Sky Glass Mis-sold Re 20/9/24 Issues

[CDuncan91]

So, as many other people were, I lost the ability to be able to turn on my Sky Glass on that Thursday evening back in September.

 Now, had we only lost the streaming service element for a period of time, I do not think I'd be even bothering to call to make a complaint. However what disturbed me was that during this episode was the fact that we lost a basic functionality of a TV - the ability to turn it on.

This TV is sold on the basis that it will work as a normal TV without Sky TV. How can they claim that when they still retain effective control over a basic functionality such as the unit switching on? We're not talking about certain apps or channels not working, or the Sky menu not going on and a blank screen - we are talking about it's ability to function as what in their words is a "normal" TV.

Thousands of people made the choice, the investment even to buy one of these either on finance or outright based on the premise that at worst it could be used as a normal TV in its own right further down the line. This complete in effect shutdown proves otherwise. Had this been true, you'd have been able to plug a HDMI cable connected to something into the TV and away you go.

I won't claim to be a consumer rights expert but this stinks of a product being mis-sold to customers. 

On making my complaint via phone this evening, I was told this event was a one off and that yes whilst Sky can essentially control this basic functionality, it wouldn't happen again as they wouldn't in their words just "do it for fun".

Surely this should've been made clear to customers before buying, either in a disclaimer or in the contract? It still says on their website it can used as a normal TV.

I was offered a £5 Tesco voucher. Clearly I found this totally unacceptable and almost insulting. The team members response was word for word "because of how many people were affected we cannot allocate more than £5 per person". 

Sky, get one thing clear - compensation should be proportionate to the complaint, not the amount of complaints. 

Apologies for the long post, but I am of the belief that thousands if not tens of thousands of us have been had over here by Sky, and I think it's worth us putting pressure on Sky for proportionate compensation for mis-selling this product.

I'd appreciate any thoughts!

[mikealanr]

hi @CDuncan91 

Sky tell you that when you don't subscribe you will only have access to apps. This is documented here: https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-glass-without-a-subscription

Their definition of normal is very different to mine. But they do tell you:

Once it's activated, you’ll be able to:

-Watch live and on demand TV through TV apps, like BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Netflix and more.

- Connect other devices like your games console or DVD player through a HDMI port.

- If you don’t activate your Sky Glass TV, you’ll only be able to connect your other devices. Access to TV apps like Netflix won't be available.

You TV can't turn on because of an issue with software. Not by design but due to an issue. Have you been through the recovery process? What is happening when you try?  https://www.sky.com/help/articles/power-issue-help-sky-glass

In theory any smart TV could suffer a similar fault as they all rely on software to work. It's not like an analogue TV.

Sky only replace the TV if it's under warranty, personally I do think they should be replacing all units where the failed software update has "bricked" the unit. But this isn't by design by Sky it was due to an issue with their infrastructure.

If your not happy with the response you can make a complaint https://www.sky.com/help/articles/how-to-make-a-complaint

Or of course you can try whatever recourse is available to you under your consumer rights.

MikeAlanR

[TimmyBGood]

@CDuncan91 

As @mikealanr indicates, the same would be the case with any smart television which suffered a software failure which left it unable to boot up: they don't really 'switch on' these days because all such functionality is ultimately software controlled and even physical buttons are just triggering operating system instructions.

Where I fundamentally disagree with Sky is their statement that Glass 'will work like a normal TV' when used without a subscription.

[Exiled-in-HH]

@TimmyBGood  Is that because a "normal tv" allows access to the DTT tuner without the requirement to disconnect from the internet?