Please help - Sky want money we don't have

Bluediamond

Hi everyone

Does anyone have any advice about Sky? In December, we cancelled the DD as we could not afford to pay it and we rang them and told them They said that after the 17th Dec, we would no longer be able to receive Sky unless we paid the December Payment. Again, we said we cannot afford to pay £38 a month and need the money for more important things...

The lady was so persistent and it ended up with DH saying that we did not have the money and we simply cannot afford it anymore. So we cancelled the DD and they still wrote saying that it was outstanding and todat a Debt Collector called Morcroft...NOT MOORCROFT..want £42 !

Is there anything we can do? When DH pointed out that at no time have we signed anything they said, well you have entered into a contract and you simply cannot stop paying. Help !

Sally

lynzpower

Did you write to them telling them you have cancelled your subscription?

skintandscared_2

Hiya. When you first had Sky installed you will have signed a contract. This usually binds you to a minimum period of one year in which you will have to pay a monthly subscription. When did you get your Sky installed/switched on?

MessyMum

Hi there,

As skintandscared said when you got it installed you would have had to sign up for a 12 month contract, we did this and needed to cancel and we couldn't. What we did do though is put it down to the lowest tarif £17 and will canx in feb when the year is up.
If you have gone over a year then you should be able to cancel but you should do this in writing.

Bluediamond

Thanks everyone that has replied. We have had sky since it came out so that was absolutely years ago so it they are really not helping
I will call them again tomorrow but I just feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall !
Thanks again everyone.

skintandscared_2

Okay. In that case, the payment they want is the one month's notice that you have to give when you want to cancel. Unfortunately you can't just phone them up and say you want to stop the service, and just stop it there and then. You need to give one month's notice, which usually means you will have to make one more payment. The sum of £42 is probably the £38 monthly charge you pay, plus an admin fee because of late payment?

Personally, I think I would just pay it. It's very normal to have to give a month's notice of cancellation, Sky are not trying to "fleece" you or get something they are not entitled to, and you could cause yourself all sorts of unnecessary hassles (such as damaged credit rating) all for the sake of £42. Is it really worth it?

stapeley

If you really have not got £42 , then write to Moorcroft and tell them you will pay £2 per month , which is all you can afford . Do not ring ! and do not give them any debit card details .

Merlinexcalibur

The lady was so persistent and it ended up with DH saying that we did not have the money and we simply cannot afford it anymore. So we cancelled the DD and they still wrote saying that it was outstanding and todat a Debt Collector called Morcroft...NOT MOORCROFT..want £42 !

Moorcroft (?) again. Gotta hand it to Sky, but that was very fast of them setting the DCA on you like this. Are they getting worried, in the present climate, that they may 'go under' and are rushing late payments through to a DCA even faster than before.

Anyway. I would surmise that the £4 added is (as it tallies with what I know as a Sky customer of 10 years this year) is what is added for invoice payments. It's a rip off, yes, because they charge you the obscene sum of £4 to pay by invoice NOT DD. Which is what you'd now be doing having cancelled your DD. I was going to say it was a charge levied by MC, but it's closer to the £4 invoice payment.

And what Stapeley said is quite correct. I know this DCA. Follow the advice they have given. Don't phone these people. MC has a premium rate number. Offer what you can reasonably afford and nothing else. For a low amount such as £42 they will probably be okay with a low repayment per month. And to allay some potential fears. It's unlikely a DCA would take you to court for an amount so low. Because it costs them more to do so and if the judge chucks it out for whatever reason (such as 'why are you wasting the courts time with such a small amount?) then MC foots the bill.

Once the 12 month period is over that is the end of your obligations under contractural terms to Sky. As you may already know. You can cancel Sky over the phone. Unless that is changed now. But, for records and safety purposes, back it up with a written letter. For anyone else that is.

Merlinexcalibur

Thanks everyone that has replied. We have had sky since it came out so that was absolutely years ago so it they are really not helping

Just noticed the above and what this DH said to you. Naughty of Sky. You are no longer under contract once 12 months expires as I said. So, precisely how are they now claiming you are still in a contract? Interesting. Maybe worth your while reporting them to either Trading Standards or OFCOM. Unfortunately, this is how Sky will become when you try to leave or fall behind with payments. I had some scatty woman threatening me down the phone with all sorts 6 years ago when I cancelled their subscriptions. But am now back with them. How they get away with it ... but they do.

Please, and I always say this to people in this situation, don't phone. Write to these MC people as, if you phone Sky again they will merely say 'can't help, it's with MC'. And they also have an expensive number. As do MC.

g_attrill

Merlinexcalibur wrote: »

Just noticed the above and what this DH said to you. Naughty of Sky. You are no longer under contract once 12 months expires as I said. So, precisely how are they now claiming you are still in a contract?

They are definitely under a contract of service - the contract usually states that to cancel you need to give them a month's notice, therefore you always need to pay one final month.

Mrs_Jones22

Most company's if in or out of contract require a months Notice, this is standard so this is what it will be for, the none months notice.

I would just ring them and pay it if you can afford it, then it is over and done with and it wont go on your credit file.

Sky will lower your package for you if you find it hard to pay for the one your on, my friend lowered his then rang when it changed and put months notice in so didnt have to pay the months notice at the higher package they were on.

I've been with Sky for ever and i have never had a problem with them if honest, guess I've been lucky, but as someone else has said i don't think they are trying to rip you off it is just the normal months notice.