Rant : Sky TV

James Pardon

James Pardon

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I'm not one to complain much if any, but I have to Rant about how disappointed I am with Sky TV. Currently have the Flu as well which really doesn't help things.

Had Sky HD installed Monday morning, had to take day off work as they couldn't do a weekend installation. Sky engineer comes, replaces the box in 10 minutes, job done. Set's the box to update and leaves. Update takes 10-15 minutes and I have lovely HD channels on my TV, great stuff.

Later in the day try to Pause tv, comes up with a error saying Unavailable, call sky support. This is where it gets ridiculous. It's now the following Saturday and I've spent over 4 hours total to Sky technical support.

I've had answers such as :

Reboot your box by doing this.... (6 times)
Rebuild your Sky Package by doing this... (6 times)
Nothing wrong with your box sir, it's an Account issue, give it 24 hours and it'll be working (2 times)

Must be your box, I can arrange for an engineer to come out during the week, even though I've been told the box is fine and I'm sure it is. (always the suggestion by the Indian chaps)

Thursday I was told the problem's been raised to advanced technical? Wait 72 hours and It will be fixed... Nope.

Called today to be told It'll be looked into but could take up to 4 WEEKS. WTF!?

I'm pretty sure the problem is just the Sky+ package isn't added to this sky card, and apparently it can't be added for some problem in their accounts department.

So I Pay for Sky to come out and put the box in, I'm paying for Multiroom and HD pack to get this box each month and I have to wait another MONTH to actually use it with the features I'm paying for.

I suggested to the guy on the phone that I just cancel all boxes to which he just said "can do"

Really peeved :|

If anyone happens to work for Sky and would like to look into my problem I'd appreciate it :)
 
Sorry about your experiences but they are the complete opposite tro mine I have been with sky for 3 years and never had any problems with the kit or customer service when I upgraded ro Sky+
 
my account took a few hours to activate, however i am having broadband problems that dont seem to be getting fixed.
 
When we had HD installed the engineer was here for a while, waited for the updates to happen and then gave us a demonstration of how everything worked, including pausing and everything. Seems that maybe isn't common practice though :( I do feel for you!
 
Hope you get it sorted soon, their telephone support is an absolute disgrace though. If you want to upgrade your package you wait no time at all, if you have a problem though you wait about 30 - 45 mins...

I bought a Sky+ HD box and after about 10 months programs started deleting themselves, shows would fail to record and now if you turn the TV off then on again you need to reboot the box too. Quality of the boxes is way to low in my opinion...

Still, if you find something good in HD it is superb!
 
once its all sorted, put in a complaint with the complaints dept, asking for some compensation for not getting what you had been paying for over the last month (or however long its been once you have it fixed). thats what we are doing with the post office because the useless engineer hooked the phone line over the corner of my neighbours house and it slowly wore away until our phone line kept cutting out and we were getting dial-up speed on the broadband. now that its been sorted the call centre guy who sent the second engineer out said to put in an email complaint to complaints dept asking for compensation for the disrupted service that was effectively caused by their workmen. and chances are we should receive money off our next phone bill:thumbs:
 
We had an absolute nightmare when we switched over to HD due to them messing up the billing, and the customer service support was atrocious even to the point when I tried to speak to a Manager they told me I couldn't.

In the end I wrote an email to james.murdoch@sky.com and had a response within 24 hours from a Service Excellence Consultant in their Customer Relations who sorted out all our problems, and things have been perfect ever since.

I have to say having emailed the CEO I was most impressed with the response.... Go on give it a go! :D
 
tell them your canceling your sky inlight of this.Oops ,meant to say that it worked wonders for me
 
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wibbly said:
We had an absolute nightmare when we switched over to HD due to them messing up the billing, and the customer service support was atrocious even to the point when I tried to speak to a Manager they told me I couldn't.

In the end I wrote an email to james.murdoch@sky.com and had a response within 24 hours from a Service Excellence Consultant in their Customer Relations who sorted out all our problems, and things have been perfect ever since.

I have to say having emailed the CEO I was most impressed with the response.... Go on give it a go! :D
Click to expand...

I'll second that when I had Sky BB I had all sorts of problems, so I also emailed James Murdoch and both times was sorted in days

I doubt if he ever sees them but it seemed to get the ball rolling
So go for it :thumbs:
 
I'm on my second box and second remote for HD as the boxes I've had don't pick up the remote signal most of the time. I've asked for the engineer that's coming on Tuesday to kindly bring an Amstrad box instead of another Samsung unit, as I have it on fairly reliable grounds that the Samsung HD boxes are uselss, whereas the Amstrad units work perfectly. What annoys me is that every time I ring I end up wasting 10 minutes telling them exactly what I'd told them last time I called, and carrying out the stupid checks that I've done before.

And if I hear them tell me to turn it off and on once more I'll freak..."WOW! I NEVER would have though to try that!"

:D
 
Next time you ring, get them to triple check that your sky + subscription is active.
I had the same problem as you this week, after numerous calls, and being told everything was fine, the 4th call the bloke said, hold on a minute, your HD is active but not your sky+.
done sorted., I was not a happy bunny
 
This may sound like a silly question, but what did you upgrade from? Was it a normal Sky package/box? (Non +)
Reason I ask is that Sky HD/+ requires a new LNB and second cable input from the dish, and if he only spent 10 minutes plugging the box in........

Unlikely I know, but you never know
 
terryuk said:
post you issues on here and it may get you an answer to what is wrong
they have sorted my issues out no problem

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/
Click to expand...

:plusone: I had some trouble with my broadband in the early days, and got it sorted with some help from the kind folks on there. Some of the members work for Sky too, so you may even get a kind soul who'll deal with your problem when they go into work next! :)
 
For anyone else with problems with their remotes, I've had an Amstrad box fitted today to replace the Samsung one, and it now works perfectly. I just wish Sky had given me the Amstrad box 6 months ago when I first asked for it instead of wasting my time with new Samsung boxes and remotes needlessly.

Oh well :lol:
 
Marcel said:
This may sound like a silly question, but what did you upgrade from? Was it a normal Sky package/box? (Non +)
Reason I ask is that Sky HD/+ requires a new LNB and second cable input from the dish, and if he only spent 10 minutes plugging the box in........

Unlikely I know, but you never know
Click to expand...

That's what I thought when I first saw this. The HD box on its own won't achieve much.
 
Glad i dont have sky anymore.:D:p:thumbs:
 
Marcel said:
This may sound like a silly question, but what did you upgrade from? Was it a normal Sky package/box? (Non +)
Reason I ask is that Sky HD/+ requires a new LNB and second cable input from the dish, and if he only spent 10 minutes plugging the box in........

Unlikely I know, but you never know
Click to expand...

:plusone: You beat me to it!
 
Just a quick push in. It could be the box. Apparently SOME places/areas[but don't specify which] automatically use refurb boxes UNLESS ASKED OTHERWISE. but of course, you don't ever know if you had one. A friend of mine had 3 box replacments, got told by sky and someone els about the refurb, asked for problem to be fixed but having a NEW box, and never had the issues again[no capabilities of a SKY+ package on the multiroom box.] And it made whirring noises.
 
Thanks for the replies people. Still not working, given up all hope really. Call timer must be over 6 hours now, I'll try emailing james murdoch as a final resort.

Box was originally a sky+ box, 2 cables. The box decided to die recently and it was convenient enough to upgrade to the HD Box. Just finding it quite funny now when ringing sky as to what solution they offer, I think they operate some sort of Wheel Of Fortune type system 'clik,clik,clik...ahh sir, Reboot and wait 24 hours!'

For anyone that has to ring up with an issue, if they ever say they're just going to speak with their supervisor, come back and say to wait 24 hours, you can pretty much guarantee it's just a get them off the phone technique :(

I'm 99.9% sure it's just a problem their end with they can't get Sky+ activating on the account. It's been raised 3 times to their I.T department to sort within 24 hours and I'd get a phone call back but it's never happened. Pretty terrible service :/

A few of the people I've spoke to there have appreciated how crap the service is and they've said to ring back when it's working to claim some compensation, doesn't help right now though
 
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Shorty said:
Just a quick push in. It could be the box. Apparently SOME places/areas[but don't specify which] automatically use refurb boxes UNLESS ASKED OTHERWISE. but of course, you don't ever know if you had one. A friend of mine had 3 box replacments, got told by sky and someone els about the refurb, asked for problem to be fixed but having a NEW box, and never had the issues again[no capabilities of a SKY+ package on the multiroom box.] And it made whirring noises.
Click to expand...

They've never suggested changing the box, always said it's not the box but a problem there end, was all sealed and looked brand new. :/
 
:shrug: I dunno I was only relaying a friend's issue, but everytime she made a complaint they sent someone out[and then back with a new box] not the whole hoohar your getting. I'd not be a happy bunny AT ALL!
 
When you had the new set top box installed did the engineer use the same viewing card?

Viewing cards are matched to the box, so if the engineer did not call up the accounts team and verify that a current card is being switched to a new box you could have problems.

Just a thought as i had this issue. Sky were billing me twice, they had helf of my subscription on one viewing card and the other half on another. The engineer messed up the account by not registering a new card. Resolution was to cease the two cards and create a new one and account.

Had issues on broadband too. For some reason they decided to restrict the download speed and tried telling me that it was fine. When i told them that i am a telecoms engineer and i had completed diagnostics on the router to prove what they had done they sorted it within 10 minutes!
 
No we had a new card arrive a few days before the engineer came. The tech support have got me running round the house switching cards, re-registering to different boxes and wait 24 hours :) Thanks for the suggestions!
 
MG TF 135 said:
Had issues on broadband too. For some reason they decided to restrict the download speed and tried telling me that it was fine. When i told them that i am a telecoms engineer and i had completed diagnostics on the router to prove what they had done they sorted it within 10 minutes!
Click to expand...

That's a common thing - although a lot of the time, it's BT putting Sky customers on the wrong package.
 
SkyUser Forums

Have a read, post a query - someone will tell you what it is.

Edit: These forums are not related to Sky, but there are some covert Sky engineers who post and generally help out.
 
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IT'S ALIVE, ALLIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!

Rang through to them again, explained it all once more and they said they'd call back. Didn't' hold much hope, got a phone call from my new best mate who actually sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Asked me to switch the cards round 3-4 times, did something his end, checking numbers on the status page and now works! :D Thanks to everyone for their help and advice. Just got to get some credit back on our account now!
 
I ditched sky HD after the 12 months was up too, just bought a freesat HD recorder , the quality is excellent but i'm a bit cheesed off there's a bloody big ITV 1 HD logo in the corner, I know it's ITV 1 HD , I just paid £200 to get it
 
OutLore said:
That's a common thing - although a lot of the time, it's BT putting Sky customers on the wrong package.
Click to expand...

BT wholesale don't port throttle on the packages they sell to ISPs, that's done at the ISP end if the ISP implements capping.

I thought Sky used LLU where available, so there was no BT wholesale ADSL package in the equation.
 
People in my work have had similar experiences with Sky, where the sales department can't help you enough, and then try the after sales, and you can forget it.
Why the extra monthly charge for HD anyway. My Sky package costs a fortune for multiroom anyway, without watching repeat after repeat in HD :thumbsdown:
 
wack61 said:
I ditched sky HD after the 12 months was up too, just bought a freesat HD recorder , the quality is excellent but i'm a bit cheesed off there's a bloody big ITV 1 HD logo in the corner, I know it's ITV 1 HD , I just paid £200 to get it
Click to expand...

We did also - got the Humax Freesat PVR and it works just fine. The best feature? No ongoing payments to a company that wishes world domination and world worst customer service.

Chris
 
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