Duped by Installer.

Mr E

My parents upgraded from regular Sky to Sky+ a few weeks ago. I'm visiting for the weekend and the first think I noticed was a shiny new HD box under the TV (and the HD channels are active). The TV is at least 10 years old, so its pre-HD. The installer commented that it was an older TV (he knew exactly what he was doing), but that the HD would make a difference to the picture quality. Bullsh*t.

I rang sky to tell them that my parents were basically conned into getting Sky HD by the installer. They said we had no comeback because they entered into a 12 month contract. They're now paying €15 extra a month for something that completely useless to them.

The person in the Sky accounts department gave me an address in the UK to which I could send a letter explaining the situation and said that we could request a downgrade to Sky+ (but they weren't promising anything).

Thats the first part.

A neighbour (my Aunt) knew that he was going to be here with my parents on that particular day. She came over and asked him if he could realign her dish (signal was breaking up and freezing alot, signal strength was poor). The guy said no problem, but it would be an €80 call out charge (for a 5 minute job next door!), and he insisted on a cash payment. My aunt didn't have cash, so he asked for a cheque made out to him personally (I know, I know....)

Is there anyone I can report this guy to? Tax-free, over charged nixers aside, he duped my non-technical parents into paying an extra €15 a month (to Sky, I know -- does he get more commission for installing SkyHD vs. Sky+?).

I know there are installers here, so I'd be interested to hear opinions on this guys angle, and what my parents' options are.

Thanks in advance....

snaps

A sky HD box can be used as a normal sky+ box and it has a bigger hard drive to store programmes on. Sky should just be able to drop the HD subscription on that HD box and they would have a sky+ subscription (But no HD channels except the free ones). Keep the HD box for the future if they ever get an HD TV.

In regards to charges, its common for people to be ripped off. A standard call out charge is over 100e usually, but i know for a fact people that i work for and with me would possibly charge a lot less for a re alignment of a dish thats next door to a house they are already installing.

Dampsquid

I emailed james.murdoch@bskyb.com about an issue i had with the installation of sky, after the issue had dragged on for weeks with no resolution from Sky. Got a phone call back from his office, and the problem was fixed promptly.

Tony

I dont understand how the installer could install HD if your parents did not order it? Is he an independent? Did they order it in person or over the phone?

staker

are you sure they were upgraded as an existing customer?
hard to think the installer activated HD channels on site for a CRT tv?

Onikage

What happened to the old box?

Mr E

They got a flyer through the door offering installation. No idea what the flyer looked like.

Not sure if they were upgraded as an existing customer - good question. I assume so (they've been Sky customers for a long time now, and when I rang the Sky Customer Support yesterday, the password was still the same). The installer knew it was a CRT and not even HD Ready. I still don't know what was in it for him....

The old Sky box is still here. I think they want to put it in one of the spare bedrooms.

St Senan

As Tony asked earlier was the installer a independent or was he a contractor working for sky direct. Who did your parents contact about the flyer was it sky or a sales company selling sky.If it was sky direct they can stop taking the €15 for hd channels.
If it was a sales company sky should be able to give you contact details for them.

Tony

At some point your parents must have ordered HD so I'm not sure how you think they were "duped" . If they ordered via a phone or means other than phyicially walking into a shop then distance selling regulations apply including a 7 day cooling off period.

Mr E wrote: »

They got a flyer through the door offering installation. No idea what the flyer looked like.

Not sure if they were upgraded as an existing customer - good question. I assume so (they've been Sky customers for a long time now, and when I rang the Sky Customer Support yesterday, the password was still the same). The installer knew it was a CRT and not even HD Ready. I still don't know what was in it for him....

The old Sky box is still here. I think they want to put it in one of the spare bedrooms.

professore

Tony wrote: »

At some point your parents must have ordered HD so I'm not sure how you think they were "duped" . If they ordered via a phone or means other than phyicially walking into a shop then distance selling regulations apply including a 7 day cooling off period.

The installer commented that it was an older TV (he knew exactly what he was doing), but that the HD would make a difference to the picture quality. Bullsh*t.

That sounds like an elderly non-technical couple being duped to me. It's called mis-selling and is illegal.

Tony

Think you should get your facts straight before making such an ill informed statement, installers do not just turn up at someones house to sell and install sky boxes . At some point beforehand an order must have been placed, this is what I am trying to ascertain from the OP but he seems a little vague on the details so far. They may well have been mis sold at some point before the installation and as I mentioned if this was done over the phone then the 7 day cooling off period applies.

professore wrote: »

That sounds like an elderly non-technical couple being duped to me. It's called mis-selling and is illegal.

St Senan

I get a lot of people enquiring about Sky Hd because of the Cheap Price. One of the questions i ask is do you have a HD TV. The amount of people who don't have a HD TV or don't know what i am talking about is crazy.
It's €99 upgrade to get Sky HD plus €15 pm extra on your bill.
It's €199 upgrade for Sky plus and nothing extra on your bill.
So a lot of people will go for the SkyHD offer because the amount of ads and flyers about it and It also looks a cheaper option.

Mr E

@Tony: I tried to give as much information as possible, sorry if it came across as vague - I wasn't doing it deliberately. This all happened about 3 weeks ago, so the cooling-off period has expired.

@scaller: I think that's what happened, and makes perfect sense, cheers. I will still write to Sky to see if I can get it downgraded to Sky+. Doubt it will work (given scallers account of what happened) but it's worth a shot.

Thanks everyone....

Tony

No problem, your best bet is to try downgrade it to just sky +, that way your parents can upgrade at a time of their choosing, even just upgrading the tv will get you BBC HD at no extra charge. If it was distance selling (it would be useful if you could find this out) and they were not informed of that the agreement was covered by distance selling regulations then the period is extended to three months if they did not sign a written contract.

St Senan

No Bother i hope you get it sorted

TheDriver

once they knew the price of it, they merely bought something they knew the price of and naturally every sales man is going to sell what he/she can. As for the personal cheque, all she had to do is say no, if she is willing to pay him, then he is right to charge it as wrong as it may seem. Think duped is too strong a word here, they received what they obviously ordered and maybe they should have asked you beforehand?

m8

Seems like the installer failed to advise the couple about what he was about upgrade and what benefits of the new equipment would be for them.

Just bad customer service really and probably broke no laws as such.


I think this should be raised with Sky and let us know how it works out?