Sky Refusing to Accept BACS/Bank Transfer

[TriP]

As the title says. I have an outstanding bill which someone has kindly offered to pay on my behalf. the money would be coming from a foreign account, and the ONLY way that it will be paid is via bank transfer directly to sky. the other party involved is not willing to first transfer the money into my UK account, or use any other payment method. however this is besides the point -- Sky are simply REFUSING to provide me with bank details, claiming they "only accept direct debit/credit card payments/bank giros."

 

is this even legal? can a company demand payment and then refuse to provide you with their bank details? if you're a business customer, sky has no problem providing you with their bank details -- what's with the fuss for residential customers? i spent the better part of 2 hours speaking to their outsourced minimum-wage slaves and supervisors about this, and always received the same scripted answer. one of them even had the gall to tell me i should have the money transferred into "a friend's account, provided it was a UK account, because as long as the sort code and account number are correct the account holder's name shouldn't be a problem" and then have him pay it out to me, to pass on to sky. meaning basically the 'advisor' told me to try to trick my foreign family member into thinking they were paying sky when in fact the money would be going into someone else's account to pass on to me.

 

on top of this, sky has been threatening me with legal action for about a month now, and i am getting nowhere with them -- if they want their money so badly, then why can't i simply transfer the funds directly? it's rediculous. i've never encountered this problem with any other company.

Edited January 31, 2011 by TriP

[IdaInFife]

Sky no longer offer this as an option. Any business can decide in which way they prefer payments.

 

Unless you already have a giro slip with the credit acc no and sort code and use the account number as a reference number but please be aware this may not automatically get allocated to your account and can take some time as it is not a preferred method of payment and you may need to supply copy of your friends bank payments details to trace the payment.

[TriP]

really? there is something about this that just seems extremely shifty to me. is this just british regulation? the rest of europe seems to have caught on to the fact that electronic bank transfers are the norm by now. why should sky be entitled to my bank details and at the same time be allowed to withold their own? for some reasonn EVERY other bill i have accepts this form of payment (including Virginmedia, who i've now switched to), yet Sky feels the need to add some sort of exception. why am i obligated to provide all of MY details when they can openly refuse to provide theirs?

 

also -- seeing as they are threatening me with legal action -- should it even matter how they receive their money?

[IdaInFife]

That's something you would need ask them.

[TriP]

amazing. you've logged over 7500 posts here and that's the best answer you can come up with? good job.

[silverfox1961]

amazing. you've logged over 7500 posts here and that's the best answer you can come up with? good job.

 

I feel your post is quite unfair. Members here give their time freely so it most certainly isn't 'a job' Ida has given advice. It is up to you whether you take it or not

[TriP]

sorry if i came across wrongly. i just dont see the point of a forum if f all problems are resolved via kiss-assery and any mention of white white knights.

 

i ask the questions i do because i NEED to -- not because i HAVE to.

[topcat1802]

If you did a google search you can find all the details of mking BACS payments to SKY, yes its for business, but why can;t you use the same process for private customers, if you read the first line of their instructions it says to FAX in a remit with your account number.

[TriP]

the 'business' account is not the same as the private account. thanks for trying to help though.

[jackieandwayne]

Well now, don't bite my head off as its early in the morning and I have been known to breathe fire at this time of day.....

 

.....how about going online to the Sky site, and paying your account that way? Or rather, gettng your friend to do it? Bill paid, job done, goodbye Sky. My mum paid a bill to Sky for me in this way some time ago, it didn't matter that her card details were in a different name to the account holder, they took the dosh and that was the end of it. After they had argued the toss with me on the phone about using her card to clear the account in the first place.

[TriP]

the person making the payment is an 86 year old woman that doesn't speak any english. debit card payments are out of the question. it HAS to be a bank transfer or the bill isn't getting paid.

 

@topcat: the business account can't be used for private customers. i asked sky about this and it is a different account. they're simply refusing to give me their account info. i had a direct debit set up with them when i was a customer, so i have now had to resort to my bank to see where the money was going. it's rediculous that i would have to take such measures just to be allowed to pay a bill.

[watchinginvestigation2010]

We have to accept sometimes the answer is no to something we might want to do.

 

Wether a response is what we want to hear or not, should not lower a poster to get personal with someone who is offering free help. I find that very rude.

 

Never know a court judgement might accept a BACS payment, who knows, but sky not accepting it wont be a defence to non payment by a companies prefered choice.

 

Surely family member could transfer to your bank account and then you pay it by an accepted means.

 

If no help, well I give up.

[TriP]

i was pretty upset. IdaInFife -- you have my sincere apologies for being so rude. this damn sky thing has got me all befuzzled. i meant no offense. well... i did, but i didn't mean it. =D

 

i do rely on this site for a lot of questions so i hope i didn't ruin things by getting snappy.

 

@watchinginvestigation2010:

 

the person paying will not transfer the money into my own account for personal reasons -- she's only willing to pay the company directly.

Edited February 5, 2011 by TriP

[watchinginvestigation2010]

Your a little stuck then, sorry.

 

Have you thought of offering a token payment to sky on a montly basis till you can get the funds. If you pay such a payment it is looked apon better by the courts. Also if sky take you to court when paying a regular payment you can afford, then a court will not look kindly on them. If the worst comes to the worst and court it is, they will only make you pay what you can afford and then that will be through the court directly monthly and you will not then have to deal with sky again as long as pay regulary.

 

Hope you get sorted one way or other.

[topcat1802]

If ou have a bill from Sky then you probbaly have their bank accounts details as they will be on the 'Bank iro Credit' at the bottom of the bill. I don't subscribe to Sky so I can't confirm this but certainly most of the blls I have received from other companies have this information on them!

[bobajobrob]

As of June 2013, Sky UK's bank details are as below. Remember to include your account details if you are paying through online banking. The details are as supplied on the giro payment slip provided by Sky.

 

Sky Subscribers Services Ltd

Royal Bank of Scotland

Address: St. Andrews Square

Edinburgh

EH2 2YB

 

Sort Code: 83:06:08

Account Number: 10567117