I called Sky last weekend in an attempt to reduce my monthly bill, which recently increased from £49 to £108 (ouch!) due to my 12-month ‘new customer’ deal coming to an end.
It proved to be a worthwhile call which lasted no longer than 15 minutes and concluded with them offering up (and me accepting) a loyalty discount for the next 18 months, cutting my bill to £67.
I’m the type of consumer who usually goes with the option that presents the least hassle, providing I’m not getting my pants pulled down in the process. I’m now paying much less than I was and I’ll not have to think about it again for another year and a half, so I’m happy.
Sure, I could have ‘kicked off’ and taken my business elsewhere, but why bother? I quite like my Sky package, so staying with them on improved terms makes sense – there’s no form-filling, no contract to sign, no installation date to be booked etc.
But let’s face it, if I hadn’t called them, they wouldn’t have called me.
RateSwitch was officially launched in February to help complacent or uncertain homeowners switch to better mortgage rates through their current lender. It’s estimated that well over a third of homeowners pay interest at their lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR), which is the uncompetitive default rate to which most initial fixed and tracker deals automatically revert.
Sound familiar? It’s a very similar business model to Sky and lots of other subscription-based services, except on a much larger scale.
The idea was conceived almost three years ago, with a view to primarily support: