SkyTV charging us for services we dont use !

Sorry, i have posted this on the uk.tech.tv.sky newsgroup too, i apologise
but i didn't know which one would had the most subscribers.

Just wondered if anyone else is having/ or has heard of anyone having
similar problems and how they solved it:

I have a Sky box in the living room and also one in the bedroom, they run
off separate dishes and are independent of eachother. The second box's
rental is £10 per month as part of the scheme where you get the same
channels on box 2 as you do on box 1.

Anyway, our phone bill came in last month and we noticed an irregular 0901
number appearing 8 times within 15 minutes (all charged at 85.1p per time).
I decided to take a look at the ICSTIS website (telephone governing body),
the number in question (09012920005) was traced to SkyTV UK.

We know that nobody used any interactive service on the date in question.
Nobody in the household ever uses those services anyway. So i decided to
write SkyTV a letter detailing the concerns that they were charging us for
services we were not using.

I got a reply on 17th January saying that the number in question was traced
to SkyTV's 'This Morning' program. They said that 'According to our
technical team there were no interactive technical faults during the period
that you have been billed for. However, on this occasion, as a gesture of
goodwill I am happy to confirm that we will re-imburse you for the cost of
the calls as outlined in your letter/telephone bill - This will be a one-off
payment and final settlement of this matter and no further claims of this
nature will be reimbursed'.

We were totally unhappy with this as they were writing as if it was our
mistake, and they were being 'generous' in reimbursing us, which is NOT the
case. We never even connected to that number anyway. We would have had to go
through the process of pressing the red button, confirming it etc, and we
didn't.

Just to make matters worse, we have now received February's bill and the
same number appears on that 4 times !!!. The interactive service has
definitely not been used, so why are SkyTV charging us for this ? What can
we do ? it seems so unfair.

Thank You

Andy

Andy100 wrote:
Sorry, i have posted this on the uk.tech.tv.sky newsgroup too, i apologise
but i didn't know which one would had the most subscribers.

Just wondered if anyone else is having/ or has heard of anyone having
similar problems and how they solved it:

I have a Sky box in the living room and also one in the bedroom, they run
off separate dishes and are independent of eachother. The second box's
rental is £10 per month as part of the scheme where you get the same
channels on box 2 as you do on box 1.

Anyway, our phone bill came in last month and we noticed an irregular 0901
number appearing 8 times within 15 minutes (all charged at 85.1p per time).
I decided to take a look at the ICSTIS website (telephone governing body),
the number in question (09012920005) was traced to SkyTV UK.

We know that nobody used any interactive service on the date in question.
Nobody in the household ever uses those services anyway. So i decided to
write SkyTV a letter detailing the concerns that they were charging us for
services we were not using.

I got a reply on 17th January saying that the number in question was traced
to SkyTV's 'This Morning' program. They said that 'According to our
technical team there were no interactive technical faults during the period
that you have been billed for. However, on this occasion, as a gesture of
goodwill I am happy to confirm that we will re-imburse you for the cost of
the calls as outlined in your letter/telephone bill - This will be a one-off
payment and final settlement of this matter and no further claims of this
nature will be reimbursed'.

We were totally unhappy with this as they were writing as if it was our
mistake, and they were being 'generous' in reimbursing us, which is NOT the
case. We never even connected to that number anyway. We would have had to go
through the process of pressing the red button, confirming it etc, and we
didn't.

Just to make matters worse, we have now received February's bill and the
same number appears on that 4 times !!!. The interactive service has
definitely not been used, so why are SkyTV charging us for this ? What can
we do ? it seems so unfair.

Thank You

Andy


Unplug the 'phone line until the issue is sorted; get BT to block the
number; insist that $ky do more to sort this issue out. If the box is
dialling out whilst you were at work, for example, and you can prove
that, then something is wrong either with the $ky kit or your 'phone
system somewhere.


Clem

Clem Dye wrote:


Unplug the 'phone line until the issue is sorted; get BT to block the
number; insist that $ky do more to sort this issue out. If the box is
dialling out whilst you were at work, for example, and you can prove
that, then something is wrong either with the $ky kit or your 'phone
system somewhere.


Clem

Then you'd get Sky on yer back coz of the mirror subscription. Both
boxes have to connected at all times. As soon as there is any hint that
one box has been whipped off site to a relatives house for instance, Sky
get very uppity and threaten to cut you off.

Malice wrote:
Clem Dye wrote:


Unplug the 'phone line until the issue is sorted; get BT to block the
number; insist that $ky do more to sort this issue out. If the box is
dialling out whilst you were at work, for example, and you can prove
that, then something is wrong either with the $ky kit or your 'phone
system somewhere.


Clem


Then you'd get Sky on yer back coz of the mirror subscription. Both
boxes have to connected at all times. As soon as there is any hint that
one box has been whipped off site to a relatives house for instance, Sky
get very uppity and threaten to cut you off.

I suggest the OP simply asks BT (or his telco) to bar 09* numbers. A
good idea anyway IMHO.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

My sky box has been disconnected for over 7 mths now. The agreement
says it needs to be connected for first 12 months (probably due to some
agreement with pay services) - after that it only needs to be connected
if you use the interactive features.

wrote:
My sky box has been disconnected for over 7 mths now. The agreement
says it needs to be connected for first 12 months (probably due to some
agreement with pay services) - after that it only needs to be connected
if you use the interactive features.

If you have just one Sky box then Sky do not appear to take too much
notice of a disconnection within the contract period. But if you have a
mirror subscription they're extremely diligent in their policing of that
type of subscription. Disconnection is not an option.

Thanx everyone for all the help. I might try the suggestion of getting 0906
numbers banned, but who do we ring. The line is BT but we pay to Talk Talk ?

Cheers
Andy


"Jomtien" wrote in message
...
Andy100 wrote:

The interactive service has
definitely not been used, so why are SkyTV charging us for this ? What
can
we do ? it seems so unfair.

You have fallen foul of the intrinsic problem with premium rate phone
numbers: you can never prove that you haven't rung them. All premium
rate numbers should be banned by law and this includes all pay
non-geographical numbers (aka "national" numbers) as used by many
companies and official bodies. They are the biggest rip-off out.

As mentioned, all you can do is to complain to BT and Ofcom/Icstis
with a view to having all premium rate calls permanently restricted on
your line. You should also make the digibox adjustments to restrict
outgoing calls.

You could also remove the phone leads from both boxes and only replace
them overnight once or twice a month. This will be enough for the
mirror sub requirement.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/6u4p9
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

Andy100 wrote:
Thanx everyone for all the help. I might try the suggestion of
getting 0906 numbers banned, but who do we ring. The line is BT but
we pay to Talk Talk ?

Cheers
Andy

You'll have to talk to talk talk, not sure if they can do it for you
though!!, if not then go into the hidden menu (Services - 4-0-1-Select) and
enter 1280 in the telephone prefix option - this will force the box back
onto BT's system -and then you can ring up BT and bar 09 numbers

Jon

Jonathan Pearson wrote:


You'll have to talk to talk talk, not sure if they can do it for you
though!!, if not then go into the hidden menu (Services - 4-0-1-Select) and
enter 1280 in the telephone prefix option - this will force the box back
onto BT's system -and then you can ring up BT and bar 09 numbers

Get a programmable dialler from Orchid.

http://www.orchid-electronics.com/Diallers/v4.htm

As well as its primary function, routing different calls over different
carriers, you can also set it to block 09* or any other range of numbers
you wish.

I've had one for three months, very pleased with it. The whole house
extension network is wired through it.

Google in uk.telecom, lots of comment about it, nothing negative.
(Their CS is excellent too)

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

"Jomtien" wrote in message
...
Andy100 wrote:

The interactive service has
definitely not been used, so why are SkyTV charging us for this ? What can
we do ? it seems so unfair.

You have fallen foul of the intrinsic problem with premium rate phone
numbers: you can never prove that you haven't rung them. All premium
Yes you can. Get a fully-itemised bill. If the number does not appear on it,
then you (or your Sky Box) hasn't called it.


--
Carl Waring
http://getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=1495