Can I Ditch Sky?

Fenris

Wondered if someone can advise me here. (Hope this is in the right place by the way, wasn't sure which board to post to!)

I moved to a new house the end of October last year and had Sky installed because the Freeview website said that it wasn't available in my area.

On the day of installation, everything went well, until the guys were just leaving. As they were getting into their van, I was flicking through channels seeing what was on. I found all the terestrial channels were badly pixalated and kept cutting out saying, "No service" etc.

I just caught the installers before they left and they spent half an hour trying to sort it, decided they couldn't and went home!

The following day I called Sky Customer Services and they arranged for an engineer to call about 4 days later. When he came he tried everything to set it right; even moved the dish to the middle of the garden! Long story short he said there was nothing to be done and, "At least you can watch them through the arial" Yeah, only not ITV 2, 4 BBC 3, 4 etc! AND I'm paying for digital, not anolouge!

So, I sent a letter of complaint. From the begining of Februrary I was at my Mum's for about 3 weeks. When I got home, I had a letter from Sky telling me an engineer would call, plus a card from said engineer who had called a week before my return home! No phone call from Sky to tell me he'd be calling though.

Due to this awful reception I've since bought a Freeview box and find that not only can I get Freeview, but the picture is SO much better than what I'm currently paying for! Due to this, I no longer want to fork out for a naff picture when I can get all the channels I want on Freeview.

I'm only on the basic package and rairly watch anything other than the BBC and ITV channels, so I just feel like I'm wasting money every month!

Can I cancel my Sky contract on the grounds that they're not providing the service they should be?

Cheers!

JohalaReewi

I would disconnect the sky box from the TV (don't use it) and tell Sky that despite visits by their engineers, they have not been able to provide the service and you are rejecting it. You want Sky to collect their property, make good any damage done to your property (holes in the wall, etc.) and you want a full refund of any monies paid. Probably best to do this in writing (not the phone), keep anything you get from the engineers (reports, date & times of visits, comments, etc) and get some reliable advice from someone like Citizens Advice Bureau. Do you have access to a legal helpline with your house insurance? Might be worth a call.

Fenris

I never thought of asking for all my money back, I just don't want to pay out any more! I'll do that. I've had it unplugged from the telephone line for weeks in the hope that they'll send me a letter telling me they're discontinuing my service! Lol!

I don't think I do have legal advice with my insurance, but I'll have a look. Luckily I keep all corrispondance, having been caught out before now! So I have the engineer report and the original installation report.

Thanks!

-=Mr-J=-

Previous experience with Sky tells me this is going to be a rough ride.

Sky's response will go to their 12 month tie-in via their T&C's so as mentioned, your going to have to try and claim against non-performance by Sky.

Regarding the phone line, whilst it is in the T&Cs regarding connection for the first year and Sky can rightly claim breach of contract - in reality for a single box installation Sky rarely check.

They do check when you have Multiroom because it stops people defrauding them out of a subscription payment.

Good Luck...

Fenris

Right, due to several factors, one of which being taken into hospital, I've only just been able to write to Sky about their awful service. Here's what I sent:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in regards to the satellite service received at the above address.

The signal I receive is now so bad that, whilst watching Doctor Who on Saturday night the picture frequently pixalated to such a point as to become unwatchable. Likewise, watching the F1 Grand Prix this last Sunday, the signal was lost no fewer than three times. This is not the service I expect to receive. I have reported this several times since having the system installed but it has not been rectified.

With this in mind I now ask that you cancel my subscription. I also require that you come and collect your equipment and put right any and all damage made to the property.

I also request that you refund money paid to you since November 2005 as I have in no way received the service I signed up for. In fact, the signal I receive through my Freeview box is far superior to that provided through Sky and costs me nothing.

Please reply to this letter within 7 days of the date above with a date of when you wish to collect the equipment and when you expect to refund my money.

Yours sincerely,"

Predictably, I received a letter this moring saying that I signed up for a 12 month contract and that they confirm I have 6 months to go. Well, duh! All they're prepared to do is send an engineer (on the 30th, so after I've paid for another month's useless TV) and are giving me 6 months half price. Well, if I could actually WATCH the flamin' programs I'd be OK with that, but I can't! They seem to be missing the concept methinks...

She also said that, had they known about the situation sooner they would have rectified it before now. So, the installers saying it was wrong at the time of installation and the engineer saying nothing could be done a few days later AND the letter I wrote at the end of January are not telling them anything?!

Anyone have any ideas as to what I can hit them with now?

Cheers!

Astaroth

The equipment is yours not theirs though you could offer to return it as a guesture of good will.

As others say, the equipement does need to be kept on the phone line - if they discover you have breached the terms they can and do retrospectively charge you full cost for the installation (including the £100 for the box etc) and the remainder of the 12 month contract.

It is worth escalating the issue to a more senior manager stating that you have already had 4/5 engineers attend to fit/ fix the equipment but all of them have failed to obtain a stable picture and in each case they have left without giving advice on what the further course of action should be & that when contacting Sky for advice they have simply sent another engineer around who have been equal unsuccessful in fixing it.

Are you really bothered getting a blob of gunk put in 4 screw holes and 1 cable hole? If not the remove that part from your letter, the greater your demands and more emotive the letter the less likely you will get what you ultimately want - after all you did consent to the "damage to your property" when you had it installed.

You need to simply state that you are not receiving the service which you are currently paying for and therefore the 12 month contract which they are stating you are bound by has already been breached by themselves.

Chalky87

I agree with above post Sky are breaching the contract.

The good thing is, under contract law you can claim for loss of enjoyment...clearly the reason you signed up for the Sky service was to view the channels in the package. Due to above said reasons you cannot view the channels you're paying for as one would expect. I don't want to get too technical but I don't know whether the poor reception would come under a warranty or condition of the contract. If it's a warranty of the contract, then Sky have breached this warranty and so you can claim damages, however the contract cannot be ended....if it's seen as a condition of the contract that you should get good reception on these channels then you'll be able to claim damages and end the contract with Sky. It would be worth getting some proper legal advice, free advice being the best!:rotfl:

oldagetraveller

Not much help in any ongoing battle with Sky but I had exactly the same picture degradation (pixellation) as the OP with a newly installed Sky system a few years ago. Their tech help people suggested a couple of possible things to try but non worked. After eventually persuading them to send someone it turned out to be a faulty Pace digibox. The repairer fitted a new Grundig box which has been fine for the past 6 years. So that could be the problem - you maybe need a replacement digibox from them?

Fenris

Unfortunatly, that's already been tried. They tried two new Amstrads and a Pace Sky+ box! Nothing worked. As I said before, the only way I got a decent signal was to plonk the dish in the middle of the garden!

Fenris

OK, update. The engineer called last Tuesday at abround 9am. He fiddled for a few minutes, changed the box for a new one and then changed the scart as he said there was little else he could do! All to no avail. So, I sent another letter:

"Dear XXXX XXXXXX,

With reference to the above account and your letter dated 21st May 2006.

Your engineer called today at approx. 0900 and did no more than change the Digibox for another, newer (?) version. This did not change the quality of my picture, as I told him it would not. He then changed the scart cable as he said there was nothing else he could do. This, as predicted, was a complete waste of time for both myself and your engineer.

I now wish to refer to the points you made in your letter:

The Terms & Conditions supplied to me, under section 11, state that I may terminate the contract if: “(iii)we (SSSL) reduce significantly the number of Channels within, or the level of service of, your chosen Basic Pack”

I think that, as the level of service I have received has been consistently poor I retain the right to cancel this contract under the terms stated above. I have included some picture evidence to show you how bad the reception here is. I think you will agree that this is an unacceptable level of service.


You wrote the following in your letter to me: “Had we been aware that you were experiencing problems with your Sky equipment we would have taken steps to resolve the issue sooner.”

In response to this I should like to refer you to my letter of 14-01-06, a copy of which I have included for your perusal. You will see, quite clearly, that I have contacted Sky once by telephone and once via letter in order to resolve this situation. I would also like to point out that the engineer who tried to correct this fault on 11-11-05 informed me that it was “unfixable” and that, “At least you have the aerial you can watch TV through.” Fair point, but I do not pay Sky £15.00 per month to watch TV through an old analogue source. Nor can I receive BBC’s 3 & 4, ITV 3 & 4 or More 4 through a regular aerial.

As for your offer of half price Variety and Kids Mix I’m afraid that this is in no way compensation for the lack of basic, free channels. I no longer wish to pay for television channels provided by Sky that I cannot watch.
Once again I ask that you cancel my subscription, remove your equipment, put right any and all damage caused to the property and refund all payments from November 2005 up to and including the end date of my subscription.

Please reply with a date when you wish to collect your equipment and when I should expect my refund. You have 7 days from the date of this letter to respond.


Yours sincerely,"

I also sent some grabs from a video recording I'd made the over the weekend. I recorded the F1 Qualifying and David Blaine's show amongst others. I also sent these two videos to Sky in an e-mail so they could see for themselves how bad the picture is.

I've not heard back from them as I ony sent the letter on Wednesday, but I noticed last night that all the channels I pay for have been removed! I was quite surprised as I at least expected them to write and tell me when they'd be canceling the service!

So now I'll just have to wait and see what they say vis-a-vis the refund...

Ali_UK

If you write again don't forget to log all the engineer visits you've had - how long they've spent at your place PLUS the time you've spent waiting. They need to compensate you for this inconvenience which should not have happened. I had loads of trouble with my system due to the originally installing engineer being a lazy :mad: so I wrote and got a great apology and some money back.

You might want to remind them that the analogue signals are being phased out all over the country - this has already started in some areas.

Definitely stick with this one - I sincerely hope you get all your money back! Keep us updated!