One of the UK’s leading TV and broadband providers just might be raising prices for customers … again. Millionaire Jeremy Darroch from Sky recently confirmed that they’re in fact considering another price hike. This is the second time this year that Sky TV customers will have to fork over more money. The last being in March after Sky secured a deal with the Premier League.
While many believe that services like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video that allow customers to stream a multitude of shows and movies at a very low cost are killing traditional TV and internet companies, Darroch apparently doesn’t buy it. He firmly believes that their services, that aren’t a single prepackaged bundled package made to suit everyone, is what appeals to their 10 million subscribers.
The price increase though, is planned to roll out to allow the development of original shows and better content. Sound familiar? Netflix has had amazing success with their original TV shows and it seems Sky wants to try their hand at just that.
Will a Price Increase Be the Final Straw?
Many Sky customers believe they already pay too much and say that if there’s another increase they’ll be looking elsewhere. In fact, most subscribers use Sky services to watch shows that are freely available on other channels. Out of nearly 80 of the most watched shows by Sky customers, only a single show is exclusive to Sky. Many are beginning to realize just how much they’re paying that probably isn’t even necessary. This is on top of an already blemished reputation and accusations of false advertisement.
Last month, Virgin Media challenged the claims made by Sky TV about customer service. Sky claimed that their customer service was better overall than Virgin and other leading competitors. But Virgin reached out to the Advertising Standards Authority ASA), explaining that the stats Sky used were skewed and couldn’t be verified. It appears that Sky had pieced together different metrics of customer service to shine a prettier light on their own customer service.
And the ASA agreed. Sky was warned that they are not to use the ads with these claims in any way shape or form. They were also warned to be more careful in the methodology used to come up with stats in the future.
Did they purposely skew the numbers? Maybe. Maybe not. Only they truly know the answer to that. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure some things out. Sky customers get their fair share of price increases and hassles. Just look at Gavin Hackwood’s experience of spending more than an hour and half trying to cancel his service.
If you search Google for Sky Customer service, you will often be led through a labyrinth of webpages before you find the number you are looking for. Should it be that hard to directly reach a representative? Of course not. Luckily, the UK’s Consumer Connect program has identified the problem and offers quick, easy access to a Sky phone number that actually puts customers in touch with the destination they are looking for. Plus it’s on the affordable 0834 number range in the UK.
