Leaving Sky TV - Will my Sky+ box still work?

jeff_tower

Sorry! that should be "Groundhog"
serves me right for being a smart !!!!.

housebug

After years with Sky, the past few with phone/line rental/BB/TV we cancelled and they couldn't have cared less. So don't think threatening to leave is going to get you any great deals.

We cancelled the TV because it was getting too expensive vs the time watched. On-going problems with the BB which they seemed unable or unconcerned about resolving motivated us to just kill the lot. We were out of contract and got a perfectly good BT phone/BB set up no problem. Our access to our old Sky tv subscription ends at the end of this month, so we're sorting out what we want to do there.

blanchtan

Sky aren't that silly I'm afraid, If you think you're getting something for nothing you're not.
They might they have said pick any packages [HD, movies, sports] for free for 6 months, and you will cancel after that.
But I'm pretty sure you can't cancel until 12 months, so you'll be paying through the nose for 6 months for channels you don't want.

JimmyTheWig

blanchtan wrote: »

Sky aren't that silly I'm afraid, If you think you're getting something for nothing you're not.
They might they have said pick any packages [HD, movies, sports] for free for 6 months, and you will cancel after that.
But I'm pretty sure you can't cancel until 12 months, so you'll be paying through the nose for 6 months for channels you don't want.

Whenever I've had deals on cancelling I've checked that there is no extended tie-in and there hasn't been.
Not saying that everyone's deal will be the same but I've had Sky for completely free and was able to cancel at the end of it with no problem.

I think there are a few things at play here...
1. It doesn't cost Sky anything to give channels to existing customers who want to cancel. It doesn't dilute the signal for other users. They have to send the signal out anyway. Whether you receive it or not has no bearing on them. All they lose is the opportunity of you paying for the service. If you make it clear you won't then they have nothing to lose.
2. They may (I don't know) get more money from advertisers based on the number of people who subscribe.
3. If you are getting a free deal from Sky you are much less likely to sign up to Virgin.
4. There is a fair chance that at the end of the deal you will forget to cancel / decide to keep the service, etc.

nickcc

We have Sky + in two rooms (multiroom) and free to air Sky in the other with its own £20 viewing card. We have just ordered Sky HD and don't want to loose our recordings on the box that Sky HD replaces. Is there some way that we could transfer our recordings from the Sky+ box to the HD box or if not can we keep changing the two Sky + boxes over. Thanks

penrhyn

nickcc wrote: »

We have Sky + in two rooms (multiroom) and free to air Sky in the other with its own £20 viewing card. We have just ordered Sky HD and don't want to loose our recordings on the box that Sky HD replaces. Is there some way that we could transfer our recordings from the Sky+ box to the HD box or if not can we keep changing the two Sky + boxes over. Thanks

Not unless you are willing to physically remove the drive from the box. Here is a guide.
http://www.skycopyplus.co.uk/

With the new box you'll get on demand ( if you connect it to the Interweb)which may well have a lot of the programmes you have prevoiusly recorded. Or as a last resort copy them to a DVD recorder.

Swapping boxes over won't work as you viewing card will be matched to the new box as part of the installation.

nickcc

penrhyn wrote: »

Not unless you are willing to physically remove the drive from the box. Here is a guide.
http://www.skycopyplus.co.uk/

With the new box you'll get on demand ( if you connect it to the Interweb)which may well have a lot of the programmes you have prevoiusly recorded. Or as a last resort copy them to a DVD recorder.

Swapping boxes over won't work as you viewing card will be matched to the new box as part of the installation.

Thanks, I changed both drives a few years ago so swapping drives no prob. We also have a DVD/VCR recorder so again copying them also no prob. Can't I just put the viewing card out of the spare box, which will still be valid on multiroom, into the box that HD is replacing or does the viewing card only recognise the spare box.

jem16

nickcc wrote: »

Thanks, I changed both drives a few years ago so swapping drives no prob.

Just be aware that a few years ago the drive was easy to get at as it was on top of all the electronics. Now it's buried underneath so a bit more tricky.

nickcc

jem16 wrote: »

Just be aware that a few years ago the drive was easy to get at as it was on top of all the electronics. Now it's buried underneath so a bit more tricky.

Bought the two Pace boxes off eBay to replace the original Amstrad box that suffered from recordings freezing. Also bought the new larger hard drives off eBay which gave me 40 hrs of recordings compared to the original 20 hrs. As you advise swapping drives with the newer boxes would probably have been more difficult.

patty_qqq

Tethior wrote: »

Just spoken with Sky. They told me that there is no such this as paying them £10 per month to keep using the Sky+ box as a recorder.
They said if I cancel, I lose access to the recorded programs, and I also lose the ability to pause / rewind and record TV.

Well... I have just been told that if I cancel my subscription I will have to pay £10 a month to use the on demand box

I have been told lots of different things by Sky -depends who you talk to. I only signed up because I was told I could have advert free recordings from the On Demand box. Now I find its untrue
My Sky was set up on 17th December. I said I would cancel and then told that I would have to pay £10 a month for the box.
Maybe I pay £10 a month for the box and still it will not work
Who do I believe ?