Problems cancelling Sky

Hazel2705

We moved recently and cancelled our sky tv, broadband and phone with them. Did ths beginning of March and was told 30 days which was fine.

Checked bank account following month and they had taken the full amount instead of part a month's bill (about £25).

Rang them, they apoligised and said £51 would be back in my bank account within 48 hours.

Checked after 72 hours and they hadn't paid the money in and I had gone overdrawn as the money wasn't there :eek: .

Rang them again (phone bill mounting up now) and again they apologised, said it was an IT problem on my account and said would be back in my account with 72 hours and advised to write a letter claiming the £25 overdraft charge imposed by the bank.

Guess what, 72 hours later the money still wasn't there :mad:. Rang again and was told until the IT dept had done there bit it wouldn't be cancelled and they couldn't give my money back. The girl I was talking to was useless and just kept saying "I don't know" when I was asking how Sky was expecting me to buy food for my baby and I was getting annoyed (yes I was ranting at them which I know isn't going to help ) as they had effectively stolen my money (didn't have permission to take that amount and now refusing to give it back = stealing). I asked her to get me a manager as I wanted to know what their thoughts would be on stealing money from a mum who now couldn't afford to buy food for her 7 month old baby (I was laying it on a bit) and wanted to ask them if they would like to sort this out before contacting the papers with my "sob" story. After holding on for a manager for 15 minutes they said someone would contact me within 72 hours. Of course they didn't :rolleyes:.

Well, after a little research online I found out I could get the bank to claim back the direct debit so I rang them and took back the whole bill of £75. So as it stands now I officially owe them £24 BUT they owe me £25 for making me go overdrawn. They never contacted me after me asking for the overdraft fee to say no.

Are they likely to track me down? If they do what can I do about it? The account still hasn't been cancelled as when we plugged our Sky box in to watch the free channels you get we had all the channels (incl movies!!). We've unplugged it now as we have freeview anyway.

Well done if you've got read all that :T

Moneymaker

Cancelling a Direct debit (if you owe them money) will result in your getting a note against your credit rating and eventually a visit from a debt collector. Best to make sure you don't owe them a penny. Send a cheque, if necessary, by Recorded Delivery with a covering note. (However, they will charge you extra if you pay be cheque.)