Sky Netflix overcharge

shiversregal

Hello Forum Members 

I've been a Sky member for years and have never had any major problems with their service until now. I moved home in 2023 having been away for a year and re-joined Sky. I signed up for a new customer offer which was £36pcm. When I signed up to Sky, I explained to the customer service agent that I didn't want Netflix included in my package but he advised me that the basic package came with it. 

I noticed in August of this year that my direct debit had gone up to £49.50pcm. I called Sky to discuss and they explained that I had signed up for a Netflix premium (£8pcm) in October 2023 and that the overall costs had gone up in line with inflation in April 2024. I explained that I didn't use Netflix but following long conversations with Sky, I discovered that my daughter's father had logged into his account when he was babysitting our daughter. As a result, the Sky Stream box automatically started charging me £8pcm for his Netflix account. However, he has also been paying Netflix £15.99pcm for his account for the same period. 

Sky explained that when someone logs in to Netflix on your Sky Stream box of Sky Glass TV, the monthly fee kicks in. Sky said that an email confirming that I had signed up to Netflix was sent to me in October 2023 but I checked my emails and said that they hadn't. The agent then said a letter was sent out and not an email. However, I didn't receive a letter either. I asked if other payments were being taken for other apps (such as Disney+, Amazon Prime etc.) when we logged on via the Stream box but Sky explained that they just have this arrangement with Netflix. 

Sky told me that this is listed in my T&Cs so I asked them to send me a copy of the T&Cs so I could review it. The agent said that they would email me a copy of the details but haven't yet. Sky also said I was responsible for regularly checking my statements. I raised a complaint and an advisor called to reiterate what had already been said but offered a £40 goodwill gesture. I said that I would like the full £88 extra charge refunded instead but the advisor said that was not possible. She said that the situation was now in a deadlock but that I could seek advice from a third party advice in respect to my complaint. 

I wondered if anyone else had experienced a similar situation with Sky or another provider. I'm really surprised that a friend or family member can log into their account while at your home and then you automatically get charged for a service / account that belongs to someone else - and which they are also paying for. 

born_again

I would be asking daughters father for the money. Given you have been paying for their service. Given he has not been paying for it.

Hoenir

Didn't you notice the jump from £36 to £44 monthly when the Netflix charge first jumped in. Be surprising if there wasn't notification. As there would be a requirement to notify of the higher direct debit to be taken. 

littleboo

born_again said:

I would be asking daughters father for the money. Given you have been paying for their service. Given he has not been paying for it.

The way I read the OP, the father is paying for his own Netflix account, but the action of that account being used has caused Sky to additionally start billing the OP for a separate Netflix subscription. Which seems odd

saajan_12

Not familiar with a Sky box.. is there any password / credentials for your Sky account needed in order to sign in with a Netflix account?

The question is really are you, as Sky account holder responsible for securing access to the Sky box or not - and as a start is that even reasonably possible without a password? 

Do dig out your T&Cs from when you signed up to Sky, and quote exactl ywhat it says. There's a chance such a term could be treated as unfair. 

shiversregal

Thanks for all your comments.

@born_again - my daughter's father checked his account and he's also been paying £15.99 per month for his Netflix account so his payment didn't stop when Sky started charging me for Netflix premium.

@Hoenir unfortunately I didn't notice the change in DD payments. Sky takes two separate payments each month (one for broadband and one for TV) so I didn't register that one was higher. I periodically scan statements for fraudulent activity but generally check names rather than amounts. I need to be more careful in future. Sky say something was sent in the post but I didn't receive it. However, there have been issues with Royal Mail for a while. 

@saajan_12 - I will call Sky again tomorrow and ask them to email over the T&Cs. 

It just strikes me as unusual that this can happen although having done some digging, it seems a common issue for Virgin Media customers.