Can Sky Legally Treat You As An Existing Customer For 12 Months After Leaving

rudiv

Hi,
I have been with sky for 15+ years. Over 2 years ago we upgraded the box to HD and it has NEVER worked properly. ie not being able to order movies through it and not having access to certain channels despite being on the very top package.

We have made over 30 phone calls about this and everytime get the same response, check this number, serial numbers etc etc and nothing happens. We have incurred many ££ worth of extra charges for booking movies because we had to do this over the phone where they charge an extra £1 despite.

Ironically they said they can sort it out, then 1 week after the warranty expired they started saying we would need to order an engineer at £60. Luckily we have a friend who is an engineer who told me to check a few things and confirmed the box was faulty.

So I spoke with someone on chat who kind of understood and told me they can offer me the new 2TB wifi box for £50 with free installation and they would also move the current box upstairs to replace an even worse condition pace digibox. BUT, i didn't have my card on me but he said I can call back later and get the same offer. So I did and they denied it, despite me having the chat transcript saved on my computer.

This angered me somewhat so then I called to cancel and told them I will cancel and get the new customer offer by signing back up. Bear in mind I have been out of contract for over 2 years. The woman said she could not confirm or deny i could do that which i would expect and then put me through to the cancellation team. Then when I said I was going to resubscribe they said I would be counted as an existing customer. Now this is there company policy, but is there any legal backing to it. If you are out of contract then you are out of contract surely, the same like we all do with our mobile phone, ie cancel after 12 months and get the latest best deal.

I don't intend on taking it lying down after paying them thousands over the years you would think there would be some courtesy. I would go with Virgin, but there are certain channels not available which i really want. I would love to know if there is any legality in saying you are an existing customer if you are out of contract and cancelled.

Thanks

poppasmurf_bewdley

You can be out of contract with Sky, and leave them by giving 31 days notice. How long it will take for them to regard you as a new customer if you re-sign is surely up to Sky. I would imagine it would take at least 12 months before they would reconsider you as a 'new' customer.

Maybe you could leave them and then get another member of your household to sign up, using different banking details. Then that would be a 'new' customer.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Just to add that I've been with Sky, on and off, since 1990, with breaks of more than a year sometimes at four addresses. But they have all my details going back to when I first started so I don't think they have ever regarded me as a 'new' customer at any time other than when I first signed up.

[Deleted User]

rudiv wrote: »

Then when I said I was going to resubscribe they said I would be counted as an existing customer. Now this is there company policy, but is there any legal backing to it. If you are out of contract then you are out of contract surely

Sky's terms and conditions are their own, there is no legal requirement for them to allow you to cancel and then immediately sign up as a "new" customer. All you would achieve by attempting this would be to reactivate your existing subscription, with no free equipment or other "new customer" deals available to you.

Far wiser would be to tell them you can't afford to pay £65 for your box to be repaired and if they don't offer you a replacement (re-conditioned) box then you'll cancel all together.

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote:

Maybe you could leave them and then get another member of your household to sign up, using different banking details.

Not a good idea, the subscription is for the household and Sky are not daft. Again, new customer deals would not be available.

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote:

they have all my details going back to when I first started so I don't think they have ever regarded me as a 'new' customer at any time other than when I first signed up.

If you've left for more than a year then it's not that Sky think of you as a "new" customer, it's that you become eligible for new equipment and new customer deals. Of course they will keep your details on file.

davemurgatroyd

There is no such thing as being out of contract with Sky until your cancellation has gone through and services have been turned off. Sky (and Virgin and others) have minimum term contracts after which you are on a rolling contract which with Sky requires you to give 31 days notice of intent to cancel (note you do not actually cancel with your phone call but merely give notice to cancel and your contract is still valid until that notice expires).

You (and yout household) would not be a "new customer" but a "returning customer". What conditions Sky set on their offers to "new customers" is purely up to them and there is absolutely no matter of illegality about them - why do you think there should be?

As stated above to have achieved anything you should merely have rung up threatening to cancel but you may now have lessened the offers they may have made by mentioning resubscribing (if the CS staff have noted that down on your account details which they should have).

MataNui

Firstly well done for using the chat and saving the transcript. Although in this case it wont help because you didnt actually sign up at that time you would have been covered and safe if you had signed up and they then denied that they offered you that deal (they do this on the phone all the time).

Be aware that the online team can offer discounts and deals that you wouldnt get over the phone so this may be why they wont honor what you discussed. As you cant force them to provide the service you dont really have many options. You can give notice to cancel and when they ask why tell them about the box and poor customer service. You may get offered a decent retention deal. If you do this them please record the conversation or use chat again and be ready to commit and pay at that time. If you dont get offered a decent deal then just leave.