(another) grumble at sky

just agree with them , and use away , then if you want to change , or move etc , just tell em to sling their contract ...it will feel very liberating..

maxflinn:

just agree with them , and use away , then if you want to change , or move etc , just tell em to sling their contract ...it will feel very liberating..

Not so easy Max when they have your credit card or direct debit details and believe they have a contractual right to a payment from you.

We dipped our toe in the water with Sky in a 3 month "Pay Once Watch Forever" package which involved satellite installation for £75 and free 3 month subscription as a 'taster', at the end of which you could contractually walk away for nothing if you didn't want to renew but keep the dish and just watch the free channels via the Sky box.

Unfortunately, Sky got just about everything wrong, from the package we were on, to our address, to the contractual obligations. We found we didn't actually use their service that much anyway during the free period and decided to walk away as was our right under the contract. When we gave notice that we wanted to lapse at the end of the free period, they said they'd charge us. When we said they had no right to do so, they said they'd still charge us but give us a good deal on more telly subscription. We told them where to stick their subscription and threatened to let a lawyer look at their contract. At one point, one of their operatives said the only way to avoid a charge was to call them on a specific day to notify them! You couldn't make it up.ÿ

Then when the Sky decoder cards (or whatever they are) went pear-shaped last year we lost the ability to use the Sky box and dish for free channels and Sky refused to send a new card gratis despite the deal being Pay Once - they wanted to charge us again. Eventually after speaking to seven (7 !!!) people during one phone call being passed back and forward between call centres in Dunfermline and (I think) India they agreed they had an obligation to send us a new card and would do so. We're still waiting more than six months later. To think that all John Logie Baird's fine work came to this sorry state.

In the interim we bought Freesat and found it cheap and painless.ÿ

However, it enabled me to pen some seriously acerbic and liberating complaints letters (oh yes, we needed more than one) so, in that sense, I do agree with you!

hi athenry , nothing would surprise me with these kind of companies , and there is nothing as frustrating as being passed around from one numbskull to the next , having to explain all over again what the problem is , crazy really ...

i had a little fun of my own today with vodafone , ive been using one of their mobile broadband modems , and it kicked the bucket today ...

after a half hour long phone call to tech support , i went into the store and explained that it had stopped working , i got the tech guys name so they could ring him to verify that it wasnt working...

so , the guy said they had to send it away for repair , i said fine , just give me a replacement , he said no problem , but that i had to give a laser card number as i was only getting a loan modem , it was either that or a e70 cash deposit  , i said , but youve got my modem , and ive got yours , whats the problem , company policy he said , oh well , i took the loan modem home...

so , removed the software for the first modem , plugged in the new one , software installed , tried to connect , nothing , just error messages , back on the phone to tech support , half an hour of deleting this , reinstalling that , and he tells me that modem is hookey too

so back into the store , mildly annoyed , and with no intention of taking any more loan modems . a brand new modem or a refund , that was all i was accepting...

so i explained everything , and said its either a new modem or a refund , and thats it , take your pick ,the guy politely informed me that refunds were not company policy , nor was giving a new modem , repair was my only option , and id have no broadband until said modem was repaired 

now , im getting annoyed , theres several people behind me waiting to get served , listening to my conversation , i said to the guy , look , i know your just doing your job , and i just want to surf the net , cant you give me a modem that works , a new one ,or my money back e50 ,  and everyones happy ? no . company policy , repair or nothing , hmmm ,im thinking what am i going to do here ?

so i said to the guy , (not in a threatening manner , but nice and firm , looking in his eyes)  im going to stand outside the front door , and tell anybody that enters the shop , about vodafones policy of no refund , broken replacement modems , etc , unless i get my money back  ..

at this stage a replacement modem wasnt an option , vodafone and me had parted company , so another guy in the store walks over , takes e50 out of the till , and hands it to me , apologising for the mix up  .. i said thank you , and walked over to the meteor store where i bought one of their modems..

basically here , vodafones "policy" was to keep my money in their till , and make me wait , without broadband , until they fixed their faulty modem  .. but my policy was different

I have an 8 meg Sky broadband contract right now.

Trouble is BT exchange strangles that down to 2 megs at best (like at 3 am), and when the kiddies get out of school it can drop below good old fashioned dial-up rates.  Added to which if I use it too much, I get demoted or something even further at the BT exchange.

So I would suggest you tell Sky to stuff it unless or until they can guarantee 8, let alone 20 megs, ALL OF THE TIME.  Quote "Supply of Goods and Services Act" and "Trade Descriptions Act" at them.  "Up to 20 megs" is not 20 megs unless it IS 20 megs, if that makes sense.

This whole "up to 20 megs" is bullsh*t advertising and a con and should be clamped down on IMHO.

Sorry Darren, but the wording has been very carefully chosen, "up to 20Mbit/s" is exactly what it says it is.

You won't have a leg to stand on, unless Ofcom decide to do something about it. 

I KNOW it's deliberately skating round the trade Descriptions Act and so so they.  That's the point.  It's like saying a Ford Mundano will do 200 mph, failing to mention it has to be a World Touring Car Championship spec. one, with a tail wind on a NASCAR oval in a month whose name begins with "K" and Lord Lucan at the wheel.

It's still misleading, they know it, I know it and OFCOM know it.  OFCOM just doesn't have the ahem to do anything about it.

i know what you mean tho Darren. at my house i can get a respectable 4.5 to 5mb which is why i went for the 8mb option with sky. now they're upgrading me to 20mb which i can't benefit from and charging me more money for the priviledge

I can't help thinking that if Freesat takes off (pardon the pun) like it should do then the Dirty Digger's near monopoly on satellite is coming to an end.  In time we may end up seeing Sky as another CBS or NBC, or maybe he'll just swallow up ITV bit by bankrupt bit and that'll be that.  Either way I reckon Rupert doesn't like Freesat one little bit.  Which is a shame, er, not.

There was a pun?

maxflinn:

... but my policy was different

Good job Max - power to the people, eh?ÿ indeed !

Instead of Sky, a basic Freesat receiver cost me £40 one-off and it does the job perfectly well. In time I daresay we'll upgrade to HD and hard drive Freesat, but no rush as I'm rather enjoying not planning my life round the telly, instead reading books, listening to music, getting work done and indulging in enjoyable forums like this.

instead reading books, listening to music, getting work done and indulging in enjoyable forums like this.

amen to that 

al7478:

There was a pun?

Thats OK.