Older Sky+ box provided for new install

"Michael" wrote in message
...
"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...

"Michael" wrote in message
...
I got Sky+ installed today. I am a new Sky customer after having
cancelled my NTL/Virgin cable TV. I am obviously very keen on the PVR of
Sky+ so when I was ordering Sky last week I made a point of enquiring
about the Sky+ box I will get fitted. The salesperson said that they
didn't have access to that information.

Sky are just about to launch their new Sky Anytime service. This is
their on demand service and it only works with the newest 160GB Sky+
boxes (PVR3).

Of course, when I got Sky+ installed today they fitted a crappy 40GB
Amstrad PVR2 box. This means that it can only store half as much
recorded TV and won't support Sky Anytime.

I called customer services and they said it was basically just your luck
what box you get. Although, they did then say, confusingly, that it was
because I got it discounted as an ex-cable customer, I got a
reconditioned "grade A" box. Well if that's the case then why wasn't I
informed this when I enquired about the box to the Sky sales person?

Surely as a brand new customer I should be getting the newest equipment.
I requested a replacement box via their website today, and I'm awaiting
Sky getting back to me.

Anyone got any ideas what my rights are here? Or suggestions as to how
to play this with Sky?

I'm obviously only on day 1 of my 30 day cancellation/refund period, so
they know they could easily lose me.

How much did you pay? Sounds like you were inadvertently given some sort
of 'ex cable' discount based on an old box.

£50 with free installation.

I wasn't informed that I would be getting a crap box. I also specifically
asked what box I was going to get. If they have a policy of giving the
older boxes to discounted customers then they should at least inform them
of that. Or at the very least be *aware* of it in case the customer asks.

With SKY you have to take responsibility. Their are stories of people who
bought the Thomson 160 having it replaced with a cheap 40GB one when it went
faulty.

"David Taylor" wrote in message
...
On 2007-03-06, Edster wrote:

Sky Anytime just means that advertisers or broadcasters can pay Sky to
have whatever programme they choose automatically recorded whether the
viewer wants it or not. Its nothing like the Virgin idea where you
have a list of programmes that you can watch whenever you want.

Surely that's identical to Virgin's idea in every way, except the
programs are stored on the user's digibox (~80GB) rather than being
stored on the broadcaster's equipment (multi-TB?). So you get less
choice, but still get to view whatever programs are selected by
Sky or Virgin at any time.

Nope! Sat is a Broadcast Medium. Cable offers each user their own link which
can support users watching what they like, when they like.

SKY Anytime (TV) has to be "broadcast", hence the minuscule content for
which the reserved 160gb is more than enough.

"John Russell" wrote in message
...

"Michael" wrote in message
...
"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...

"Michael" wrote in message
...
I got Sky+ installed today. I am a new Sky customer after having
cancelled my NTL/Virgin cable TV. I am obviously very keen on the PVR of
Sky+ so when I was ordering Sky last week I made a point of enquiring
about the Sky+ box I will get fitted. The salesperson said that they
didn't have access to that information.

Sky are just about to launch their new Sky Anytime service. This is
their on demand service and it only works with the newest 160GB Sky+
boxes (PVR3).

Of course, when I got Sky+ installed today they fitted a crappy 40GB
Amstrad PVR2 box. This means that it can only store half as much
recorded TV and won't support Sky Anytime.

I called customer services and they said it was basically just your
luck what box you get. Although, they did then say, confusingly, that
it was because I got it discounted as an ex-cable customer, I got a
reconditioned "grade A" box. Well if that's the case then why wasn't I
informed this when I enquired about the box to the Sky sales person?

Surely as a brand new customer I should be getting the newest
equipment. I requested a replacement box via their website today, and
I'm awaiting Sky getting back to me.

Anyone got any ideas what my rights are here? Or suggestions as to how
to play this with Sky?

I'm obviously only on day 1 of my 30 day cancellation/refund period, so
they know they could easily lose me.

How much did you pay? Sounds like you were inadvertently given some sort
of 'ex cable' discount based on an old box.

£50 with free installation.

I wasn't informed that I would be getting a crap box. I also specifically
asked what box I was going to get. If they have a policy of giving the
older boxes to discounted customers then they should at least inform them
of that. Or at the very least be *aware* of it in case the customer asks.

With SKY you have to take responsibility. Their are stories of people who
bought the Thomson 160 having it replaced with a cheap 40GB one when it
went faulty.

How much more responsible should I have been? I asked Sky what box I was
going to get and they said they couldn't tell until the installer showed up
at my door with it.

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:34:40 GMT, "Michael"
wrote:

"John Russell" wrote in message
...

"Michael" wrote in message
...
"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...

"Michael" wrote in message
...
I got Sky+ installed today. I am a new Sky customer after having
cancelled my NTL/Virgin cable TV. I am obviously very keen on the PVR of
Sky+ so when I was ordering Sky last week I made a point of enquiring
about the Sky+ box I will get fitted. The salesperson said that they
didn't have access to that information.

Sky are just about to launch their new Sky Anytime service. This is
their on demand service and it only works with the newest 160GB Sky+
boxes (PVR3).

Of course, when I got Sky+ installed today they fitted a crappy 40GB
Amstrad PVR2 box. This means that it can only store half as much
recorded TV and won't support Sky Anytime.

I called customer services and they said it was basically just your
luck what box you get. Although, they did then say, confusingly, that
it was because I got it discounted as an ex-cable customer, I got a
reconditioned "grade A" box. Well if that's the case then why wasn't I
informed this when I enquired about the box to the Sky sales person?

Surely as a brand new customer I should be getting the newest
equipment. I requested a replacement box via their website today, and
I'm awaiting Sky getting back to me.

Anyone got any ideas what my rights are here? Or suggestions as to how
to play this with Sky?

I'm obviously only on day 1 of my 30 day cancellation/refund period, so
they know they could easily lose me.

How much did you pay? Sounds like you were inadvertently given some sort
of 'ex cable' discount based on an old box.

£50 with free installation.

I wasn't informed that I would be getting a crap box. I also specifically
asked what box I was going to get. If they have a policy of giving the
older boxes to discounted customers then they should at least inform them
of that. Or at the very least be *aware* of it in case the customer asks.

With SKY you have to take responsibility. Their are stories of people who
bought the Thomson 160 having it replaced with a cheap 40GB one when it
went faulty.

How much more responsible should I have been? I asked Sky what box I was
going to get and they said they couldn't tell until the installer showed up
at my door with it.

I would have declined to allow it indoors.
--
Jim Watt
http://www.gibnet.com

I'm obviously only on day 1 of my 30 day cancellation/refund period, so
they know they could easily lose me.

Phone to cancel, it usually sorts out problems like yours.

"tiscali" wrote in message
...


I'm obviously only on day 1 of my 30 day cancellation/refund period, so
they know they could easily lose me.

Phone to cancel, it usually sorts out problems like yours.

True it might still work although I've seen posts on the group where going
to cancel has ended with Sky saying "Yes sure"

Seems they're worried over something and need all the cash they can.

"The Wizard" wrote in message
...

"tiscali" wrote in message
...


I'm obviously only on day 1 of my 30 day cancellation/refund period, so
they know they could easily lose me.

Phone to cancel, it usually sorts out problems like yours.

True it might still work although I've seen posts on the group where going
to cancel has ended with Sky saying "Yes sure"

Seems they're worried over something and need all the cash they can.


Worst that can happen is you end up with freeview/freesat which is perfectly
adequate.

On 2007-03-07, John Russell wrote:

"David Taylor" wrote in message
...
On 2007-03-06, Edster wrote:

Sky Anytime just means that advertisers or broadcasters can pay Sky to
have whatever programme they choose automatically recorded whether the
viewer wants it or not. Its nothing like the Virgin idea where you
have a list of programmes that you can watch whenever you want.

Surely that's identical to Virgin's idea in every way, except the
programs are stored on the user's digibox (~80GB) rather than being
stored on the broadcaster's equipment (multi-TB?). So you get less
choice, but still get to view whatever programs are selected by
Sky or Virgin at any time.

Nope! Sat is a Broadcast Medium. Cable offers each user their own link which
can support users watching what they like, when they like.

SKY Anytime (TV) has to be "broadcast", hence the minuscule content for
which the reserved 160gb is more than enough.

You miss my point. I understand that technically the services are delivered
in a different way, and as a result they can scale to different capacities.
Sky's service is limited, and will have to remain limited. However, it's
exactly the same service (albeit with limited choice) as Virgin's service --
you can watch what you want (from a selection of available programmes),
when you want.

--
David Taylor

You miss my point. I understand that technically the services are
delivered
in a different way, and as a result they can scale to different
capacities.
Sky's service is limited, and will have to remain limited. However, it's
exactly the same service (albeit with limited choice) as Virgin's
service --
you can watch what you want (from a selection of available programmes),
when you want.


Limited choice is the crux. You could argue that the normal service is VOD
if you accept your choice is limited to what they want to broadcasts at the
time they chose!

"John Russell" wrote in message
...

You miss my point. I understand that technically the services are
delivered
in a different way, and as a result they can scale to different
capacities.
Sky's service is limited, and will have to remain limited. However, it's
exactly the same service (albeit with limited choice) as Virgin's
service --
you can watch what you want (from a selection of available programmes),
when you want.


Limited choice is the crux. You could argue that the normal service is VOD
if you accept your choice is limited to what they want to broadcasts at
the time they chose!


.....also the SKY+ function allows me to record programs I want to watch
which can then be watched when I want, but that isn't what most people call
VOD either. What SKY is proposing is Forced Recording of programs I "may"
want to watch, restricting the available space on the hard drive for what I
"do" want to watch. It's nothing more than an exercise in appearing
"competitive" so that people like you can think they have VOD when they
don't!