Sky TV: misselling products and extortionate bills

[cpashto70]

This is my first post, so hi to everyone who's registered or browsing this excellent resource.

 

If the subject of this post would be better placed elsewhere on CAG please tell me.

 

I have an axe to grind with Sky TV and Broadband:

 

I have ordered and upgraded Sky packages over the last few months with the intent of saving me money. (Upgrades advised by Sky customer services). The package, which includes Sky Sports/Movies/Variety packs and up to 2mb broadband/free evening and weekend calls has been quoted as being circa £47.00 per month. In the ten months I've been with Sky I've not had a bill for less than £72.00; this was the first bill inc. £12.00 for phone calls.

 

Well now I'm really starting to get angry as my last bill was £132.00. The agreed amount of £47.00 should have one out on November 17th, however Sky (without my express permission) decided in their wisdom to take out the unauthorised amount of £132.00 ten days earlier than the agreed date. I received a letter from my bank telling me that Sky had taken the money and I didn't have enough in my account to cover the bill thus leaving me in the red. The bank then recalled the payment and charged me £25.00 for the courtesy.

 

Sky then suspended my service. This means I cannot use the internet; I have no facility to make outgoing calls; and I don't have any TV except for the normal 7 or 8 channels.

 

I duly called Sky TV to sort out the bill, the amount taken, and the bank charges. Needless to say, the customer service (CS) person was totally unhelpful telling me to pay up or lose the service completely and pay 12 months charges under the contract. I told them my bill wasn't due to be paid until the 17th and they said the bill does run up to 17th but they take the payment in advance. Eh??

 

My efforts were pointless. I called CS many times over the next couple of days with no joy whatsover. To add insult to injury on the 16th of November I received a letter from Sky with an invoice sheet for £223.00!!!

 

To be honest I really thought they were taking the p**s and still do. Out of total frustration I called them two days ago and said I was seeking legal advice now, and I wished to have my line and services stopped with immediate effect. Sky told me I couldn't. I told them I was disputing the whole service I'd received from them. I told them they were in breach of contract (on several counts) and I wished to take my custom elsewhere.

 

Sky then said I'd need a MAC code or something to tranfer and they weren't going to give it to me until the bill was paid in full.

 

I really needed the phone and internet to pursue this, and my kids of 12 and 15 desperately need the web in order to do their school work. Especially my son (15) who need access to the net for his final exams.

 

Sky were not in the least interested and said I should direct my complaint to Sky HQ. I said I'd got no phone to do that. They advised me to e-mail it then. By now my brow was furrowing and I was ready to strangle someone.

 

On the evening of 26th November, and in utter frustration and desperation I decided to succomb to their demands in order to pursue the case in full. I agreed to pay the £132.00 over the phone by card and then they'd connect me back up within 5 minutes. As sson as the payment had been confirmed they said that the computer needs the rest of the bill payed before connection could resume. I told them that this isn't possile has the remainder had to paid within ten days of the 17th november. They weren't having any of it, and so I had to pay the whole lot.

 

My next bill of anything between £72.00 and £223.00+ was due on the 17th December. I know this will mean (by experience) that my service will be cut on or around the 6th December.

 

I've asked for printed dialogue sheets detailing communication between me and all of the CS numpties I've spoken to, and paper invoices with concise information regarding packages I've signed up to and total bill payemtns with dates. I don't recall how many times I've requested this information but it's going back moths now...

 

Sky TV and internet might be good, but the customer service department is nothing but in name. I'm sure taking on a huge household name is going to be difficult, nigh impossible, but I've been ripped off and conned beyond any doubt. Is there anything I can do to get this looked at and even get some recompense, in the form of a refund for the money they taken from me unreasonably?

 

Sorry for the long post, but believe me, if I went through every problem I've had with Sky you'd be reading forever.

 

Thank you all in anticipation.

 

Craig

[freakyleaky]

I have moved your thread to the Digital TV services Forum where you will get the best help.

[Conniff]

Welcome to cag.

 

If you believe that the dd will come out early and 'not' on the specified date, then ring the bank tomorrow and cancel the dd. Sky will want another £10 from you saying that is what it costs if you don't pay by dd, so be prepared for that.

 

To get all your paperwork, screenshots and phone calls (if they were recorded), you need to send them a Subject Access Request with a payment of £10. This will get you everything that the company has on you, or should if they keep to the regulations.

 

Ida (the one if Fife where it's cold) is the girl for you, she works for them.

[Highchiefolaf]

Sky then said I'd need a MAC code or something to tranfer and they weren't going to give it to me until the bill was paid in full.

 

They are not allowed to do this. Offcom regulations state that payment issues cannot be used to withhold a MAC. Sky must provide this within 5 working days of the request. The ISP I work for have to abide by this, so must Sky.

[cpashto70]

Thanks very much for your advice. Appears this company is so established that common principles, such as running a legal and moral operation is of no concern to them. Until some real, weighty, and rigorous action is taken by Oftel (or other) then these conmen will continue to fleece good and honest people.

[Surfer01]

One of the reasons why we do not lump everything into one package with one provider. Sometime ago we had a dual supplier for the electric and the gas and when we went into dispute about the electric bill, they threaten to cut of the gas also. Phone, Internet, mobile phones are all with different suppliers even though it costs us slightly more. Same applies to out electric & gas. I do not recommend lumping everything with one supplier.

[IdaInFife]

Anything above £47 is for telephone calls if that is the tv/bb and talk package you are on.

 

You can check your full statements on my sky on sky.com and this will break it all down for you and give you an itemed list of calls.

 

They will only give you recompense if they have debited the amoutn and dates wrongly whic you cn check your correct payment date of my sky as well.

 

Regarding advance, all payments are in advance i.e my payment is sue the 27th so on the 27th of dec i will pay for 27th til 27th Jan.

 

If you do not want to pay by dd then sky will try and charge you £4 per month for an 'invoice' charge.

 

Thanks for the plug coniff , i'll get shot down in flames now

 

 

If you check you bill online if you call charges for daytime calls go above £5 per month you may benefit better on the unlimited package

 

 

gives a shout if you need any more help

 

 

Ida x

[cpashto70]

Hi Ida

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm not into flaming people; only those who I feel are miselling products or abusing their finite positions.

 

I've checked my invoice and looked through all previous ones from my join date in January 07. No bill is the same as another. Although some changes may be reflective changed or upgraded packages on the advice of CS, who promised me big savings on comprehensive packages.

 

The most recent upgrade was to a package deal in or around July/August when I was assured that for an extra £5.00pm I could enjoy all the TV packages inc. all Sports and Movie channels, Broadband, and Telephone (all local calls free 24/7) for circa £50.00.

 

My present invoice due on 17th December is approx. £92.00 with a £12.00 cr. so total balance for this month is £77.00 +. A very low bill for me by previous accounts!

 

To break this new invoice down...

 

Sky Subscriptions: £47.00

Sky Broadband Connect: £17.00

Sky Talk line rental: £10.00

Call charges: £22.39 (only £4.00 of these charges are premium or mobile).

Admin charge for Invoice: £4.00 (I don't have anything in paper so why this charge?).

 

To add to my confusion and upset is the fact that the bill due date is always the 17th of each month. So why have I had my account suspended on several occasions on or before the 10th of each month?

 

Even if this bill is correct, why am I always being assured that my broadband, telephone, and TV is £50.00 +/- £5.00pm?

 

Nearly every month I ask the CS agents to downgrade my subscriptions because of this, and every month they tell me they can reduce my bills by blah, blah, blah. In the latest case about £50.00.

 

Yet looking at my bill, my subscription has gone up (again) i.e. The package deal or subscription...in my case now Sky World. This package was promised by Sales to save me £££'s and yet I'm still paying for the very things that should be free?

 

Like many others on this site and others, I will be taking my custom elsewhere next month. That's if they give me the MAC code they're not allowed to withhold, and don't fiddle the bills to make it difficult for me to see out my 4 weeks notice.

 

Upset? Yes.

Frustrated? Yes.

Feel abused? Yes.

Tired of it all? Yes, very.

 

Does anyone know Esther Rantzen's telephone no.? I could do with a agony aunt offering me words of comfort while snuggling up in between Nicola McLeans head lights.

 

Thanks.

 

Craig

Edited December 5, 2008 by cpashto70
Typo

[IdaInFife]

So it looks as you packae is £83 per month plus any calls (assuming your on skytalk unlimted -£5 if not)

 

if your payment date is the 17th of each month you normally get around 10 to 14 days after that before its switched off.

 

as you are now active anyway they wont have any problem giving you a mac code.

 

and I know how frustating it is speaking to some of the ops as they get theieself confused as well and it is something sky are dealing with at the moment as folk like me are sick of haveing to sort stuff like this out that shouldnt happen, every thing is clear cut with prices etc so it shouldnt be hard to relay that info to customers

 

my sky on sky.com is good as you can keep track of your billing and also you cn play around with package etc and gives you the price.

 

Ida x

[Armsoft]

Blimey:eek: £83 a month Sky Packages

 

I still remember the days when I paid sky £14 a month and thought that was expensive, but £83 a month, WOW what do you get for all that??

[cpashto70]

Hi Armsoft,

 

Basically I get everything...

 

1. All the variety viewing packs/mixes.

2. Sky Sports (all channels).

3. Sky Movies (all channels inc. Disney channels).

4. Sky Broadband.

5. Sky Talk inc. line rental and free evening & weekend calls.

 

All the programming is excellent, had no technical problems. Same goes for the broadband. However, upon signing up to Sky I should have been paying £7.00 per month for the broadband but because my local area has not yet been updated - Sky refer to updated areas as unbundled - I was not told I'd have to pay £17.00.

 

At the quoted cost about £50.00 per month I thought it was a good deal, however, I soon found out I was paying over £20.00 more per month than I should have.

 

All I can advise is: go through everything with the Sky agent, for total clarification, before signing up to a 12 month contract.

 

Merry Christmas.

[Thompson9100]

Hi

 

Mis-selling seems to be growing at Sky - and Ida I feel sorry for you!

 

I cancelled sky recently with the thought of BT Vision or Freesat, but went back when I was offered 6 months half price package fees. I also decided to switch my landline and broadband from Plus.Net as it seemed to work out much better and gave me a much higher download limit on the package for £7.50 a month.

 

I was read the T&C's for broadband, but at the time I was NOT told I couldn't use my own modem/router, and (I had to ask if I needed to) was told I could provide the MAC in the next few days. The op (from Scotland) then told me my new HD box would be coming out on Sunday 5th Sept.

 

Confused was I when I checked mysky to find no HD box listed, and not at all happy when the op I spoke to about 11am told me it wasn't coming that day. Thank god I didn't leave it to the evening before phoning!

 

I had requested my MAC and 2 days later Plus.net told me I couldn't have it as the transfer was in progress. Non-too-happy at the thought of loss of broadband, I phoned sky, to be told that I didn't need a MAC as it was sky's equipment at the exchange I would use.

 

So, today is my "go live" for broadband and phone. Seemed ok until I phoned sky to request the username and password to put in my own router (damn site better than the D-Link they sent out to me). A long argument with a CS agent in India, another longer argument with the team leader, a few stupid requests and suggestions later (such as "run both routers at the same time connected together" - yeah right, costing me more electricity and not exactly environmentally friendly!) and eventually I was put through to a lady in Scotland, who confirmed the stupid idea to use two boxes together.

 

WHAT ON EARTH!???! This has to be the only broadband provider in the UK that locks you into their equipment by burying it deep in the modem software! I am seriously now considerring cancelling the whole lot, going back to Plus.Net for landline and broadband, and buying a Freesat HD PVR for about £200. I have been mislead from day one by the operator (unfortunatley he came across as wholly plausable). I believe this can't be right under the Sales of Goods Act, and/or the Distance Selling Regulations, so that's what they will be told tomorrow. Not happy with them at all.

[dehowletts]

This is my first post, so hi to everyone who's registered or browsing this excellent resource.

 

If the subject of this post would be better placed elsewhere on CAG please tell me.

 

I have an axe to grind with Sky TV and Broadband:

 

I have ordered and upgraded Sky packages over the last few months with the intent of saving me money. (Upgrades advised by Sky customer services). The package, which includes Sky Sports/Movies/Variety packs and up to 2mb broadband/free evening and weekend calls has been quoted as being circa £47.00 per month. In the ten months I've been with Sky I've not had a bill for less than £72.00; this was the first bill inc. £12.00 for phone calls.

 

Well now I'm really starting to get angry as my last bill was £132.00. The agreed amount of £47.00 should have one out on November 17th, however Sky (without my express permission) decided in their wisdom to take out the unauthorised amount of £132.00 ten days earlier than the agreed date. I received a letter from my bank telling me that Sky had taken the money and I didn't have enough in my account to cover the bill thus leaving me in the red. The bank then recalled the payment and charged me £25.00 for the courtesy.

 

Sky then suspended my service. This means I cannot use the internet; I have no facility to make outgoing calls; and I don't have any TV except for the normal 7 or 8 channels.

 

I duly called Sky TV to sort out the bill, the amount taken, and the bank charges. Needless to say, the customer service (CS) person was totally unhelpful telling me to pay up or lose the service completely and pay 12 months charges under the contract. I told them my bill wasn't due to be paid until the 17th and they said the bill does run up to 17th but they take the payment in advance. Eh??

 

My efforts were pointless. I called CS many times over the next couple of days with no joy whatsover. To add insult to injury on the 16th of November I received a letter from Sky with an invoice sheet for £223.00!!!

 

To be honest I really thought they were taking the p**s and still do. Out of total frustration I called them two days ago and said I was seeking legal advice now, and I wished to have my line and services stopped with immediate effect. Sky told me I couldn't. I told them I was disputing the whole service I'd received from them. I told them they were in breach of contract (on several counts) and I wished to take my custom elsewhere.

 

Sky then said I'd need a MAC code or something to tranfer and they weren't going to give it to me until the bill was paid in full.

 

I really needed the phone and internet to pursue this, and my kids of 12 and 15 desperately need the web in order to do their school work. Especially my son (15) who need access to the net for his final exams.

 

Sky were not in the least interested and said I should direct my complaint to Sky HQ. I said I'd got no phone to do that. They advised me to e-mail it then. By now my brow was furrowing and I was ready to strangle someone.

 

On the evening of 26th November, and in utter frustration and desperation I decided to succomb to their demands in order to pursue the case in full. I agreed to pay the £132.00 over the phone by card and then they'd connect me back up within 5 minutes. As sson as the payment had been confirmed they said that the computer needs the rest of the bill payed before connection could resume. I told them that this isn't possile has the remainder had to paid within ten days of the 17th november. They weren't having any of it, and so I had to pay the whole lot.

 

My next bill of anything between £72.00 and £223.00+ was due on the 17th December. I know this will mean (by experience) that my service will be cut on or around the 6th December.

 

I've asked for printed dialogue sheets detailing communication between me and all of the CS numpties I've spoken to, and paper invoices with concise information regarding packages I've signed up to and total bill payemtns with dates. I don't recall how many times I've requested this information but it's going back moths now...

 

Sky TV and internet might be good, but the customer service department is nothing but in name. I'm sure taking on a huge household name is going to be difficult, nigh impossible, but I've been ripped off and conned beyond any doubt. Is there anything I can do to get this looked at and even get some recompense, in the form of a refund for the money they taken from me unreasonably?

 

Sorry for the long post, but believe me, if I went through every problem I've had with Sky you'd be reading forever.

 

Thank you all in anticipation.

 

Craig

 

Hi

 

i've quoted the original post because this is VERY similar to my experience!

 

i've been with them 4 months I've not had 1 bill the same & to add insult to injury now i can't even see my own account without digitally signing a NEW set of T's & C's despite signing all the original paperwork!!

 

PLEASE can someone help advise!

 

eg last

monthly bill £105.13

last -1

monthly bill £ 29.13

 

the only consistency being the 13 pence!!

 

if there is a logical explanation i long to be enlightened

[sillygirl1]

Get in contact with the top man at the Chief Executives office. I did and they sorted out why I was still being billed for Sky long after I had finished with them (only took them 5 months....)

 

I have a similar problem being dealt with by Virginmedia at the moment, had no problems whilst it was Telewest but since it has been Virginmedia my bills are always wrong.

 

Go to the top and you can then get a better level of customer service. Sadly they have too many departments who can contradict eachother and very few people who know the processes from top to bottom....

[cpashto70]

Hi

 

Mis-selling seems to be growing at Sky - and Ida I feel sorry for you!

 

Hi Thompson9100

 

Thanks for your reply and story. I feel very sorry for you. I've had so much hastle with Sky that I've now binned them. I'm with Virgin Media now, and I've got to be honest, everything's so much simpler and more straight forward. I get my Broadband and phone line plus calls with them for a very reasonable price and they just take the money out of my bank on the same day of every month. Just how it should be.

 

I'd either stick with Plusnet or whatever it was you were using previously, or even consider Virgin. Gotta say, they're the best I've been with by a country mile thus far.

 

Good luck and all the best.

 

Craig

[IdaInFife]

do you have skytalk?

 

 

mostly call charges can fluctuate your bills on a monlthy basis