Help needed with Sky

sallybeaumont

I'm at the end of my tether with Sky and could really do with some help or advice.
It began last month when we received a letter claiming that our direct debit had not worked due to insufficient funds. We contacted our bank, and not only was there sufficient funds, but Sky had never even attempted to collect the money.
So we contacted them and went through at least five phone calls, each telling us (rather insultingly) that the problem was our fault, because of not having any funds.
After some time it became apparent that nothing was going to happen: we tried speaking to a supervisor and was eventually advised to cancel the DD and set up a new one, which we did.
Then in the post we received a notice entitled rather cutely "Oops!" and telling us we'd be charged £4 because our DD had been cancelled.
Two weeks after the first notice, we get another, saying we now owe 2 months because the DDs won't work- how can that be? They were only a fortnight apart.
After many many more phone calls we've been fobbed off repeatedly, told we'd get calls back from supervisors three times in one day, contacted by an exterior company who had no idea what our problem was, simply that we were n't paying. To cap it all, we were told we had to pay the month's fee on card- but their "system" rejected both of them (I checked both out, and they're fine and operational).

Today they cut off our Sky- with no warning, and they STILL won't get back to us.

As sky demand payment a month in advance, we've already paid this month's fee, so they shouldn't even be able to do that.

To be frank, I'm livid, particularly as we've been sky customers for almost 15 years, always paid on time and would happily continue paying, if only they'd take the money that is sitting in our account!

What on earth do I do now?

It's not bad enough that this ridiculous administrative error has ocurred, but Sky's customer care is abysmal- call centres in India, being fobbed off, external companies who are quite plainly hired as someone to shout at-verbal blotting paper.

If I could speak to someone in charge, someone who knew what was going on, I'm certain that this matter could be resolved promptly.

As it is, I'm very frightened that in addition to losing Sky, I'll have bad marks against my credit rating- and none of this is our fault!

Advice, responses and help all gratefully accepted.
Sally

Eels100

I can only offer the following very general advice which you may well have tried already.

We're moving soon and it's all quite expensive(!), and Sky is one luxury we're happy to go without, so OH called up Sky and asked for the disconnections department. He was immediately put onto a very helpful lady who offered us free installation in our new home and various discounts on the monthly subs.

Maybe if you were to call up the disconnections department and go through what's happened with them, they'll be more helpful? At least then Sky have it on record that you're prepared to pull the plug - which will give you some sway when they realise they've cut you off in error.

I hope you get it sorted. Customer service for absolutely anything these days is appalling, and this sort of thing is seriously stressful.

Heinz

Escalate - [EMAIL="james.murdoch@bskyb.com"]james.murdoch@bskyb.com[/EMAIL]

pigeonpie

Also having Sky problems - so called 1/2 price introductory offer ha ha ha. They keep saying they will now credit me and have emailed the 'relevant dept'; when asked for that dept's email...silencio. Plus the interactive billing guide says I owe them 128 quid when they owe me 41.50!!
Not yet at the J Murdoch stage, but has anyone had a result with that?

And when you phone, follow the saynoto0870 advice for a freephone call at least

kazzy

sallybeaumont wrote:

I'm at the end of my tether with Sky

Unfortunately Sky and good customer services do not go together in the same sentence!!.And they always keep you hanging on for ages at YOUR expense for the priviledge.The best thing we did was dump them and just have a free to view card.(don't miss the programmes anyway and saved a fortune).
It's like banging your head against a brick wall.In fact I think I'd prefer to bang my head against a brick wall.

badgermonkey

pigeonpie wrote:

Also having Sky problems - so called 1/2 price introductory offer ha ha ha. They keep saying they will now credit me and have emailed the 'relevant dept'; when asked for that dept's email...silencio. Plus the interactive billing guide says I owe them 128 quid when they owe me 41.50!!
Not yet at the J Murdoch stage, but has anyone had a result with that?

And when you phone, follow the saynoto0870 advice for a freephone call at least

Yes! I got my Sky+ box upgraded for free, out of warranty, by a proper Sky installer, after being given the run-around by countless people on the phone and two different engineers.

Mikeyorks

You have my sincere sympathy. Sky are a total nightmare when things go wrong. And don't feel too bad a supervisor didn't get back - they're worse than the basic staff. But arrogant as well. And, if you believe them, the DD department within Sky - don't have a telephone between them! As you can't be put through - and the call centre staff have to Email them.

Would suggest you accept you have little chance of resolution over the 'phone. In any event that route does the blood pressure no good - and always reminded me that it's actually a good idea we UK citizens no longer have free access to shotguns!

Suggest you Email your Bank to advise the problem with the original DD, and ask they advise why it was not met, when the account was adequately funded. Assuming they reply as you've indicated - i.e it was never claimed. Then copy that to Sky with a covering letter - and send it Recorded to the DD address on the letter you had demanding £4.

If in the interim they refer this to their Credit agency (Intrum Justitia) - they are reputable but, by now, are used to Sky referring dubious debt to them. So just write them pointing out this is an unsafe debt, you will sue for defamation if they proceed further - and copy your letter to Sky to them. They will then refer the debt back to Sky and you will hear no more from them. It's only if they proceed that your credit standing can be adversely affected - and they won't.

Best of luck. With the exception of Tiny Computers, now thankfully liquidated, Sky are the most irritating people on the planet to deal with.

sallybeaumont

Well, we called up and after A LOT of fuss we were reconnected, only by paying on a credit card.

We've spoken to the bank each time we received the letters- Sky have not even bothered trying to retrieve the money, there's no record of an attempt, but they insist of sending letters that suggest we don't have the funds.

Now, ten days after the last threatening letter about not having enough funds, it appears they've tried to take money again (what kind of month is this?), and they're charging us for an invoice again.

We tried writing all this down, explaining how close we were to leaving, but this was when the other company was involved. You can only send it to a PO box, and quite plainly no one read it.

What now? Can't find a non 0870 number, so any help there would be great.

Who can we speak to? I'd love to speak to their "turnover" department as in the insider guide, but can't find a number- do I just hang on on the usual number, or threaten to leave?

Any help gratefully accepted...