Sky broken.Just cancelled.Now what?

moneysavingwannabe

Hi,

My sky box is broken. They wanted £65 to mend it so I said I wanted to cancel. They offered a few deals but nothing too great so went ahead and said cancel.

We have no tv now as the aerial we have is rubbish and we didn't have it fitted into the extension we watch tv in.

I need bb, phone and just wondering whether to just get an aerial and go freeview?

I have a mobile contract with Virgin so just wondering whether to swap to them or just get phone and bb with someone else.

Any advice appreciated.

macman

Why don't you just get a free Sky box from freegle, or nearly free from a car boot sale/eBay, and that will give you all the non-subscription channels for nothing with your existing set up?
Or if you look at the sticky at the top of the page there is a post devoted to companies who can fix your digibox much better than Sky can.
You don't actually say what is wrong with it though. PSU failed?
Don't quite get the link with phone and broadband, if you took them from Sky then you didn't have to cancel them along with your TV sub. If your phone line has been disconnected then you may have to pay a reactivation charge.
Remember that VM is the UK's most expensive telephony.
Suggest you go to https://www.samknows.com, do an exchange search and see what your LLU options are, these will be the best deals on your exchange.

moneysavingwannabe

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.

The box says no satellite signal received and has fault 29 or 36.

I have BT line rental at the moment, but calls through Sky. Haven't phoned them to cancel yet until I work out what to do. Wondered if I could get a cheaper deal.

I pay Sky around £36-38 a month.
BT £14 ish
Virgin mobile £15-20 a month.

So it is quite expensive and I am on maternity leave so any savings will help.

I will check the link - thanks.

macman

So how do you deduce from that error code that your digibox is actually broken? What have you checked/done so far? More likely to be a fault with the cable or the LNB if it's saying no signal.
Have you tried a reboot? Or try this-found on another forum
Error message 29 usually indicates that the box is not 'seeing' the default transponder. Have a look at ( Services>4>01 Select ) the Default Transponder settings, and make sure the values are 11.778, V, 27.5. 2/3. Reset ( red button ) and Save New Settings.
As suggested before, cancel the TV anyway and just use the box for the non-sub channels.

moneysavingwannabe

Hi,
Thanks for looking.

Yes I have rebooted. Updated software checked LNB etc. Went through to Sky faults as well and went through it all with them too. Box is around 3 yrs old and doesn't seem to be reviving- just a basic box.

Just hoping I can get a better deal. But have to pay for a mth tv when I can't view it.

macman

Can you borrow another box for 10 mins, straight swap will establish if it is the box or fault elsewhere. Doesn't sound like box failure to me though, as normally it will either freeze or the PSU will fail and it won't power up. As I said, a basic box is worth nothing, they're given away free every day.
Yes, you do have to pay until you give notice. After 12m none of the kit (box/cabling/dish/LNB) is under warranty. But you don't have to pay $ky prices to fix it.

moneysavingwannabe

Hi,

Thanks will try my sister's box. Good idea!

AngelsMadv

Can I also ask how old your box is? I've had several changed out of warranty (normally by a few months) by simply enforcing my consumer rights. A Sky box is not only meant to last bloody 12 months no matter what they say.

I'm on my 3rd now!

moneysavingwannabe

Hi

Sky box is 3 years old. So it has lasted a bit longer than yours-that's not good breaking so often!