PJCNET

Summary of Problem:

My Sky account is currently £5.71 in credit on the 22nd April 2010 and since the 5th March 2010 I have been trying to leave Sky to no avail. My 12 month contract ends in 31 days from the 20th April so as instructed by every Sky operator since the beginning of March 2010, I called Sky to formally give my legal 31 days notice, but they’ve wrongfully refused to accept the notice no matter what I said or tried to do and are therefore illegally trying to hold me to an extended contract along with all the charges.

Up until I decided to leave Sky, the actual Sky Broadband and TV service I received was in fact very good and cheaper than Virgin Media. The 20Mb/S truly unlimited broadband service was especially good where I was getting consistently fast speeds of 14.5Mb/S which my line was capable of 24/7, 7 days a week. Even when I decided to download vast amounts of data, there was no throttling what-so-ever. Having Sky was great when there was no problems, but when I needed their customer services recently to arrange to leave, I found their customer service absolutely abysmal to the extreme.

Firstly you have to pay to call an expensive 0844 number every time to call Sky that purposely isn’t included in any free minute plans unless you have Sky Talk as otherwise you’re charged up to 5p a minute (even more on mobiles) to go through numerous menus before being held in a queue while Sky make a considerable cut from the call charges. What’s worse is there’s a good website called SayNoTo0870 that shares alternatives to various 0870, 0844, 0845 numbers and more, so people don’t have to pay higher rates just to speak to customer service departments Etc, but Sky are now monitoring this website and are actively barring any direct numbers that are leaked on purpose so forcing people to pay through the nose even when they need to complain. I’ve so far been forced to make countless expensive calls since the 5th March 2010 along with numerous email complaints, entirely because Sky won’t keep to an agreement and every single Sky operator then gives a totally different account of what’s happening with different instructions along with false information and agreements that Sky break and they never ever call you back as agreed, forcing yet more expensive 0844 calls where one has to start all over again explaining to yet another Sky operator. In fact it’s virtually impossible to speak to the same Sky operator twice or to get one person to deal with a query or complaint. Email complaints have proved even more hopeless as Sky clearly don’t even bother to read them properly as the replies I’ve received haven’t even been relevant to the email I sent, instead it appears to be one of many standard replies.

It’s now scandalous and in fact illegal that Sky are refusing to let me cancel my account at the end of my 12 month contract when I’ve given my legal 31 days notice on the 20th April 2010 after I’ve followed Sky’s instructions exactly throughout and Sky haven’t kept to their part of the agreement since the 5th March 2010 with numerous broken promises and mistakes. I will now explain in detail exactly what’s gone wrong and the situation.

Full Details Of Problem:

Background:

Due to sudden redevelopment beyond my control I was forced to leave my old flat to relocate to a new flat provided by the same landlord. Because I had a BT landline (not Sky Talk) along with Sky Broadband and Sky TV, it was not possible to move home without having a disconnection of service for at least 3 weeks as BT would have needed to first reinstall a new phone line in my new property at a cost of £125 after disconnecting the old one, then after that Sky Broadband and Sky TV would have to be re-ordered in the new property which in it’s self takes around 2 weeks or more, plus they’d be further charges to have a Sky engineer visit to fit a new dish Etc. Since I need broadband Internet without interruption and because there was a Virgin Media cable connection point already in the property it was arranged for Virgin to install a new phone line, Internet and cable TV services where an engineer was arranged to visit during the week I moved. In compensation my landlord agreed to pay any costs left to Sky and also to BT for ending the 12 month contract with them slightly early, this meant that I could move without any interruption to my phone, broadband or TV services what-so-ever.

A Diary of Events and What’s Gone Wrong:

Firstly before I finally decided to go ahead and change all my services over from BT and Sky to Virgin Media, I called to check with both BT and Sky beforehand and they both told me that it would be no problem for me to finish the contract slightly early and receive a final paper bill as long as I was willing to pay as if I’d had the minimum services until the end of the 12 month contract. Because of this, I went ahead with the only reasonable plan possible without any interruption to my services.

On the 5th March 2010 I called both Sky and BT to arrange to leave and receive a final paper bill with anything that is owed until the end of the 12 month contract as they’d both agreed previously so my landlord could pay it off quickly and easily along with any extra charges.

Firstly BT have been no problem at all when I phoned up to cancel on the 5th March 2010. They disconnected my phone service in the old property and a final bill arrived to be paid by my landlord which was paid quickly as arranged. BT and everyone else is happy and I’m in a position where I could one day in the future decide to go back to BT as a customer without any problem what-so-ever. It was so quick and easily for BT to sort this out with just one phone call, so why wasn’t it like this for Sky? instead Sky have been the total opposite of easy to deal with as I’ll now explain.

Even though I checked beforehand that it was okay, when I called to cancel Sky on the 5th March 2010, they refused to cancel my contract with a final bill for ending the contract slightly early as previously agreed. They instead demanded that I would have to pay my bills until the end of contract and then 31 days before the 12 month contract was up on the 31st May 2010, I could give them notice to cancel my contract. I was allowed to reduce my services to the barest minimum and cost, but I would have to remember to phone them on the 20th April 2010 to cancel the contract with the 31 days notice. This wasn’t agreed and was much more awkward than simply paying off what was owed, but I agreed and Sky then agreed to send me paper bills (invoices) to my new address as it was explained that my landlord needed this to pay the bills as they’d agreed as part of the compensation package for forcing me to move home. I also explained that I would cancel my direct debit agreement as it wouldn’t be myself paying the bill and Sky agreed that this would be okay except I would have to pay slightly extra for having a paper bill sent which was also agreed. Incidentally I also asked how much all my bills would cost to the end of the contract and the quote was given to my landlord so they knew exactly how much they would need to pay, or so I thought!

On the 7th March a bill was created on-line saying that I’d have to pay for my full TV and broadband services for the next month in advance when the services had been reduced to the minimum (1 TV Pack). I called Sky to ask them why this bill was asking for money that I didn’t owe and I was told not to worry because it would be adjusted. A couple of weeks went by and the bill still wasn’t adjusted and it was coming close to the payment due date, plus no paper invoice had arrived as Sky had clearly agreed so my landlord could pay off the bill, so I called Sky again. This time I was told not to worry as a paper invoice would be automatically generated when my direct debit didn’t go through and the amount would be reduced to what was really owed. Throughout this time I also wrote more than one Email to Sky asking them for the paper invoice that was needed and agreed so it could be paid by my landlord and I’ve actually got a reply stating that I would be receiving one.

I waited another week and I received an email stating that my account was overdue payment and I still hadn’t received a paper invoice as arranged. I called Sky yet again asking them what was going on and why Sky hadn’t reduced the balance to the correct amount as owed on the bill. I was yet again promised a paper invoice which I needed for my landlord to pay them and again got told that the balance would be sorted out. I then received a letter from Sky threatening me with account suspension for non payment for money that wasn’t even owed and still no paper invoice had arrived as they clearly agreed both over the phone repeatedly and by email (the letter didn’t even show any amounts). Very annoyed my landlord agreed to pay the amount Sky wanted to get them off my back even though no invoice had been received and even though it wasn’t even owed at the time as it was for full services in advance that had been cancelled.

I called Sky with my landlord to pay the bill and I logged into my on-line account to find my account corrected as it should have been all along and I was in fact £5.77 in credit because I’d already paid in advance for all my services that had been cancelled to the minimum. On speaking to Sky yet again, they advised that no payment was required at this time, completely messing about my landlord who had got the funding authorised for payment. We asked for a paper invoice yet again and was promised it yet again. A quote was again given for the total amount to finish the contract which was higher than the one given a few weeks earlier, but we was still told we would have to wait until the 20th April to phone to cancel the contract giving Sky 31 days notice, paying all bills outstanding up until the end.

Instead of receiving an invoice I received a letter stating that my Sky account had now been suspended for non payment even though at this time I owed nothing, in fact the account was still £5.77 in credit and in fact Sky even refused payment saying it wasn’t necessary at this time. The letter ridiculously went on stating that I could set-up a payment plan by direct debit and if I didn’t, all my services would be suspended soon. I was by now furious and I still hadn’t received a single paper invoice as promised numerous times by Sky. I wrote Sky a number of complaint emails, but they clearly didn’t bother reading them properly as my response was again stating that I’d have to set-up a payment plan, they obviously failed to read that MY ACCOUNT WAS IN CREDIT – so how can one set-up a payment plan to pay it? By now I was also worried that Sky might have blackened my credit history, stating that I was late paying a bill even though they owed me! I tried calling Sky and even my landlord tried calling Sky but we got nowhere except up against a brick wall, each time we were told a different story and we have been given more different quotes to end the contract, plus now Sky were now blatantly refusing to send out a paper invoice as they’d agreed many times beforehand as the account was now suspended.

On the 20th April as agreed I called to give Sky my formal and legal 31 days notice to end my contact on the 21st May 2010 which was the earliest opportunity (exactly 12 months from the start), but Sky have blatantly refused to cancel the contract. They won’t cancel because the account is suspended even though this is entirely their error and entirely their fault. I have stated that my account is in fact £5.71 in credit and it shouldn’t be suspended. After a few more attempts at calling asking different Sky operators to see reason, I was at last put through to an operator that I thought understood the problem and agreed that my account shouldn’t be suspended and he didn’t know why it had been, but the system wouldn’t allow them to unblock the account to allow me to cancel the contract. The operator however promised and assured me that he would call me back after investigating the problem with hopefully some sort of resolution within 2 days and he seemed to actually look into the problem itself rather than stating that a payment plan need to be set-up by direct debit which was ridiculous for an account was in credit. Unfortunately even this latest Sky operator obviously lied, forget or just couldn’t be bothered as he broke his promise and there was never any call back as promised.

Since the latest Sky operator failed to bother to call back as promised, I called Sky yet again on the 22nd April 2010 and Sky were now getting quite nasty, refusing to do anything until the account is unsuspended even though it shouldn’t be suspended in the first place and the latest Sky operator was in fact quite rude. To get the account unsuspended I was now told that I’d have to reset up a direct debit plan to make future payments. I explained that numerous customers pay their Sky bill without direct debit and that it was explained and agreed from the very start that my direct debit would be cancelled so Sky could send paper invoices for my landlord to pay, but all I got was a brick wall, Sky completely refused to budge saying that they couldn’t unsuspended my account until this was done while I kept telling them that my account was wrongful suspended and that it was arranged for paper invoices for my landlord to pay the bill. My landlord has even offered to pay them the latest and again changed quote for total costs up until the end of contact so I’d never owe them anything again, but Sky have even refused to take payment over the phone, so making resolving the issue reasonably totally impossible. They simply won’t cancel my contract at the end of term and they won’t send out a paper invoice so my landlord can pay them. I most certainly don’t want to set-up a direct debit again as Sky clearly cannot be trusted as they’ve given numerous different quotes for the total amount due until the end of contract and my landlord need to pay Sky, not myself. Even if I did now get my account unsuspended, Sky will only start the 31 days notice from then even though I called on the 20th April 2010, leaving extra subscription charges which I shouldn’t be paying. I’m now also left in a situation were I need to check my credit file to ensure Sky haven’t wrongfully blackened it through their extreme incompetence as if so I’ll be forced to get a solicitor.

I have written dates and accounts of all phone calls to and emails along with any email replies from Sky including an email that stated I’d be getting a paper invoice in writing, yet they haven’t sent a single invoice since requesting one on the 5th March 2010. I even have witnesses that heard Sky making these agreements on speaker phone which they’ve since broken. Every time one calls Sky, one has to go through a long menu system before waiting in a queue, then one finally speaks to a completely different operator every time and there’s never any comeback from each operator. For each and every operator I’ve had to re-explain and go through the entire problem again from scratch on their always chargeable 0844 number where Sky make a considerable cut from calls. I must have already make around £15 worth of calls to Sky so far and it’s still nowhere near resolved, with BT I made one phone call to do exactly the same thing!

ALL I WANT TO DO IS RECEIVE AN INVOICE FROM SKY TO PAY THEM OFF IN FULL TO FINISH MY CONTRACT AT THE END OF TERM, BUT THIS HAS PROVEN TOTALLY AND UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE!

I decided to call Sky one last time to ask them finally to listen and resolve the problem amicably before I’d be forced to escalate the complaint to OFCOM if they continue to refuse to cancel my contract of the end of the 12 month term while demanding payment for services beyond this cancellation date. This latest Sky operator I spoke to told me a completely different story to all the rest so who knows what to believe, explaining that if I don’t do anything at all with the account and ignore the threatening suspension letter, my account will be automatically terminated automatically after sometime. The problem is the contract will wrongfully run beyond the 21st May 2010 when it should end and it will most probably lead to extra charges on the account that I most certainly shouldn’t be paying. Also my good name will probably be blacklisted with Sky in future as if I’m someone who doesn’t pay their bills as according to their records the account will be terminated because of non-payment WHEN THIS ISN’T TRUE, plus I’m very concerned that an incorrect default or false arrears could appear on my credit file making it difficult to get future credit.

Last Resort Solution:

I have legally given Sky their 31 days notice to end my 12 month contract even though they’re refusing to accept this due to the account being suspended when it’s in fact £5.71 in credit at the time of writing. After trying absolutely everything to resolve the issue with Sky to no avail, my landlord will make out a cheque out to Sky for the latest quote (they keep changing this) for all charges until the end of contract which should be ended on the 21st May 2010. We will post this cheque payment via snail mail, along with all logs of all complaints, phone calls, emails Etc along with a long letter of complaint stating everything we’ve done and everything Sky have done wrong throughout with all the broken promises and changes to the agreement with each different Sky operators (see section above for full details). We will state on the letter that we have legally ended the 12 month contract which ends on the 21st May 2010 and that all charges have been paid in full until the end of term as quoted by Sky on the 22nd April 2010 (they have incompetently given various different quotes, but this is the latest one). If Sky continue to refuse to end the contract, if they refuse to accept the payment and/or if they keep sending me bills after this, I will be forced to complain look into complaining to OFCOM and perhaps even a solicitor. I will be keeping a check on my credit file throughout to ensure I’m not blacklisted wrongfully.

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Conclusion:

I’m absolutely disgusted that customer’s can be treated in this dire and totally incompetent manner by Sky customer services and how I have no option except to go to extremes to force Sky to finish a contract even at the end of a 12 month term when they’re given the 31 days notice for an account that’s in credit at the time. Sky fail to realise that by providing a good service and customer service, even when someone is leaving will open the door for the customer to possibly come back one day, but now they’ve treated me like this I’d be extremely hesitant to use them ever again and I’ll be advising other people to use caution before signing up in future. Sky also need to understand that word of mouth is a very powerful way of advertising and this can be both good or bad depending on personal customer experiences, so providing an incompetent service like this will ultimately damage their reputation which could cost them masses of future sales.

Legal Disclaimer:

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