Not able to cancel broadband

[JP391]

I can't believe it's reached the point where I'm making a topic here but I am so beyond frustrated that I really need somewhere to vent!

Due to consistently slow wi-fi where I live and being told by the last Sky engineer who visited that it couldn't get any better, I switched to another provider which is significantly better for my area.

When I tried to ring Sky to cancel, I was told by the agent there was no option for them to cancel( ?!) They put a ticket in and said I would be contacted within 48 hours. After hearing nothing for a week, I tried to contact Sky in different ways. I didn’t want to waste money calling again for the same thing to happen. All social media I tried had the same response of "simply call and cancel". It got to the point where I put in a complaint. I was given an online service to use to chat to someone to hopefully cancel but this agent said nothing could be done until the old ticket is reviewed and to wait a few more days. It has now been 10 days since I was told it would take 48 hours.

I would have cancelled with a month still on my contract but my new provider reimburses early exit payments. This might not be possible if I don't get information from Sky soon so I'm currently paying for 2 providers. As dramatic as it sounds I'm at my wits end. Does anyone have any ideas of what else I can do? If I don't get a response from Sky soon I don't see anything else I can do other than cancel my direct debit.

[PandJ2020]

Cancelling a DD would be the worst possible way of dealing with it.

Did the new provider not use One Touch Switch?  (Sky would have be notified)

Are you subject to any minimum term as cancellation would incur termination charges.

[caesarome]

@JP391 

Did you just sign up to your new provider via the switching service as they should have then told Sky that they are taking over your services so did this not happen ?

[JP391]

After venting and calming down a bit, to clarify I'd like to know if anyone might know why there is no option for me to cancel and if there is any way I can check a status of a ticket myself?

[caesarome]

We can't answer the question about why you were told you can't cancel unless they are making you see your contract out as cancelling broadband requires 14 days notice to be given.

There is no way is customers can check the status of any internal ticket if there is a fault stopping them from doing this for you.

[JP391]

I know it would be the worst thing to do but if this doesn't get resolved I can't see an alternative. 

My new provider is Airband who installed new infrastructure so I am not using the old connections. On their website it says "once installed with Airband, speak to your current provider to cancel your existing contract and ask for a settlement invoice. We will reimburse you up to 6 months if your contract" I'm assuming the one touch switch is not possible as it's different infrastructure? I did contact Airband to see if this could be done and they said they couldn't due to GDPR!

[JP391]

If thats the case I can understand it but surely one of the many people I have spoken to should be able to just tell me that? 

[PandJ2020]

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@JP391 wrote:

I'm assuming the one touch switch is not possible as it's different infrastructure?

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Nope - this was 'fixed' last year (particularly switching to/from VirginMedia).

I know it would be the worst thing to do but if this doesn't get resolved I can't see an alternative. 

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Whilst we don't know the background, failing to pay will give you issues - particularly around debt collection and potential credit marks.

You need to engage with them to resolve.  Not sure why you mentioning paying to call as Sky use a non-geographic number that should be included in most calling plans.

[Daniel0210]

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@JP391 wrote:

if this doesn't get resolved I can't see an alternative. 

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@JP391 

Cancelling the direct debit is definitely not recommended. Doing that is going to cause you additional problems. Your services will be restricted, you won't be able to call Sky, you wont be able to cancel, late payment fees will be added and eventually Sky could involve a debt recovery company which may affect your credit rating.

[PandJ2020]

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@JP391 wrote:

I did contact Airband to see if this could be done and they said they couldn't due to GDPR!

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IMO you have potentially have a complaint with Airband too.  They explictly say they use OTS so should be able to action the cancellation https://www.airband.co.uk/switch-to-us/

[JP391]

Thanks all for the replies.

Whilst this kind of thing probably comes naturally to all of you, dealing with these kind of things is difficult for me. 

I think the only thing I can try right now is to contact Airband again.