Sky+ box knackered?

Zero Tolerance wrote:
On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:27:48 +0100, David Hearn
wrote:

Well, it's included as part of the normal monthly subscription. My
point was to indicate that with Sky, you own the box (and therefore are
liable for repairs etc), with Virgin, they own the box (and therefore
repair for free). Expecting a free replacement box after 6 years of use
isn't going to happen with Sky - but it would with Virgin.

Indeed. But then if you'd paid - at a conservative estimate -
something like £750 over six years for that "included" benefit, you
might actually take the view that it's cheaper to own your own
equipment and replace it if, and only if, there is a problem.

£750 over 6 years? That's £10 per month extra - seeing as you can get
TV, internet and phone for £16 per month from them, I can't see that Sky
do the same for just £6 per month...

You may be comparing the V+ (or whatever it's called) with Sky+, I don't
know - but the same goes for the basic decoders.

I agree though that you need to look at the total price, and whether
purchasing your own kit to use with Sky is better than using a Virgin
owned box, and taking the risk of replacement on yourself.


I remember an incident in the past, when a common problem came out on
Sky+ boxes, those boxes which were 12 months old 'required' an
engineer visit @ £70 or so (who then did a software update), whereas
those in warranty were told to check for new software themselves.
Result, £70 per out of warranty Sky+ box....

Sounds rather shoddy, if true - do you have any links to more details?

I couldn't find any links when I searched, but I certainly remember some
issue like this occurring whereby people out of warranty were told to
get an engineer to do something which in-warranty people could self service.

D

"Glenn Millar" wrote in message
...
Brian W wrote:
My (original Pace) Sky+ box won't come out of standby. Every couple of
minutes though there's a brief flash of the green playback lights but
nothing happens (as if it's attempting to power up). It appears to be
stuck in a constant re-boot loop.

I'm guessing I'll have to give Sky a call. As the box was bought
brand-new from an independent retailer for £399 when first released (six?
years ago), and was never purchased through Sky, can I insist on a
brand-new replacement of equal quality?



Buy a new Sky+ box from an independent. Should cost you no more than £150.

I got the box working now.

In article ,
David Hearn wrote:

£750 over 6 years? That's £10 per month extra - seeing as you can get
TV, internet and phone for £16 per month from them

As it happens, I've noticed those ads today so I checked it out.
According to the web page it's "£16 a month when you take a Virgin Phone
line for £11 a month" i.e. £27 a month!

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/websales/product.do?id=15157

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:37:02 +0100, David Hearn
wrote:

£750 over 6 years? That's £10 per month extra - seeing as you can get
TV, internet and phone for £16 per month from them, I can't see that Sky
do the same for just £6 per month...

I think it's a fair figure. Generally speaking cable is about £10 a
month more expensive than comparable services from alternative
suppliers. (Don't forget that while Virgin's phone service costs
roughly the same in line rental as BT, some of the calls cost stupid
times as much - five, fifteen, sometimes fifty times more.)

I agree though that you need to look at the total price, and whether
purchasing your own kit to use with Sky is better than using a Virgin
owned box, and taking the risk of replacement on yourself.

Agreed.

I couldn't find any links when I searched, but I certainly remember some
issue like this occurring whereby people out of warranty were told to
get an engineer to do something which in-warranty people could self service.

Presumably the out of warranty people could self-service it as well,
if they could have been bothered. I fear that the "I'm too stupid to
work my own equipment" disease is one which will indeed attract a
financial penalty in many walks of life.

--

Zero Tolerance wrote:
On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:37:02 +0100, David Hearn
wrote:

£750 over 6 years? That's £10 per month extra - seeing as you can get
TV, internet and phone for £16 per month from them, I can't see that Sky
do the same for just £6 per month...

I think it's a fair figure. Generally speaking cable is about £10 a
month more expensive than comparable services from alternative
suppliers. (Don't forget that while Virgin's phone service costs
roughly the same in line rental as BT, some of the calls cost stupid
times as much - five, fifteen, sometimes fifty times more.)

I agree though that you need to look at the total price, and whether
purchasing your own kit to use with Sky is better than using a Virgin
owned box, and taking the risk of replacement on yourself.

Agreed.

I couldn't find any links when I searched, but I certainly remember some
issue like this occurring whereby people out of warranty were told to
get an engineer to do something which in-warranty people could self service.

Presumably the out of warranty people could self-service it as well,
if they could have been bothered. I fear that the "I'm too stupid to
work my own equipment" disease is one which will indeed attract a
financial penalty in many walks of life.

The issue as I remember it was not that they weren't capable of doing
it, CS didn't tell them that was what they needed to do, instead told
them they needed an engineer to fix it. However, if the box was in
warranty, then they did tell them how to do it.

D

Chris Leuty wrote:
In article ,
David Hearn wrote:

£750 over 6 years? That's £10 per month extra - seeing as you can get
TV, internet and phone for £16 per month from them

As it happens, I've noticed those ads today so I checked it out.
According to the web page it's "£16 a month when you take a Virgin Phone
line for £11 a month" i.e. £27 a month!

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/websales/product.do?id=15157

Yes, I walked past that advert again today and saw that part.

I get my internet from Virgin (£18pm) and keep getting bill inserts
saying I could get TV, phone and internet for £20 - so I guessed the £16
offer was for new customers and didn't check the smaller print. As I
have get all the TV I want with my Humax on Freeview, and in the past
NTL said they couldn't do caller ID in my area, I haven't bothered going
for the triple-play offer. I pay about £12pm line rental to BT with
about total £60 per quarter total, and saving £10 per month on line
rental by switching to Virgin might be worth it if caller ID was
available and I've not checked our calling patterns. But since BT
dropped the 6p (or whatever) evening calls for an hour our bills have
gone up so I might have to look again.

D