Can someone help me with a sky issue please ??

Amand28

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice .... Am a sky customer and have been for six years, two weeks ago my sky started playing up message said problem with viewing card. Upon removing the card from the machine it was scorched on the reverse of the chip rang them back immediately and a new card was supposedly ordered two weeks later still no sign of said card so I rang them again this time said I wanted to cancel contract. They were very apologetic noted I was out of contract and then said I could have six months half price sky and a new card if I agreed to a new contract for twelve months. I said I didn't care as long as I had working sky that was Sunday 19/10/14 I received the new card on Tuesday and all should have been well however it isn't the same message keeps appearing and on contacting sky today they said I need an engineer and they want to charge me for this I refused to pay and again asked to cancel I was told by the guy in retentions I have no right to cancel I asked about what I thought was my legal right of 14 days cooling off he told me in this case this right does not exist and I have no right of cancelation I've had a furious row with them and hung up. What are my rights ? Is he correct and I have no right of cancelation and I'm either held to ransom paying the charge to fix or paying a useless contract for twelve months ?
Any advice would be appreciated
Thank you

talktalktobt

Amand28 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice .... Am a sky customer and have been for six years, two weeks ago my sky started playing up message said problem with viewing card. Upon removing the card from the machine it was scorched on the reverse of the chip rang them back immediately and a new card was supposedly ordered two weeks later still no sign of said card so I rang them again this time said I wanted to cancel contract. They were very apologetic noted I was out of contract and then said I could have six months half price sky and a new card if I agreed to a new contract for twelve months. I said I didn't care as long as I had working sky that was Sunday 19/10/14 I received the new card on Tuesday and all should have been well however it isn't the same message keeps appearing and on contacting sky today they said I need an engineer and they want to charge me for this I refused to pay and again asked to cancel I was told by the guy in retentions I have no right to cancel I asked about what I thought was my legal right of 14 days cooling off he told me in this case this right does not exist and I have no right of cancelation I've had a furious row with them and hung up. What are my rights ? Is he correct and I have no right of cancelation and I'm either held to ransom paying the charge to fix or paying a useless contract for twelve months ?
Any advice would be appreciated
Thank you

My understanding (and only my understanding) is that it is the responsibility of Sky to provide the service ie. the broadcast and the card to decrypt the channels. They provide the equipment to you free of charge and the maintenance of this is up to you (ie. not their responsibility).

In terms of the contract you are on. You had the right to cancel within 30 days of joining. You are then on a minimum term contract for 12 months after which you are on a 30-day rolling contract.

When you agreed to the six months half price you didn't start a new contract - you allowed a new fixed term to be added to your existing contract. This does not give you a cooling off period as a new contract would.

Moving forward you do have a few options:
1. Pay for the engineer (it is unlikely they will discount as you are in a minimum term
2. Buy a new box in the hope this is the issue
3. Pay early termination
4. Don't get angry with them. Be very polite and ask for help - they may be able to do something for you.
5. Complain. (http://help.sky.com/articles/how-to-make-a-complaint)

teddysmum

Do you have a friend, neighbour or relative, who also has Sky and would allow you to try their box at your premises? If it works, the problem is with your box.

downhillfast

It's quite normal for the back of the viewing card to look scorched believe it or not! I'd GUESS that the problem is probably with your box. As posted above it would be handy if you could try it in a different box but this will involve a call to Sky to get the card paired with the new box and then another call to get it re-paired for whoever you borrow one from.

TBH if it was me I'd take a chance and buy a second hand box on ebay - I got my SIL one a few weeks ago for about £20 inc delivery... 500GB DRX890.

Heinz

downhillfast wrote: »

As posted above it would be handy if you could try it in a different box but this will involve a call to Sky to get the card paired with the new box and then another call to get it re-paired for whoever you borrow one from.

Not necessarilly. AAUI, the card will decrypt all non-premium channels in any box.

Buzby

You agreed to the new lock-in, and as a result gave no ability to cancel. Cards do not self combust, there must have been a Faulty receiver component and this should have been sorted first.

In your situation I would buy a s/h box for £20-30 and tell sky the new Serial No to marry it to your new card - and you've saved quite a bit.

SAHD_Jim

Aside from the technical legalities, this would be my approach based on what you have said:

1) The box informed me the problem was with viewing card
2) It was reasonable for me to therefore assume a new viewing card would solve my problem
3) A new viewing card has not solved my problem
4) I signed up for 12 months on the understanding that all I needed was a new viewing card
5) Thus Sky should either cancel the contract or pay for the engineer. I should not be stuck with either having to pay termination fees or pay for an engineer when their software on the box misled me that the issue was with the viewing card.

Heinz

Sky have more than 10 million paying customers so the likelihood of them bending to your wishes is slim.

Hence, I'd say pragmatism on your part is now necessary. Buy yourself a secondhand box and move on.

SAHD_Jim

Heinz wrote: »

Sky have more than 10 million paying customers so the likelihood of them bending to your wishes is slim.

Hence, I'd say pragmatism on your part is now necessary. Buy yourself a secondhand box and move on.

I couldn't disagree more. In my own experience with Sky, when challenged with a fair argument, they'd be most likely to provide an engineer to ensure 12 months+ further custom. Remember the marginal cost to them of one extra customer for 12 months is pretty much zero.

Large companies complacent because of their customer base soon come a cropper, just ask Tesco.