Phone line held ransom by sky!

Nekoda

Long story short, I have been with sky for a year, bought some movies from them now and again. Cut to last month they have charged me for movies I have bought right through to last July pushing my bill to £250. When I asked why or how has this happened they blamed me! Saying it must have been my internet connection (which they provide).

They were not willing to help split the bill down to make it easier to pay so a few days later restrictions were on my account and eventually inet cut off. I was informed I cannot cancle unless I could pay an arm and a leg, so I've breached my contract on purpose to force an early termination fee, which has worked, I got the early termination fee letter and now I would only owe £80 + the £250 as opposed to £600 + the £250...

I rang BT and they said they would sort new internet with me, a few days later they rang saying the line owner is refusing to give up the line, I rang sky who said they will not give up the line for 3 months or more until I pay the bill and reinstate my services. Is that even legal??

Anyway BT said they will just fit a new socket free of charge to circumvent them which was rather nice of them haha.

In short, are sky breaking the law by doing this? They are literally trying to hold my line at ransom to force me to stay with them and pay my bill!

Please avoid sky if you are thinking about moving to them, they do not care if you are having money problems and will not help find a solution to paying your bill unless it's payment in full, it's all or nothing even if the large bill is their fault. They will go to any lengths to keep you as a customer and refuse to let you cancle without paying a huge lump sum!

Sorry for the long read people I've had a nightmare with them.

andyca

It sounds like you have done quite well in getting BT to give you a phone line for free! Legal or not, it hasn't cost you anything so don't worry about it.

What is surprising is that Sky were not willing to work out a payment plan for a large unexpected bill. I can't help but think breaching on your contract will put you in a worse position to get a payment plan in place for paying off your now £330 Sky bill.

I'd give them a call quickly to arrange repayment terms before they start to add additional recovery fees.

Let us know how it goes.

LazyTyper

I agree with andyca - get back in touch with Sky and work out to repay what you owe.

If they don't seem willing to work out some form of payment plan (which they don't have to do, I should add, as you knowingly made purchases from Sky - nothing "unexpected" really) try a formal complaint.

[Deleted User]

Nekoda wrote: »

Sky do not care if you are having money problems

Do realise that Sky TV is a luxury item, not a utility. Regardless of the "line ransom", if you don't arrange to pay the outstanding amount then Debt Collectors, a trashed credit rating and a County Court Judgement will be the inevitable consequence.

Nekoda wrote: »

Cut to last month they have charged me for movies I have bought right through to last July pushing my bill to £250. When I asked why or how has this happened they blamed me! Saying it must have been my internet connection (which they provide).

Your internet connection didn't order those pay-per-view films, you did. If you weren't billed for the PPVs at the time, why didn't you query this there and then?

andyca

It seems my last post was removed, probably because I was critical of a fellow posters attitude. However, it did contain some useful information so I will post the gist of that information again:

• Check out this guide: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/help-with-debt/how-to-deal-with-your-creditors/
• Phone Sky and tell them you would like to pay but are struggling
• Even if they don't agree a weekly/monthly amount, find out how to pay and pay what you can anyway.

Post back and let us know how you get on

brewerdave

I used to use Sky PPV for films (I have "other means" now:T) but I often used to get billed several months after the film had been viewed - Sky blamed the Sky + box connection (then via standard phone line). Can't see how an internet enabled box would fail to connect for 9 months tho'.:D

[Deleted User]

brewerdave wrote: »

I used to use Sky PPV for films (I have "other means" now:T) but I often used to get billed several months after the film had been viewed - Sky blamed the Sky + box connection (then via standard phone line). Can't see how an internet enabled box would fail to connect for 9 months tho'.:D

I agree it's a daft excuse for a very long delay. However, that doesn't mean the customer shouldn't have to pay, of course.

It's also possible for a customer to disconnect the cable (either accidentally or on purpose) from the box.

Unfortunately, such action only delays the inevitable..

superbigal36

Anyone suspect the films were ordered using a "method" where they thought Sky would never bill ?
Then someone inadvertantly "plugs in" the billing block.

andyca

superbigal36 wrote: »

Anyone suspect the films were ordered using a "method" where they thought Sky would never bill ?
Then someone inadvertantly "plugs in" the billing block.

Now now... be nice!

On a side note - does that really still work?

brewerdave

Can't work with a modern Sky HD+ box cos its a wireless connection. Would still work with an old Sky+ box (I think) if the telephone cable was left disconnected most of the time.

Nekoda

Some good replies here thanks guys,

I never said I was unwilling to pay infact, I asked sky as it had taken them 12 months to bill me for some ppv could we come to an arrangement benefiting us both for me to pay (maybe split it over a few bills) as I was having money problems, they said no they will not (I spoke to numerous people Inc the manager to try and sort something all whom didn't want to know.

A luxury it may be but surely customer service should come first, helping customers who come into money troubles would be something I would have expected from them, you know, human decency. It's OK though, after research I found I was not the only one who was told all or nothing and sky customer service is rated as some of the worst.

They did try the "it must be the box's fault" as well as blaming the broadband excuse. I agree I should have noticed but then again I didn't expect it would take 12 months for a ppv to show up on a bill lol.

In reply to Moneyineptitude, I didn't say I wasent going to pay the bill, I just explained how firstly they wouldn't accept a payment plan and secondly how they tried to charge me through the roof to cancle, to which I got around by breaching my contract.

All sky have been concerned about is taking my money, they don't care about the customer or finding a way to help them, for example they were willing to keep anyone away from the phone line to force me to pay to reinstate my services to which I would have had to stay with them or pay a huge early leaving fee to leave them. Sure some may say "well they are a business" but you can't run a business by pushing customers away, there customer service is horrendous to put it lightly