Sky TV Scam?

rgiles

I wonder if Sky is running an upgrade scam. My standard Sky box has recently failed twice. Both times, no sound. I phoned a really helpful Irish guy who, eventually, took me into a "hidden" menu where he was able to reset my box and, sound all fixed. Within a month, same thing. Indian guy this time. Insisted I had to have an engineer out at min £85. Much arguing & threats later, he accessed "hidden" menu & problem solved.
Second guy was most insistent that, "Hidden menu" didn`t exist, was impossible to reset box from his end and, that an upgrade to HD was best option.
Is it just me being paranoid? Can this be looked into? I feel better "getting it out there" Be interested to know if I`m not the only one.

neilmcl

You're being paranoid, there is no scam. The "hidden menu" as you call it is the engineers menu and it's no big secret. Press Service, 4, 0, 1, Select in quick succesion and all will be revealed. Do you have a Sky or Sky+ box?

rushman1uk

thanks for posting that...............i'm going to try it later, lol

rgiles

neilmcl wrote: »

You're being paranoid, there is no scam. The "hidden menu" as you call it is the engineers menu and it's no big secret. Press Service, 4, 0, 1, Select in quick succesion and all will be revealed. Do you have a Sky or Sky+ box?

Agreed "hidden menu" is not hard to find but, I was being told that my standard Skybox needed a repair(£85) and that was my only option other than signing up for a new HD box.
I am wondering if this is the modern equivalent of the car mechanic saying " sorry mate. it`s the trunnion thruster on the weeble cog thats festered."
ie. I`ve got you by the short & curlies and can take you for LOTS of money!

scullster

Unfortunately, the company in question are rather large, very popular and depending on geography are lacking competition. There are numerous threads on here about faulty boxes and poor service - its one of the battles consumers regularly lose.

They are also known to poorly test software upgrades which can cause problems to previously fully functional boxes.

I had a similar problem but found by researching the internet (partic avforums.com) that your problems are rarely unique. I've never yet paid for a service call - its all been DIY.