Leaving Sky and their hidden charges

[GuthrS98]

Hello, I left Sky in March.  They acknowledged that I was leaving and even requested their equipment back.  I am now receiving emails from SKY saying that I owe them for the SKY TV usage.  They have restricted my account, which I have not used since March 2025.  I have contacted Sky and they say that they experience this a lot when people leave them.  They blame it on the other provider that you have joined as Sky only stop your Broadband and landline and not your TV.  They have also added a £10 late charge penalty just for good measures.  The Call Centre representative in India was no use.  They just wanted you to pay the outstanding amount.  They gave me a number to ring which again will not let you do anything except pay the outstanding bill.  

If you are thinking of leaving Sky, please make sure that you ring them and get everything cancelled.  This is unbelievable.  The customer service is not good.  I asked to lodge a complaint and was told that they are billing.  I was amazed that my account is still active.  I have been on the billing area, again you cannot progress unless you make the payment.  They also ask for you to register an account.  No idea how to cancel my TV package.  

[GD1]

@GuthrS98  Did you have both broadband and TV with Sky.

If so and you used the One Touch Switch service you should be aware that this switches your broadband only.

Therefore unless you gave notice to cancel your TV service with Sky by contacting them and giving 31 days notice your TV service will continue to be billed.

You will need to pay Sky what they say you owe them.

Unfortunately a lot of customers assume that using OTS to switch to another provider cancels everything when in fact it only cancels a broadband service.

I'm afraid the error in this case is yours not Sky's or your new provider.

[Daniel0210]

@GuthrS98 

You'll need to pay what Sky say you owe and set up a new payment method. Once the payment has cleared into Skys account services will show as active and you can then ring Sky to cancel properly. 

If you cancel correctly you should get an email from Sky acknowledging the cancellation. 

[daveNOS]

@GuthrS98 You don't actually have a valid complaint against Sky, it's always been the case that when switching provider thet the new provider can only cancel the broadband contract, you are responsible for cancelling the TV contract.

You find yourself in a position now where you will have to pay what is legitimately owed before you can cancel, and that will only be actioned if you are outside of a minimum term/discounted period. 

[PandJ2020]

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@GuthrS98 wrote:

 They blame it on the other provider that you have joined as Sky only stop your Broadband and landline and not your TV. 

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And quite right too.  Unless you explicitly cancelled your TV services then no one else can do it...

If this is the case then you still have a TV contract and are liable for it.  (Even if you returned the hardware or didn't use it)

If your new provider said they would cancel it (there are reports of some saying this) then your complaint is with them and not Sky.

As it stands you don't have a basis for complaint nor do I see any 'hidden charges'?

[TimmyBGood]

@GuthrS98 

'One-touch-switch' for ISPs requires complex behind the scenes infrastructure to accomplish, as mandated by Ofcom and extended last year - there's simply no equivalent for subscription television.

No ISP should be making any claims about switching television service: that's simply outside their remit even if the same company (essentially only Virgin, Sky and EE) also offers television.