A Bit of a rant at Sky

marc.faulkner

Sky have been something of a nightmare since I signed up with them 9 months ago!

I'm still waiting for my television service to be installed, have had my broadband cancelled and have spent £40 in calls to their call centre's in the last 10 days alone...

I emailed them last week, to both the customer service team and also to James Murdoch, and somebody actually called me back to make arrangements...however, they were supposed to call me again the same day with a proposed installation date - and I'm still waiting!!

Sorry, just felt the need to let off a little steam before I lose my rag, call them (again!) and really let rip at one of their advisors...

My series of emails is below. :mad:

Good Morning,

Once again, I find myself having to contact you directly as I have received no response to my correspondence.

I am still waiting for the telephone call, promised to me by close of business on 01/05/2008 – advising me of which weekend installation dates were available. Having logged into my account on Sky.com, I can see that an installation has been booked for this coming Saturday (11/05/2008) without consulting with me as to whether this would be convenient, and whether I would be available during the hours specified.

As it happens, it is possible for me to make myself available for the engineers visit, although I have had to inconvenience myself to do so and cancel a prior engagement. On this occasion, unlike the previous failed installation dates, I will not suffer financially by making myself available.

I also notice from my account that I should expect to receive a “Sky Box”, rather than a “Sky+ Box” as I am expecting, following one of my many telephone calls of complaint back in January. I trust that this error will be rectified and that the engineer will supply and fit the correct equipment.

Finally, I notice that my Sky Broadband shows on the order page as “Order Cancelled”, which certainly should not be the case, as I am currently waiting for it to be setup on my new telephone line. (***********)

I look forward to receiving your written response to these comments, once again along with your proposals for repaying the monies which I am out of pocket as a result of your sheer incompetence. Should I not receive a satisfactory response, in writing, I shall have no alternative but to close my Sky account in full and to take further action regarding the recovery of the monies owed.

Please respond by email, as I work during the day and it is not convenient for me to take personal calls on my office telephone line.
Kind Regards,

Marc Faulkner
******
E-Mail: [EMAIL="mfaulkner@ebuyer.com"]******[/EMAIL]
Tel: ******
Ext: ****

From: Marc Faulkner [mailto:mfaulkner@******]
Sent: 02 May 2008 10:08
To: 'james.murdoch@bskyb.com'; 'mysky@bskyb.com'; 'SkyDigital@bskyb.com'
Subject: FW: Customer Service Complaint


Good Morning,

Further to my message of complaint, below, I am disappointed to note that a resolution has still not been reached, and that yet another promise by your company has been broken.

I received a telephone call yesterday (contrary to my request for communication to be in writing, as yet again I have no evidence of this call) whilst I was in work, and the lady I spoke with agreed to arrange a weekend installation for me ASAP and to call me back yesterday afternoon with the date and time of the proposed installation. I remained at the office until after 6pm, however no such call was forthcoming.

Unless I am presented with an installation date today, in writing, I will be formally requesting that my Sky account is closed. It should also be noted that I fully intend to seek compensation for my costs in relation to the telephone calls, my installation charge which was paid over 8 months ago and also for my lost earnings when taking time off work for the installations which did not go ahead as agreed.


I am extremely disappointed and upset at the appalling service you are providing, and it is my intention to make my feelings known publically.

Many thanks,

Kind Regards,

Marc Faulkner
******
E-Mail: [EMAIL="mfaulkner@ebuyer.com"]******[/EMAIL]
Tel: ******
Ext: ****

From: Marc Faulkner [mailto:mfaulkner@******]
Sent: 29 April 2008 12:00
To: 'james.murdoch@bskyb.com'; 'mysky@bskyb.com'; 'SkyDigital@bskyb.com'
Subject: Customer Service Complaint


Dear Sirs

RE: Account ************

I am writing to you at this time to express my anger, disappointment and absolute disgust at the manner in which I have been treated by the Sky call centre’s during my recent contact; and also by Sky throughout the entire time I have been a customer

Firstly, and perhaps the most serious issue, I am still waiting for my Sky service to be installed some 8 months after first placing my order and paying my installation charges. I have had a number of appointments scheduled, all of which have been missed by your engineers and I have lost 6 days pay to make myself available for them to not turn up. Throughout this entire 8 month farce, I have received no Sky service and have spent many, many hours on hold and speaking to your inept customer service department.

I am currently in the process of moving house (I originally ordered Sky at the start of my old tenancy, at my old addres), and initially contacted the SKy customer service telephone number 11 days ago (on 19/04/08). The call was answered in a timely manner, and having taken a few details the lady I spoke with transferred me to the “Home Mover’s” team, who could action the change of address for me and arrange yet another installation appointment. Again the telephone was answered rapidly, by a friendly gentleman who took a number of details and placed me on hold to check some details. 37 minutes later, I was still holding! Unfortunately, as I was in work and also calling from my mobile telephone, I had no alternative but to terminate the call as I simply could not continue to hold.

I called back that evening at 21:30, again I was transferred to the home mover’s team, however on this occasion I was holding for 44 minutes, after which a recorded message was played stating “The department you are calling is now closed, please call again” or words to that effect. To say I was livid would be an understatement!

Fuming, I called back the following afternoon, and the lady I spoke to was extremely rude to me when I tried to express my concerns, and refused to allow me to speak to a superior, advising me that they don’t have supervisors in their call centre!! Ultimately I was transferred to the home moving team again, and after some 20 minutes on hold I again was forced to end the call and return to my work duties.

So, in all over the course of a number of days, I spent far in excess of 2 hours (the vast majority of which was on hold) on calls to your call centre’s, to action a simple request of changing my address and arranging an installation – and I’ve still not made any progress. As I had to call from my mobile telephone, these calls to your “National Rate” number cost me in excess of £40 – which I feel is absolutely ridiculous.

I am seriously disappointed with the level of service I have received from Sky, especially as I originally signed up on the back of a recommendation from a friend. Unless you are able to resolve these issues as a matter of urgency, I will be left no alternative but to request that my Sky account is closed, my installation charges refunded and to consider alternative service suppliers. I can also assure you that should I take this action, my friends and family will follow.

I look forward to hearing your views on this situation, your proposals for my service finally being installed, and also your proposals for the repayment of the cost of my telephone calls.
Please respond in writing, as I am tiring of promises by telephone which cannot be honoured and which are never recorded.

Kind Regards,

Marc Faulkner
******
E-Mail: [EMAIL="mfaulkner@ebuyer.com"]******[/EMAIL]
Tel: ******
Ext: ****

vetfred

Just wanted to say, are you sure you want your account number posted publicly? Doesn't really matter if Sky were to see your post because they already know your issues but wouldn't want you to be open to someone using your account maliciously.

marc.faulkner

Aaarrrggghhh!!

Dear Mr Faulkner

Thank you for your further email dated 6 May 2008.

When I spoke with you on 1st May 2008 regarding the installation of Sky equipment you mentioned that you had several broken appointments. Having checked our records I note that the installations had been booked for a free of charge digibox with you paying only for the installation.

You did mention that you have now moved to 110 Hailgate, Howden, DN14 7SZ with home telephone number: 01430 436570 and requested a weekend installation date and that communication be via email. Due to technical difficulties I had been unable to confirm the booking on Thursday 01/05/08 and on Friday 02/05/2008 I sent you the email listed below:

"Dear Mr Faulkner


I write with reference to your email addressed to James Murdoch and our subsequent telephone conversation yesterday.



Please accept my apologises for the delay in my email this has been due to system errors.



Firstly, I will not attempt to justify the unsatisfactory service you have received. Suffice to say that we clearly failed you, and I very much regret that your installation was not completed earlier. I completely understand your frustration, and on behalf of Sky television I would like to offer my apologies.



As discussed, I have arranged for a Sky engineer to call to install a Sky dish and dig box at 110 Hailgate, Howden DN14 7SZ on Sunday 11 May 2008 with an am call (between 8am and 1pm) having been requested. Should this appointment be unsuitable, please call our Installation team on 08442 414414, quoting job reference 50488982, where one of our advisors will be more than happy to reschedule the appointment to a more convenient date.



Please have viewing card number: 293131629 (previously issued to you at your previous address) available for the engineer.



We want all of our customers to get the best possible service and I am sorry that you may feel let down in this instance.



Should you require any further assistance in regards to this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at the address above.



Kind Regards

Lorraine Hunter

Customer Liaison Consultant"

To which I replied...

Hi Lorraine,

Many thanks for you email, and for finally arranging this installation – I hope that this installation goes ahead according to plan.

I did not receive the email you purport to have sent on 02/05/2008 – nor did you call me to arrange a convenient date as you agreed to do during our telephone conversation.

I note from your email that I need to have a Sky viewing card available – I have never received any Sky viewing card, so cannot have one available at the time of the installation.

As I stated in my previous email, a Sky+ box was offered to me in a telephone conversation with one of your colleagues. I received the call earlier this year, at my old address (on telephone number 01925419384) querying the fact that my installation had not gone ahead, and when I explained the situation and the difficulties I had encountered, your colleague agreed that I could receive a Sky+ box at no additional charge to prevent me closing my account (which I had intended to do). I am not happy that yet another promise on your part has been rescinded and feel that once again this demonstrates extremely bad customer service on your part. I have personally worked in a Customer Service environment for a number of years and I am fully aware, as I am sure you are, that advisors notes relating to telephone conversations are not always as succinct as they could be.

In terms of the request for compensation, I have suffered financially as a result of your incompetence (both in cost of telephone calls and in lost wages) and I feel that compensation is due. I feel it appropriate to advise you that I will be referring this matter to the relevant watchdogs and closing my Sky account should these issues not be resolved promptly