Sky box no longer working

A question about : Sky box no longer working

I have been a sky customer for around 7 years. About 18 months ago the box started showing 'no signal' I phoned and told them I didn't want to pay for an engineer to visit and access the situation/replace parts of the dish/box set up. That the box they supplied should have been fit for purpose for 6 years, and that if they wouldn't send someone out to sort out the issue for me, then I wanted to cancel the service. They sent someone out free of charge, tv worked for about a week, had to call them again - this went on for about 4 visits from engineers until they replaced the dish and it worked again.

Last August we decided we didn't really need to be paying the subscription each month - we didn't watch all that many channels, and it was too expensive for the benefit. We phoned to cancel and the retentions department have said that they would give us the same service for Ј5 a month as long as we kept the service for 12 months.

Now the box is back to displaying 'no signal' I've phoned up and they've said that I need to pay Ј65 for an engineer to look at it. The sky service isn't worth Ј65 to me, so I said no, just cancel it. They offered an engineer for Ј30 , I said no, just cancel it - I've been a customer for 7 years, and if they could do the engineer visit for free a year ago, then they should do the same now since I'm a longstanding customer, or else cancel the service.

They have said I need to continue to pay the Ј5 monthly and then remember to cancel the service in August when my contract ends. Can they continue to charge me for a service that I have no way of actually using?

I get that there might be no way out of it - but thought I'd check here before conceding!

Thanks in advance
SS

Best answers:

• Sounds like your dish has moved or the LNB has failed.
• Sky gave you a free engineers visit to keep you as a customer. Then they gave you a very good discount to keep you as a customer. This later deal involved a new 12 month contract.
  Now you have a contract, they don't need to offer you any freebies to keep you as a customer.
  It's swings and roundabouts. You've had two of one, and now you have one of the other.
  On the whole, you seem to have been treated very well by Sky, and don't like it now you have to pay for something.
• Swipe - thanks, I've been researching what that means online to see if I can readjust/sort the issue myself to last until I'm free to cancel in August.
  poppasmurf - your reply wasn't exactly helpful was it? I'm aware they've given me a good deal in the past - I don't actually NEED the service though - when I last rang to cancel, it was because I genuinely wanted to cancel - I was spending too much for the little benefit I got. Now I'm going to either pay Ј30-65 to have someone fix the service, or I'll be paying Ј5pcm until August for a service I'm not getting at all! Why would I seek to spend extra now on a service I was ready to cancel last August?!
• If it's your Sky box, you can probably pick up a replacement one for little or no money.
• As above, they're cheap as chips on ebay, and hundreds to choose from.
  The box is never leased, it's yours from day one, and like the dish and LNB, once the 12m warranty ends, any maintenance or repair costs are down to you.
  Equipment failure does not void your minimum term contract, because it's your equipment, not Sky's.
• Buy a replacement LNB before the box though, they cost about Ј10 odd. Might be worth trying someone else's box first though to see if theirs works on your dish to rule out a faulty box.
• If your tv broke , you would not expect to be able to be able to tell the BBC that, unless they repair/replace it ,you will not pay your licence fee. (Of course, without a tv, you wouldn't need to buy a licence, but you wouldn't expect to blame the BBC)
• Popasmurf, just to clarify. It's not that what you were saying wasn't what I wanted to hear that was unhelpful. In my OP I did say I understood that there may be no way out of paying the Ј5 for the remainder of the contract even though I won't be using the service. The unhelpful part of your post was that you had a go at me for now being unwilling to pay out extra for something I had a good deal on in the past. Had you just said 'sounds like you're going to have to pay the Ј5 a month until August' that would have been helpful, ridiculing me, was not.
  I won't be ridiculed for not being willing to pay out more for the sky service now when I use it so little just because I've had a good deal in the past.
  suicidebob - if I watched it enough I probably would spend money to get it working but I don't.
  teddys mum, if my tv was broken and I didn't plan on ever watching tv again- I would inform the tv licensing people and cancel the license. I don't have a contract with the tv licensing people though do I - it's not really the same is it?
  Thank you to everyone with suggestions to get the service up and running while I'm paying for it without paying the engineer fee. I'll see if I can track down the cause of the issue without a sky engineer, otherwise I'll just pay the Ј5 a month until I can cancel.
• If you can borrow another box that might help narrow the problem down, eg. moved dish or duff lnb. Is the dish readily accessible?
• [QUOTE=summer_solstice;67562828
  I won't be ridiculed for not being willing to pay out more for the sky service now when I use it so little just because I've had a good deal in the past.
  [/QUOTE]
  Yes you will. You are the one who posed the question, so don't be surprised when people answer it. The fact you don't like the answers is neither here nor there.
  You are going to have to pay. Tough.
• wiogs yes the dish is accessible, I've downloaded a free app for my phone that claims (we'll see if it actually does or not lol) to help check the positioning so I think that and borrowing a box to see if it's a fault will be my first steps! Thank you!
• You could look at neighbours dishes, if they have them, to get an idea if it is pointing in the right direction.
  Have you looked at the signal strength in the set up menu?
• It's really not that hard to align a dish without a meter if you have a good general idea of the direction it should be pointing. With the phone app you should be fine. But i'd advise you to not do anything with the dish until you have borrowed another box from someone to rule out your current box being faulty.