My Sky Glass has finally met its end

[TheStraightener]

Was watching Sky and then all of a sudden the picture looked like it was  a negative of a photograph. Obviously something with the lights inside. First real problem I've had with it since I had it 3 years ago. 

However 3 years means it's out of warranty, but I've still got another year left to pay for it.

Been on the phone to Sky who have confirmed it's a broken set but wanted £600 or so for another TV.  Been a Sky customer since 2001 but still nothing they can do. They can cancel my package, but not the cost of the TV

I don't have another TV to use. I was totally invested in the Sky Glass ecosystem.  I don't even have a TV Ariel. And I can't lay out that kind of money a month before Christmas for another TV and there's nothing Sky can do.

It is what it is I suppose. But just be careful about going all in on your Sky Glass, cos once it's gone you are left with nothing. And still paying for a non working telly. 

Maybe Can it be fixed through other means? I'm totally up against the wall here.

[mikealanr]

Hi @TheStraightener 

Sky have a repair partner "Service tech". The only part that cannot be repaired is the pannel itself.

See: https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-glass-tv-repairs

The other option is to see if you can get one cheap on eBay or Preloved etc.amd add it to your account: https://www.sky.com/help/articles/buying-sky-glass-second-hand

MikeAlanR

[TheStraightener]

Thank you for the reply Mike. I think this whole experience has  persuaded me to finally part ways with Sky after almost 25 years, well, almost 40 if you count when my parents had it too.

A decent TV should last a lot longer than 3 years, especially when it's on a 4 year repayment plan.

[Fothergill1]

@TheStraightener I appreciate it will still be an outlat just before Christmas but the second hand value of Glass TVs is very low so if you look on eBay,  Facebook etc you will probably find Glass TVs much cheaper than the £600 Sky are asking for which in itself is a considerably discounted price. 

To give you an example of the resale value about a year ago I sold my Glass TV and moved to a Stream puck.  My Glass was a 55 inch model and was only 18 months old.  I originally advertised it at £350 but got no interest at all so I dropped it to £295 and ended up accepting £250.

Another option would be to purchase a second hand smart TV and then get a Stream puck from Sky for a one off payment of £39.  The puck would be on loan and not owned by you.

Good luck 

[TheStraightener]

I get it's discounted. But a TV should last more than 3 years surely.

[Fothergill1]

@TheStraightener Yes, I completely agree.  This day and age a 2 year warranty is pretty poor.  My current Samsung came with a 5 year warranty.

[TheStraightener]

I wonder how many other Glass sets we'll see start failing now. I always considered myself one of the lucky ones cos I never had any of the issues other people were reporting. 

Sky Glasses best feature also turned out to be its worst. When I moved house I didn't have an Ariel, or a dish or a sky box etc. all nicely self contained. Now I've got no contingency whatsoever. Even using another TV will be useless cos I've got no means of watching Sky on it. I won't be boxing myself in like that again. 

[Fothergill1]

@TheStraightener  The build quality of Glass seems to have been questionable since launch.  I frequently read of people who have had their Glass TVs fail and replaced under warranty multiple times.

Like you I had very few of the issues others seem to experience but I always put that down to my fast and stable broadband coupled with the fact I rebooted the TV at my convenience ever few days by leaving it unplugged when I went out and plugging it back in when I got home.  I felt this prevented minor glitches from becoming more serious.

I moved from Glass to Stream a year ago purely for the far superior picture quality and I got a good Black Friday deal..  I had a tradesman in my home a few days ago and he was astounded at how good my picture quality was.

[Jporch316]

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@Fothergill1 wrote:

Another option would be to purchase a second hand smart TV and then get a Stream puck from Sky for a one off payment of £39.  The puck would be on loan and not owned by you.

Good luck 

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This 👆 cheap tv and sky stream ....

[Exiled-in-HH]

It's not a good idea to buy an expensive TV without a 5 or 6 year warranty🤔

When buying a Glass TV budgeting for Sly Protect should be considered😒

[TimmyBGood]

@TheStraightener 

One technical point: the set is owned from the start.  Repayment is of the unsecured personal loan used to purchase it.

[TheStraightener]

Yeah you're right. If I borrowed the money from my nan to get it I'd still have to pay her. 

just a lousy situation. 

[Mister_Dalek]

It was always going to be more risky buying the very first TV from a company with no previous history of producing TV hardware whatsoever. The likes of LG, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Philips, HiSense, etc all have a track record going back years and are specialists in the field of TV manufacture. 

Being a mass-market service provider, Sky would always have been conscious of manufacturing costs and, coupled with the silicon shortage during the pandemic, more corners were perhaps cut by TP Vision (who build Glass) than should have been. 

Personally, when spending hundreds of pounds on a piece of technology which is used regularly in most households, I would always recommend a warranty of at least 5 years. With Sky Glass this would necessitate paying more for Sky Protect insurance, whereas any smart TV purchased from somewhere like John Lewis or Richer Sounds comes with a free 5 or 6 year warranty. You can then achieve the same Sky streaming TV experience on such a smart TV by getting a Sky Stream puck.  

[TheStraightener]

Yeah in hindsight some sort of insurance might have been wise.

[Gincap]

Insurance is questionable, you're better off if you can afford the insurance to put that away towards a new TV when the time comes. A decent TV comes with a 5 year warranty that's 60 months of savings. 

Sky Glass is an early concept a Comcast project and with no version 2 in 3 years, well that speaks volumes. Nobody today should be investing in a potential 4 year payback on a 3 year old TV it's just madness. 

If you want to retain Sky then a puck may be the way forward with a decent nano LED or OLED depending on budget. 

If you look at how much Sky costs you then work out the cost to have Now TV and subscribe to what you actually view individually you may well have enough saved against subscription to cover a monthly TV purchase or at least help towards it.