Sky Replacement Card

will-in-estoril

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

What part of the bumph would that be exactly?:rolleyes:

It all depends on the nature of the replacement, as I understand it. I have thus far ordered 2 cards: one was a free replacement for a Freesat from Sky card, under 3 years old and did not require activation; the other was a replacement for an ex subscription card, which cost £20 and did need activation. I can only imagine that Sky treat the latter as a brand new account, therefore requiring telephone activation.

The instructions to activate or not by telephone are indeed contained in the bumph (letter and leaflet) which accompanies the card, as Inactive correctly alluded to.

will-in-estoril

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

On the whole I would have thought subscribing to 2 or 3 Mixes for a month and then unsubscribing was a better bet if there are any programs in those Mixes you might want to watch for a month.

Nollywood Movies is a very minority taste and there might also be further issues with resubscribing to Sky itself using one of their viewing cards if one needs to do so at any point. Having said that unsubscribing from Sky itself is like breaking out of jail and usually needs an email or two to [EMAIL="jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com"]jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com[/EMAIL] in order to be successfully accomplished.

If the sole aim of the exercise is to get a card which gives the FTV channels and correct regionalisation of the EPG, then £11.98, as opposed to £18.50 plus the hassle of breaking a contract (Is it not a minimum of 12 months with Sky?) then I know which one I'd choose!

NonGeographicalMan

will-in-estoril wrote: »

It all depends on the nature of the replacement, as I understand it. I have thus far ordered 2 cards: one was a free replacement for a Freesat from Sky card, under 3 years old and did not require activation; the other was a replacement for an ex subscription card, which cost £20 and did need activation. I can only imagine that Sky treat the latter as a brand new account, therefore requiring telephone activation.

Sky eventually sent my mother a replacement for her Pay Once Watch Forever card at her address and then because I was writing on her behalf from my address their CS staff seemed to decide to take no chances and also sent a new card to me free of charge as well (last subscribed to Sky back in June for Le Mans). I have to confess I didn't read the bumph on the carrier but stuck it straight in my Sky box and found it could decode Sky Three, Five USA etc with no problem so didn't call Sky.

I still have a Sky account with £20+ viewing credit on it from when I last desubscribed in June so the only challenge will be marrying that up with this card if I need to resubscribe. I was going to resubscribe for the Dakar rally on Eurosport but then found Eurosport Player was £3.50 per month so decided to make do with watching on my PC! Anyhow I also have an unused Sky Pay Once Watch Forever pack knocking around here but I'm waiting till I move properties to make use of that so I also get the free satellite dish install thrown in.

I really don't know how Sky sustain these horriffic prices for their Mixes when National Geographic, Eurosport and Sky One seem to be about the only channels not showing repeats from the five main terrestrial tv channels. Perhaps there isn't a National Geogaphic player though as I am something of a fan of Air Crash Investigation and like to catch up on the new programs I have missed every few months.

NonGeographicalMan

will-in-estoril wrote: »

Is it not a minimum of 12 months with Sky?

No its only a minimum one month with Sky if you have ever subscribed to Sky before and then desubscribed. And you can give 30 days notice to cancel to the cancellations department on the same day you resubscribe but it means two different phone calls.

I think possible issues may arise if you have been desubscribed for more than 12 months (some rot about them needing to send an engineer and check your equipment may then kick in). I find an email to [EMAIL="jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com"]jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com[/EMAIL] usually overcomes most of the obstructive and unhelpful techniques of their telephone sales staff though.

Since I like French Movies then if I had to replace a very old Freesat From Sky card (more than five years old) then I might consider a 3 month subscription to Cine Moi, even though at £30 it costs just over £10 more than a one month subscription with Sky.

will-in-estoril

will-in-estoril wrote: »

Nollywood Movies. £5.99 per month. Minimum period 2 months. Payment by Paypoint, so no problem of recurring credit card payments.

Subscribed an hour ago. Nollywood already switched on and the replacement card message has not appeared. Remember, I have elected to pay by paypoint, so have not given any credit card details.

The big question: has my subscribing now triggered the automatic sending out of a new card? I would think so, but will give an update if and when it happens.

missile

Please be advised, there is no need to phone sky to activate>

Only if your box (and card) are connected to a UK phone line, and you perform a new installation (services, 4, 0, 1, select, 6).

Inactive

will-in-estoril wrote: »

The instructions to activate or not by telephone are indeed contained in the bumph (letter and leaflet) which accompanies the card, as Inactive correctly alluded to.

Indeed Will, spot on correct.;)

NonGeographicalMan

will-in-estoril wrote: »

The big question: has my subscribing now triggered the automatic sending out of a new card? I would think so, but will give an update if and when it happens.

You should have waited until Sky altered their signal encryption to the new pattern that the old viewing cards will be unable to decrypt. You would then have quite entitled to insist a new viewing card was immediately sent to you.

Sky may not make the old cards non functional for another three or four months yet with all the delays and postponements that have gone on so far.

piglet29

Hi, I too have been having problems with getting a free replacement card from Sky!! We are POWF customers, but not according to Sky!!
After numerous lengthy phone calls and three emails, i have today received this reply:

Dear Mrs *****
Thank you for contacting Sky Help Centre
I have had a look at your account today and your box and installation was free.You were put on a package at 33% off for first year which at the time should have been 18.00(GBP)/mth but you got it for 12.00(GBP)/mth which is why you paid 144.00(GBP).That covered your first years subscription then the account was cancelled so if you require a Freesat From Sky viewing card the cost would be 20.00(GBP)


I was under the impression that i had taken out a Pay Once Watch Forever Package, and there was an offer on for 2 free mixes for 12 months, which i cancelled when that time was up!!

Please, if anyone could help with this i would be soooo grateful, i know its only £20 but why should i have to pay it when others are getting it for free!!

NonGeographicalMan

piglet29 wrote: »

I was under the impression that i had taken out a Pay Once Watch Forever Package, and there was an offer on for 2 free mixes for 12 months, which i cancelled when that time was up!!

Please, if anyone could help with this i would be soooo grateful, i know its only £20 but why should i have to pay it when others are getting it for free!!

What we see here is a typical example of normal Sky customer service staff making up any old lie that will put Sky in a better position financially. However I note you refer to a 2 Mix Pay Once Watch Forever package with 12 months of 2 Mix viewing. To my knowledge Sky only sold POWF first as a 6 Month 2 Mix product and then as a 4 Month 4 Mix product and charged £75 for both products or £73.40 after the VAT reduction.

Your mistake here has been to ignore earlier advice given in this thread by only dealing with normal Sky customer services and not emailing [EMAIL="jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com"]jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com[/EMAIL] with cc to [EMAIL="andrew.griffith@bskyb.com"]andrew.griffith@bskyb.com[/EMAIL] and [EMAIL="CRSupport@bskyb.com"]CRSupport@bskyb.com[/EMAIL] to pursue the matter. The escalated complaints customer services team are fully aware of this issue and after months of procrastination have finally started sending out replacement viewing cards free of charge to Pay Once Watch Forever customers who raise this complaint with them by email.

So email the email addresses listed above and you should receive your replacement free of charge viewing card within a matter of days.

The terms and conditions for Sky Pay Once Watch Forever clearly referred to the viewing card being replaced free of charge if necessary within the first five years from the original Sky box and dish installation date.

I notice that you have also made the same post in the longer running thread discussing Sky Pay Once Watch Forever issues with Sky failing to honour various clear contractual commitments on the product at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=28656375