Sky - have ripped us off for nearly £100

Backbiter

We have had the full package from Sky - HD, multiroom, sports, movies etc. - for years. We even signed up to Sky Protect for which we pay £9ish a month. More fool us.

A few weeks ago, we tried to order a film from Sky Box Office, but encountered an onscreen box saying we weren't connected to a phone line. I checked all the connections, but everything was plugged in, so we reported the fault to Sky, who sent an engineer. It took him about 2 minutes to fix whatever needed doing.

A couple of days ago, we had a letter from our bank telling us we had exceeded our free overdraft limit by £20 and would be charged £22. This was a shock as we had checked two days earlier - as we do routinely just before our standing order topping up the account falls due -and we were not in danger of going over the limit.

I checked our account to see what had caused this, and it was Sky debiting our account £152, some £70 more than they should have.

We rang them to find out why they had charged us so much, and they said it was the engineer's call-out charge. We protested that we weren't told about this. They claimed we were.

So we said "But we have a Sky Protect Warranty".

They replied "That only covers the equipment, not call-out charges". They refused to refund us. They said we should write in and put our complaint in a letter. We said we wanted it sorted out immediately as they had left us seriously out of pocket. They wouldn't budge, so I dug out our actual Sky Protect policy.
.
So we quoted their warranty back at them:

NO FUSS, NO PROBLEM

NO REPAIR BILLS, CALL-OUT CHARGES, PARTS OR LABOUR TO PAY

EXPERT ADVICE OVER THE PHONE

So they transferred us to someone else, who said "Our systems are down. Ring back tomorrow".

Shocking customer treatment. When I read about people getting 50% off their subscription over the phone, I think it's a disgrace that they lie to us about the contents of our warranty, refuse to refund us for their error and expect us to ring them back when they've provided dreadful service and left us badly out of pocket.

marywooyeah

thats awful! don't think they can argue with you quoting their own policy back at them though - really hope you get sorted, I usually find threatening to change suppliers gets them into gear pretty sharpish!

unholyangel

Write in a complaint. They'll likely be authorised to give more "goodwill" than the people in call centres.

Dont forget to include any bank charges/late fee's you incurred due to their error and remember to give them a time limit.

Was it taken by direct debit? AFAIK all banks operate under the direct debit guarantee. Sky should have also billed you in advance. See below:

The Direct Debit Guarantee
This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits.
If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit (insert your organisation name)will notify you (insert number of) working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request (insert your organisation name) to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.
If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by (insert your organisation name) or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.
If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when (insert your organisation name) asks you to
You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.


I had the exact same thing happen with Virgin Media (well not the exact same....I called them complaining as i was getting dozens of debt collectors calling every day for the person who previously had my number.....they offered to change my number free of charge, called them and they said they'd adjusted the charge and DD so the amount debited would only be for my normal bill amount....payment date came, checked my bank and they'd taken the money for number change too, asked my bank to cancel it then called Virgin, got it sorted out and paid my bill by card and set up the DD again). Lloyds told me if you contact them on the same day the money goes out, you dont have any forms to fill out etc, they can just reverse it straight away.

Backbiter

Cheers for that, unholyangel. Excellent advice to quote the Direct Debit guarantee to them. It looks like I am entitled to the full and immediate repayment of £152, and I will be claiming for the bank charges, too. I'll also be expected a significant goodwill discount (but no doubt if they threaten to leave they'll just say "Go ahead", as they do with some people).

eslick

if you called your bank and they reject the Direct Debit under the guarantee you wont appear to be overdrawn (as long as you were only over drawn by the amount of the direct debit) it basically just removes it from happening.

Techhead_2

Don't quote the Direct Debit guarantee at them. As posted earlier, its something you need to take up with your bank. You then phone Sky and tell them what you've done.

Tropez

I have to ask, did you report the fault to Sky or to Sky Protect?

Despite the way they portray themselves, Sky Protect are not actually Sky - they may be endorsed by them, but they're not Sky.

Therefore, if you have to report a fault and want it to come under your Sky Protect cover, you have to make the report directly to Sky Protect and not to Sky because otherwise Sky will just bill you as normal because they're not actually aware that you have this cover because it isn't part of their company.

charlishae

Do you have your Sky Protection with Domestic and General? Like the previous poster said, Sky Protect is not done by Sky so you would need to report the fault to them so they would authorise it and you would not get charged. What you need to do is call Sky Protection (D&G) and they will be able to authorise a refund.

Backbiter

That's interesting. My policy has a huge SKY logo on it, with the words "The only repair plan recommended by Sky". It says "if you have a breakdown, then telephone Sky on 08702 404040". I don't remember if I rang that number - just the one that comes up on the TV screen.

In paragraph 6, it defines YOU as the customer, and WE/ US as Domestic and General!!!!

So D & G tell you to call Sky, which we did, but they are not Sky themselves. This is great.

Let me remind Sky/ D&G of what their policy states at the top. NO FUSS, NO PROBLEM.

What a farce.

Dave101t

as im out of my 12 month tie in, any problems and i just tell them its too much hassle, cancel the lot please. they soon beg you to stay.

fozmcfc

I'm sure you will, but let us know the outcome of this.