Need a callback concerning unpaid bill and help

[AL109]

As above. Company I worked for liquidated left me unpaid so I need a callback and some help from SKY directly but my sim is restricted as payment bounced. Please help. Thankyou.  

[Daniel0210 · Accepted solution]

@AL109 

No one from Sky will call you. Dispite your unfortunate circumstances if Sky services have been restricted (it’s normally only a missed payment that triggers this), Sky won’t reinstate them until you’ve paid what (Sky believe) is owed in full and set up a new continuous payment method. If your payment is two or more weeks overdue you will have to pay the next bill as well. Any calls to Sky will only prompt you to make your payment.

If you can’t pay what you owe in one go you can pay what you want, but until the bill is fully paid Sky will not reinstate your services. Sky don't allow payment plans on overdue live accounts, nor will they consider promises to pay on or by a certain date.

Once your full payment has cleared and is in Sky’s account your services should be reinstated, but this may not be instant. Also, any payment you make over a weekend or on a Bank Holiday won’t be processed until the following week as banks are closed.

[AL109]

@Daniel0210 thank you. A company who clearly don't have a social policy unlike many others. Even mortgage companies allow deferred and late payments. Awful company. No phone, no job, can't call companies for job! etc etc 

appreciate your quick response. 

[Daniel0210]

@AL109 

Unfortunately the restriction process is automated so even if you'd called Sky before your services were restricted they wouldn't have been able to stop the process.

For future reference the billing process is as follows (for everyone):-

If you have a Direct Debit set up and the payment fails on the normal payment date Sky will automatically attempt it again 10 calendar days later. After 10 days, if that second attempt also fails Sky may send a text and/or email notifying you that your payment has failed again and you then have a day or two before they restrict your services.

If you have a Continuous Card payment method set up, if the payment fails Sky send the text/email notification about the failed payment and you usually have at best 2/3 days before being restricted. There is no grace period and only 1 attempt is made for a card payment, so if this has failed, you will need to pay manually and then reset the payment method for next month.

Restrictions are an automated process and we’ve been told Customer Service agents can’t stop it… even if you’re told otherwise.

Sky don’t allow payment plans (except on a legitimately closed account) or a promise to pay on or by a certain date.

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@AL109 wrote:

@Daniel0210 thank you. A company who clearly don't have a social policy unlike many others. Even mortgage companies allow deferred and late payments. Awful company. No phone, no job, can't call companies for job! etc etc 

appreciate your quick response. 

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A Mortgage is a loan and therefore you can arrange payment plans and/or extending the payment terms, which Sky offer on all their credit agreements.

There is a reason its different on a subscription service, as the service provider would likley never get their money back. A loan/credit agreement has a finite amount you need to pay back, with an active service subscription what you owe a company would just increase and there would be no way of them ensuring that the money you owe to them is paid. Therefore the only way to achieve this is to suspend a subscription, thus freezing the owener's debt to the company and once its paid the subscription can be reactivated.

[AL109]

Yes thankyou Mark.  I am aware of all the above, just venting but know why they act in this way.

However, regardless, someone who has paid every month for 23 years, having endured the ups and downs of recessions etc over time, is generally someone who you may talk with and make arrangements, should a company choose to engage, rather then now seeing them think, thanks for your lack of support I will take my biz elsewhere when back on feet. 

That's the whole package, everything you can get and multiple devices. Sometimes automation doesnt work, the human touch does. Cest la vie

thankyou for your response, all the best. 

[Mark39]

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@AL109 wrote:

However, regardless, someone who has paid every month for 23 years, having endured the ups and downs of recessions etc over time, is generally someone who you may talk with and make arrangements, should a company choose to engage, rather then now seeing them think, thanks for your lack of support I will take my biz elsewhere when back on feet. 

That's the whole package, everything you can get and multiple devices. Sometimes automation doesnt work, the human touch does. Cest la vie

thankyou for your response, all the best. 

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Increasingly, providers can't afford the human touch, especially large companies with millions of customers. Good or bad, most decisions are machine driven, including within banks and other financial institutions. I'm afraid your expectations are unrealistic.