Hi,
Like tallpaul, my experience has been that Sky always offered me something when I told them that I was thinking of leaving - I generally find the best way to deal with it, is ring up and tell them you are considering leaving to go to Virgin and spell out the deal you are looking at, but you really like Sky so were wondering if they'd match it before you leave them.
Sky have always given me something, but that said it's usually only for between 3-9 months, so I have to go back through the same nonsense again once the promotional offer has ended.
Sky have the better quality picture and sound imho and also, I think they have a better channel selection. However, Virgin have the far superior broadband service. As things stand, I have TV from Sky and Broadband from Virgin as a result, but I will probably have to get back on to both of them in a few months time, when my current deals run out.
If you are going to move to Virgin, get over to the Boards.ie Talk to Virgin forum (log in and click
here ), as there are deals there for new customers which give additional benefits to those advertised on Virgin's website, by the way
