Debt collection

[Mel211]

I am absolutely disgusted by Sky. I have been a loyal customer with Sky for nearly 20 years. This year I stopped working full time and had to cut down my hours at work due to my health and changed from Sky to Virgin as they had a cheaper option and all I could afford. 
After leaving I had one remaining monthly bill outstanding £80 in July. I called Sky and said please could I pay this off in part and avoid being sent to a collections agency and the advisor said yes sure she understands my situation and to just log into my account and pay when some money comes in the next few weeks and she will not let this escalate to debt collection and make a note of this. One week later, I receive an email from a DEBT COLLECTION AGENCY! Which will now go onto my credit file and affect my credit.  Ive had a longer delay with a payment previously whilst being a Sky customer but they had patience but it seems as though they dont give a (Removed) once you left.  20 years of loyalty...I will never recommend SKY TO ANYONE. 

Moderator note: Removed inappropriate language

[PandJ2020]

Unfortunately some processes are automated and agents may not be able to stop them.

Best you can do is raise a complaint https://www.sky.com/help/articles/how-to-make-a-complaint

But if a bill was 'unpaid' then marking it with an agency is technically correct.

[Mark39]

Unfortunately Sky's payment collection processes are automated. However, they do contact you to warn of an impending transfer to a debt collection agency.

[Daniel0210]

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@Mel211 wrote:

I called Sky and said please could I pay this off in part and avoid being sent to a collections agency and the advisor said yes sure she understands my situation and to just log into my account and pay when some money comes in the next few weeks and she will not let this escalate to debt collection and make a note of this. One week later, I receive an email from a DEBT COLLECTION AGENCY! Which will now go onto my credit file and affect my credit. 

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@Mel211 

All bills, even the final bill after cancelling a subscription must be paid in full in a timely manner. On a closed account you should have been able to arrange a payment plan. It doesn't go straight to a debt collection agency, you get reminders to pay and late payment fees are added. It's only after they are ignored that Sky pass the debt on. To our knowledge Skys agents cannot override the automatic process. 

[Mel211]

Agents should be clear if they are not able to be responsible for the process to be escalated. I was told it will NOT go forward and was the reason for my call to Sky to explain my situation which was unfortunate as my financial situation changed due to health reasons.