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**VR46** · 11-06-2009, 17:40

One of the things I like about Virgin is that you never actually buy the box so any repairs at any time are foc. And they do knock every full 24 hours you're without service off your bill.

Sympathies are with you, at least you don't also get your broadband with them, wife lost about 40 hours worth of stuff of our V+ box six months back, you'd think she'd lost a limb or something.

Sky did come out worst on a Watchdog show few weeks back, longest times on hold before your call is answered and least satisfied customers afterwards, so you are not alone, not that that helps in the slightest

**Jebus** · 11-06-2009, 17:47

I will say that they answered the phone quickly on both occasions.

That said, there's no way I'd trust them with my broadband and/or phone lines.

Over 10 years of my money, I can't believe the way they treat loyal customers.

Truth be told though, if we could get cable, I'd have switched years ago, but live in an area where you can't get cable still.

**ezee ryder** · 11-06-2009, 17:58

Wow, that is quite poor service from Sky. I remember last year they were charging me double for some reason and as soon as I noticed this I called em up to complain. They apologised and said they would refund me the money asap. I also asked why this had happened and they said they didn't know why but it is sorted now.

A couple months later I checked the bill and they had started charging me double again! Obviously I called them up again (very angry) and complained. Once again they apologised and said they would sort it out, refund me the money and so on. I know they didn't have to but not once though did they offer me any sort of compensation or good will gesture, just a "oh we're sorry".

Luckily though I had no issues since that little drama though, fingers crossed eh?!

**Howiee** · 11-06-2009, 18:29

I feel your pain. The same thing happened to me more or less. The original engineer who installed my dish was a cowboy. He left the dish hanging on 3 screws and destroyed an entire brick in the process. A few weeks after the warranty expired the signal went owning to the fact that the dish had moved position because it wasn't secured correctly.

Unlike you, I did object to the £65 fee and threatened to leave. Once they realised it wasn't an empty threat, they were quick to offer a one off "good-will" repair. I would advise threatening to cancel but only if you're prepared to go ahead and do so. I think you could take this stance with the 2 week wait as well. There's plenty of competition out there, they want your custom.

**Jebus** · 11-06-2009, 19:02

Trouble is, there is NO competition for me. We live in an area that has NO cable, so it's Sky or Freeview...

**Neil** · 11-06-2009, 19:13

Sympathise totally.
Been there before, I was a day one HD subsciber and am now on my 3rd HD box!
Threatening to cancel generally gets you nowhere, I did write a letter to their head of customer services and got the first 2 repairs for free. The third one went just after Xmas and I had to pay ?65 for that one and it's started to play up again already.
I have Freesat HD upstairs which touch wood has been very reliable.

**gordon** · 11-06-2009, 19:37

Probably not what you want to hear, but go ahead and cancel.

I did it three years ago and have never regretted it since. I listen to the footy on the radio, read more books, play games, save £35-£60 a month.

The reason was much like yours. Poor customer service after having been a customer for ten years, on top of which, for the last two summers when I'd tried to cancel Sky Sports they'd kept me on the phone for twenty minutes, tried to dissuade me, threaten me, advertise at me, do anything but what I was asking: cancel. An d of course their helpline is now some form of premium service (used to be free at the beginning, not any more), so every minute they delayed me, I was paying them for it.

So I cancelled the whole lot. I miss the footy sometimes, but not enough to go through all that crap again. Good luck, whatever you decide; and don't forget, they're not there to help you, they exist to keep your money flowing in one direction - to Sky.

**gordon** · 11-06-2009, 19:39

And don't forget you can usually download and burn stuff you might otherwise miss - or buy the DVD.

**r3volverd** · 11-06-2009, 20:57

Sky boxes are crap, there designed to break down. I wouldnt bother paying them money for crap that they repeat over and over again.

Cancelling and starting up again are the usually best ways to get the deals.Also Sky dont understand the word Customer Loyalty, they've never heard of it.

**abigsmurf** · 12-06-2009, 07:30

FreesatHD is your friend. It's getting a fairly decent range of channels now.

Only thing I'd really miss from Sky is the sports but that's a big enough deal for me to stick with them.

**ChrisF** · 12-06-2009, 07:50

Originally posted by Jebus View Post

Has anyone experienced this utter nonsense before, and successfully recieved any form of compensation?

What really gets my goat though is that I'm not eligable for a subscription refund because my box is out of warranty. What difference does that make to the fact that the box THEY supplied doesn't work and I have no service?

I'm seething truth be told and as I say, I'm 20 minutes from cancelling...like they'd care.

You're not alone mate. I went through the exact same thing a month or two back with Sky - same problem with the box as yours btw. The only thing stopping me from cancelling at the moment is that I am (75% likely) going to go to Virgin and get TV + broadband together, but I need to wait for my BT contract to finish first.

The boxes provided by Sky are terrible, at best, and it's a known problem that they fail regularly (sounds familiar!). There are kits on the net that you can fix them yourself, but they cost ?60... same price as getting Sky to fix it.

I had to wait a week or so for an engineer to come out for me as we needed a special one that deals with heights (?) as our dish is on top of the chimney. In the end he just replaced the box, as I suspected he would.

The other thing that annoyed me with Sky was their approach to trying to get me to keep the sports package when I cancelled that. "I don't watch the sports anymore" "do you have any kids?" "yes, a son" "doesn't he want to watch the wrestling?" "he's 1 and a half" "oh, i wont bother with that line then". FFS. I'm a human. Don't talk to me as in an object you can just sell to.

Yeah... I have about had it with Sky's customer "service" as well.

**Jebus** · 12-06-2009, 14:16

Having had a night to sleep on it, I rang them back today, telling them how things are. I threatened to cancel as well as commenting on how disgusted it was I, a 10+ year customer had to put up with this, whilst new customers get half price deals galore.

The engineer is now coming on tuesday (a full week earlier) and I've had £10 knocked off my bill from the date I rang until tuesday.

I shouldn't have to be nasty to have gotten this, I was polite, nice and friendly the first time, yet they shat on me. There's a life lesson in there I think.

**Leon Retro** · 12-06-2009, 14:26

I hate Sky. They charge too much and the service isn't great. I'd like to see more competition in the market place, because Sky take the piss. It won't happen, though, so I have to accept freeview. I will not pay the ridiculous price Sky demand.

**'Press Start'** · 13-06-2009, 12:11

Not what you want to hear but hey:-

The consumer has the power to change stuff like this. All it takes is an organised gathering of consumers and an organised cancallation of the subscription/service. Each 5000+ customers cancelling because the service provided is not up to the standard they expect. Like strike action but for consumers.

Sadly most people put up with the bulls**t because they want to watch a football match, because they can't be bothered to do anything but bit*h or do not want to invest time into changing things. Sky (or insert money grabbing company here) know the public are docile and lazy as a group and only really become proactive as individuals or pockets of people, and that sir is how we are constantly screwed with by substandard services.

I hate sky!

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Sky TV, I'm a very angry customer.

Sky TV, I'm a very angry customer.

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