Sky, TalkTalk viewyou & BT youview

m3kx

Hello,

I am so confused and undecided! Some of you may have seen my post in the haggle thread about my sky box, I thought it was fixed but its not. Basically I have an HD handshake issue caused by their new software, which Sky cannot resolve so I am left with interrupted tv viewing. I am now looking for an alternative.

Currently I pay £44.50 a month for Sky then £51.50 for BT unlimited Internet & phone, mainly due to my area. We don't really need all of the Sky channels, we only use the usual BBC 1, 2, ITV & Channel 4 plus Comedy Central, FX, SCI FY & the Discovery channels. I like the sound of the TalkTalk Youview package http://sales.talktalk.co.uk/ as its a lot cheaper than my current bills but I'm aware their service is lacking.

I noticed BT also have a Youview package http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/products/tv but it's confusing, one minute it says I need infinity which isn't available in my area next they are sending me letters saying I can get youview on my current plan. Also it seems it is a combination of BT Vision and Youview which if I'm right is more of an on demand type service? Not really what I'm looking for.

The other options are buying a Youview or other PVR box outright (or similar services like Freesat) but then I don't get the subscription channels that I would like. Sky suggested a new tv but I don't see why I should spend £250 on a new TV if 1) it's Sky's issue and 2) my tv works fine.

I guess a third option is to wait it out and hope that they eventually bring out an update which I've heard is unlikely. I've asked for money off my monthly bill but I've been told to wait until the issue is resolved even after explaining it cannot be fixed.

I have no idea what to do. Can anyone give me any reviews, input or general advice? I am going to contact Sky CEO as previously suggested on the haggle thread.

Thank you,

Kim.

penrhyn

If you have an old HD TV its possible that the HDMI interface on it is not compatible with newer devices, I had this problem with a Sharp TV a few years ago. Chances are you would get the same issue with another set top box.

You may have the CEC pass through problem. To fix it you need to disable CEC which is not that easy, there are solutions on the web, I put tape over the relavent pin (13) to fix mine and it worked.

http://www.hdmi.org/installers/insidehdmicable.aspx

VisionMan

m3kx wrote: »

Hello,

I am so confused and undecided! Some of you may have seen my post in the haggle thread about my sky box, I thought it was fixed but its not. Basically I have an HD handshake issue caused by their new software, which Sky cannot resolve so I am left with interrupted tv viewing. I am now looking for an alternative.

Currently I pay £44.50 a month for Sky then £51.50 for BT unlimited Internet & phone, mainly due to my area.

Thank you,

Kim.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean, you pay £51.50 for unlimited internet and phone line due to your area?

I only pay £27.50 for the above package. So why do you pay so much, Kim?

macman

No area has BT as the only phone and broadband supplier, you have the choice of dozens of BT resellers also. That price cannot be correct! Please break it down.

m3kx

macman wrote: »

No area has BT as the only phone and broadband supplier, you have the choice of dozens of BT resellers also. That price cannot be correct! Please break it down.

Thank you both for replying.

There was lines sold recently (if thats the correct term?) to other retailers, Talktalk was the first, but having checked there seems to be others available to us now. I have noticed they seem to add in extra costs because of where we live, but I think I will be checking out exactly who is available to us.

Before the direct debit change notice we payed £38.50 a month, I have also placed some notes at the bottom of the bill.

Our bill is as follows:

---

Your account is £18.51 in debit
We need to raise your monthly payments because you're using more than before. Your new monthly payment will be £51.50 a month, starting on or just after 5 October.

Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan 17 Sep to 16 Dec 12
£53.25 for 3 months
£17.75 a month

Broadband
BT Total Broadband Option 3 17 Sep to 16 Dec 12
£74.10 for 3 months
£24.70 a month

Credit:
Special offer discount - £ 5.98 17 Sep - 9 Oct 12
You get your Broadband at a special rate. We show this on your bill by giving you a refund of £7.80 a month
Broadband at a special discounted rate for 12 months

Total line rental and other basic charges = £121.37


Phone usage
You made 84 call(s) - number of free call(s) 26
= £ 23.64

Total including VAT = £18.51
This amount will be carried forward on to your next bill.

---

I got the special discount after complaining to BT but it looks like it has come to an end as the previous months bill has it for the three months not just one.
Credit: Special offer discount - £ 23.40 17 Jun-16 Sep 12

We also made more calls than usual in the last 3 months, most of which seem to be payable as previous bill shows:
You made 62 call(s) - number of free call(s) 33
= £12.60


We have always been in credit, not debit. We moved here 6 years ago and have never changed ANY of our providers for anything, I think its maybe about time we did.

macman

Well. start by switching to an Anytime tariff rather than E&W! You are making a large no. of exclusive calls. Anytime at about a fiver more per month will give you unlimited landline calls inclusively 24/7.
You are not paying £51.50 a month, you are paying £42.45-the extra amount is debt from previous bills.
You are on a very uncompetitive tariff, if you want to stay with BT then call them up and negotiate a better deal.
An exchange search on https://www.samknows.com will show your LLU options.

m3kx

macman wrote: »

Well. start by switching to an Anytime tariff rather than E&W! You are making a large no. of exclusive calls. Anytime at about a fiver more per month will give you unlimited landline calls inclusively 24/7.
You are not paying £51.50 a month, you are paying £42.45-the extra amount is debt from previous bills.
You are on a very uncompetitive tariff, if you want to stay with BT then call them up and negotiate a better deal.
An exchange search on https://www.samknows.com will show your LLU options.

You are very correct. I plan in switching but am going to try work out what to do with tv first just in case I decide on the package deals.

Thanks once again for your input.

macman

If you are trying to reduce expenditure, why not just use Freesat or Freeview, and pay nothing for your TV?
The other obvious BT options are to use Line Rental Saver, and to switch to whole bill l direct debit, so that you do not not build up debt as you have done.

m3kx

macman wrote: »

If you are trying to reduce expenditure, why not just use Freesat or Freeview, and pay nothing for your TV?
The other obvious BT options are to use Line Rental Saver, and to switch to whole bill l direct debit, so that you do not not build up debt as you have done.

Initially I wanted to leave Sky due to the handshake issue, not for money saving. I have thought about Freesat but as said I want to keep some pay channels so it isn't really what I'm looking for.

As I said before, we have never been in debt with BT. I think we are now because of the extra calls and the special credit stopping this month, as well as that its now very obvious to me that we spend too much for the service we receive! Knowing this I am going to change internet provider, the savings are a plus to fixing the TV