Broadband switched from Sky to O2, Sky claim MAC wasn't used hence still billing me!

crispy9582

Hi All,

I have searched for similar situations to this on the forum but can't find any, so here goes. Sorry for the epic post.

I cancelled my Sky TV back in January and that service ceased at the end of Feb. I obtained a MAC code from Sky Broadband also in January, and O2 broadband activated my new service with them on 1st Feb.

Sky told me that they would take a final payment (which was taken at the end of Feb) to settle the TV and I was expecting a final broadband bill too.

However today I have received a new bill from Sky Broadband for the last month (with a supplement because I don't have TV any more) and a separate letter telling me that the ongoing bill will be £15 per month!

O2 was activated on 1st Feb and I must be getting broadband through them as I set it up with the router they supplied!

I phoned Sky today to challenge why they have billed me, and they claim that the MAC code was never used and on doing a line check they are still supplying broadband to my line. How can this be? Surely O2 couldn't have taken ownership of the line without using the MAC code? And surely only one service can be active on a line at one time?

I argued sufficiently to get Sky to do an immediate cancellation (apparently with no notice) and they assured me they won't be taking the next payment. However I won't believe this until it isn't taken!

Has anyone else experienced this before? I have read other posts about MAC codes not being used, but in those cases they were charged an administrative cessation charge which has not happened to me.

I want to write a letter of complaint to them and demand a refund for the phone call (30 minutes on an 0871 number as the alternative I found didn't work). I also want them to apologise. However if there's a chance this is the fault of O2, I want to complain to them instead!

Any ideas?

Thanks a lot,

Chris

spenderdave

I had a similar problem when I moved from BT to O2, in that the MAC didn't seem to get through and I was charged for an extra couple of weeks plus a disconnection fee, which I didn't see until I got my BT phone bill 2 months later. O2 claimed it was BT who had to sort it out, BT said O2... I suspect in reality it was O2 who had failed to notify BT. I got tired of calling BT's Indian support lines in the end and just paid up.

O2_Company_Representative

Hi crispy9582,

When you place you order with a MAC code, the type of order that is placed to take your broadband over automatically notifies BT when the migration has been completed.

If you speak to your previous provider, they can find out through BT when the provision of their service was ceased.

I hope that clarifies things for you.

Thanks

Paul

only_mee

Sky kept billing me saying my mac code wasn't used when i switched to o2.
Took them 3 months to sort out, useless twits!!

crispy9582

Thanks for the responses all, at least it's happened before!

As I got a bit shirty on the phone, Sky did an immediate cancellation and said it was with zero notice (and hence no further money would be due).

However just as a precaution, I have cancelled the direct debit with my bank so if they want to argue about it, they can send me a bill which I will contest.

Chris