Sky Installer Took My Free To Air Signal

foggy_lad

I have free to air satellite from my old Sky disy and using my old Sky box and it seemes to work perfectly until a short while ago.

Earlier today a Sky engineer/installer was here and changed the LNB on the sky dish which is shared with the house upstairs but when he was finished my satellite feed was gone and i now have no satellite signal fram the dish at all.

this same installer has been out to change the LNB several times in the past few months, so maybe there is an issue with the quality of the equipment or work but my issue is that he should have left my connection just as it was earlier, connected properly to the dish and recieving a full satellite feed.

are sky installers allowed to remove the signal or disconnect cables of people using the sky dish for free to air signal?

Paulw

Who owns the dish?

foggy_lad

Paulw wrote: »

Who owns the dish?

I have no idea who owns it technically or legally (but i suspect it remains the property of sky), but it is on my wall because i ordered sky a few years ago but then switched to free-to-air viewing using the sky box which i have been told by sky is my own.

I am really trying to find out what right sky or their agents have to disconnect my free to air connection?


I rang sky who were able to try some troubleshooting which did not work as there is no sattellite signal being recieved, but the cable is still connected to the dish and LNB. they said i need to contact my neighbour and get him to report the issue, but I have not seen them in a few days and it could be weeks before I see him.

thenightrider

If it was you that orderd the sky and this is the dish that was fited you own the dish the lnb the box the lot

foggy_lad

thenightrider wrote: »

If it was you that orderd the sky and this is the dish that was fited you own the dish the lnb the box the lot

Yes i ordered sky and had them install the dish so then it is my dish but shared with my neighbour so can I get sky to remove the dish off my wall and get my own free to air dish?

Boggles

foggy_lad wrote: »

Ok then it is my dish but shared with my neighbour so can I get sky to remove the dish off my wall and get my own free to air dish?

Sky will do nothing for you, your not a customer.

Your man is not really an employee of sky either, he just as a contract with them to do their installs or repairs.

He tampared with your property, which he had no right to do. Get his mobile number, ring him and explain the story to him.

Sponge Bob

Tell the neighbour to ring sky and send him back out .

foggy_lad

Boggles wrote: »

Sky will do nothing for you, your not a customer.

Your man is not really an employee of sky either, he just as a contract with them to do their installs or repairs.

He tampared with your property, which he had no right to do. Get his mobile number, ring him and explain the story to him.

Afaik it is a company from County Carlow and i rang the number but it goes to voicemail and so far i have left two messages but heard nothing bck from them.

I dont want to think it is a scam but if i was to ring them saying my signal was gone would they want a call out fee to fix something they broke to begin with? do they go around disconnecting people to arrive later and fix the problem for a fee?

I also thought it very unusual that this guy arrived and did all this work presumably at the request of my neighbours who are not there today so there was nobody to check the work or sign that it was done right!

foggy_lad

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Tell the neighbour to ring sky and send him back out .

i might not see my neighbours for days or even a week or more:eek:

thenightrider

foggy_lad wrote: »

Yes i ordered sky and had them install the dish so then it is my dish but shared with my neighbour so can I get sky to remove the dish off my wall and get my own free to air dish?

Sky wont remove the dish you will have to pay someone to take it down but if you were puting up a diffent dish i would think they will only charge the price of an install even less if you are going to use the cable that is already there but there is no point in changeing the dish if it works

Boggles

foggy_lad wrote: »

Afaik it is a company from County Carlow and i rang the number but it goes to voicemail and so far i have left two messages but heard nothing bck from them.

These guys spend half their working lives up a ladder, so I wouldn't be too shocked that he hasn't rang you back.

foggy_lad wrote: »

I dont want to think it is a scam but if i was to ring them saying my signal was gone would they want a call out fee to fix something they broke to begin with? do they go around disconnecting people to arrive later and fix the problem for a fee?

There is no need to scam them, you have been wronged 100% and not just today.

You ordered your sky dish and box first, presumably your neighbours ordered theirs sometime after.

He did a fast job when your neighbour ordered theirs, instead of putting up a seperate dish which he should have, he T'd into the existing LNB or just replaced the LNB with a dual or quad feed.

It's actually not a consumer matter at all, tis a criminal matter if anything. Not saying you should ring the guards or anything. :pac: But he did tamper with private property.

foggy_lad wrote: »

I also thought it very unusual that this guy arrived and did all this work presumably at the request of my neighbours who are not there today so there was nobody to check the work or sign that it was done right!

If it was a faulty LNB he has test equipment himself and doesn't need access to sky boxes.

You prob would get a better answer in what to do in the sat forum.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Maybe he just forgot to screw back in your cable, if you have access to the dish, you can check yourself.

Mr McBoatface

It's actually very dangerous to share a standard dish set-up with your neighbour. You invalidate your home insurance by having such a set-up.

Multiple house/dwelling using the same dish require a special set-up with earthing rods, this correct set-up is commonly seen in apartments blocks with a single shared dished feeding multiple homes. If the set-up is not earthed you are in affect creating an electrical link between two homes which could be very dangerous in certain circumstances.

Both homes will have their independent electric power supplies linked to each other via the LNB on the dish.

If the dish is on your property and you paid for it originally you should be the one linked to it, your neighbour requires their own dish to be installed. It may not have been clear to the installation engineer who owned the dish but he done the right thing by not linking the two dwelling.

Sponge Bob

Maybe he took out a quad lnb and left a single lnb with the neighbours cable in it, take it out and put yours in and get them to ring another fault into Sky saying the quad is faulty

foggy_lad

jobyrne30 wrote: »

It's actually very dangerous to share a standard dish set-up with your neighbour. You invalidate your home insurance by having such a set-up.

Multiple house/dwelling using the same dish require a special set-up with earthing rods, this correct set-up is commonly seen in apartments blocks with a single shared dished feeding multiple homes. If the set-up is not earthed you are in affect creating an electrical link between two homes which could be very dangerous in certain circumstances.

Both homes will have their independent electric power supplies linked to each other via the LNB on the dish.

If the dish is on your property and you paid for it originally you should be the one linked to it, your neighbour requires their own dish to be installed. It may not have been clear to the installation engineer who owned the dish but he done the right thing by not linking the two dwelling.

I have seen instances where neighbours could easily share a dish but there are two or three dishes placed side by side instead, I did not know that there was an electrical link using one dish or that it may invalidate insurance! There is no special earthing precautions being taken here afaik and there are two homes connected to one dish.

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Maybe he took out a quad lnb and left a single lnb with the neighbours cable in it, take it out and put yours in and get them to ring another fault into Sky saying the quad is faulty

Afaik he took out a quad and put back in a quad LNB but over the last 5-6months the LNB has been replaced several times(at least 6 that i am aware of). it first had a single than a double then a quad then 8:eek: than back to quads and a 6 connnection one but now it is a quad.

i am tempted to give the LNB a smack of a hammer but am too restrained for that and may just cut the cable for my neighbour so he has to get sky out again.

Also the installer who i thought was responsible is NOT the guy that was here (so i am glad i did not name him), the installer could have been from anywhere in the country depending on where my neighbour ordered sky.

watty

Sky don't own ANY skyboxes or dishes, that are at customer premises. You own everything from time of install. But you have a liability to pay for the service for a year. After that you can cancel payTV at one month notice.

Don't share a dish with a neighbour, ever, unless there is a professionally installed distribution system by real Satellite installer (not ordinary Sky domestic contractor), someone that does apartments etc.

foggy_lad

watty wrote: »

Sky don't own ANY skyboxes or dishes, that are at customer premises. You own everything from time of install. But you have a liability to pay for the service for a year. After that you can cancel payTV at one month notice.

Don't share a dish with a neighbour, ever, unless there is a professionally installed distribution system by real Satellite installer (not ordinary Sky domestic contractor), someone that does apartments etc.

So basically it looks like i will have to get my neighbour to ring sky and get their installer back out to re-connect my cable on a single LNB then put up another dish for him for his installation.

The current system of sharing the dish has been in place for some time but I am not surprised as after looking at the sky and free to air area it seems to be plagued by dodgy dealers and cowboy installers trying to cut corners wherever possible to save a few euro while good installers lose out.


edit: just got in touch with my neighbour who was surprised to hear about the risks of sharing a dish but is ringing the installer to get it sorted. hopefully i will be free to air again before the morning!

foggy_lad

jobyrne30 wrote: »

It's actually very dangerous to share a standard dish set-up with your neighbour. You invalidate your home insurance by having such a set-up.

Multiple house/dwelling using the same dish require a special set-up with earthing rods, this correct set-up is commonly seen in apartments blocks with a single shared dished feeding multiple homes. If the set-up is not earthed you are in affect creating an electrical link between two homes which could be very dangerous in certain circumstances.

Could having two homes conected to one sky dish like this be dangerous to my television and home cinema set-up?

my television has been turning itself off recently without warning and sometimes just freezes as in cant be controlled by the remote or the buttons on the tv itself.

jor el

foggy_lad wrote: »

So basically it looks like i will have to get my neighbour to ring sky and get their installer back out to re-connect my cable on a single LNB then put up another dish for him for his installation.

They should put it back exactly as it was before, just without the sharing of the LMB between the two houses.

foggy_lad wrote: »

Could having two homes conected to one sky dish like this be dangerous to my television and home cinema set-up?

I think the risk is more to your life than the TV, but it is possible I guess.

foggy_lad

jor el wrote: »

They should put it back exactly as it was before, just without the sharing of the LMB between the two houses.



I think the risk is more to your life than the TV, but it is possible I guess.

It looks like the LNB is shot or faulty, my neighbour had rang sky earlier this week because some of his sky channels were gone since last week and was expecting a call out from the engineer. Would having two homes connected damage the LNB or cause poor signal quality?

The original installers of my neighbours sky were a dublin based company mentioned several times on the satellite forum, could I claim off them for using my dish and LNB for my neighbours sky service even though I am no longer with sky?

My neighbour just cut himself off from the dish by cutting the wires and i do hope that sky looks after him for putting him in this situation! Earlier sky ireland suggested i call the guards on my neighbour for steaing my dish and let them sort it out!

Should sky compensate me for using my dish for almost a year to provide service to my neighbour? or is the most i can hope for a brand new single LNB on my dish and a new dish for my neighbour?

Mr McBoatface

foggy_lad wrote: »

It looks like the LNB is shot or faulty, my neighbour had rang sky earlier this week because some of his sky channels were gone since last week and was expecting a call out from the engineer. Would having two homes connected damage the LNB or cause poor signal quality?

Two homes connected wouldn't affect the signal, it's just potentially very dangerous. If your signal was fine there is a good chance the channels he was losing was down to one of two issues :-
(1) Dect phone interference :- a newly installed wireless house phone/devise causes trouble, channels like "Channel 4" and other on the same frequency are notorious for it.
(2) Wrong grade coax cable not protecting against interference from other source like electric cable.

I assume the above issues are most probable because the LNB has been changed previously and you where not having the reception issue your neighbour had. When ever he gets his own dish he should look to have the cables replaced and if he has a dect phone he may need turn it off or get rid of it.

foggy_lad wrote: »

The original installers of my neighbours sky were a dublin based company mentioned several times on the satellite forum, could I claim off them for using my dish and LNB for my neighbours sky service even though I am no longer with sky?

I'd actually say it's now your neighbours responsibility to fix your dish. Ultimately he hired the clowns (albeit via SKY) to do the work. He can in turn seek compensation for his losses and inconvenience.

foggy_lad wrote: »

My neighbour just cut himself off from the dish by cutting the wires and i do hope that sky looks after him for putting him in this situation! Earlier sky ireland suggested i call the guards on my neighbour for steaing my dish and let them sort it out!

He only had to unscrew the coax cable at the back of the box , but better safe than sorry.

I'd pay little attention to what SKY say on the matter, I assume they actually sent out the Muppet installer to your neighbour in the in the first place.

foggy_lad wrote: »

Should sky compensate me for using my dish for almost a year to provide service to my neighbour? or is the most i can hope for a brand new single LNB on my dish and a new dish for my neighbour?

If it's put right personally I'd be happy. Bear in mind the last installer who disconnected you was actually doing the right thing so be sure you and your neighbour don't blame him. He would have seen an unsafe installation by a previous installer and fixed it. He was hired by your neighbour so it was not unreasonable for him to assume that the dish was your neighbours and your connection was wrong. The company who installed your neighbours system originally are to blame, that said I'm shocked that the dangerous installation was not fixed or at least pointed out earlier.


Finally I hope the readers of this forum see SKY for what they are :- Sky rip you off, rip the country off and hire dangerous clowns to help them do it.
They hire subcontractors to do the installation, unfortunately they can send dangerous clowns to people homes to do work. Some of the installers have little or no training and they do serious damage to the good name of Satellite and Aerial installation business. Another little known fact about SKY is despite the customer base they have in Ireland being large enough for them to have a legal requirement to pay VAT to Irish exchequer they charge VAT at UK rates. So the VAT people pay on their bills is not directed to the Irish exchequer it all goes to the UK. Also despite paying more Irish customer do not receive several channels received in the UK such as BBC1 HD, C4 HD, FIVE HD, E4HD and ITV1 HD

foggy_lad

jobyrne30 wrote: »

I'd actually say it's now your neighbours responsibility to fix your dish. Ultimately he hired the clowns (albeit via SKY) to do the work. He can in turn seek compensation for his losses and inconvenience.

He only had to unscrew the coax cable at the back of the box , but better safe than sorry.

I'd pay little attention to what SKY say on the matter, I assume they actually sent out the Muppet installer to your neighbour in the in the first place.

I would prefer not to go chasing my neighbour over this, it really is the responsibility of the original installers Sierra(told by sky and have the original job number) who connected us both to one dish.

he tried to get access to the screw part of the LNB but the housing would not open or move back to allow unscrewing his cables.

All sky have said is they can do nothing at all and i should get the police involved and offered me the number for OFCOM.

If it's put right personally I'd be happy. Bear in mind the last installer who disconnected you was actually doing the right thing so be sure you and your neighbour don't blame him. He would have seen an unsafe installation by a previous installer and fixed it. He was hired by your neighbour so it was not unreasonable for him to assume that the dish was your neighbours and your connection was wrong. The company who installed your neighbours system originally are to blame, that said I'm shocked that the dangerous installation was not fixed or at least pointed out earlier.


Finally I hope the readers of this forum see SKY for what they are :- Sky rip you off, rip the country off and hire dangerous clowns to help them do it.
They hire subcontractors to do the installation, unfortunately they can send dangerous clowns to people homes to do work. Some of the installers have little or no training and they do serious damage to the good name of Satellite and Aerial installation business. Another little known fact about SKY is despite the customer base they have in Ireland being large enough for them to have a legal requirement to pay VAT to Irish exchequer they charge VAT at UK rates. So the VAT people pay on their bills is not directed to the Irish exchequer it all goes to the UK. Also despite paying more Irish customer do not receive several channels received in the UK such as BBC1 HD, C4 HD, FIVE HD, E4HD and ITV1 HD

The last installer did not disconnect my cable just left me with no satellite signal as it appears that my cable is still connected to the LNB, The error on the sky box is "29 No satellite signal is being recieved".

I would be happy with my neighbour being given a years free sky for the hassle and embarrassment and I would be happy with a new single LNB on my dish instead of some dodgy quad LNB as well as an apology in writing from sky for stealing my dish and a gesture which would equal the €10 i have spent on the phone calls to a company that has just washed their hands of this!

The original installers of my neighbours sky package onto my sky dish were Sierra who should be fully responsible for sorting this out for both of us!

MunsterCycling

Lets just cut to the chase, SKY are the responsible party here, they are responsible for the contractor and not you or your neighbor, tell them the next time they reference a UK regulator that they are not talking to someone in the UK and therefore to stop bullsh!itting you with their babble and just get a real installer out to fix the problem.

Mr McBoatface

I understand your position I agree SKY/Sierra are at fault, but despite both you and your neighbour being wronged I think the onus is on your neighbour to take responsibility to have the situation corrected, even though he is blameless in the situation remember it's your property that has been misused.

I misunderstood, I thought the cable where removed completely and just a single LNB was in use. It makes it even more shocking that that most recent installer didn't correct the dangerous situation:eek:.

Let us know how you get on.

foggy_lad

Thanks to all for the very helpful information and replies, I was shocked to find out about the safety issues in connecting two houses to one dish. The installer is due back out tomorrow and i will get in touch with my neighbour about sorting out some compensation for sky's misuse of my dish and keep the thread updated on any developements.

Cabaal

foggy_lad wrote: »

All sky have said is they can do nothing at all and i should get the police involved and offered me the number for OFCOM.

Seriously OFCOM?
Sky are idiots!
:rolleyes:

foggy_lad, I'll say this....you must be the most unlucky user on boards when it comes to dealing with companys

MunsterCycling

Ironic as the call centre you get onto is in Ballincollig, Co. CORK

foggy_lad

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Ironic as the call centre you get onto is in Ballincollig, Co. CORK

strangely enough I was put through to Scotland. the Irish centre may have been closed or just too busy?

Update on this, I rang Sky again today and after being disconnected for arguing with the operator i rang back with a calm head, I got someone who actually listened rather than trying to tell me to get my neighbour arrested.

They took details and got me a booking for an engineer next tuesday to put my dish back as it was before they connected my neighbour to it as well as myself.

So my neighbour is getting an engineer out today afaik to properly install his Sky including putting up a dish for his connection and i will wait till tuesday when mine will be sorted out.

This could all have been avoided if Sky used reputable installers that did not put people in danger with unsafe installations. Imo my neighbour's installer was cutting corners by using my dish, not only by saving time but also by saving the cost of the dish and brackets and extra LNB etc.

As for being unlucky I am probably lucky not being electrocuted by this installation or not having a house fire that would not be insured as both houses have their insurance voided by Sky's actions!

Sponge Bob

foggy_lad wrote: »

This could all have been avoided if Sky used reputable installers that did not put people in danger with unsafe installations. Imo my neighbour's installer was cutting corners by using my dish, not only by saving time but also by saving the cost of the dish and brackets and extra LNB etc.

SKY do not use reputable installers BUT reputable installers install SKY.

The real advice is to go to the reputable installer and buy the SKY package off them not online from some website which texts the jobs out to the cowboys. The lowest form of technical life in Ireland is a SKY installer, some of the jobs I have seen beggar belief

foggy_lad

Cabaal wrote: »

Seriously OFCOM?
Sky are idiots!
:rolleyes:

foggy_lad, I'll say this....you must be the most unlucky user on boards when it comes to dealing with companys

Yes I have been unlucky in dealing with people in shops mostly but this is due to them following store policies rather than my statutory rights, but when some product or service has gone pear-shaped i have always found companies react very well to a formal written complaint rather than a call to their moan lines.

The phone customer care people are usually just there for basic trouble shooting which i will have already researched and done long before i would ring any company:)

foggy_lad

Sponge Bob wrote: »

SKY do not use reputable installers BUT reputable installers install SKY.

The real advice is to go to the reputable installer and buy the SKY package off them not online from some website which texts the jobs out to the cowboys. The lowest form of technical life in Ireland is a SKY installer, some of the jobs I have seen beggar belief

Those installers are paid a certain amount by sky for cable, cable clips dishes etc and if they can buy cheaper cable or get a batch of the faulty cable clips cheap they will! also if they can avoid using a dish it is money in their pockets!

A few years ago there was an installer around Carlow who was using faulty cable clips as a few days after each install you would see the cable hanging off the wall blowing in the breeze!

they should all be licensed like alarm installers!

Another update, the installer for my neighbour connected my signal back up this morning but left the cover part pushed back on the LNB so the connections are fully exposed to rain etc, it seems there is one or two connectors on that quad LNB that are not working! i am going to wait on the sky booked installers on tuesday and let them install a new single LNB.

Also this installer claims he is always connecting 2, 3, 4 and sometimes more houses/apartments to the same standard domestic sky dishes and saw no harm in the practice, he wore a Sierra high vis vest and drove the standard Opel Vivaro van.

Our man in Havana

So have you been sorted out yet?

sdanseo

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Ironic as the call centre you get onto is in Ballincollig, Co. CORK

foggy_lad wrote: »

strangely enough I was put through to Scotland. the Irish centre may have been closed or just too busy?

The sales department is in Cork as people like to think they're getting indegenous customer service. Same doesn't apply unfortunately for technical support, which is serviced by the existing call centres in Scotland.

Sky customer care will generally always see you sorted but sometimes you need to discuss with the installer(s) exactly what the problem is. Sometimes it is such a local issue that the guys at Sky can't diagnose it remotely - in my case when our signal went around the same time as a new HD box went in we presumed it was the box causing the trouble when in fact the brand new LNB (receiver on the dish) was the fault.

foggy_lad

Haddockman wrote: »

So have you been sorted out yet?

The problem was the installer on Thursday changed the LNB on my dish for a second hand faulty unit with only 3 of the 4 connectors working. This was done because my neighbour had rang the previous Thursday because his sky plus service had stopped working.

On Friday the installers fitted a brand new dish for my neighbour and reconnected my service on the faulty LNB on my dish. this connection is not a good one as the signal quality is only about 55% and the LNB is most likely on the way out and the installer failed to replace the plastic cover on the connectors leaving them open to the elements which reduces signal quality over time.

There is still a call out booked for tuesday afaik when i will be looking for a new single LNB to replace the one which was on my dish originally and it will be fitted correctly.

MunsterCycling

Make sure you are there onsite when they come and don't sign any paperwork until you are satisfied with the job. BTW leaving the weather boot off the end of the cable can let water into the dielectric and over time feed right into your equipment inside

foggy_lad

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Make sure you are there onsite when they come and don't sign any paperwork until you are satisfied with the job. BTW leaving the weather boot off the end of the cable can let water into the dielectric and over time feed right into your equipment inside

I think this is the intent with some installers as they are then generating work for themselves for the future.

These installations when done correctly should last for years but most people get hit with high call out charges for poor signal or to re-allign a dish that may not have been installed properly initially.

foggy_lad

Just had the installer on the phone confirming the visit tomorrow and he is the same guy that was here on friday. He claims the connections no longer have a weather boot and that the clearly 2nd hand LNB that was put onto my dish is in fact a new LNB even though it has only been there a week or two at most but looks like it has been out in the weather for a year.

All i want tomorrow is for my dish to be put back in the condition it was in before sky took control of it for my neighbours use.

That means putting a rubber weather boot on the cable connection and pulling down the plastic cover over the connection after fitting a NEW SINGLE LNB to replace the perfect LNB which sky replaced with a faulty quad LNB.

If they cant do this i will have to call the guards and report the interference with my property and the theft of my LNB by Sierra employees.


update: installer arrived and put on a new lnb and improved the signal so i am happy with this.

might be worth people checking their sky installations for illegal connections with neighbours that will void your home insurance!