problems with new sky installation

irishpancake

hi there all:

where to start!!!

i have just had sky installed, after a seven week delay, (i ordered from the ESB before Christmas)!!!! had the card for 5 weeks until i kicked up a stink with ESB for installation.

anyway, the installers did the job last week, and all looked ok, AFAIK, except that there were no Irish Channels showing up.

they are on the EPG, but i get the "Channel not available" message on all 4 Irish channels. I was told they would come in after a period, but no dice after a day and night left box switched on. I have a phone-line connected at all times. I did all the switching off the box, re-booting, etc, but still no dice.

I rang Sky, and reported the lack of Irish Channels. They e-mailed someone in their "technical division", and told me to wait 48 hours, leaving the box powered up and phone line connected.

Still no dice, no irish channels.

Rang Sky again last Friday, got an agent there who was able to call up details of my complaint, asked to put me on hold, then disappeared, with me listening to engaged tone.

Rang back again, got a different agent, who apologised, but she was very difficult to speak to, told me i was being charged, as i have the "Family Pack", which apparently does'nt include the Irish Channels, so i will still be charged. Asked me to wait 72 hours (all week-end), while they try to sort out the problem.

She said i may need a new card, after all this.

I staill have no irish channels, the 72 hours are up this evening, so i am looking for advise as to how to handle this situation from ppl out there who may have encounered this in the past with Sky.

---

On another issue, as you know we had high winds at the week-end.

This played havoc with reception, particularly during the Rugby at the wek-end.

I now seem to have very bad, pixellated and frozen, reception on some channels.

I checked the signal in the services menu.

signal strength seems to be ok, like over 50% on the bar-chart, but signal quality is in the lower 25%, and disappears when the wind blows.

do i need to re-call the Installers to check the dish alignment?

sorry for being so long-winded, but this is my first satellite digital television experience, and so far i am considering pulling the whole thing out and getting an aeriel erected.

Tony

take a look at this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=167521

DJ Paul, this is nothing to do with the installation, getting the ESB back will not resolve the RTE problem and saying they did a "crap job" is a little knee jerk dont you think ? Unfortunately if the dish has moved as a result if storm damage it may not be covered under warranty, where exactly on the house is the dish installed ?

irishpancake

Tony wrote:

take a look at this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=167521

DJ Paul, this is nothing to do with the installation, getting the ESB back will not resolve the RTE problem and saying they did a "crap job" is a little knee jerk dont you think ? Unfortunately if the dish has moved as a result if storm damage it may not be covered under warranty, where exactly on the house is the dish installed ?

Thanks Tony, the thread gives the exact problem i am having, but i really want to get the irish channels, as i have acquired a UK FTA card, which will give ITV1/2, CH4, five, etc. so i want the irish service from Sky, as per the EPG. are Sky correct in charging me from last week, as i don't actually have the irish channels i thought were part of the sky ROI Family Pack (although it is impossible to get a ROI line-up on the sky site to quote back at them.

on the second point, i recognize that i may just be unfortunate, but for the dish to move so soon after installation, and my other problems, is just terrible. The installers put the dish on the chimney of my new bungalow, as it gave best access for cabling to my lounge, etc. do i have any come-back here, or do i have to rely on the installers good will. (after, i was waiting over 5 weeks for this).

Tony

irishpancake wrote:

Thanks Tony, the thread gives the exact problem i am having, but i really want to get the irish channels, as i have acquired a UK FTA card, which will give ITV1/2, CH4, five, etc. so i want the irish service from Sky, as per the EPG. are Sky correct in charging me from last week, as i don't actually have the irish channels i thought were part of the sky ROI Family Pack (although it is impossible to get a ROI line-up on the sky site to quote back at them.

on the second point, i recognize that i may just be unfortunate, but for the dish to move so soon after installation, and my other problems, is just terrible. The installers put the dish on the chimney of my new bungalow, as it gave best access for cabling to my lounge, etc. do i have any come-back here, or do i have to rely on the installers good will. (after, i was waiting over 5 weeks for this).

on the first part of your post I think sky should give you some credit on your account. The only way I have seen this problem solved is to get a new card so dont let them fob you off with the "sending signals" routine and threaten to withdraw payment, RTE is part of the family pack so you should have had it from day one. 5 week wait is not acceptable by usual standards

I think they should really fix your dish as it went pretty quickly after the install and to be honest a chimney is not the best place to mount it although in a bungalaw situation they may not have had a choice, this is assuming that alignment is the problem, it may well be something else. Is the dish facing to the front or back of your house?

dts

I had the same problem when my sky+ was installed. On the third phonecall they said that they would send a stronger signal to switch on the ROI channels. I didnt belive them but what ever they did it worked.
Try phoneing them again.

irishpancake

thanx dts:

>>I didnt belive them but what ever they did it worked.
Try phoneing them again. <<

i will be calling sky again this evening, as the 72 hrs will have expired, so i will then look for credit on the account, as i too feel that the Irish Channels are an integral part of the Sky Family Pack in ROI.(that's presupposing the Irish Channels have'nt appeared since last night when i go home this evening.) How many subscribers would sky have in Ireland without the Irish Channels??

and tony:

>>to be honest a chimney is not the best place to mount it although in a bungalaw situation they may not have had a choice, this is assuming that alignment is the problem, it may well be something else. Is the dish facing to the front or back of your house<<

dish facing front, but i agreed to it on the chimney, as it really was the most convenient, and i also got the installers to sell me and install a quad lnb, with a second cable run to another front room, where i hope to place a 2nd box for the FTV/FTA channels (hence the FTV card from UK).

Would Skys attempt to turn on the irish channels be stymied by the signal quality, which seems on the low side, as above:

>>signal strength seems to be ok, like over 50% on the bar-chart, but signal quality is in the lower 25%, and disappears when the wind blows.<<

thanks for all your help, lads. i will report on progress.

irishpancake

slight progress from Sky.

they now suspect that the card cannot be activated over the satellite/phone links, coz there was such a delay between when i got it to the installation date. (i had it about 6 weeks waiting for installers).

this was afte 4 calls to their call centre last night, and eventually speaking to a supervisor. i did a complete rescan, under their instruction, from the installers menu, but all to no avail.

they have agreed to a credit back(€5) to me for my trouble and the calls to them, not specifically for the loss of the Irish channels, which they say there is no charge for.

They have wiped my current card, and will send me out a new card with all the channels, including irish channels. They will also credit me for the period without any channels (from last night).

Just as well i have the UK FTV card which has all the channels UK channels i would want (had to bring in UTV with other channels, as the card is of Welsh origin. (bought this on ebay for £23, incl postage).

The installers have agreed to come back, hopefully today, to sort out the dish/lnb/signal strength problem.

So, after a baptism of fire with digital, i hope to have all issues resolved by the week-end.

Tony

irishpancake wrote:

thanx dts:



Would Skys attempt to turn on the irish channels be stymied by the signal quality, which seems on the low side, as above:

>>signal strength seems to be ok, like over 50% on the bar-chart, but signal quality is in the lower 25%, and disappears when the wind blows.<<

thanks for all your help, lads. i will report on progress.

yes it may affect it depending on what the quality is like on the data transponder, anyone know which one they are using right now ?

chorus techy

irishpancake wrote:

slight progress from Sky.

they now suspect that the card cannot be activated over the satellite/phone links, coz there was such a delay between when i got it to the installation date. (i had it about 6 weeks waiting for installers).

Yeah, apparently if the card is not activated in a sky digibox, within 14 days of it being sent out by sky, it is deactivated and cannot be reactivated at all, no matter what signal sky send to it - this is for security reasons I believe. I found this out the unfortunate way when I had sky digital ordered last year during the huge postal strike and my viewing card got clogged up in the mail.

irishpancake

more good newz:

the installers came back this evening, in my absense, left me a note and "mirable dictu" the signal quality has improved to over 60% on the bar chart, which has resulted in a fantastic improvement in reception.

brilliant

so i am now just waiting for the new card from Sky.

irishpancake

final update, hopefully

1) new card arrived from sky, which solved the irish channel reception problems (also zapped the C4/five/ITV2/3 on the Irish "confused" card).

2) dish re-alignment solved the signal quality issue.

moral of the story is, when your new card arrives from Sky, make sure the installation is done within 1-2 weeks, or else you will have the same problems as me.

My own opinion is that Sky should be well aware of this problem, and should have procedures for dealing with this for Irish customers, also they should clarify whether the Irish Channels are actually part of the Sky Family Pack, as marketed in Ireland.

Having dealt with staff in their Call Centre, about 8 or 9 different people, i know that i got no satisfaction until i insisted upon speaking with a supervisor/team leader.

thank you to all those contributors who helped out on this