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Sky repeatedly raised DD prices without telling me and added unauthorised services.
RedMonty
Posts: 123 Forumite
Was with BeThere internet, who got bought out by Sky, who gave me a monthly rolling contract for £35. This happened to be my first and only Direct Debit so I didnt really know what was normal.
2 years later, I take out another DD with another company, who religiously inform me via email every time the amount changes or whenever they take any money out. Wow. Hmm. Let's check Sky.
To my shock, I find Sky has raised my DD 6 times, and added an unauthorised service so it's now £52 when it should be £35. And I find they should have emailed me every month with how much they are taking.
I complained, and the unauthorised service was removed and all money for that was refunded, but that still leaves the 6 increases and lack of notification that money was to be withdrawn. They swear blind they've emailed me, but I haven't received anything. I look in my junk folder monthly, and often get other email from Sky (account changes, changes of parental control settings etc) on the email address they have for me without any problems.
I raised a complaint with them last week about the DD, but haven't heard anything back. What do I do now, what are my rights under the DD bank guarantee? Of course I'd like a refund of everything above £35 over the past 2 years, but should I pursue this with Sky or with my bank?
I have a new broadband service now from Virgin Mobile, £13 per month for 50mb without a phone line, and I want to close my Sky account but I am worried that if I close Sky, they will also close my complaint.
2 years later, I take out another DD with another company, who religiously inform me via email every time the amount changes or whenever they take any money out. Wow. Hmm. Let's check Sky.
To my shock, I find Sky has raised my DD 6 times, and added an unauthorised service so it's now £52 when it should be £35. And I find they should have emailed me every month with how much they are taking.
I complained, and the unauthorised service was removed and all money for that was refunded, but that still leaves the 6 increases and lack of notification that money was to be withdrawn. They swear blind they've emailed me, but I haven't received anything. I look in my junk folder monthly, and often get other email from Sky (account changes, changes of parental control settings etc) on the email address they have for me without any problems.
I raised a complaint with them last week about the DD, but haven't heard anything back. What do I do now, what are my rights under the DD bank guarantee? Of course I'd like a refund of everything above £35 over the past 2 years, but should I pursue this with Sky or with my bank?
I have a new broadband service now from Virgin Mobile, £13 per month for 50mb without a phone line, and I want to close my Sky account but I am worried that if I close Sky, they will also close my complaint.
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Comments
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If you want to use the DD guarantee then you use this by going direct to your Bank.
You will need to tell them how much has been taken without authority and they will refund you immediately.
They then take it up with Sky, who will come back to you if you were not entitled to the refund0 -
Hmm that doesn't seem right. Surely any pants-less desperado in need of a quick bit of money can't just bother their bank for an immediate refund of all direct debits for the previous year, and leave it up to the companies involved to chase them for the money.If you want to use the DD guarantee then you use this by going direct to your Bank.
You will need to tell them how much has been taken without authority and they will refund you immediately.
They then take it up with Sky, who will come back to you if you were not entitled to the refund0 -
Hmm that doesn't seem right. Surely any pants-less desperado in need of a quick bit of money can't just bother their bank for an immediate refund of all direct debits for the previous year, and leave it up to the companies involved to chase them for the money.
It's the Direct Debit Guarantee, but it's not always as simple as walking into a branch and getting a refund straight away.
https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/Pages/DirectDebitGuarantee.aspx
The problem you will have is that you didn't check your bank statements for at least 2 years so you will have a hard time trying to convince your bank it is an incorrect amount, especially as ISPs regularly put prices up.Can my bank ask me for information about an error?
In some cases your bank may require further information to ascertain the nature of the error and confirm that an error has indeed occurred. Any clarifications will help your bank in any dialogue it has with the collecting organisation. Once an error in the payment of a Direct Debit has been established, you will be refunded immediately.
As for the complaint, I believe Sky say they will take 10(?) days to get back to you, so still a few days left for them to respond. How did you complain?0 -
Cancelling your Sky won't close the complaint, the two are separate.
"They swear blind they've emailed me, but I haven't received anything. I look in my junk folder monthly, and often get other email from Sky (account changes, changes of parental control settings etc) on the email address they have for me without any problems. "
What account changes are you talking about? The increases could have come about because of them, if you still have them check the small print.0 -
Well....you have misinterpreted the post - you do need to tell the bank why you are claiming under the guarantee before they refund you, though that would be immediate.Hmm that doesn't seem right. Surely any pants-less desperado in need of a quick bit of money can't just bother their bank for an immediate refund of all direct debits for the previous year, and leave it up to the companies involved to chase them for the money.
Read up on the "Direct Debit Guarantee" and see for yourself how it protects you!0 -
Colin_Maybe wrote: »Cancelling your Sky won't close the complaint, the two are separate.
"They swear blind they've emailed me, but I haven't received anything. I look in my junk folder monthly, and often get other email from Sky (account changes, changes of parental control settings etc) on the email address they have for me without any problems. "
What account changes are you talking about? The increases could have come about because of them, if you still have them check the small print.
Of course they have the right to increase their charges, that's normal. My issue is that they did so without informing me. I have received, as far as I can see, all other letters and email communication from them, EXCEPT any emails telling me how much they would take that month, and any emails about raising prices.
I now have a couple of other DDs and all companies involved email me every month telling me what they will take that month.
Can I ask other MSE readers with Sky - do they email you monthly with this information? (if you have this set up)
I suspect it may be linked with the handover from BE There's finance systems - I think I had a standing order with BE, which Sky converted to a DD (with my permission) before I created a Sky account and login on Sky's website. If their finance system couldn't find an email address for me (which it should have inherited from Be) then it should have sent postal letters to me informing me of the DD raise. Which obviously hasn't happened.0 -
Replying to myself with a bit more info.
I'm deaf and only use the phone line* for internet. We have no phone** plugged in our house and have not done so for about 5 years. When I checked my Sky account last month, I found Sky had added a monthly charge for 'free weekend and evening calls' about 6 months after I joined.
This should only have been added with my permission and obviously it was illegally added, as I could never use such a service. Sky have already apologised last week and refunded all charges for this. A small thing but evidence of shenanigans going on.
* Just moved to Virgin internet and no longer pay for phone line yay!
** I make phone calls via an internet based text-to-speech service with human relay operators.0 -
I have had similar experience with Sky. They kept their price increases quiet and just got on with collecting a higher DD until I noticed and queried it. I caught them (three times actually) pretty quick, as I check my online banking frequently, but it was rather annoying.
My setup was that I had an online account and they also sent me emails. I have had emails advising the DD amount, but bizarrely not every month... just the months they felt like doing it? And certainly none in the months when they increased the price.
I don't know if any other ISP is better though, I had BT before sky and that experience wasn't great either. I'm switching to Origin soon as they're the cheapest for me. Good luck with your claim with Sky.0 -
I've been with Sky for years without a break and have never received an email regarding my DD's, the only communication about the account is when I've renegotiated.I have had similar experience with Sky. They kept their price increases quiet and just got on with collecting a higher DD until I noticed and queried it. I caught them (three times actually) pretty quick, as I check my online banking frequently, but it was rather annoying.
My setup was that I had an online account and they also sent me emails. I have had emails advising the DD amount, but bizarrely not every month... just the months they felt like doing it? And certainly none in the months when they increased the price.
I don't know if any other ISP is better though, I had BT before sky and that experience wasn't great either. I'm switching to Origin soon as they're the cheapest for me. Good luck with your claim with Sky.0 -
Colin_Maybe wrote: »I've been with Sky for years without a break and have never received an email regarding my DD's, the only communication about the account is when I've renegotiated.
I have also been with Sky for few years now. I can't remember whether I had such emails in the beginning, but definitely after I renegotiated a contract about a year ago, there were these "Your Sky bill is ready" emails for maybe 4 or 5 months, in which it stated the DD amount. I still have few of them in my inbox, so I know I haven't imagined it. All a bit weird and random. Maybe in those months they just wanted to give me some extra care and attention. ISP's work in mysterious ways... :P0
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