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Is Sky Broadband crap?

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simonruss | 18:10 Sun 06th Apr 2008 | Technology
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is it just me or does anyone else have problems with sky broadband? Everytime i wnt to get online it takes at least forty minutes talking to someone at sky support, then the next time i want to get online its the same performance!!!
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dont say that, i was going to subscribe to it, i asked the question a short while ago and got glowing reports!!
From what I've read on the newsgroups and forums, they're a pretty decent ISP.

There must be a major problem somewhere. What exactly happens - for example, does the modem/router sync light come on, and stay on? Have you tried connecting to the test socket inside the phone line master socket?
Watch yourself. According to an article I was reading last week in the Daily Telegraph, Sky can levy additional charges on your Direct Debit.

It seems that if you download an excessive amount per month, they add on a good few quid to the amount due. You won't know about this until you check your bank balance as they are not obliged to tell you they're doing it. On the other hand, if your not an excessive downloader, the DD will remain at the agreed figure.

The article pointed out the need to carefully examine the small print of your contract with Sky to see if your happy with this. If it's not clear, I'd have to phone them to find out how much more they might clobber me for something I might do unintentionally. After all, how many people know how much data is represented by download limits of 2GB, 4GB etc per month?

Personally, I wouldn't sign up to them for the world. I've got Sky Digital and that's quite enough for me - I find it disgusting that they tie you up in knots with contracts based upon the fact that they're a monopoly and it's permanently take but no give with them.
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I know what you mean cleversod and it's about time this government legislated against it.

My Sky subs are taken out "on or around" the 27th of each month according to my contract. Most of the time it's trouble free, but last year they called for the DD on the 20th of a month because there was a bank holiday around the 27th. Now, we try to make sure we put the Sky money into the account around the 20th just to be on the safeside, but that date was on a weekend, so we left it until first thing Monday morning. Within days we had a letter from the bank, saying Sky had called for the money, but the bank had not paid it due to insufficient funds. Because they had let us know of this by letter, they were charging us �36 for the pleasure!

To add insult to injury, Sky sent us a letter saying that they had called for the money, the bank had refused payment and advised us to make sure that their was money in the account in future!

I saw red. I went marching down to the bank, but they would not budge over it. They simply would not accept that Sky had been unfair to call for the money seven days before the due date. As a result we had to pay that �36 charge.

Personally, I don't think it's ever going to stop. An economist friend of mine told me years ago that it was the banks that ruled this country not governments. They've always had the power to make or break governments so no government will stand up to the. It seems to me nowadays, that these big companies like BT and British Gas are slowly but surely doing the same.

Nowadays, we all rely so much on call centres to handle complaints and queries that they only thing they have to do when they get tired of it all is to stop answering the phone. It's so simple but effective.
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It must be a problem with your computer or your router.

I've had Sky Broadband for the last 8 months and have never lost my connection and have never had any trouble connecting either. As regarding the excessive usage charges, they do tell you on signup that if you exceed your allowance you will be charged, but at only �10 a month for unlimited downloads it's not a problem for me.
I have recently moved over from Virgin Media to Sky Surf and have nothing but good things to say about it. My sister and my in-laws also are using it without issue so it may just be 'one of those things' , Simonruss.

Every ISP has its good and bad points and its a case of finding the happy medium and which one works best for you.

Despite the fact that they have a direct debit agreement with you does not give them the right to misuse this facility and you should be aware of any charges made to your bank account in advance. Any additional payment must be advised as to the reason behind it but as correctly stated, if you use more than the agreed download limit then you are subject to additional charges under their standard contract.

The direct debit guarantee that all banks conform to, states that any change to payment date or amount must be notified to you ten days in advance and if you do not get this then your bank can refuse (on your instruction) to pay it. You would still be liable for the amount if Sky can back up their claims.

As far as contacting Sky goes, I have not had a problem but then I only called their sales department but I guess this is a case of their contact centre being top heavy focussed on sales than service.

hope that this helps
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many thanks, i hope it is 'just one of those things'. as I dont have much hair left to pull out!!
My friend has it and says it's CRAP, so yeah.
tigersam258, I'm afraid that Sky very nuch have the right to misuse the DD facility because these invisible charges are outlined in the contract that Sky Broadband customers sign. Once they have your signature, it's taken as read that you're aware of and will comply with all the terms in the contract, including where necessary additional charges to cover excessive downloading per month. Furthermore, Sky are not obliged to send out warning letters or letters notifying you of additional charges.

I fully appreciate the practices and policies that should occur when a company sets up a DD in it's favour, but these matters are subtly rescinded in the Sky Broadband contract and you either accept their terms or go without the service.

As for the bank refusing to pay, I think you'll find that this will cost you money too because they will have to notify you by letter. No bank sends out letters without charging the customer. It is illegal to stop a known current and valid DD in favour of an organisation - once again, your bank would charge you for processing the DD again and SKy could also penalise you.

As for Sky having to notify you at least ten days in advance, think about this. There are probably thousands of customers who go over their download limits per month for one reason or another. Sky will not and have no intention of notifying each of these customers individually of the increased charge as apart from anything else it's costly. It's spelt out in the contract and that's all they're legally obliged to do. Caveat Emptor.

Try stopping a DD. I think you'll be surprised how much it'll cost you.

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