Sky TV and lack of "service"

[clairus99]

I feel like I'm onto a loser here, but what the heck, I thought I'd ask!

 

I upgrade to Sky+ and Multiroom in November, having been with Sky for nearly 3 years on digital.

 

In Aug 2005 I began having problems with the digibox, called out the engineer a few times, then they told me it was out of warranty (which I'd known nothing about), but they gave me the benefit of the doubt and sent out an engineer for free. On about the 2nd or 3rd visit (in Sept) he replaced it with a "new" box, saying we had a further 90 warranty on it.

 

So we go ahead in November and get Sky+. We had several problems with that box, but that's irrelevant here, so I'll skip that part...! The point is though, is that we had to agree to be contracted for another 12 months (could've been 18, but I think it was 12).

 

Now we're having problems with the multi-room box. Nothing is coming through and as the other tv is fine, the problem is obviously with the box. Now the way I look at it, we've had the box since Sept 05 and so there's a 12-month manufacturer guarantee on it. Sky say, no, it's a refurbished box, so it's only 90 days.

 

This is where we reach a stalemate. We weren't told we were getting a refurbished box. It came in a box and the relevant wrapping, etc. We are signed up to a 12-month contract to pay for the multi-room service. They tell us that we have to pay £65 for the engineer, I say, b***** off. I told them I am not going to pay for a service that I am unable to have access to, because it's the equipment that they provided, at under a year old, that is at fault. Naturally they don't see it my way.

 

Right. I've not put it too well, but I'm tired.... but do you think I might have a good point?

[homer_j]

Check all your paperwork to see if it stated that the box was a refurb. If you cannot find anything tell them so and ask them to prove otherwise.

 

If they can then I guess that you are not going to get very far. If they cannot then I would look at speaking to somebody like the Office of Fair Trading or Trading Standards and get them involved.

 

Sorry if I cant be much help.

[woolfie]

Usually when sky upgrade you to sky+ and multi room they use your original digital box for the extra room and supply a new one for your main viewing box. I would imagine that if this is the case then your 2nd box would be the one you got with a 90 day warranty on it and this wouldnt have changed

 

Woolfie

[seylectric]

A few years ago I tried to get Sky to replace my faulty digibox without charge, but with no success. The Sky Interactive TV guide was very slow to load. It had been like this from new, and I had always assumed that this was normal. It was about two years old. Then I saw a friend's digibox and the pages on his changed almost instantly. His digibox was exactly the same as mine, an Amstrad. (I asked for a Sony after being told I could choose which brand I wanted by the Sky telesales team, but I got an Amstrad).

 

As an upgrading customer from Sky analogue I paid £200 for my digibox when the digital service first started. Two years on they were giving them away free to new customers. I reported mine faulty and they wanted £90 to fix or replace it. I said this was unfair since I had already paid £200 for something that was faulty from the start, even though I didn't realise that at the time, and yet they were giving them away free for customers who hadn't spent a penny with them.

 

They wouldn't budge so I told them to stuff it.

[alanfromderby]

Give Trading Standards a ring (local telephone directory). With the timescales you are quoting these units should not be developing faults. Consumer electronic devices such as these (with no moving parts) should have a life of at least five years or so, before components could justifiably start to wear out.

 

Tel them the full story - if nothing else, they may be able to apply pressure in the right area to get someone out to you free of charge.

[cheddar]

My old neighbours had a similar problem to you, they got TS involved and it was sorted in a matter days. They got thei package price reduced as an apology as well.

[seylectric]

To be honest this is about three years ago now, maybe even four years. I still have the box, though. I never really thought of pursuing it in that way but I do have another issue.

 

The channels worked fine, so viewing wasn't really affected, it was the digital tv guide that was slow. So after I cancelled the Sky subscription I could still use the Sky digibox as a "freeview" box. I could still get most (but strangely, not all) of the free digital channels you can get on a freeview box as long as the viewing card was inserted.

 

A few months later they changed all the viewing cards, as they do from time to time, and my card didn't work any more and I couldn't get anything at all, not even the free channels. They refused to send me a new viewing card because I wasn't a Sky customer any more so they had effectively rendered equipment I paid £200 for useless.

 

It gets better. After I cancelled, giving them 30 days written notice which they acknowledged in writing, they continued to try and claim the monthly subscription for a further three months by direct debit. They failed because I had cancelled the direct debit, but continued to pursue me for at least a couple of years for the "outstanding" £96.

 

What really annoys me is that having tried and failed to harrass me into paying money I didn't owe them via debt collection agencies etc. Sky then decided to make me an "offer" of either clearing the outstanding debt if I came back to Sky (they would give me a new digibox too), or accepting three months free instead (in which case presumably I would have still had to pay the outstanding debt).

 

They still write to me monthly, although these days they simply try to tempt me back with the same offer (3 months half price) that they are offering to all new or returning customers using the marketing brochures rather than standard letter, no mention of any debt though.

[mcuth]

I've just been through a similar thing. In Dec 04 (just after moving into my brand new flat), I got Sky installed and all was working fine until Feb this year when I suddenly started getting "No satellite signal is being received" error messages. Called Sky up and they said the box was out of warranty by 3 months, and because I live in a block of flats with a communal dish, they couldn't guarantee it was the box anyway. Upshot is that they wanted £65 to send an engineer out, which I was not willing to pay to find out whether it was the box or the dish (if it's the dish, then it's the estate management company's responsibility).

 

I told Sky that the Sale of Goods Act required the box to be of reasonable quality to perform its function for a reasonable amount of time, and that IMHO 15 months was not a reasonable period of time for a supposed high-tech box to last (although I used to work for Pace some years ago, and their build quality was never top notch ). They wouldn't have any of it, so I rang back a few days later to cancel the subscription - at which point their tone completely changed.... Immediately I was offered a free engineer visit, along with a replacement box to determine if it was the box or the dish.

 

I took that offer, and we found out it was the dish at fault - some storms had knocked it off alignment - the management company got a contractor out to fix it, and all was well in the end.....

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[cheddar]

seylectric I would make a formal complaint about your problems and the way the whole thing has been handled by them via Trading Standards, they cannot persue you for a debt you don't have. Also have those 'debts' shown on your credit file? If so they should be taken off!

[Bookworm]

It gets better. After I cancelled, giving them 30 days written notice which they acknowledged in writing, they continued to try and claim the monthly subscription for a further three months by direct debit. They failed because I had cancelled the direct debit, but continued to pursue me for at least a couple of years for the "outstanding" £96.

 

What really annoys me is that having tried and failed to harrass me into paying money I didn't owe them via debt collection agencies etc. Sky then decided to make me an "offer" of either clearing the outstanding debt if I came back to Sky (they would give me a new digibox too), or accepting three months free instead (in which case presumably I would have still had to pay the outstanding debt).

 

Snap!

 

Many many moons ago, I gave Sky 1 month's notice to cancel my subscription by e-mail, via their own website. Then I cancelled the d/d (cos me not stoopid).

 

1 month went past... and they didn't switch off. Like the good little Bookworm that I am, I phoned to query this. The chap I spoke to said to me: "Oh yes, I can see your e-mail, but it hasn't been activated, I'll do it now." A few days later, Sky and my TV parted ways and that was the end of it...

Or so I thought...

A bill arrived. Not only they were asking me for the month's rental, there were also 3 pay per view items on the bill. The total was for £45.06.

Now, many of you may well enjoy ppv, but the fact is in all the years we were with Sky, we never once used it. Furthermore, on checking, it turned out that 1 item was a film I had seen on video 2 weeks previous, 1 item was a film I wouldn't want to be found dead and viewing, and the 3rd was, wait for it, F1 racing at 3 or 4 am!!!! Let me add now that no-one in this family unit would EVER watch F1 racing.

From then on, followed years of harassment from Sky. Sky, solicitors, debt collectors, you name it. Then they would go away for a few months, we'd think they'd given up, and another lot of debt collectors would appear and start again.

 

I think that I've got rid of them at last, they haven't bothered me since I've told them I wouldn't enter into any more correspondence unless it was a Court summons.

 

But who knows? They could change debt collectors again, and it will start again... Mind you, since I have been on this forum, I have found out so many things, I wouldn't let them lead me such a merry dance this time...

[Bookworm]

And what da ya know? I spoke too fast!

 

I shall be starting my own Sky thread shortly, since I don't want to hijack this one... Watch this space...

[seylectric]

seylectric I would make a formal complaint about your problems and the way the whole thing has been handled by them via Trading Standards, they cannot persue you for a debt you don't have. Also have those 'debts' shown on your credit file? If so they should be taken off!

 

Oh, intend to. For months, years even I have wanted to take on virtually every company I have ever dealt with, but like most people I haven't due to lack of time and knowledge.

 

Where I am different from a lot of people is I never give in and pay up, I simply refuse to pay. It's probably saved me thousands over the years, but my credit rating is abysmal as a result, although by repliying to threats of court action I usually threaten a huge counterclaim, most creditors are put off and give up eventually, so I've survived - somehow - with just two CCJ's.

 

Now I have the knowledge (but sadly less spare time than ever) but I intend to take them on one-by-one, hopefully get a few grand back ,and above all else repair my credit rating. The list is long though, you regulars will have seen me popping up all over the board.....

 

RBS

LLoydsTSB

Barclaycard

Capital One

Abbey National

Currys/Dixons/PC World

Land of Leather (possibly, they have a chance to fix things yet; in progress)

Sky

a host of debt collection agencies

Equifax for aiding and abetting my defamation of character

probably at least a dozen more.....

 

.....and Manchester City F.C. if they lose another bloody match

[browny1979]

Hi,

A few weeks ago I was experiencing constant difficulties with my Sky+ box whilst watching recorded programmes. The sound and picture was freezing frequently making viewing virtually impossible.

I phoned the technical department and went through a sequence of procedures to try and correct the problem ,20 mins later, after wiping everything I had recorded (girlfriend wasn't happy !!) the problem seemed to have been sorted..... not for long !!

I was advised (by someone who had done it ), to ,(if I was on the full £50 package, which I am) phone Sky and immediately ask for the cancellations dept and state that you want to cancel Sky with immediate effect due to the unwatchable service they are providing. Explain to them what the problem is, and insist that you want to cancel.

They will probably suggest YOU pay for an engineer visit... DO NOT accept this... insist that you want to cancel. They may then offer you a half price engineer visit... refuse and explain to them that you are paying them £50 per month for a service that you cannot use and are NOT willing to pay any more and so want to cancel.

They then said to me that looking at their records could see I had been a Sky customer on the full package for X years and would be willing to send out an engineer to fix the problem, WHATEVER it may be at no cost to me.

The engineer came out a couple of days later and replaced the Sky+ box straight away, no questions asked ...... problem solved !! PLEASE NOTE: As far as i'm aware they will only offer this if you are on the full Sky package.

This method did work for me, however my concern was, if they called my bluff and said 'OK, consider Sky cancelled', I don't know haw I would have coped without my Sky Sports !!!

If you really want to push it, you can also claim 'loss of viewing' and receive money back for the time you have been unable to view Sky.

Apparently, the phone operators at Sky are allowed to offer this FREE engineer service to a certain amount of customers per month, but most customers either pay the full price engineer visit or accept the half price visit instead of standing their ground. Hope this helps !! GOOD LUCK

[Guest Lueeze]

Im on the £28 package and I have had 3 engineers out..All tole i have paid £30 towards that but got 3 months half price line rental!

 

This was because when I moved I couldnt use Sky+ as the numpty's at Tachnical didnt realise I didnt have the extra cable in the house!

 

I went 3 months without using Sky+ just the normal Sky.

[clairus99]

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