Warning - SKY £75 Pay Once Watch Forever problems

bigbill

I had this installed for my disabled mother in law about four months ago, no bank details given.

Since then I have received charges for movies at £3.95 each sent by bank giro pay in slip, so tonight I went to MIL's and tried to get a movie, no chance as you have to call sky to upgrade.

Robbing gits there is no way she watched or was able to phone and upgrade, I will be phoning them tomorrow and if no joy trading standards for me.

littleredhen

harz99 wrote: »

Try again-send a brief email covering note and your letter as a wp attachment. You might also try making noises about legal action etc.

have just emailed to say " i am re-sending this in the vain hope that you will reply before i get round to contacting Watchdog and OFT" - i know its a bit sarcastic but i have tried the reasonable approach and that doesn't work;)

MaximumFish

Just wanted to let you all know I've had success with the [EMAIL="AllCustomerCareEscalation@BSkyB.com"]AllCustomerCareEscalation@BSkyB.com[/EMAIL] address. On Saturday I sent them this:

Hello,

Around six months ago I purchased a Pay Once, Watch Forever pack from Dixons. The pack informed me that I could get a Sky installation and six months' worth of Sky mixes for £75, after which Sky would contact me to ask whether I wish to continue receiving these mixes, thereby taking out a Sky contract, or settle for the Free to Air channels. Great, I thought, and duly bought the package.

Around six months after the installation I received a bill from Sky asking for £19, supposedly for the two mixes I'd been receiving and a £4 "admin fee". Obviously I haven't signed up for any such package, but being aware of Sky's rather lacklustre customer service I checked the Internet forum where I originally heard about the deal. Low and behold I discovered this:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=711597

The thread clearly highlights the trouble other people have been having trying to "cancel" their non-existant contracts, and ultimately being billed £96 for the trouble. Hence, rather than going through the same rigmarole as the poor souls before me, I decided to go straight to a source that has been confirmed to get results. In other words, you.

Therefore, please accept this email as notification that I do not want to take out a contract with Sky, and I am perfectly happy with just the Free to Air channels. Furthermore, I would like confirmation that I will not be chased for any money, including the £19 I have already been billed for, as I do not have a contract with Sky, nor have I ever taken one out beyond the initial six month term this package provided.

My "account" details are as follows:

"Account" number: blah blah
Viewing card number: blah de blah

I trust that is all the information you require, and I look forward to your reply confirming that I owe no money to Sky, and will not be harrassed for any in the future regarding this matter.

My thanks in advance,

Max

Yes, it was a bit long winded, but I wanted to get the point across.

This morning I've had this reply:

Dear Max

Customer Account Number: blah blah

Thank you for your email regarding your Sky account.

As requested, this has now been cancelled with immediate effect.

I have also cleared the balance of 19.00 (GBP).

Should you wish to resume your viewing at any time, please contact us on above email address and we will be pleased to reinstate your viewing card on your account.

I trust that this information assists.

Kind Regards

Sagar Shah
Customer Relations

Result!

All I can say is just skip all the phone calls and lower tier support and go straight to the escalations people. They seem to get the job done!

Oh, while I'm here... Since we got cut off from the mix packages (for not paying the £19) we still have most of the freeview channels, but don't have E4 or Dave. I really miss Dave and I know it's available over terrestrial freeview. Am I going to have to complain to them about that too? Or is it just not offered via satellite?

littleredhen

me too - just had this reply today - together with a letter in the post this morning from Mark Anderson saying more or less the same - email reads as follows:-

Thank you for your email regarding your Sky account.

Firstly, please let me apologise for the length of time it has taken us to answer your query.

Having checked your account I can confirm that no balnace is outstanding on your Sky account.

I very much regret that your recent experiences were unsatisfactory and wish to assure you that our aim is to provide an email service, which is more convenient and effective for our customers. We note your comments and will endeavour to offer you a more satisfactory service in the future

Not holding my breath that this is the end of it though - call me cynical:p

littleredhen

ps my husband misses Dave too - i presume it is not part of freeview

harz99

MaximumFish wrote: »

Oh, while I'm here... Since we got cut off from the mix packages (for not paying the £19) we still have most of the freeview channels, but don't have E4 or Dave. I really miss Dave and I know it's available over terrestrial freeview. Am I going to have to complain to them about that too? Or is it just not offered via satellite?

What you are on now is the same as Sky FREESAT, I have not checked the dedicated Freesat site but am pretty sure these channels are not included (although they are on Freeview via the aerial).

Anyway well done and we hope this is the end of your troubles!

harz99

littleredhen wrote: »

ps my husband misses Dave too - i presume it is not part of freeview

See my above post.

Well done, perseverance pays!

wizard5353

MaximumFish wrote: »

...we still have most of the freeview channels, but don't have E4 or Dave. I really miss Dave and I know it's available over terrestrial freeview. Am I going to have to complain to them about that too? Or is it just not offered via satellite?

Nope these channels are not offered on "FreeSat", nor is Virgin 1 and several others I'm sorry to say. But you do get several digital satellite channels that are not offered on "Freeview" these include a few extra free to view movie channels and reality channels and my all time favourite; "Anime Central" channel 199. So it's a trade off really, you can still use a freeview box or DVD player/TV with a digital turner and an aerial to get the rest.

I used to have a url to a website that tells you which channels are offered on which service somewhere. I'll have to find it again.

bigbill

A word of warning if you have this installed for someone else!

There is nothing preventing them getting the pay per view movies and you getting the bill for them if you have it installed in your name.

Phone sky on 01506-421702 and get a pin number on the account before it happens to you.

She has managed another 4 movies this month before I managed to set a pin on the account.

littleredhen

littleredhen wrote: »

me too - just had this reply today - together with a letter in the post this morning from Mark Anderson saying more or less the same - email reads as follows:-

Thank you for your email regarding your Sky account.

Firstly, please let me apologise for the length of time it has taken us to answer your query.

Having checked your account I can confirm that no balnace is outstanding on your Sky account.

I very much regret that your recent experiences were unsatisfactory and wish to assure you that our aim is to provide an email service, which is more convenient and effective for our customers. We note your comments and will endeavour to offer you a more satisfactory service in the future

Not holding my breath that this is the end of it though - call me cynical:p

well whaddyaknow!
the Head of Operational Finance has sent us a Your Final Payment is due notice
my reply was - stop harrassing me - talk to Mark Anderson who apparantly has cleared the account or i am going to take legal action:mad:
i have posted it off with a copy of mark andersons letter and the original "congratulations" letter that states they will contact me to see if i want to continue (not on your nelly sky:p ) i have also written to mark anderson and told him to PLEASE talk to Denise Allan :rolleyes:
have decided i am not writing anymore letters or emails after today they can go and whistle for their £8.97 - which they reckon is their adjusted account - in the words of Catherine Tate - " I aint bovvered":cool: