Sky package - is this fair?

stars_bright

I ahve been looking for a new braodband package and while out shopping today came across a Sky stand with a great deal for broadband, phone and TV. We were told that we could take out their Sky TV package of 2 sets of channel for £15 per month, then for an extra £5 we could have free phone calls at anytime and also free broadband. We also wanted a Sky+ box which we could have for £45 one off charge and the subscriptio was either £10 per month or free if we also had 2 SKy movie or sports channels. We were very impressed and signed up there and then for the Variety and Knowledge mix, 2 movie channels, £5 phone and free broadband. We set a date for installation on 2nd April. However, we received a phone call tonight saying that SKy does not have their own broadband service in our area so, if we want the braoband we would have to pay an extra £18 per month. This obviously makes a big difference and we said no to that and we did not want the TV and phone without the braodband. I am wondering whether this is abig scam and whether Sky do this with everyone? Also isn't it breach of contract? having agreed to suplly us with this at a set price, is it legal to change their minds and increase the price by £18?

stiffnuts69

To answer your question in brief

no its not a scam

Your local exchange is not LLU (in other words sky do not have their own equipment in your exchange) and therefore that is the current price £18.

It is not a breach of contract however it could be technically a misleading price indication (although I doubt it and i even if it were it would be impossible to prove)

They have told you before the installation date so if your not happy you can cancel.

Try and go virgin media they are doing some good deals at the moment.

computerwoman

if you cannot get sky in your area they give you what is called "sky connect for £17 amonth" I would wait until xmas and try again, as they told me to apply for it after october 2007 by then it will be in my area, north yorkshire. so here's hoping, then if it is possible I maybe able to get all 3 for a discount to what I am paying now.
cw

vetfred

Sky told me that I could only go on Connect since my exchange hadn't been enabled with their equipment - weeks later I found out this was untrue since it had been enabled before my order. It's best to check yourself if what they're saying is correct.

If you put your phone number in here, you'll be able to verify whether your exchange has been enabled for Sky:

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/phoneno.php

It will show you your telephone exchange, click on it and then see if it says "easynet/sky enabled" under the "local loop unbundling presence" heading.

If it has been enabled, then to say it hasn't isn't truthful although it's possible for the exchange to be Sky enabled and you still not be able to use base/mid or max - Sky's equipment may have reached its capacity at the exchange already so no more users can go through it. In that instance, you would only be able to go on Connect - you pay Sky for it but it's BT equipment in the exchange being used rather than Sky's.

Did you already check what Sky's broadband site says about whether Sky is available to you? Their availibility checker is here:

http://broadband.sky.com

As a side note, in January, Sky sent out an e-mail offering Connect for £5 per month with £20 activation (rather than the listed £17 a month and £40 activation). Because a lot of Connect users were mad they were paying much more than new users would be, people complained and were put on the reduced tariff.

They stated the terms of what service would be provided for the price were agreed and now they're trying to enforce an extra £17 on you so I would push for making them stick to their word or ask them if they're happy to lose your whole custom because of their mis-selling - it's worth a shot! But, if you're ok with paying £5 for broadband, maybe you would be happy to go on that tariff (as it'll be part of a bigger 12 month package anyway and they're normally supposed to move you to base/mid/max within 6 months anyway). As you may have seen from looking around this site, plenty of people pay massively reduced amounts as part of various deals and if you're persistant enough, they would be pretty stupid to lose a new customer just to argue for a £17 tariff... especially as they agreed to provide you with a package which contained broadband for free and even set up the date to install. When they take your order, they run the check to see which packages you can get so it's strange they're only pointing out the fact you can't get BB for free after they've agreed your pricing for your package. I wouldn't agree to the £17 tariff since they've kept billing me at £17 even though I was promised I would be billed at £5 from February. I have it in writing so I'll be making sure I get my refunds!

My personal opinion: the broadband itself works fine but the customer service has been the worst I've encountered - customer relations admitted the poor training re: broadband and they really struggle to help if you get any issues. They've removed a "secret" 0800 number so you can only call their 0870 number and be on hold and passed from pillar to post now. Sky Talk Unlimited for £5 per month has been the best value but I can't recommend Sky BB simply because of my personal experiences of a wide range of mis-selling, mis-information and even wrong billing.

geminiemerald

Yes thats what Ive been told, I cannot get the sky bb free until June 07 because of an LLU line split at my exchange(?) and that I will be billed £5 a month for the bb until that date when it will be free. Am starting to worry now about changing all my stuff over to sky touch wood, cross fingers etc......!