Sky+ Repair Protection Plan: bin or Win?

jpkp0007

OK, so I have a Sky+ box (2 years old & out of warranty) plus a second box on their £10 a month offer. I've just had a mailing offering me their protection plan at £99 a year.

The Sky+ box seems fine but I know it'll go one day, on top of which I'm now being offered (and tempted by) upgrades to the Sky HD box (£299) & Sky HD subscription.

But that will mean stumping up for a new HD TV... possibly a home cinema sound system and on and on and on.

My questions are:

1. If I stick with what I've got, is the Sky+ protection plan the best one available?
2. Do I need the SkyHD box or is there a better value HD TV / HD box / sound system kit available as a package?

If this has been covered elsewhere do forgive me, I'm a newbie and couldn't see it anywhere...

nickmack

The Sky Protection plan as with most extended guarantees is almost certainly a rip off. If your box does break, you can pick them up on eBay for about the same price as what Sky are asking.

Lob_Rockster

do not pay any extended warranty for Sky.
if your box fails, call them up and the maximum they will charge is £65.
if you !!!!! enough, you'll get some freebies too.

the warranty costs you more than that, guaranteed

Jay_Cee_Ooh

As previously advised, do not bother with a warranty. I'm sure Martin has said this before, but if you save the same amount the monthly cost of the plan is, you'll soon have enough to buy a new box should one of the current ones fail. And if nothing else, you'll have the £65 for call out.

As for the HD question, I'm no expert but from what I have read, the $kyHD box seems to be about the only option in the short term. I think Thompson either do a box or are about to release one, but the price is comparible with $ky. I wouldn't normally advise anyone giving $ky a bundle of cash, but in this case it may be your best bet.

For more advice try avforums.com or digitalspy.co.uk

HTH

jpkp0007

Thanks, that's very helpful. I won't go for the protection plan.

However, when my box misbehaved earlier this year I was told by Sky that the box was out of warranty and - as I didn't have their protection plan - I'd have to pay if it wasn't fixable over the phone (which it was on that occasion). Did they mean I'd pay £65? I got the impression I'd have to stump up for a new box...

Rex_Mundi

jpkp0007 wrote:

However, when my box misbehaved earlier this year I was told by Sky that the box was out of warranty and - as I didn't have their protection plan - I'd have to pay if it wasn't fixable over the phone (which it was on that occasion). Did they mean I'd pay £65? I got the impression I'd have to stump up for a new box...

The maximum you pay for a callout with Sky is £65. It doesn't matter what work they do to get your system running again (they normally just replace your box).

I've had 4 engineers out from Sky over the years. I've had 4 new boxes, a new dish, 2 new LNBs, and new cables installed. Each time they wanted to charge the £65 callout. I moaned about the amount we pay already (over £50 per month), and threatened to cancel the whole thing. Each time I've done this, they've waived the callout charge. I've never paid for repairs to the boxes/system.