Sky! Grrr!

LauraJ23

LauraJ23

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Laura
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Don't normally have a rant, but Sky really annoyed me this morning! We have a 4yr old amstrad white + box which is on it's last legs. Stuff keeps disappearing on it and it keeps making noises that it shouldn't.

Not bothered at all about hd, and I am not paying for something that won't get used! but the only way I can get a new box for free is by taking the hd pack! Rip off or what! Box only coast is £214! Crazy!
 
ebay, new box, call sky to pair it to your card.

or tell them you want to cancel and youll probably get put though to retentions who normally bend over to try and keep you.
 
Are the ebay ones brand new or used? That could be a good option if they are trusted sellers. Tried cancelling before and they were very happy to say bye bye! Not tried it recently though. Do you have to be an established member on av forums?
 
my experience is if you have virgin media in you r area and you threaten to leave they try to retain you. If no other provider they say bye bye
 
i think i've still got my old sky box from when i upgraded to HD. I'll have a look at home for you.. if it's there you can have it - just pay the postage. I've a feeling i may have chucked it as i'm not a hoarder - but there's a chance it's still there :thumbs:
 
michael23 said:
Don't normally have a rant, but Sky really annoyed me this morning! We have a 4yr old amstrad white + box which is on it's last legs. Stuff keeps disappearing on it and it keeps making noises that it shouldn't.

Not bothered at all about hd, and I am not paying for something that won't get used! but the only way I can get a new box for free is by taking the hd pack! Rip off or what! Box only coast is £214! Crazy!
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Don't you have carboot sales round your way? I paid £3 for my current-model Sky box at our local one from a woman who had upgraded...
 
dont get another one of those white square + boxes though, our last one blew up (litterally smoke and everything, melted the viewing card) which apparently is pretty common.
 
Lynton said:
my experience is if you have virgin media in you r area and you threaten to leave they try to retain you. If no other provider they say bye bye
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No virgin round here which is a shame, as that could have worked out very well!

leftcurl said:
i think i've still got my old sky box from when i upgraded to HD. I'll have a look at home for you.. if it's there you can have it - just pay the postage. I've a feeling i may have chucked it as i'm not a hoarder - but there's a chance it's still there :thumbs:
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Leigh, thanks, let me know :thumbs:

Flash In The Pan said:
Don't you have carboot sales round your way? I paid £3 for my current-model Sky box at our local one from a woman who had upgraded...
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That's a good idea. There are some around.
 
I got rid of sky tv last year cos tv has Freesat built in and it has the channels to suit me. Old sky HD box is happily installed in Spain now at my son's place.

Doesn't stop sky cold calling me asking why I quit and offering me free HD package for three months. Might be worth a chance telling them you want to quit and see what they offer.
 
All I was offered was free for 3 months but it's a 12 month contract. I tried very hard to get a free wireless dongle out of them and after a few minutes on hold, it couldn't be done. I was told though that his team manager purchased a compatible one off amazon for £14 and works fine with no problems!
 
Silly question but have you done a Planner Rebuild on it?

Failing that it literally takes minutes to change the harddrive.
 
michael23 said:
Havn't done that. Even if I did change the hard drive, I reckon there is something else wrong internally as the fan does kick in very quickly and it gets hot too.
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Just a thought...... the planner rebuild is like doing a defrag on a computer.

If the drive is badly fragmented it would have to work harder to retrieve data which could explain the strange goings ons.

Might be worth a go? http://www.sky.com/helpcentre/tv/sky-plus/recording/guide-to-performing-a-planner-rebuild/
 
I have had 2 boxes go in the last 5 or so years, after being told to pay I asked to cancel and was then given a replacement for free.
 
neil_g said:
ebay, new box, call sky to pair it to your card.

or tell them you want to cancel and youll probably get put though to retentions who normally bend over to try and keep you.
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Exactly what I did when my HD box was playing up...bought one off the classifieds on here which was hardly used and paired it to my Sky card...Job done. Bobs yer Uncle and Fanny's yer Aunt.:thumbs:
 
My sky box broke and they wanted hundreds to replace it.
On everyones advice I phoned the cancellation line, I didnt even get the first sentence out before they interrupted me and offered me free box.
I asked why they wanted £100s and were unhelpful the week before. They sais ANY problems go straight to them (cancellation people).
 
Iv'e got an old white one in the loft i think,if you want to pay the postage
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Don't you have carboot sales round your way? I paid £3 for my current-model Sky box at our local one from a junkie who'd nicked it to sell
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Fixed that for you ;)
 
The noises probably mean the hard drive is knacked. if you don't use the pause/rewind/record functions of the box (or can live without them) open it up (power fully OFF and UNPLUGGED) and unplug the power and data wires for the hard drive. The box should still work, less the Sky+ functions and recording, and probably no more noise. (The hard drive should be the only mechanical component in the box, so if it still makes noises, it's probably about to explode or a bunch of capacitors are on their way out!)

I did this myself when I had a sky box that was emitting a high pitched screeching sound that cut right through me, I suspect the spindle of the hard drive was trashed and didn't care for the Sky+ features so just disconnected it... and voila, silence :)
 
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I'm another with the old box in the lof if you have no luck....
 
michael23 said:
Is there a specific number to get straight through to the cancellation line? I might give this another try. Tried a planner rebuild but the options wouldn't come up.
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I think its one of the choices on the telephone menu
 
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