MSE News: Former Sky customer? You may be in line for a refund

Caddyman

duchy wrote: »

I'd have thought the odds of moving a bank account in the last three years is higher than the odds of moving house in the same period for many people so your argument is an odd one.

Agreed. I closed the account my former Sky direct debit came out of, years ago and so the previous posters suggestion of crediting the bank account is simply not valid. Indeed I've had several bank accounts over the last 6 years. It isn't necessarily financially healthy to keep the same bank account for your entire life!

I've since cashed the cheque Sky sent me, but I still think it's utterly disgraceful they haven't added a penny in interest for the length of time they seemingly had no business holding on to MY money for as long as they did. Thankfully I never in my life intend to be a Sky customer again.

Caddyman

Jerry2014 wrote: »

This is a very poor show from Sky (but entirely true to form). They keep former customers' money for over 3 years (2012 - 2015) - over 5 years in some cases (based on posts here) and don't add a penny in interest. They would have realised they held a credit on dormant or closed accounts long before this (2014/15).

Worse than that they send a letter to the address they hold from pre-2012 in the hope you have moved home and won't receive the letter so they can keep your money (they could simply credit your last bank account).

The phone number in the letter is simply an automated service which despatches a cheque to the address you were a customer at (no option to speak to a human being, the call just terminates if you do not enter the account number on the letter).

My partner received this letter dated 21 Jan sent to an address she rents out now. We phoned Sky (customer service, option: payments) they point blank refused to add interest. They did agree to credit the money (£28) to a bank account rather than send a cheque to the former address. It took 25 minutes on the phone to India to achieve this - which is why we haven't been Sky TV customers since 2010. They don't appear to have improved the service since we left as very unhappy customers back then.

As much as I agree with the rest of your post, as per my previous post, this isn't a viable option for those people who regularly carry out a personal financial review. Since I closed the account I used for my Sky direct debit, I've had seven different current accounts because I switch and ditch to take advantage of the free cash that banks give out for doing so.

Antcol

When I received the letter, I thought it was a scam and was loath to phone the number thinking I would be asked to give banking details. A google search brought me to this thread which assured me it was not a scam. I phoned the number given on the letter and amazingly it was answered immediately. I was ready to repel the sales push because I had thought they would be making me all sorts of offers to get me to take Sky. Second surprise, it was an automated line and all they wanted was my Account Number which was on the letter they sent. I gave that. End of call, less than 2 minutes in total. :j