What a Complete Waste of Space

[Paul-Somerset]

I applied to have our copper line upgraded to Fibre 500 and received an Installation Date of early August.

I attempted to contact both Sky and OpenReach to explain it was not a simple installation (a small amount of scaffold is required to reach the first floor over a slanted roof)

I had no reply from an email to OpenReach but Sky informed me they were not interested as it was OpenReach who is responsible for the installation and only if it fails will Sky get involved.

I knew it would fail !!

My initial Provisioning Date was changed to August 12th - so I waited for the Engineer who immediately advised there was a problem. Bizarely, he even stated they were aware of the problem because it was the same one they have when they installed the original copper line some 5 years previously - yet they did NOTHING to plan ahead for a successful install this time.

I emailed Dana Strong CEO at Sky and a few days later was contacted by the Executive Office (EO).

The lady I spoke with went through the provisioning process Sky were to follow in conjunction with OpenReach. She advised me I would be dealing with the EO going forward and that someone from the EO would phone me if Sky needed to speak with me about any developments.

I was advised a new installation date of October 6th between 1pm and 6pm and on September 13th this was confirmed by a text from OpenReach.

I asked what I should do about all of the emails and texts I was receiving from Sky and she explained they were coming from a different part of the system.

She advised that she would try to have those communications turned off while the Executive Office was dealing with my account. She did say she might not be able to stop them but that I should IGNORE those emails/texts and reconfirmed again that I would only be dealing with the EO.

Then.....

Sky sent me an email on September 24th stating I could now escalate my Complaint to CISAS as it had been open for 8 weeks - erm no it hasn't.

Sky sent me an email on September 25th 11:21 asking me to call them due to an issue on the account.

I received a text from Sky on Thursday 25th at 09:42 stating my order had been cancelled, another later that morning at 11:21 asking me to phone them and another at 13:43pm stating Sky have sent out the prepaid returns packaging.

As directed by the Executive Office, I ignored all of the emails/texts - as they would phone me if they had any developments or needed further info. They had not phoned me.

On September 25th 14:08, I emailed Sky to ask what on earth was happening.

On Sunday September 28th, I received a call from XXXX in the Priority Team (not the EO).

She explained that my account had indeed been cancelled but could not explain why.

She advised that I could submit another Application and start the whole process again. I did not do that and have requested a response in writing to explain what is going on at Sky.


What a Complete Waste of Space Sky (and OpenReach are).

I am waiting for a response from the Executive Office following my latest email to Dana Strong (CEO).

Of course, while all this is going on, I am accumulating Compensation at £6.24 per day which is now on £294 - though unsuprisingly their "cancellation email" made no mention of this.

I have given them until October 3rd to provide a resolution, after which it goes to CISAS and Ofcom.

[Chrisee]

@Paul-Somerset the Executive Office and the Priority Team are in practice in the same Customer Services Section. Don't be too impressed by titles as all customer contacts with senior managers get passed to this section to be dealt with. 

Openreach install roughly 80K fibre lines each week and the process is therfore quite inflexible. That the local Openreach team were aware of an issue with your property is not surprising but the ability to plan ahead is simply not there in the scale of the operation. The standard install does not offer variations like scaffolding etc so that in the end Openreach have declined the order is not a surprise to be honest. Sky have no direct control over Openreach or for that matter their other network City Fibre whose decision over what is and is not possible is final. Sky do on occasions use their own engineers but working over a roof is very unlikely to be possible. Is there not any other point on your property thst could be used?

The communication with CISAS does not have to wait 8 weeks as effectively Sky have admitted deadlock. I doubt CISAS can do anything as they cannot force Openreach to do the insstallation and Ofcom do not handle consumer complaints redirecting you to Sky and CISAS.

[Paul-Somerset]

The woman from the "Executive Office" advised they were a small team of 12 in the corner of the main office, so I would always "speak with someone dedicated to resolving my issues".

I can only go on what she advised and expected the information she provided to be truthful.

On her first call she advised that OpenReach had applied to the Local Authority for "roadside works" - except I explained that my property is 100 metres from the nearest road.

Also, I would have expected the online "Inbox" and "Cases" sections of my Sky Account to be kept updated - and the only entry on there is to confirm my Complaint is still active - no further details on what was/is happening.

Basically, leaving me in the dark and expecting - based on her assurance - to hear from that Team by phone as and when required; yet nothing.

IF OpenReach could have given me a 2hr window for their Engineer to attend, I could have arranged a friend to erect the small amount of scaffolding and then remove it again - but understandably he's not going to sit around (and Im not paying him) for 5 hours.

This was initially an OpenReach problem but has become a Sky failure in basic customer service.

If they cannot get the service provisioned, I shall expect a cheque for the compensation and then see where it goes once escalated.

[Chrisee]

@Paul-Somerset thst is your choice of course. Once the order is cancelled normally the compensation is lost but you can argue against that. 

Best of luck.

[Paul-Somerset]

What rubbish - compensation is due UNTIL the supplier cancels.

Its not due if I cancel.

Using your logic, companies would never pay compo, they'd just cancel.

[Chrisee]

@Paul-Somerset it isn't my logic the compensation is calculated by Openreach and paid to Sky who credit your account.

[Paul-Somerset]

The Compensation is set by an Industry Code that suppliers agree to.

In this case OpenReach are liable, pay it to Sky who then either credit it or pay it out if there is no account to credit.

The fact that OpenReach, Sky or both have cancelled the Contract does NOT make them less liable for the Compensation due.

Because OpenReach are liable, it suggests Sky will walk away without any liability for their appalling handling of the process.

I would expect the adjudication service to lawatd me a compensation payment against Sky in addition to what OpenReach are liable for.

You don't believe any are liable for anything and you are wrong.