Sky broadband complaint

katee16

Hi guys and girls....
Please see below for the 2nd complaint I have made to Sky recently. It explains all the problems I have experiencing lately.
Since I have made the 2nd complaint I have been offered 3 months free broadband which amounts to £30, should I accept this? Has anyone else experienced problems like this with Sky? Thanks in advance.

I have been a loyal Sky customer for some time now and up until 17th April 2009 I had the highest possible package from you. At the end of March 2009 I phoned Sky to pay my bill and I asked the Sky representative I was speaking to if it was possible for me to pay Sky for my line rental so I was only paying one bill. By doing this I was also giving Sky more business. I was advised by the rep to contact BT and tell them I wanted to cancel my line because Sky was going to take it over. I did as advised by Sky and contacted BT to cancel my line. Approximately 1 week later I received a letter from Sky informing me my broadband service was about to be disconnected as there was no active BT line in place. I contacted Sky immediately to resolve this matter only to be told that the Sky rep I had spoke to previously had given me the wrong information; apparently I did not need to contact BT myself as Sky contact them directly to inform them that they are taking over the line. I was then told I could not have any broadband services from Sky until there was an active BT line in place. Once again I had to contact BT to ask if they could reactivate my phone line. I was informed by BT that there would be one-off reconnection fee of £122. To say I was furious is an understatement. Not only was i expected to pay an extortionate amount of money to BT but I also did not have any internet which was losing me money by not being able to work from home. My BT line has now been reconnected and I have been given a new telephone number which has also caused me distress and hassle. I contacted Sky on 22nd May 2009 to ask for my broadband to be put back on as my BT line was active again but was told that the BT line needed to be active for 5 working days before broadband could be activated again. The Sky rep I spoke to on that day told me she would make a note in her diary and contact me on my mobile number on 30th May to inform me that my broadband was active. I never received that call! I phoned Sky again on 31st June 2009 and reported my broadband not working only to be told that my order had not even been placed but I could place an order for broadband there and then which would take 14 days. I was livid! I am appalled by the way I, as a loyal customer of Sky has been treated. So far up to the date of this letter, by not having any broadband I have lost £900 from not having any internet at my property, therefore not being able to work from home. I shall also continue to loose money weekly until my internet is reconnected. This was the last thing I needed during the current economic crisis. I have also had to pay for every single phone call I have made to Sky that has not been made from my landline (obviously this amounts to a lot as my BT line has only just been reconnected and Sky always keep you on hold for 15-20 minutes before speaking to an operator at the very least). The incorrect information from one of your reps has left me very stressed and out of pocket and I am disgusted. I have also made another complaint within the last 14 days and all I received back from Sky was a one lined letter saying that you had tried to contact me but couldn’t get through please call Sky. Obviously you didn’t want to spend any money phoning me to resolve this matter but in fact gain money by making me phone Sky once again to be kept on hold for 15-20 minutes as per usual.

mrJ_5

I phoned Sky again on 31st June 2009

You can phone the future!


It's not exactly fair - by the way, since you have a new BT line you shouldn't transfer line rental to Sky now as I'm sure you would be tied to BT for 12 months now (though I don not know what option you took). Sky could have arranged a new line for you in the first place, but they probably choose not to - Openreach (BT Wholesale) allow Sky to setup lines, it just depends if Sky can be bothered. Also, I have seen free line installation from BT too elsewhere in the forums.

By the way, if you're using a residential service, you shouldn't really be using a residential broadband connection if you work at home (should use business) - business broadband support desks seem to be rather more knowledgeable (unlike the guy that told you to cancel) since they can make more money from business connections and provide a better service.

You've lost £900? Again, Sky will probably tell you the above (if a residential user) to wiggle out of any big payment.

sammi.jo

Hi there. I used to work in Sky, dealing with broadband and telephone lines, mainly the moving of a telephone line from BT to Sky, so I'll give you honest advice.

1) I'm afraid the above guy is right; Sky are not responsible for your £900 payment, as in the terms and conditions the person is told (for talk and bb) that Sky is for private, domestic use. There really is no way around that I'm afraid.

2) If BT have charged you a connection fee, then you are tied into a contract with them for 12 months. You'll have a canny time getting them to waive that.

3) The sales people at Sky Talk (NOT where I was, I was in backoffice) have repeatedly told people that they need to cancel their phone service with BT. God knows why, and I know it's infuriating. However, Sky have the ability to switch that phone line on for free, but only in exceptional circumstances (which I deem these to be, I used to be a decison maker).

4) Unfortunately, because you have told Sky that you are losing business with them because you work from home on your business line, this may even affect whether you can go to Sky Talk anyway, because notes are written on the account regarding this and we used to stop orders to prevent liability.

In regards to your broadband, I'd accept the £30 and wait. They don't even have to provide you with broadband, and it's probably at the guy in back office's discretion.
Due to the terms and conditions, the 'private, domestic use' is in place to prevent liability in such an occasion as this, so frankly, you're screwed. They followed OfCom's regulations by saying that.


In short: Stay with BT for telephone, you're probably in a contract. There's nothing you can do in regards to the money lost, sorry.

Though, I was on people like your sides, for this reason.

Sky could have arranged this for you in the first place, but they probably choose not to - Openreach (BT Wholesale) allow Sky to setup lines, it just depends if Sky can be bothered.

Wrong. There's no 'bothered' about it. By placing an order, a system linked with BTO means the single line transfer just happens, unless there's a problem with their line. The problem in this case was with the sales rep telling them to cancel; this means Openreach reject the line transfer because the line's already ceasing.

mrJ_5

sammi.jo wrote: »

Wrong. There's no 'bothered' about it.

Actually, I was referring to the setting up a new line after the OP was disconnected... TalkTalk did the same thing until very recently - make people get a new line with BT, and then transfer it over (only for the customer to be hit ith the 12 month contract fee from BT) - rather than setting up the new line themselves (which they could have done anyway).

sammi.jo

mrJ wrote: »

Actually, I was referring to the setting up a new line after the OP was disconnected... TalkTalk did the same thing until very recently - make people get a new line with BT, and then transfer it over (only for the customer to be hit ith the 12 month contract fee from BT) - rather than setting up the new line themselves (which they could have done anyway).

My apologies, I'm at my most blunt at that hour

It all depends... I always ask for a supervisor when asking these things because I know an agent sometimes doesn't have a clue.

nancy711

I was happy enough with my Sky broadband when it came free with the Sky tv package I was on.

But now they're charging me £5 a month for a slow, slow, slow service.

Really thinking about changing now.

sammi.jo

nancy711 wrote: »

I was happy enough with my Sky broadband when it came free with the Sky tv package I was on.

But now they're charging me £5 a month for a slow, slow, slow service.

Really thinking about changing now.

Try getting sky talk, it should make it free again. It might not be the case any more, so I'd ring them and ask.

Sol00

Anyone else heard about Sky Broadband Mid being reduced to 10 GB limit?

katee16

Thanks guys
The lady who is dealing with my complaint at Sky did say I shouldn't be using the internet for business purposes. It's a work mobile that I take home 3/4 nights a week but I need to have the internet at my property so i can access our website and data from home. Without an internet connection I cannot take the work mobile home. I never make any calls from my landline at home, Sky can verify that by looking at the phone bill. Does that still class as business purposes?
Apparently my broadband should be reconnected by tomorrow night. Unfortunately as i had to get my line reconnected with BT i am tied into a 12 month contract with them.

The_Sky_Bandit

Sky broadband and sky talk is for hom use only as stated in your terms and conditions.