Cancelled Sky what next

hughes051

Ok i have canceled sky as I want HD content and I am happy to pay sky £150 plus 10 per month for the HD channels BUt I wil lnot pay £60 for installation which i think is a rip off.

I Broadband provider and telephone is with Virgin Media so it make sence to go with them but there installation team were very poor they driled though water piple mad a right mess but to be fair they did correct the problem and you could not tell now and as we had a new living room we are some what concern about installation most of the cable would go out side and around the house but we have all the sky cables behind the new skirting boards so that is on hold.

That leaves me with FREE SAT whch looks great, ok i will not get my sports or virgin one ( we stop watching sky one) on free sat but what about later on as free view does have these channles or is available I have been told by free sat on the phone that come christmas when the PVR come out there is a posablity that there will be a slot for setanta sports so i be able to get my sports back can`t be much differnt between sky sports and setanta sports.

The only reason for not geting freesat is there no pvr does anyone have any ieda when they will come out.

With all this in mind will we see sky drop there prices as come september my cost of sky would go from £38 per month to £40 and if i had the HD channels this would rise to £50 I just do not think it is worth this kind of money does any one have view on this

HB13DISH

What is the £150 for ?

rolfw

The £150 is for the Sky HD box, the £60 is for installation of I presume a quad LNB and running a second cable. I don't actually think that £60 is a lot for installation and £210 total for a twin tuner HD PVR and quad LNB installed sounds pretty good as an overall package.

If you are looking for a Sky sports replacement, then Setanta won't do it, Freesat certainly won't.

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hughes051

From what I understand is this. I have already got sky plus were i can record one channel while watching another. I been told by other sky users that all i need to do is purchase a sky hd and the unplug my sky plus box and replace it with the sky hd box but I do not understand about this LNB what is it and do i need it?

As I can purchase an sky hd box from Ebay bu run the risk it not working and warrenty isuse so that a none starter.

Now as for setanta sports what the differnace apart from sky have a few more matches ? plus i would have to pay and extra £10 for sky hd were i can get setanta sports for £12.99 per month or £130 for the year now acording to freesat angent come christmas there will be pvr set out with the setanta sports slot so i can use there service

and i belive £60 for around 5 mins work is way to expencive but please tell me if i am wrong I know sky would give me the the better choice but i have found out that sky only broadcast in 720p or 1080i and freesat broadcast in full 1080 p but please advise me

not forgeting i would be paying £50 per month with sky hd come September and to get freesat pvr and setanta sports would be round £300 one of payment plus I called vergin media as i use them for brandband and they told me there no reasoon some time in the future that freesat would get virgin one etc

so i ask again is free sat worth purchasing?

rolfw

Only you can decide that.

If you are happy with what Setanta are likely to be offering and The Freesat PVR is released with a card slot (which I'm not convinced about, as it would need to be NDS licensed), then go for it.

How much are you expecting a Freesat HD PVR to cost? I can't see it being less than £200, as the single tuner Freesat HD receiver is £149, I would guess at £299 being the absolute minimum, as most of the competition is £400 plus.

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hughes051

Yes I can see the PVR sets from free sat cost around £179.99+ if sky did not charge such a high price for instattaion £ 60 then I would be purchaing sky hd as I belive paying £150 and paying £10 per month is well worth it I am just not willing to pay £60 for some guy to unplug my sky pus box and then just plug in the sky hd box which would take him around 5 or 10 mins I just think sky is ripping me off for charging £60 but if you can explain to me why sky would charge me £60 and do you think its is worth it is please explane why

rolfw

I don't work for them and it isn't down to me to explain or defend their pricing, but if you forget the breakdown of the total bill, let's say the Sky HD PVR (with debatably the best recording facility and EPG available) delivered to you and set up is £210, complete with 1 year's on site service, even if they don't need to update the LNB and run a new cable, I would call that a good deal.

Also you can ask the installer for the LNB (as you've paid for it) and sell it on Ebay .

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hughes051

OK, so what you are saying is sky would give me the best recording facity and the best hd programs etc i agree. selling the lnb on Ebay is a good idea that way i could recoupe some of the installion fees etc.

But you must agree paying £60 for five mins work is prety high

I do agree with you on sky they are the best I just wish they wer`t so expecive as like i said come september the price go from £38 pm to £40 pm with sky sports mix and if i have the hd it goes to £50 pm it seems we being priced out of the market

to tell you the truth I can not decide I want HD but not pay £60

I can get free sat but i can not recored yet I be able to get setanta sports but not yet why do thay make it so hard matbe i should move to the states and get all the hd for free lol....

also I have notice in setanta sports i can watch setanta sports via broadband as i am with virgin and get 20meg seems a good for £7.99
but would i get live pictures of the football now i know it not hd but if I can not resolve sky maybe i could do that but what does (simulcasts) mean ?

thx anyway

rolfw

Well as I said, you have to look at the overall price, it was only last month that it was £300 plus installation.

Like most big companies, they use a one size fits all policy on installation charges, so you will pay the same whether it takes an hour and a half or twenty minutes.

If you really are completely hung up over the £60, then don't go for it, but you know as well as I that your compromise service will not be close to the Sky service.

PS. Simulcast is something which is broadcast simultaneously over more than one media.

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Befuddled

I've just cancelled my Sky HD subscription as it's a rip off.

I now have Sky Freesat, Freesat (Humax HD), and a seperate DVDR with HDD.

I can watch one and record another. I didnt see the point in paying sky £10 a month for HD programs when I can watch them for free on Freesat and Sky Freesat (the free HD channels that is).

Come December Freesat will have 200 channels in total, Sky are losing customers with Freesat taking off now.

As for the LNB, if you have Sky Plus then you already have a quad LNB.

To run a system like mine you take one dish to box lead out of the back of the Sky box and put it in the back of the Freesat box. Make sure you remove the dish in no.2 lead, cos this is the feed that goes to the skybox hard drive and use that one to go into the Freesat box.

I'm getting free HD on Sky and Freesat and can still record one program and watch another with my DVDR HDD.

All for £150 for the Humax box.

Sorted!

You don't have to pay Sky anything to go onto their Skyfreesat if you have skyplus or SkyHD, they just change your viewing card via satellite connection.

hughes051

Well I have had an email from school and this is what they have said.

Dear Ian

Customer account number ******

Thank you for your further email concerning costs for SkyHD.

I note you are clearly disappointed with regard to our installation costs and can only reiterate the reasons behind this.

On checking your account I note that in accordance with your communication received 10 July 2008 a cancellation request was processed.

In an attempt to bring this to an amicable conclusion I am willing to provide a credit of 38.00 (GBP) to your subscription account should you re-consider and proceed with the purchase of SkyHD.

The above will be processed to your account on completion of the installation.

I trust that you will consider my offer to be fair and that recent events will not affect your future enjoyment of Sky. Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact the email address above.

Kind regards

Customer Relations

what do you think is it worth it now as I think it is but looking at the last post above I am not sure should i ask for £60 instead of £38 please advise

tomthebomb1968

The best thing to do is to speak to someone at Sky as their website is limited to making you choose what they can charge you for. I have just purchased 2 sky hd boxes from a local supplier as there seems to be some issues with the boxes overheating ,and if they die i will get new boxes not refurbs which is what I have heard Sky are doing. Re the installation I just told them that all I needed was the new cards and that i did not require installation. If you are just replacing a sky+ box for an Hd box I think its just a straight swap.

hughes051

Update.

I have now got sky HD from sky I got it for £150 with free installation with 30 days cooling off incase i dont like it, so what amazes me is why could sky give me the deal what i ask for in the first place in stead of me cancling my account then getting an email and then sky giving me what i ask for it seams to be a waste of time on sky time part so here to sky hd let hope it lives up to it name.

HB13DISH

That is good news. Well done.
I am not surprised about these tactics, as it give the guys working at the "Customer Preservation" department something to do in order to justify their salaries.
We have it here all the time. If you want a cheaper package or better upgrade with lower cost, just say that you are not happy with the service (but say it as if you really mean it) and few hours later the guys from the Customer Preservation would call you and make a better deal.
When I wanted to disconnect from the gas company, they told me no problem. An hour later I had a call from a nice young lady who tried to persuade me to stay and offered several options if I would only stay with them. Needless to say, she didn't succeed as I had it up to here with their bad service and overpriced monthly cost.