New £49.99 offer - marketing trick?

[ratbag32x]

I've just tried to get an Sky+HD box on this new offer. It's a pre-registration, not an purchase. They can't tell me when I can get a box, blaming it's the bandwidth of the installers. I asked if I could get the box and install it privately, but that's not an option.

I know that they had HD box supply issues and they have new supplier coming on board in March, but why blame it on installers?

We (Sky subscribers) seem always to be the second class citizens. New customers get fawned over and pampered - it's like those Nationwide bank adverts; "introductory biccies".

Sky, for gods sake, pay some attention to your existing customer base, before we all turn Virgins'.

[Brian69]

You (existing customers) will not go to Virgin, not in large numbers anyway. You had your cheap deal when you first signed up with Sky so you cannot complain if new customers get priority now. And if new customers go for the telephone,BB t.v bundle then Sky will have them, hook line and sinker, making a move from Sky hard.

Face it, A new customer is worth more to Sky than you (or me) who are out of our min term and can drop them like a hot brick if we choose.

[rarnold]

I've just tried to get an Sky+HD box on this new offer. It's a pre-registration, not an purchase. They can't tell me when I can get a box, blaming it's the bandwidth of the installers. I asked if I could get the box and install it privately, but that's not an option.

I know that they had HD box supply issues and they have new supplier coming on board in March, but why blame it on installers?

We (Sky subscribers) seem always to be the second class citizens. New customers get fawned over and pampered - it's like those Nationwide bank adverts; "introductory biccies".

Sky, for gods sake, pay some attention to your existing customer base, before we all turn Virgins'.

Hi there, Sky did listen...

They learn't from what happened with the shortage of boxes and the high wait times in October and decided to make things fair by introducing the registration process. This means no longer do you have to pay for a box 3 months before getting it. Wait times for registration depend on location however average wait time at the moment is 3 to 6 weeks (The majority being sooner) To make it quicker for yourself when registering give the agents your mobile number and/or e-mail address this will mean you will get either an SMS or E-mail when your box is ready to order.

FYI, the £49 box price is not an "Offer / Deal" it is the box price which is due to stay in place!

As for becoming "Virgins" that's your prerogative however Virgin only have 1 HD channel and all the On Demand HD movies are approx £4.50 each (Do the maths) You are also renting the V+box at £5pcm. The likeliness of Virgin being able to broadcast more that 31 HD channels to you is MINIMAL and if they do it will more than likely effect broadband speeds(which are already being capped) oh and did I mention that installation is £99?

Life isn't greener on the other side! So stay with the home of HD..

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Personal opinion and not that of my employer.

[doom]

Hi there, Sky did listen...

They learn't from what happened with the shortage of boxes and the high wait times in October and decided to make things fair by introducing the registration process. This means no longer do you have to pay for a box 3 months before getting it. Wait times for registration depend on location however average wait time at the moment is 3 to 6 weeks (The majority being sooner) To make it quicker for yourself when registering give the agents your mobile number and/or e-mail address this will mean you will get either an SMS or E-mail when your box is ready to order.

FYI, the £49 box price is not an "Offer / Deal" it is the box price which is due to stay in place!

As for becoming "Virgins" that's your prerogative however Virgin only have 1 HD channel and all the On Demand HD movies are approx £4.50 each (Do the maths) You are also renting the V+box at £5pcm. The likeliness of Virgin being able to broadcast more that 31 HD channels to you is MINIMAL and if they do it will more than likely effect broadband speeds(which are already being capped) oh and did I mention that installation is £99?

Life isn't greener on the other side! So stay with the home of HD..

-------------------------------------------------------
Personal opinion and not that of my employer.

I'm glad the average didn't apply to me. I registered on Thursday the 29th, Got my e-mail on the 30th. Ordered it over the phone (same day) and I have it installed tomorrow morning (3rd). Can't wait

[tomthered]

Hi there, Sky did listen...

They learn't from what happened with the shortage of boxes and the high wait times in October and decided to make things fair by introducing the registration process. This means no longer do you have to pay for a box 3 months before getting it. Wait times for registration depend on location however average wait time at the moment is 3 to 6 weeks (The majority being sooner) To make it quicker for yourself when registering give the agents your mobile number and/or e-mail address this will mean you will get either an SMS or E-mail when your box is ready to order.

FYI, the £49 box price is not an "Offer / Deal" it is the box price which is due to stay in place!

As for becoming "Virgins" that's your prerogative however Virgin only have 1 HD channel and all the On Demand HD movies are approx £4.50 each (Do the maths) You are also renting the V+box at £5pcm. The likeliness of Virgin being able to broadcast more that 31 HD channels to you is MINIMAL and if they do it will more than likely effect broadband speeds(which are already being capped) oh and did I mention that installation is £99?

Life isn't greener on the other side! So stay with the home of HD..

-------------------------------------------------------
Personal opinion and not that of my employer.

as i understood it fibre optics have limitless capacity, surely that statement is misleading! I am sure if Virgin chose to they could enact 31 HD channels however at the end of the day it comes down to marketing.

agreed they are already capping mainly on bittorrent protocols but if they wanted to really do it I am sure they could. That said I am sure Sky oofer the better service at the moment.

[NewsreadeR]

as i understood it fibre optics have limitless capacity, surely that statement is misleading! I am sure if Virgin chose to they could enact 31 HD channels however at the end of the day it comes down to marketing.

Virgin cannot even get 2 HD channels let alone 31 - They don't appear to have the funds available.

This is the killer blow to VM and the free alternative. Why would you spend £99 to VM and then rent a box for 1 channel - and then give it back to VM afterwards, when you leave? The Sky box is £49 and yours to keep. The cost of the free alternative is £299 I think, hardly worth it for 1 channel divided by two different broadcasters.

The only unique selling point VM have is the 50meg broadband, and even then they have priced themselves out of the market at £51 per month. (Oh and their trains are quite smart I guess as well)

Whatever way you look at it, Sky own HD - Even with the free offerings, you only get part time BBC HD and the occasional ITV HD.

There are a fair few more channels coming to Sky HD in the next few months (OK might not be within 2 months)

agreed they are already capping mainly on bittorrent protocols but if they wanted to really do it I am sure they could. That said I am sure Sky oofer the better service at the moment.

VM couldn't even get drunk at a brewery, let alone fight back or make a better counter offer at the moment. Rumour has it VM are losing customers at a high rate since Sky started their offer last month.

[Undecided Adrian]

The problem with VM is that when they changed their name from NTL to Virgin it was a perfect time to restructure the company and to try and sort their internal problems, mainly due to eating Telewest and numerous other small cable companies along the way in the previous years.

Problem was they didn't do it and so the systematic failures they had in the past stayed there and now VM's name is now becoming mud.

I am not saying Sky is perfect but it's a whole lot better than VM.

[3xH]

Wait times for registration depend on location however average wait time at the moment is 3 to 6 weeks (The majority being sooner)

7 - 12 weeks here...

[mickr]

We as customers need the likes of VM and other compediters to keep them on there toes and for competition otherwise if they become to dominant and then they will be able to do and charge what they like.

Mickr

[seanwhit]

Hi, I am thinking of subscribing to this offer however should I wait? Is there a new HD+ box being launched soon?

Cheers