Sky Cancellations - Refunds

chiholam

Warning to all that have cancelled Sky contracts - especially if you have moved house. Sky may owe you money.

Basically we moved to a new house (in April) - and to get a better deal, I cancelled our Sky in our old home, and my wife registered as a new customer in the new house.

Since you pay a month in advance, with the cancellation, there will always be an amount left over, which Sky will refund to you... or not.

I recently collected my old mail from the house - and in there was a letter from Sky - note this letter dated July, a full 4 months after we moved. I only collected it last week - Sept.

"We were sorry to lose you as a customer. We're writing to you because our records show there is an outstanding balance of xxx on your Sky TV account.

We'd like to refund this amount back to you. To help us do this, we need you to give us a quick call so we can confirm how you wisj to have this repaid.

Please call us on 0800 046 8857 so that we can arrange repayment of your credit"

Now, this would be reasonable if I paid via Giro in a post office, or posted in a cheque etc. but since I paid by Direct Debit - there is no reason why they should not have simply put the money straight back into my account.

I realise that the call back is so Sky has a further opportunity to retain me as a customer - but that should not prevent Sky from giving back my money. When I did call, the CSA said that they always wait for this phone back from the customer, as Sky wants to make sure the customer can choose how they are paid back. I said this was rubbish and that the fact is customers should be guaranteed a refund, and if that is not possible, then only this letter should be used. After all, I would far rather be given my money back, than never get it back, because I may want to be paid by cheque, or by BACS/DD.

The CSA confirmed that if I never called them, then they would simply continue to issue letters (to a property that I don't live in anymore), and the letters stop after 2 years. I queried what happened then - he said he did not know. I asked, would I then be sent the money back - he said no.

When I finally asked for the refund at the end of the call - he said - "I see we have your Direct Debit, so we'll put it into your bank account"!

So be careful - you must make sure that if you cancel Sky, that you call them after a month to make sure you get your money back.

Best of luck!

dmg24

You are moaning because Sky offered to refund your money, and even reminded you about the money?

Some people have too much time on their hands ... :rolleyes:

chiholam

Absolutely not - I'm warning others that Sky have a process, that IMHO, deliberately does not actively refund the money that is due to the customer.

1. They already have my direct debit details, and could have returned the money without any notice/letter.
2. They already knew I was leaving the property, and therefore 'reminding' me by sending me a letter 3-4 months after I have already left the property is tantatmount to not reminding me at all.
3. It is clearly a ploy to attempt to retain a customer - as was evident, when the CSA asked, are you sure you want to leave, do you want to re-enable, we have many good deals etc.

I'm surprised at the tone of your reply, suggesting that I have too much time on my hands to warn others of Sky's underhand tactics.

"moaning because Sky offered to refund your money". That's very nice of Sky to "Offer" - it is my money, and was due to me. Why should Sky mail to my old address to let me know I am due a refund - 4 months after I left? It's little difference from them sticking a post it note to their HQ front door, suggesting I call and get the money back.

My point of the post was simply to warn others that they may be due a refund, and for those that have moved house, it is very likely that they may not have received Sky's kind 'offer'. After all, is it ever likely that a response to Sky's kind Offer to return our money is "oh no, you're been fantastic, keep it as a tip for such good service"?!?!

Why should Sky not refund my money straight into my bank account - where they successfully took the money from as part of a DD every month without fail. There is simply no business reason to do so, except to try to persuade a customer to come back. Fine, if it's at no cost to the customer, but this business process is against the benefit of the customer. Simply, if the customer does not get the letter - postal strike, lost in the post, moved house, put through wrong door - the customer does not receive the 'offer', and does not get their money back.

After all - and I appreciate this is a completely different scale, but the principle is the same - there's a pretty big campaign to get the political leaders to agree that the banks should automatically refund bank charges that are due (if they lose the case). Why should we allow Sky to not automatically refund money due if they have our bank details/DD already?

djohn2002uk

dmg24 wrote: »

Some people have too much time on their hands ... :rolleyes:

With 16317 posts on here that's a bit rich isn't it?

Tongue

djohn2002uk wrote: »

With 16317 posts on here that's a bit rich isn't it?

Well said boyo.

chiholam

Thought it would be helpful to confirm that Sky's refund via bank transfer successfully today as expected.

As noted before, I don't have any bones to pick with Sky - I have them in my new house, and am very happy with their services. It's simply that I believe they should automatically refund their customers of any excess money, if they cancel, and Sky have their bank details.

Interesting (well not really), I recently switched Gas/Elec supplies, and both British Gas, and Southern Electric refunded my money directly into my bank accounts after the switch - didn't have to call them, didn't get a stupid "call me to get your money back" letter. Basically as it should be.

Swipe

Always redirect your post for a few months when you move. It's well worth the small amount it costs.