Thread: Useless sky box

Last month we gave sky notice to cancel our subscription of several years and a few days ago it became limited to the free to air channels as expected.

Early last year a sky plus box was installed at a cost £200, which if my memory is correct was to buy the box and have it installed. Since going to the free to air channels we've discovered that the sky plus features no longer work. Trying to use any of them brings up a "Please phone 0870.... to upgrade your subscription" message.

Now I realise that sky charge £10 a month extra for use of this, unless you subscribe to enough premium channels in which case it is free. My understanding of the £10 charge was that since you can skip adverts in recorded programs sky could potentially lose advertising revenue. But since we own the box, no longer recieve their channels and the features in question don't require sky to provide any sort of additional service can they have any possible justification for requiring money for it? This seems somewhat unfair.

I've been trying to think of an analogy with some other service and finally came up with mobile phone simlocks. If you buy a phone or recieve one as part of a contract (at it's conclusion) the network are required on request to provide you with unlocking information, so you can use it elsewhere. Now surely freeview could be seen as an alternative service provider to sky, so shouldn't the box be 'unlocked'?

If there's nothing I can do I'll just sell the system 2nd hand and replace it with something else but if anyone has any advice on what can be done I'd rather take it up with sky.

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Yup - fully agree, but Sky are not unique in this. I have Tivo which gave the the chance to buy it and pay for monthly Guide data (at £10) or £199 for a 'lifetime' subscription. Fortunately, I took this option and 5 years on it was one of my better investmenrs. Selling the receiver would be the best way forward and as ED1237 points out a Freeview PVR would make a good investmenr of the proceeds!

Well, one isn't really related to the other - who are 1st Digital, and where does the £255 come from? If you've not paid your subscription because your receiving equipment doesn't work, they will credit you - but they have to be told to arrange this. If you simply stop paying, they'll remove service and flag you as a bad debt.

It does get messy the longer you leave it - however they cannot charge you additional fees for 'not using the same phone line' - the operative word here is *same*. The contract stipulates it has to be connected to 'a' phone line. The 'same' phone line only comes into play if you have Sky Multiroom, however if your box is on the fritz - it seems a pointless charge if you cannot view. Sky will not take you to court, they'll sell the debt to Lowell Group and they will pursue you relentlessly adding fees and charges. It's easier to take them on to seek satisfaction before they hand over to the monkeys...