Sky Accessibility Teams Failure

Thunderpants1817

Approximately 4 years ago I took a look at what my father in law was paying for his Sky and could see he paying far too much and was able to gain a refund of several hundred pounds at the same time I also registered him as a vulnerable person as he had early onset dementia.
Zoom forward to the present and his dementia had deteriorated and was causing all sorts of problems, the only thing he would watch reruns of the old tv programmes found on normal tv. Unfortunately he also developed COVID and sadly passed away, I have since then been dealing with his accounts and noticed that through his bank accounts he was paying in the region of £150.00 per month for his Sky.  He did not watch movies, sport or any modern programmes.  I contacted Sky and spoke with the accessibility team who informed me that they would get back to me within 4 hours, no response was ever received.
A few days later I again spoke with the same team who informed me that the original handler of the complaint was not in work but she would take over if the original team member did not.  No response was received and yet again I went through the same process this time though the call handler could not deal with my queries so I demanded to speak to a supervisor.
A week or so later I received a call from the supervisor and I asked why no one was watching over the account and monitoring the obvious increase of costs,I could not get her to speak with me in detail regarding the account as she kept citing Data Protection and arguing with me.
When I explained I have power of attorney over him and am also a named executor of the estate she still refused to provide the details I wanted to know even though the will had more sway than the POA.   After she consistently interrupted and spoke over me, I now stated that all I now wanted was the data controllers details so I could request the information that I wanted and also the details of the legal team as I would be seeking recourse against Sky on behalf of the estate.    

To date several weeks later I have received nothing from them and am now ready to send a damming letter before action to the CEO naming him and Sky in an attempt to have this issue brought to a conclusion.
Can I ask has anyone had any experience similar to this or can offer any remedy that I haven’t thought of.

Jeremy535897

I don't deal with Sky, but I would suggest that the first step is to follow Sky's own complaints procedure. Write to
Customer Complaints, Sky Subscribers Services Ltd, PO Box 43, Livingston, West Lothian, EH54 7DD, with your details, the account details and the full complaint. They are likely to take some time to respond. If you are not satisfied with the response, the details are here: https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-customer-complaints-code-of-practice/

There are threads on MSE, for example: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1815807/how-to-complain-to-sky

Thrugelmir

POA ceases on death. Have you obtained probate yet? 

Thunderpants1817

Probate has today been submitted online.

kingfisherblue

Thunderpants1817 said:

Approximately 4 years ago I took a look at what my father in law was paying for his Sky and could see he paying far too much and was able to gain a refund of several hundred pounds at the same time I also registered him as a vulnerable person as he had early onset dementia.
Zoom forward to the present and his dementia had deteriorated and was causing all sorts of problems, the only thing he would watch reruns of the old tv programmes found on normal tv. Unfortunately he also developed COVID and sadly passed away, I have since then been dealing with his accounts and noticed that through his bank accounts he was paying in the region of £150.00 per month for his Sky.  He did not watch movies, sport or any modern programmes.  I contacted Sky and spoke with the accessibility team who informed me that they would get back to me within 4 hours, no response was ever received.
A few days later I again spoke with the same team who informed me that the original handler of the complaint was not in work but she would take over if the original team member did not.  No response was received and yet again I went through the same process this time though the call handler could not deal with my queries so I demanded to speak to a supervisor.
A week or so later I received a call from the supervisor and I asked why no one was watching over the account and monitoring the obvious increase of costs,I could not get her to speak with me in detail regarding the account as she kept citing Data Protection and arguing with me.
When I explained I have power of attorney over him and am also a named executor of the estate she still refused to provide the details I wanted to know even though the will had more sway than the POA.   After she consistently interrupted and spoke over me, I now stated that all I now wanted was the data controllers details so I could request the information that I wanted and also the details of the legal team as I would be seeking recourse against Sky on behalf of the estate.    

To date several weeks later I have received nothing from them and am now ready to send a damming letter before action to the CEO naming him and Sky in an attempt to have this issue brought to a conclusion.
Can I ask has anyone had any experience similar to this or can offer any remedy that I haven’t thought of.

As you had POA, and had previously been aware that your FiL had been paying for a service that he did not need, did you not think to cancel? Or at least keep an eye on his bills? My mum is elderly and I don't yet need to use POA (although we are in the process of sorting this out, in case it is needed in the future). However, I do help her keep an eye on price increases, etc. When there has been a query over something, it has been checked and sorted quickly and easily.

I'm not sure whether you have any legal recourse as you surely had some responsibility yourself, having POA, but I may be wrong.

dunstonh

I now stated that all I now wanted was the data controllers details so I could request the information that I wanted and also the details of the legal team as I would be seeking recourse against Sky on behalf of the estate.  

Are you the executor of the estate?  If you are not, then you do not have the legal authority to take legal action or even speak to Sky.   If you do then you can.  However, the executor also has the requirement to act responsibly and not go off on expensive frivolous costly endeavours.

As you held POA, why is the executor not taking legal action against you?  

Companies like sky are not worried about legal action.    Use the complaints process first and keep level headed.  Do not come across as a madman.