I went from Virgin Media to Sky Q earlier this year as I wasn't a great fan of Tivo and was keen to try Sky Q.
When it was installed, I was offered the chance to replace my aging (ten year old) dish which I accepted.
In the last few days, I've come to the conclusion that Sky Q isn't for me and that I'd ideally like to downgrade it at the end of my contract to go back to using my old Sky+ HD box, which I still have. Much to my surprise, I subsequently found out that the LNB on my dish would not be compatible as Q uses a special "wide band" LNB and the older boxes do not.
I contacted Sky to confirm this, which they did. They also told me that there would be nothing they could do and that if I wanted to continue using my dish with my older box then I would have to pay to get it re-fitted myself which, after some investigation, would cost me at least £150 pounds.
The issue of future compatibility wasn't mentioned anywhere in the literature or the official Sky Q contract, but the Sky employee I was talking to agreed that it could present a problem and said that he would pass it "up the ladder" to see if the wording could be changed to better explain it to prevent any future problems - all the while telling me there was nothing they could do for me specifically.
I understand that I'm getting the service I paid for, which I have no issue with. I understand that I'm only loaning the equipment and that it has to be returned at the end of the contract. That I also have no problem with. The contract also states that the dish becomes mine at the point of installation as well, which is also fine.
Basically, Sky have provided the service stated in the contract.
My problem with this is that Sky must clearly know that many people use, and still use, older boxes. They still sell viewing cards for these older boxes, so that in itself should be enough to prove that they are aware of the compatibility issues between the two pieces of hardware.
Should there not have been even a small advisory akin to "Customers please note: Sky Q dishes are not compatible with older hardware" ?
By choosing to omit this information, it not only prevented me from making an informed decision at installation, as I could have apparently asked for what's called a "Hybrid LNB" which would be compatible with older hardware, but it will also leave me significantly out of pocket at the end of the contract.
Is there anything in this ?. Can I challenge this in any capacity ?. Ideally, I'd like them to let me out of the Sky Q contract so I can downgrade to the Sky+ HD box I own, but I accept this will likely not be possible.
I'd be interested in your thoughts. Thankyou.