Got Sky+ HD? Check if your box is faulty, and being recalled

chris-j

beverlyjj wrote: »

HI i'm new here this is my 1st post so please be patient with me.
I Have a Thompson sky HD box new since joining sky in November so far it has worked without any problems
should I be concerned?

Had Thomson box since June 2006 and no problems with it. It gets bad name because first batches were all Thomson therfore every box with a problem was a Thomson. Statistics can say anything.

dmaidmen

Nick1969 wrote: »

I had the phonecall tonight, my box is one thats affected. Im getting £10 reduction a month for 3 months for the inconvenience and 12 months warranty again
HOWEVER..... this is to compensate for all my recordings that Ill now lose...so bare this in mind when booking your changeover.

Unless you have a dvd recorder.

Or you fancy opening your box up and using Copy+

staylor_2

Not everyone is confident enough to open electrical equipment up. Also is there not a tamper proof seal at the back of the box which shows if it has been broken? Does this not affect your terms and conditions of use in your contract ???????
I wouldnt give Sky ANY reason to get away with their technology and reliability problems. Leave the box alone and stick to your terms and conditions from your side. Let Sky break theirs, that is what they are good at. Let it cost them in giving you viewing credit for loss of viewing and recording service. I have just got my Sky HD box cost refunded (£99) - only paid £75 incl £15 viewing credit and a months viewing credited- £50 and thats not taking into account the 3 months HD refund -£30 coming along too if they ever get round to me. They are calling 90000 pace box viewers over the next 3 months between 5pm and 8pm per night, around 500 a night according to one of their Customer Experience Leaders. Stuff on Sky is usually repeated around 100 times anyway! Just get the tv listings out, Sky anytime or use C4 and BBC PLAYER to catch up. Get used to it. Its happened FOUR times to me already in 2.5 years and enough is enough. Time for Sky to get ditched when the credits run out! And dont let them try and fob you off with a special package that includes sport for £3 less than the movies and entertainment mix. They tried offering that to me for 3 months half price. Thats worth peanuts and an insult believing they can sway you with some football and compared to what you receive if you hold out for what you believe they should offer for all their nonsense.

dmaidmen

Granted however the Sky+ and HD boxes are very similar to PC's and there is plenty of information available. There used to be a warranty void sticker on the hard disk caddy of the old Thomson's but this doesn't exist on the newer models. The decision is always up to the individual.

Personally I wouldn't give the Pace box back in exchange or a refurbished unit but if you are happy to lose all your recordings and take a gamble on a refurb then thats up to you.

Still not sure what the real reason for the recall is as the many of the Thomson boxes have dodgy capacitors which need replacing over time and there was never a recall for those. Perhaps Pace are just a bit more fussy?

Duncan

Moneymaker

Perhaps Pace don't want to lose the contract!

BTW the Thomson DSi8215 is as good as the others, provided you replace the PSU capacitors (or get someone to replace them or buy a rebuilt exchange PSU). In addition, this model has "component video" connections, which is handy if you don't have a TV with HDMI connection.

avqs43

I have a Thompson Model 607120Y, version 4E3008. I bought it in March 2007. I have been on holiday several times and the box fails to record after 3 days, reporting POWER CUT as the reason. Daft thing is, it reboots after a week and records OK then. I have emailed Sky five times since October last about the problem, and still have not had a suitable reply. Threatened to leave Sky but still no reply. Finally cancelled direct debit. Reply received within five days saying I had to reinstate DD. Sent letter confirming cancellation. Received reply in which they offered to do something if I telephoned, which I did. Spoke to a very nice lady who then passed me to another section within Sky. Second lady was so unhelpful, saying that Sky cannot be responsible for Power cuts, nor was the equipment or software faulty. I asked for a new Sky HD box to be supplied free of charge and she said that that would not happen. End of conversation!!! I shall buy the new Humax HD PVR and save over £30 a month in Sky subscriptions. Has anyone else suffered with the POWER CUT syndrome? The situation is dealt with on the Sky website, saying that they are striving to eliminate this by new software additions so they must know about it. Is this common in the Thompson box?

MrsE_2

avqs43 wrote: »

I have a Thompson Model 607120Y, version 4E3008. I bought it in March 2007. I have been on holiday several times and the box fails to record after 3 days, reporting POWER CUT as the reason. Daft thing is, it reboots after a week and records OK then. I have emailed Sky five times since October last about the problem, and still have not had a suitable reply. Threatened to leave Sky but still no reply. Finally cancelled direct debit. Reply received within five days saying I had to reinstate DD. Sent letter confirming cancellation. Received reply in which they offered to do something if I telephoned, which I did. Spoke to a very nice lady who then passed me to another section within Sky. Second lady was so unhelpful, saying that Sky cannot be responsible for Power cuts, nor was the equipment or software faulty. I asked for a new Sky HD box to be supplied free of charge and she said that that would not happen. End of conversation!!! I shall buy the new Humax HD PVR and save over £30 a month in Sky subscriptions. Has anyone else suffered with the POWER CUT syndrome? The situation is dealt with on the Sky website, saying that they are striving to eliminate this by new software additions so they must know about it. Is this common in the Thompson box?

We have the 4E3007 & we do sometimes get failed due to power cut, I don't know if there has been a real mini one or if its a sky problem, often get FAILED recording too for tech reasons (I think):mad:
I will keep a closer eye on it.
I switch it off totally for a few mins when its playing up & it seems to sort it out.

avqs43

There are no power cuts. If there were, then my electric digital alarm clock would flash and it doesn't. I even tried not using the Sky HD box for three days last week, watching terrestrial TV only from Wednesday. I noticed that recordings were being made, (seeing the light on the front of the box), but on the Saturday evening after three days there should have been a recording but nothing. I switched on the box at that stage and the TV showed a blue screen. I looked at the planner (green button) only to see that there had been a supposed power cut, the reason for not recording. Sky do not want to know so it's their loss. I shan't be renewing my contract.

losinj

This whole recall thing sounds fishy to me but I can't quite put my finger on it :rolleyes:

If half the number of people responded to the recall, what would Sky stand to gain from passing off 45,000 refurbished Thompson boxes in replacement for the same number of serviceable Pace boxes, apart from a suggestion of PR, and a minor hole in their pocket??

staylor_2

Glad to say I am out of here!
Customer Relations just called me to say I am released from my SKY HD contract 8 MONTHS EARLY with £180 credit till it runs out. Result.
Dont put up with their crap, insist on what YOU want and look into Freesat or even go back to Freeview until the technology is reliable and proven. Ignore their constant propaganda. They dont put 90000 boxes recalled on headline news with Eamonn do they????
No!