Virgin Media Community

[Kev_B]

To pause a BT Sport or Sky Sports subscription, you can visit www.virginmedia.com/pausesports 

You'll still be able to watch BT Sport and Sky Sports' channels during this period.

[nodrogd]

@Kev_B 

Just for info. Does this also include people with Sky Sports inclusive of their package (eg. VIP) or just people that subscribe seperately?

Also does this affect any minimum periods people may have on their contracts?

[Kev_B]

Hi @nodrogd 

This applies to anybody who's subscribing to Sky Sports, regardless of which package. It doesn't affect any minimum or contractual terms.

[paule_39]

To be clear, does "pausing" mean that at the end of the "pause". you will still be liable for the payments for Sky sports for the period whilst it was on pause?

In other words, can I stop paying for Sky Sports now and restart when there is actually some sport on? Or are you just offering to "pause" payments?

[Roger_Gooner]

The key word is "pause" not cancel. I'm on a 12-month contract which includes the Sky Sports HD pack and a pause of, say, three months means to me that the end date of the Sky Sports HD pack part of the contract is extended by three months but I still pay for 12 months. You can think of it like a mortgage holiday. I do not see any explicit or implict contract for the cancellation of the payments during the pause period so that I'd pay for only nine months. Furthermore, if I were to leave VM at the end of my contract I'd be liable for the outstanding three months.

[rolyat33]

So just to be absolutely clear. When the paused period of say 3 months is added at the end of my contract it will be a the discounted rate?

[nodrogd]

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@rolyat33 wrote:

So just to be absolutely clear. When the paused period of say 3 months is added at the end of my contract it will be a the discounted rate?

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Yep! Your subs are suspended for the time live sport is suspended. If you had 3 months remaining when it’s paused you will have 3 months when it resumes.

[heavysoul]

That seems to be a different approach to Sky. This is from moneysavingexpert.com ...

"Sky Sports customers can now 'pause' their subscription

With most live sport suspended, many who pay for digital TV subscriptions have asked if they can get a refund.

Sky Sports won't let you leave your contract penalty-free, but it does now allow you to 'pause' your subscription - which means you can stop paying for the time being. You can do this online - log in to your account and go to the Pause Sky Sports page.

While your account's paused, you won't be charged but you will still have access to all 11 Sky Sports channels. As soon as live sports returns, Sky says it'll reinstate your subscription - you won't need to do anything. The pause doesn't affect the overall length of your contract - so if you're midway through an 18-month contract and pause for two months, your contract end date will remain the same.

If you're a Virgin customer with Sky Sports, you will also be able to pause your subscription shortly, though full details haven't been announced yet. Virgin says it'll give an update soon on when exactly this option will become available, and we'll update this guide when it does".

[BenMcr]

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@Roger_Gooner wrote:

The key word is "pause" not cancel. I'm on a 12-month contract which includes the Sky Sports HD pack and a pause of, say, three months means to me that the end date of the Sky Sports HD pack part of the contract is extended by three months but I still pay for 12 months. You can think of it like a mortgage holiday. I do not see any explicit or implict contract for the cancellation of the payments during the pause period so that I'd pay for only nine months. Furthermore, if I were to leave VM at the end of my contract I'd be liable for the outstanding three months.

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I'm not sure that's right. Kev above already said it doesn't affect any contract terms.

Virgin Media wouldn't be able to extend your minimum contract beyond what you already have without your explicit agreement.

[bertybert27]

Wow, we asked for this and we got it - regardless of the small print, this has to be a step in the right direction. Might I suggest that as this proves this can be done, we are offered the ability to change packages in a similar manner? I get that they want a salesperson to try to keep you paying the maximum possible (a quite frankly outdated and somewhat insulting way to do business) but if this incentive came back to me in the form of an email a few days later I think that would be progress.

For comparison, has anyone ever tried to cancel a NOW TV package? It takes about 5 clicks, giving reasons, contemplating the "wonderful" content you will be missing and finally considering a payment reduction, then downgrading. It seems like a fairly simple system but I would gladly go for a web form from Virgin in the absence of anything else.