AIBU to be shocked by Sky's cancellation fee when moving abroad?

[ChefsKisser]

I’ve tried to cancel my sky contract today we pay £117 a month for sky tv and broadband. I have been told we have to pay half the amount of the contract (we have 17 months left). We are moving abroad and paying an £800 cancellation fee is sickening. This is just a rant as it’s in the small print that was sent to us but I didn’t realise it would be so so much.

That’s awful. Have you double checked the terms and conditions you received when you took out the contract originally to make sure the same cancellation terms are in there?

Its a charge as you knowingly entered into a contract with them and are now breaking it! Official line anyway.

Is it a permanent move abroad? When we moved, we managed to suspend the contract until we were in our new house. Although it was only about two months.

Sounds like you're getting off lightly. You've agreed to pay them nearly £2k and they're 'only' making you pay £800.

Is the move abroad very sudden? I thought Sky contracts were 18 months at most so it sounds unlikely that you'd be signing up to Sky when you're thinking of moving abroad? But I don't know why anyone pays for Sky any more anyway, seeing as you can get virtually the same thing from Now TV on a rolling monthly deal for about a third of the price.

We used to do exactly this. Our current Sky package is about half the price that NowTV were charging us, and we get more channels, and the Sky VIP stuff, which is decent for us.

But we'll leave at the end of the promotional term when they jack the price up massively!

Sorry just realised you did say it was in the small print!

Does it say cancelling for any reason then?

It does seem harsh. I work in utilities and with energy, there would usually be a cancellation fee if you moved to another supplier while still at the same property, but no cancellation fee if you were simply moving house. But i suppose it does work differently with sky as they couldn’t really prove you weren’t lying.

It was a 24 month contract and the move is only since due to family. I expect a fee but not so much. I know it’s our fault I’m just so gutted and the guy on the phone was so rude and dismissive.

I moved with virgin TV and because the area didn’t offer virgin, they didn’t charge the cancellation fee.

This is why I left Sky, or tried very hard to, (that was a whole other story!) I know subscribe to Nowtv as and when I want to and cheap broadband - I can’t honestly believe the prices some packages are a month with them.

Escalate this to the Ombudsman, as the contract terms are unfair.

@NoisyMonster678 im going to make a complaint and suggest this thank you. I understand it’s a contract but it seems so harsh that things can change and there’s no way out for a massive fee.

They let us off, sent proof of flights I think 🤔

According to their own T&Cs if you move to an address where their services are unavailable then you may terminate the contract immediately without charge.

(c) You may give us notice to end this Contract immediately, including during your minimum term in
which case you will not need to pay any early termination charges, if:
(i) we make a change to this Contract which is not exclusively to your benefit unless it is purely
administrative in nature or directly imposed by law and we have notified you of that right;
(ii) Condition 6(c), 10(b) or 10(e) applies;
(iii) Condition 4(b)(ii) applies (you are moving home and the Product you are subscribing to is
not available at your new Address);
(v) we tell you that we are going to introduce a charge for Smart Connectivity under Condition
5(h); or
(vi) you have ended your Sky Talk contract (during or after its minimum term) for one of the
reasons set out in condition 8.2 of that contract

So you just need to call them and tell them you are cancelling under section 10(c) of the contract.

Oh no!

If only they had told you this in writing at the start of your arrangement with them.

If you're moving abroad why not just move and forget about it. Not like you're going to be here to get any letters.

Have you had a mid contract price rise? If you have and you give notice within 30 days you can leave without penalty. Although I did just that and they tried to charge me the cancellation fee twice. I’ll never go back to them for that reason alone.

I don’t think that’s right. Under consumer law I believe you are entitled to a proportionate refund. So you only pay for what you have used so far plus reimburse Sky for any discount you got due to it being a two year contract. No matter what they might try to tell you.

Just because something is "Ts & Cs" does not make it automatically lawful.

It's entirely possible to have a contract struck out as being unfair.

CMA guidance on unfair terms may be relevant - sorry, im travelling and can’t check properly but you may wish to look at para 5.15 to see if it applies.

Sky are fucking money grabbers

170 a month, op, that is insane!

I had the opposite experience with them, robbing bastards.

I wonder how much money these companies are making charging ex customers for services that they can't access.

They aren't unfair. You enter a contract to pay for 2 years. If you break the contract you have to compensate. That's how contracts work.

People tend to use courts to determine fairness, not Mumsnet.

Sky contract has been tested many times for unfair terms. It isn't unfair. People just don't read the contract properly and then when they breach it say it's unfair. 50 perc of their expected revenue from a contract you breached would be considered reasonable in a commercial Court. The offering new discounts for 6 months at the end of your contract nearly always ties you into another 18 months or 2 years. They offer these discounts to get you into the 2 years. They enforce it if you walk away.