Sky can't turn television service off?

ruthpn

Dear all,

I hope someone might have encountered a similar situation and be able to help me out.

I'm moving abroad for work and rang Sky up to tell them (I only have their TV, not phone and broadband). I'm about nine months through my contract and quite happy to pay to the end of it, as I explained to the woman I spoke to. She said they 'physically can't' shut the system off because I'm in a contract period and I'd have to take the viewing card/box with my so no one else can watch it.

Is this really the case - they can't stop the service from going to a property?

And if someone else moves into the house (it's rented, so I'm sure they will), will they be able to get Sky if, as far as the company's concerned, I'm still living there and receiving the service?

They say the other alternative is to cancel my direct debit and they will shut the service down and charge me, but I don't see why I should have to do something which will have an effect on me as a customer and my credit rating.

Thanks.

Kurtis_Blue

It wont effect you in any way, simply pay to exit the contract and cancel the service.

ruthpn

Thanks both.

Perhaps I haven't explained myself clearly - the woman on the phone said they physically could not end the contract and stop Sky at my property and I could not pay my way out of it, but they could stop it at the end of July when it expires.

I'm going to be thousands of miles away by then and want it sorting now (I rang to give them as much notice as I could, so I guess I was more interested in their inability to end the contract early rather than what happens to the property once I've upped and gone (this only occurred to me yesterday).

So cancelling the direct debit it is.

balmk

Hello,

Sky can't stop the satellite transmission to your house. However, as the decoder (Sky box) requires a smart card to authorise the signal decryption, if you take the smart card out (your Sky viewing card) and destroy it, no one will be able to use that box without putting a new card in. As cards are linked to specific accounts, and your card is destroyed, the user will need to get their own account with Sky to watch the channels.

Don't just cancel the DD if they have told you that you need to keep paying monthly as it means that the payments will bounce and they will register an unpaid bill against your name on your credit files. You may also be subject to further charges.

Destroy your card, wait until June, and confirm then with Sky that your account will close in July.

zzzLazyDaisy

I find all this very difficult to believe.

Why? Because sky customers regularly move house part-way through a contract. Sky insist that they take the service to the new address, if they are still within contract, and also that the service at the new address starts as a new 12 month contract.

They don't however insist on the person paying for the old contract to the old address until it expires as well as the new contract.

So it follows (at least in my logic) that there must be a way of terminating a sky contract early.

scotty501

They can cut if off - if you dont pay your bill - they sure as hell cut it off then, seems to be a selective MO they work to.

As one of the previous posts stated - if you are happy to pay the remaining contract anyway - it wont have any affect on you if someone is using it or not when you move.

zzzLazyDaisy

scotty501 wrote: »

T
As one of the previous posts stated - if you are happy to pay the remaining contract anyway - it wont have any affect on you if someone is using it or not when you move.

Just make sure that you have confirmed the cancellation date in writing and you stop the DDs as soon as the last payment has been taken.

The reason I am cautious is that both myself and my son have previously had TV contracts with virgin. On both occasions Virgin 'forgot' to cancel the service and continued to try and take the DD after the cancellation date (and I do know it isn't the same provider, but it is an example of what can go wrong, which OP does not want to be trying to sort out from abroad)

david39

Ruth:
The key to whether Sky is received at your house is the card you put into the Sky receiver. If it is your card, it is your account receiving the service. If you destroy the card, no-one else can receive Sky against your account - they will need to use and pay for another card which will be linked to their own account.

You will need to keep the DD open until the expiry date of the contract, which you must terminate by giving the required period of notice, so make sure you do that. In the meantime, without your card, no one else can receive Sky at your address without a card of their own, linked to their own account - not your account.

DO NOT cancel the DD until the contract period has ended, otherwise you will be in default

macman

Since both the box and the card are your property, not Sky's, why don't you just take them with you when you leave? When you return you can then use them to receive the Freesat from Sky channels without requiring a subscription.

jackthenipper

If the indavidual you spoke to wanted to switch your services off then they could have & stopped any further charges on your account but they obviously didnt want to make a executive decision.

You could always reduce your package to the minimum & then take your card & box out of the property.

HTH

yrp01

Hmm i think you talked to some1 just heading out of there shift or smthn because they most definetly can turn the viewing off.

My opinion phone them again ask them to terminate the contract and say you happy to pay early termination and its not an issue.

Ok if that doesnt work heres an insight to skys systems dont pay your DD then when the account becomes blocked pay whats to be paid and pay off the remained of you contract and then after 28 days the account will automatically cancelled and the lowest package early termination will be added to your package and its job done.

Sky cannot put a date on to cancel thats more than roughly 40 days notice thats about it the person in cancellations has clearly not wanted to go through the hassle as previously mentioned if they dont allow you cancel request to speak to a manager and turnaround managers do have the most power that you can get when making an inbound call to sky passed that get the CEO email address from around the forums i think its something like jeremy.darroch@bskyb.com or smthn but im sure some1 will post it below me use it if you dont have any further sucess.