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enismirdalSeriously, Sky? Pull the other one!
They called me up today. As everyone is probably now aware, Be/o2 broadband have been sold to Sky. The letters I'd received basically implied that it'd all happen magically and that essentially the only difference would be that letters from Be would now be headed "Sky" instead. Not so, it seems.
Background info: my broadband with Be is approx. £18.50 per month. It's more expensive than average but I regard it like a Tesco Finest pie: I pay more because then I get a better product. (In the case of Be, better customer service, and the courtesy to not cut me off right away if my bank buggers up the direct debit and forgets to pay them at some point, etc.) My phoneline is with the Post Office and costs about £13 per month with a negligible number of calls. The Post Office are cool for phones as they reactivate dead phonelines for free but unlike BT, they don't tie you into a 12 month contract with them for the privilege. I originally planned to jump ship but was happy enough that I chose to stay instead.
So, back to Sky...
The rep explained that the best package for me on Sky was their Unlimited package (I'd probably agree - we're medium-heavy users as we watch a LOT of iPlayer). I would continue to pay my current fee for this service.
Wait, I thought. Be is a premium service. I pay more for that. Sky is a regular provider. I was fairly sure their Unlimited broadband package would not cost as much as Be's because...well, they don't have lovely tech-savvy Bulgarians available 24/7 and so on.
So I asked them how much that package cost for a new customer to Sky.
She told me £15 a month (possibly £15.something, I forget exactly).
"Wait. You're saying that as an existing customer, being moved to a service I don't particularly want, you're offering me a higher price than you'd offer to a new customer who wanted to get their broadband from you?"
"Yes," she agreed. "But we'll give it to you free for 12 months if you also move your line rental to us."
"But my line rental isn't with Be! My line rental with with the Post Office and I'm very happy with them."
I asked about the Sky phone packages. She explained that the package I'd need would be £19.something per month. So more than I'm paying at the moment for my phoneline, and also more than my broadband. Yes it's true that it's less than the two combined, but that situation only lasts a year and I would rather not be a Sky customer at all unless they want to sweeten the deal. Especially after talking to this rep, who was appallingly-trained - lots of pauses and silences, me wondering if she was flustered, confused, realised that she wouldn't take the deals offered if she was in my position, or what. (To note, I was perfectly polite to her. Assertive, incredulous, but not abusive. I don't believe in abusing phone reps - whether I like their company or not, they're just trying to be employed.)
"Right," I said. "So my options are to take broadband at a price higher than you'd offer to new customers, or to take line rental I don't want at a price higher than my current phone package? Um...please give me a MAC key."
"Oh, you have to call Be for that."
I agreed I'd do that. "Thank you for your time, but I don't think I want to be your customer."
"OK." She puts down the phone.
So once the Be cancellation phoneline opens tomorrow, I guess I'll be getting my MAC key and ordering new internet from Zen or Plusnet.
They called me up today. As everyone is probably now aware, Be/o2 broadband have been sold to Sky. The letters I'd received basically implied that it'd all happen magically and that essentially the only difference would be that letters from Be would now be headed "Sky" instead. Not so, it seems.
Background info: my broadband with Be is approx. £18.50 per month. It's more expensive than average but I regard it like a Tesco Finest pie: I pay more because then I get a better product. (In the case of Be, better customer service, and the courtesy to not cut me off right away if my bank buggers up the direct debit and forgets to pay them at some point, etc.) My phoneline is with the Post Office and costs about £13 per month with a negligible number of calls. The Post Office are cool for phones as they reactivate dead phonelines for free but unlike BT, they don't tie you into a 12 month contract with them for the privilege. I originally planned to jump ship but was happy enough that I chose to stay instead.
So, back to Sky...
The rep explained that the best package for me on Sky was their Unlimited package (I'd probably agree - we're medium-heavy users as we watch a LOT of iPlayer). I would continue to pay my current fee for this service.
Wait, I thought. Be is a premium service. I pay more for that. Sky is a regular provider. I was fairly sure their Unlimited broadband package would not cost as much as Be's because...well, they don't have lovely tech-savvy Bulgarians available 24/7 and so on.
So I asked them how much that package cost for a new customer to Sky.
She told me £15 a month (possibly £15.something, I forget exactly).
"Wait. You're saying that as an existing customer, being moved to a service I don't particularly want, you're offering me a higher price than you'd offer to a new customer who wanted to get their broadband from you?"
"Yes," she agreed. "But we'll give it to you free for 12 months if you also move your line rental to us."
"But my line rental isn't with Be! My line rental with with the Post Office and I'm very happy with them."
I asked about the Sky phone packages. She explained that the package I'd need would be £19.something per month. So more than I'm paying at the moment for my phoneline, and also more than my broadband. Yes it's true that it's less than the two combined, but that situation only lasts a year and I would rather not be a Sky customer at all unless they want to sweeten the deal. Especially after talking to this rep, who was appallingly-trained - lots of pauses and silences, me wondering if she was flustered, confused, realised that she wouldn't take the deals offered if she was in my position, or what. (To note, I was perfectly polite to her. Assertive, incredulous, but not abusive. I don't believe in abusing phone reps - whether I like their company or not, they're just trying to be employed.)
"Right," I said. "So my options are to take broadband at a price higher than you'd offer to new customers, or to take line rental I don't want at a price higher than my current phone package? Um...please give me a MAC key."
"Oh, you have to call Be for that."
I agreed I'd do that. "Thank you for your time, but I don't think I want to be your customer."
"OK." She puts down the phone.
So once the Be cancellation phoneline opens tomorrow, I guess I'll be getting my MAC key and ordering new internet from Zen or Plusnet.
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no subject
Date: 23 Jun 2013 18:21 (UTC)no subject
Date: 23 Jun 2013 18:31 (UTC)Sky may find that their assumed "easy win" of 100,000 customers from the o2/Be purchase may not go as smoothly as they expect as customers realise they're not getting a good deal and start to drop off. We'll have to see what happens in the next year or so...