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Sky customer services complaints

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For those of us who are subscribers to the digital television services offered by Sky, take note and be prepared for a long wait when you come to cancel your subscription.  The following email complaint was sent to one James Murdoch of Sky on the 26th March 2006.

Dear Sir, I telephoned your Sky television and broadband Customer Services department this evening at 21:05 and had a whole customer experience that does your organisation no credit.

I have been left with a definite feeling that Sky is ill equipped to deal with volumes of calls from customers (which isnt new as I have experienced the same delinquency of response in all my time as a subscriber), and that the Sky customer service staff I spoke to were of very low competence levels which was demonstrated in their inability to deal with my enquiry or answer my concerns satisfactorily.

Also, the process which took me from my first point of contact to the user dealing with my enquiry was flawed, time consuming and utterly without point.

- 21:05 - I telephoned to cancel my subscription as am moving house.  Asked to identify myself using touch tone keys to input my home telephone number.

- 21:24 - Customer Service Advisor comes onto the line and asks me to identify myself again, collects bio data, takes password and checks the nature of my enquiry.  I state that I find the amount of time it takes for Sky to deal with an non-sophisticated enquiry to be entirely unacceptable for an organisation of its size with such a large customer base.  He asked me to hold which takes 4 minutes then comes back to me advising I would be put through but would have to hold for approximately five minutes.  Why was I put on hold initially for him to put me through to another department and have to hold again?

- 21-36 - I came through to a Customer Service Advisor called Helen.  I said, quite seriously, "I assume you know my name and the nature of my enquiry." She answered no.  I asked if she could explain why I had gone through the previous process and she replied no.  I stated once again that I found it entirely unacceptable that I had been forced to be kept waiting throughout a process for no conceivable reason.  I then had to provide full bio data details again. She then dealt with my enquiry with the minimum of charm that tested my patience further.  The fact that there was no reason to this elongated process caused me to ask if Sky made revenues from customers dialling the 0870 number.  She replied I dont know.  I requested I speak with a manager or someone who was her superior and she said the manager was at home and there was no-one more senior than her and they were leaving in twenty minutes.  I demanded that she allow me to speak to a colleague of hers to corroborate her statement on three occasions, I was then cut-off.  Not once did I use bad language or raise my voice.

This was a straightforward enquiry, one which could have been dealt with so simply but one which actually served to raise my levels of disbelief at the poor level of customer service and the feeling that a large corporate organisation really had no empathy or consideration for its customers.  I have been a subscriber to Sky TV since 2000 and have enjoyed the output of programming and the flexible pricing structures you offer however I believe it is only fair to you to point out the severe failings of your Customer Services people, process and supporting infrastructure.  I would very much like these questions answered directly to me.

I have forwarded this email onto various consumer and media organisations, as I will not accept any organisation that I am a customer with dealing with me in such an unprofessional, uncaring manner.

Yours Sincerely

Rob Williams


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clocked

clocked

beware all sky users that insure with domestic and general they move dishs
up on the roofs etc then refuse to repair or replace .

after over 20 years payments never missed their engineer refused to go on roof
and replace we had to pay £175 our selfs so beware they take your money but are not prepared to live up to their contact so think twice before going with sky protect
07/07/16 clocked
0
Ann

Ann

Free movies for a month! that's a joke if you have some other free add on then
you don't get free movies however, when upgrading on line there is no message telling you this. Its just criminal to not advise customers of this
28/10/14 Ann
0
topher

topher

Well this is a typical response from the general public. One person decides to inflict his gripe on the world at large and the mewling mob flocks in for scraps.
It seems the attitude of "give me free stuff or I'm leaving you" is here to stay.
This is why we can't have nice things
10/08/14 topher
0
Edgie

Edgie

I have been with Sky since the year dot and the TV is basically my only means of entertainment
My neighbour out of the blue received the on demand connector and suggested I requested same
I have multiroom and sky go, yet they have flatly refused my request, stating it should have been accepted by January 1st 14.
I refused to accept their decision and sent a further two emails fighting my corner, and considering the amount of marketing I have received from sky in the past is unbelievable. I believe they call it carrot dangling to secure new custom or persuade you to try something else at a cost..
I find it unacceptable as a long term customer that they can treat you with such disrespect yet new customers are offered unbelievable deals.
10/03/14 Edgie
0
dennis

dennis

I had an account with sky they cancelled my account due to dispute over a bill.months later my son signed up to sky fro same address,they accepted his order,sent him his viewing card,sent engineer to install sky.1 hour after installation sky phone to say they are switching him of due to previous dispute.a different name,new account can they do this.
04/02/14 dennis
-3
SKYPE

SKYPE

I HOPE THEY SACK THE MUPPET WHO FORGOT IT WAS A BANK HOLIDAY THIS MONDAY AND PUT THE FIRST BIG GAME OF THE SEASON AT 8 PM ON A BANK HOLIDAY!!! NO OTHER FIXTURES - WHY???
25/08/13 SKYPE
-102
Oi

Oi

One reads so many dissatisfied comments about this wretched company that it's impossible to understand A) why its so popular and B) manages to corner the market in major sporting events in the way it does.

Dare I say it: is it because the masses are really that dim and all blindly sign up to it?
21/08/13 Oi
-101
miserablemoaninggit

miserablemoaninggit

I received a letter today about Sky Protection Insurance. Basically, they want an additional £8+ to protect my Sky equipment - the box, remote control, the satellite dish. This is in addition to the £50+ I'm handing over every month, and have been doing so for quite a number of years now.

So, if my box breaks and I cannot receive a signal, what do I do? Presumably, I will telephone Sky for them to state that there will be a charge to send out an engineer. I express confusion over this thinking, quite reasonably, that the monthly payment I've been making for years includes the breakdown of equipment. Brand new customers will receive the equipment for free, so I ask for a replacement.

Should they insist on the charge then obviously I will initiate the cancellation process, switch to BT TV, or Freeview and goodbye Sky.

Sky is like the rest of them - a greedy company that attempts to play upon people who are not particularly bright, or more likely are somewhat naive. Anyone that takes out the Sky Protection insurance surely belongs in one or both of these categories.
21/08/13 miserablemoaninggit
-95
Larry Dart

Larry Dart

Sports for free with WIZZIWIG? Doubt it's worth the hassle and I'll tell people why:-

1/ You need to download Sopcast, easy to set up but prone to failure when run and often channels just don't respond, or if you're watching it will crash out.

2/ Wizziwig states you need to download Realplayer. This software you want to steer clear of as it infiltrates your computer and file associations, can make a right mess and be difficult to completely eradicate once in. Like Norton AV, avoid.

3/ Ad blocking software is recommended - a minefield in itself. Many a so-called ad-blocking program is in fact a virus or a cunning plan to effect ads on your computer, or tracking, or worse. So this step needs research and great caution.

4/ Videolan required. Excellent software to play numerous forms of video and completely outdates anything Microsoft. The only upside.

4/ Windows Media Player required. Eh? Why??? Given that VLC is needed, why Microtheft software too? I guess it's the codecs or some such. Anyway, a prime reason for not having Wizziwig even though it comes 'free' with most PCs. Use VLC instead.

5/ If you ever do get everything up and running you'll be lucky to consistently see much uninterupted sport, and you'll need to know your way around a computer to iron out all the glitches that will definitely arise.

6/ The quality will be severely lacking, so don't expect 360 or even 480 res. It's often 240 or worse; lots of pixilated rubbish, often with foreign commentary.

If you want to watch sport for free, Google it and find other ways. This one ain't it.
20/08/13 Larry Dart
-89
Rob Wingate

Rob Wingate

I know how poor Rob Williams feels as i am trying to cancel my subscription when current offer ends in September but it seems a lot easier to try to split the atom using a hammer and chisel as you just get passed from pillar to post each time giving name,adress,password etc etc only to be baffled by the advisors inabillaty to push a button and cancel my subscription.
However i have found an easier way,CANCELLED DIRECT DEBIT.
If anyone has not found this site yet just google WIZZIWIG and get your sports for free!!!!!

Regards

Rob
19/08/13 Rob Wingate
-108
jenny

jenny

deaf customer who's favorite t.v program "Greys Anatomy" ruined not having subtitles the past two weekes, please correct.
09/05/13 jenny
-104
sky genie

sky genie

if you do phone up and do think, dont shout at the person on the phone, when your account pops up on the screen its the first time they have seen it , all day having the deal with getting shouted at and abuse for other peoples mistakes and people not reading what they signed up for
30/04/13 sky genie
-122
sky genie

sky genie

you pay for the next month of service, example, your billing date is the 15th of each month, you call to cancel on the 1st of april, you have to give 31 days notice to cancel so it would cancel on the 2nd of may, you would be partial billed from the 15th - 2nd so you billed 18 days final pay, sky world £55.50/31*18= final bill £32.22. all services you have with a company require notice to cancel its in the terms when you sign up, but like most people you dont read them then like a big kid, i dont want this any more im canceling my direct debit , then it gets passed to a debt collector affects your credit rating then you get anoying phone calls. and your recordings, its a subscription service, you rent the programming you dont own it , ,what i would do is pay the £36.50 dont set up the direct debit, your account will remain blocked but no debt so it wont be removed from debt collectors, 50 days after your account has been blocked it will terminate, once that happens your account will go into credit of around that amount and it can get refunded, as its a rount figure of £36.50 you prop had entertainment extra with multiroom or hd and your billing date was prop the 1st of the month, the month in advanceyou think you paid covering you from the 1/4/13-30/4/13 is the outstanding amount
30/04/13 sky genie
-108
Sue

Sue

Tweelan, what was the result of your court date? I am thinking of going to the Ombudsman and the papers about the treatment I have received below from Sky reps. Particularly about the threatening letter and the fact I have paid in advance for the service and they have the nerve to ask me for more money. 26/4/2013
26/04/13 Sue
-104
Sue

Sue

I cancelled my SKY subscription on 1st April and cancelled the Direct Debit online from my bank account at the same time to stop any further payments. Threatening letter from Sky saying I will be passed on to debt collectors and have my credit rating damaged. Called Sky and Steven phoned back saying that I can't close the account until I pay the 36.50 as it has been blocked. I refuse as I have paid in advance. They cut the service on 16th April so I am now on Freesat. Works well AND you don't need the viewing card in the slot! However, they have removed ALL of my recorded programmes WHICH I HAVE PAID FOR. Of course I no longer get live pause and record which I actually don't miss. Just like the old days, you watch the programmes, get up and make a cup of tea in the adverts. You can still set reminders so you don't miss a programme. Another call from Sky, asking for the money. No, said I. You can pay by credit card, not likely said I! Tell you what, you send me a revised bill for the days this month I actually watched TV before you cut it off (14 days at 1.40 a day). HOWEVER if I am paying in advance surely I paid for this last month??? Anyone shed any light on this?
26/04/13 Sue
-100

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