Question about Sky

[meg&mog]

Hi Guys

 

I use this site soooo much for soooo many different reasons and for sooooo many family and friends you guys are great and I'm here again for a friend here's the question

 

My friend has sky tv has done since 2001 in that time she has pretty much always had a problem with direct debits she and her partner are paid 4 weekly they have 4 children and a list of bills as long as your arm as we all do

 

Anyway with sky only offering 2 possible dd dates for collection she usually has to cancel her dd and pay in her card when it's due

 

Now don't get me wrong there has been times when her dd has been returned or her services suspended because money has been tight etc etc sky started doing that thing where they would not reinstate her services without dd details at that time she explained that prob 10 months out of 12 she finds dd difficult because of payment date etc

 

Anyway last month she rang to pay on her card she had been cut off at that time and borrowed the money from her brother sky have told her that she now must pay on a credit or debit card for 3 months having the card automatically charged by them before they will allow her to set up another dd

 

The same dd she has explained over and over she doesn't find helpful this new system was due to start on 13th aug she has text me this morning saying they have still not taken the money from her card her partner telephones sky yday and also found out that they are being charged 50p a month to pay this way even though they have insisted on it and try have agrees to wave that cost for a year even though they only said 3 months

 

Sorry to babble on my question is can they do this? My friend was honest about her dd situation can they demand how you pay and charge you or it?

 

Thanks guys

[IdaInFife]

I think your friend has not been truthful with you.

 

you can have a dd from the 2 to the 27th of each month nit just 2 days.

 

If they refused to set up dd thas because the dd has been cancelled by the bank 5 times in the last 6 months so what they can advise is to set up the dd by debit card and the you can change back to dd after the next payment.

[Pajamy]

I'm going to ramble a bit too! I'll answer your question and explain the payment/debt/block cycle, I worked for Sky until recently so this is from the horses mouth so to speak

 

Short answer is your friend needs to have a direct debit or continuous credit card payment set up at all times to receive service. Doesn't matter who's name is on the bank account/card, as long a there is permission thats fine.

 

Long answer -

 

All providers charge a month in advance for subscription services, with the only billing in arrears being for pay-per-views, box office movies/events and call charges out-with your call plan. The payments need to be made monthly using either a direct debit or continuous credit card payments. A continuous card method works the same as a direct debit, the money is automatically taken each month on your billing date, only difference is to have it come from your credit card rather than your account direct there is a monthly 50p charge.

 

Your bills are ready online to view 14 days before they are taken, no paper statements. If you want a paper statement it's £1 per month. You can make partial one-off payments whenever you like on Sky.com using My Sky, or on the set-top box even if there is no balance due on your account. If you make partial payments throughout the month then its whatever is left of your bill balance thats taken on your payment date by DD, if you cleared the balance of the bill before the payment date via online one-off payments then woo hoo your not getting a DD that month! A word of caution, direct debits are requested from your bank 3 days before its taken, (BACS date), once the request for that months balance has been submitted come hell and high water that bill is being taken at that fixed amount.

 

If you want to change the bank details thats fine as long as at least one payment has been taken on your existing payment method, you can change the account it comes out of and change the date the payment is taken - choose between the 1st and 28th.

 

 

 

When your friends services were cut-off thats called Active Block, this happens for one of two reasons;

 

1.You have asked your bank to cancel your monthly DD payments/Card payments. You get correspondence asking to set up a new instruction for continuous payment, if you don't set up a new payment method then its a timebomb until your services are blocked

 

2. Your payment bounced. The first time your payment fails you get correspondence letting you know and asking to make sure there's money in the account because they try a second time a few days later. Nothing bad happens if the second attempt is successful. It's if the second attempt is declined then your DD is cancelled by Sky (to stop you getting any extra bank charges) and again timebomb until your services get blocked

 

When your services are blocked you don't wrack up any extra costs because your not getting anything to charge for. Your outstanding balance stays as it is and you'll get a letter from Sky. When the services are blocked your account is still active and it's easy to fix it, you need to pay whats outstanding from your balance and set up a new DD, then your tv is up and running immediately and up to 24hrs for your phone and broadband. It takes 14 days for a mandate so be prepared for that to miss your normal payment date and have your next bill end up coming out the following month for significantly higher sum, being a double bill (see partial payments above for help with that)

 

If you leave your services blocked then eventually your account is fully cancelled and any debt is passed to a collection agency but that tends to sting your credit rating and it can take months of blocked service. So if a full cancellation is what your after just call in, if it's payment problems then they'll try to figure out a way of helping you. Also if you have any changes (downgrades or cancellations) that are mid notice period at the time of going blocked then that pending change is lost and you will need to have that notice period re-applied when you reinstate your services.

 

Those are the rules It's mostly done by automated systems so exceptions cannot be made for individual people.

 

Hope that helps! If you have any other questions let me know