Sky removed HD Channels

A question about : Sky removed HD Channels

Last week, I came home, sat down ready to watch some NFL on Thursday night, and lo and behold my Sky channels had mysteriously switched around. Tried to get to the HD channels, but they appeared to have disappeared from my package. I pay a not insignificant sum north of Ј60 a month to get Sports and Movies, and have always received the HD channels as a perk of paying for those two packages.

The live chat on Sky's website has been unavailable since Thursday, so when I got home tonight I gave them a call. Not sure if their British based staff are on their Xmas holidays, but went through to someone in a global call centre, who had a limited script from which to talk. Apparently I've received a letter about it giving me notification that my HD was being withdrawn. Isn't it strange how its only the letters with bad news that go missing? Wish a few more letters with bad news would go missing...bills would be at the head of that list. I only just negotiated the reduction in the cost of Sports and Movies a few months ago, so I wonder if they see my regular negotiation on these costs, and try to play a little hardball back.

The poor lad then tried to get me to file a complaint through their website, only to find that when I get to the section he's guiding me to, there is only the options for telephone and live chat (the aforementioned live chat which has been busy since Thursday). I don't really want to lose the package, but I think I may be withdrawing from Movies and Sports on the principle if they don't come back with a decent response, even if I am biting off my nose to spite my face.

Am I being unreasonable?

Best answers:

• You mention that the HD was a perk for having Movies and Sport, then later that you recently negotiated a reduction on these. Sky state that you can only have one offer on the system at one time, so I wonder whether the latter resulted in loss of free HD.
• Have you checked your online account? I thought HD was a separate payment on top of std packages, compare what your bills say pre and post not having HD.
• Were you paying for it?
  Sky added HD for free onto my parents account last year or the year before when the ondemand and box sets changed from being free to being part of the HD pack. My parents had an HD box, had used on demand and things, but didn't have the HD subscription.
  They got a letter at the time saying that it had been added for free so they wouldn't be disadvantaged by the change in the way the ondemand service is delivered and they would be able to complete their minimum term without losing any of the services they had been using.
  It was removed very recently but their minimum term finished ages ago and they did get a letter as well saying it was going to be removed.
  Possibly the same thing is happening with you?
• That's very strange. We have SKY HD and I thought it was included in every package. I didn't think it was an 'extra' that you had to pay for.
• During a very recent conversation with Sky I was informed that some people who were on the "Legacy HD" package have experienced a few issues lately with loss of HD channels.
  Are you a legacy HD pack subscriber? (ie. you subscribed to the HD pack before Sky changed to the current system whereby if you take sports and movies you have to pay to top HD on those channels, even if you have HD on general entertainment channels). If so, this may be your problem.
  I was fortunate enough to get through to a Scotland-based call centre agent who fixed the problem in 30 seconds when my multiscreen box stopped giving me HD.
• Bit of a mixed bag, I'm none the wiser at the moment, I think the three working days for a response to my complaint is not quite being met, but hey, its Christmas.
  I was thinking it might have been a punishment for negotiating the reduction in the Sports and Movies package, but the kid on the phone said no. As for the legacy HD packages, I'm not sure when Sky changed, but I'm pretty sure I've had them for at least 12-18 months. Starting to get used to watching regular D again, definitely not worth 10.25 a month, that's for sure.
  I'll update once I get the proper response from Sky. Thanks for your input.