve just seen a deal with Sky/Virgin Media for the same offering at £45 a month. I’m going to have to switch with that difference unless we can do something…..”
This sends a few signals. It tells the person we’re negotiating with we’re serious because we have hard information.
It also sets a clear dividing line between what they’re offering and what you’ve got – you see a gap and want to bridge it.
Understand how Sky and Virgin Media will convince you not to cancel.
Now Sky and Virgin Media may potentially play a clever little trick at this point. They’ll ask to understand what services you use and what you watch. It’s all psychology.
This is partly to understand where they can honestly save you money, but also a way of getting you feeling nice and happy about those shows you watch on Sky/Virgin Media! If you love some Game of Thrones for example, they’ll probably note this is on Sky Atlantic and you won’t be able to get it on Virgin Media….
They’ll then run through a summary of what you’ve just told them and ask if they’ve got that right and you want to continue. Stay hard hearted and say yes!
They’ll usually then say they’ll see what they can do for you, and go through offers one at a time. If you’re looking for relatively low levels of hassle, most of these deals are usually pretty good – often 20% odd off for a year of extending your contract.
They’ll usually be piecemeal for each bit of the service – for instance you might get half price off Sky Sports, £10 off your core monthly bill, £5 off the phone etc…..
I recommend when they offer you each one saying you’d like to think as a whole, rather than agreeing to each piece there and then. It helps to make notes as you go so you can work out a total saving.
Finally they’ll ask you how it sounds. You may choose to say yes as the deal likely sounds good. However you can do better if you’re willing to hold your nerve. Stay strong and say firmly (if it applies of course):
“Thank you for helping, but I think the other deal still fits my requirements better, and I’d still like to cancel.”
Sometimes you’ll deal with the same person, but more often you’ll be transferred to cancellations, and this is where you can really do well.
(FYI – if you are legitimately interested in what they have now, walking away to “think about it” seems a sensible strategy but can backfire. The deals Sky/Virgin Media offer generally last for a couple of weeks – something else will be on, but it may not be the same thing you just got offered and will have to go through the process again. If you’re doing this, ask when an offer is valid until and ask them to note in their call system what you have been offered.)
Haggling with Sky and Virgin Media Cancellation team / Customer Retention
By name, the cancellation department sounds like it should be simply there to guess what….. help you cancel! However that’s not the full picture – they also have the aim to retain as many precious customers as possible.
They’ll usually ask you to go over the reason again why you’re leaving, and acknowledge it. Reaffirm you’re sorry, but you just want to go.
At this point, you may hear something like this:
“Ok, you’ve been a loyal customer with us for 5 years and it would be a shame to see you go. I’ve had a look and we could do £x for the services you have now. How does that sound?”
This is likely to be the best offer you’ll get – when I was leaving recently, the offer at this stage was half what I was paying monthly. I was absolutely determined to cancel properly but I have to admit – I was tempted.
If it sounds good, you probably want to think about taking this. If not, saying no will likely result in your cancellation going ahead. You may still get lucky with pushing things further, but this is usually an end point in your ability to haggle with Sky or Virgin Media without at least starting the cancellation process.
Negotiate with Sky and Virgin Media Post-Cancellation Retention
About a week after you’ve cancelled, you may start getting calls on your registered number – try and pick these up if possible. This will be Sky/Virgin Media‘s last ditch attempt to try and get you back, and some people have had great deals.
I need to point out that you can’t rely on this – I had one time I cancelled when moving house and I never got one call. The most recent time I cancelled Sky I was bombarded with calls!
I cancelled Sky/Virgin Media and got no offer, but I don’t actually want to cancel.
First of all, make sure you’ve given it at least a week and ideally longer to see if you can pick up one of those magic post-cancellation calls from Sky or Virgin Media.
Sky and Virgin Media can er, cancel the cancellation process pretty quickly and be only too happy to keep you as a customer – just call their usual customer service line and tell them you’ve had a change of heart. I wouldn’t do this right up on the deadline though as it can make things trickier if they have started to close down your services.
Any questions/results from haggling with Virgin Media or Sky?
If you’ve had some success using this guide and managed to get a good deal with Sky or Virgin Media I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
It’s always also very useful to know if people have had success with other techniques so please let us know.
And if you have any questions on approaching Sky and Virgin Media, just leave them in the comments below.
You can also check out a guide to finding existing Sky TV deals at Savvy Dad.
And that’s it!
Thank you for reading! You can sign up below to get our new articles delivered to you on a range of financial topics, or remember you can follow our Facebook and Twitter pages.
I had this exact issue with Sky a few years ago. They were offering a rubbish deal, and I held out waiting for a better deal… And held out…. And then held out some more. Before I knew it, they had cancelled my package. I was a bit gutted, but had found a backup offer on BT. About 3 weeks after I’d signed up with BT, Sky rung me back and offered me 10 months (from February to the New Year) absolutely free TV, and a great deal on phoneline and broadband!! I was gutted as I had to turn it down at that point – typical!!
Ah it’s so annoying when they don’t bite! They literally said to me one time when they called too late ‘would you have taken a deal if we’d offered it’ and it was a yep!
Thanks for commenting!