Sky dish on roof

[MabelButlin]

I was rung by a Sky employee telling me that I could get a free upgrade . I agreed to have the engineers. They duly arrived but much to our surprise they wanted to get on the roof to change the Sky dish. My OH refused permission for them to drill holes in our Grade 2 Listed building.   Now he's saying it was a con and the signal doesn't come from the dish anyway...

To say I'm confused is an understatement!   Why would Sky go tonthe trouble of sending two employees to our house is they didn't need to change the dish?   And what do other people do if they have listed buildings but Sky insist on drilling holes in the walls to ensure the safety of the employees?

[GD1 · Accepted solution]

@MabelButlin If it was Sky Q you upgraded to then you do need a dish as all live channels broadcast over satellite.  I would love to know how your OH thinks you will get these channels without a dish on this particular type of box. 

If you have an existing dish that would only be changed if it was too old and had deteriorated, upgrading from Sky+ to Q in many cases may only needs the LNB (the bit on the dish the cables attach to) changing.

Only Sky stream is dish less and it sounds like this wasn't what you upgraded to as this does not need an installer as it would be self install.

[TimmyBGood]

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@MabelButlin wrote:

I was rung by a Sky employee telling me that I could get a free upgrade .

'Upgrade' from Sky+ HD to Sky Q?  Worth noting that despite what some information sources state, reception by Sky+ HD isn't ending.

I agreed to have the engineers. They duly arrived but much to our surprise they wanted to get on the roof to change the Sky dish.

It's typically a swap of the LNB on the dish, not the dish itself.  The standard LNB used by Sky+ cannot pass a signal to Sky Q.

 

My OH refused permission for them to drill holes in our Grade 2 Listed building.   

Even for an LNB change, they need a ladder tether.  Without that they would be subject to potential disciplinary action if they proceeded with the job.

Now he's saying it was a con and the signal doesn't come from the dish anyway...

He's presumably thinking of Sky Glass/Stream (released in 2021), not Sky Q (from 2016 onwards)

To say I'm confused is an understatement!   Why would Sky go tonthe trouble of sending two employees to our house is they didn't need to change the dish?   And what do other people do if they have listed buildings but Sky insist on drilling holes in the walls to ensure the safety of the employees?

They either employ an independent installer or don't have Sky Q: access to satellite television isn't actually a human rights issue, and employer obligation regarding employee safety is rather more important than customer convenience.  Note that if employing a non-Sky installer it's still possible that Sky staff will refuse the installation as they are instructed to do so where a dish cannot be reached under their own safe-working protocols.

[MabelButlin]

@TimmyBGood 

Thankyou for your detailed reply. I'm sure the message we got originally said whatever service we have now is stopping and consequently we can upgrade now at no additional cost.  You are telling me it is not stopping...  to say I'm confused is an understatement., but I'll be relieved if you are correct, thanks.  

By the way, I would not regard the use of a ladder with safety harness as a 'human rights issue', nor a 'right' if any sort. Personally I don't watch tv except the odd catchup on BBCiPlayer, however, him-indoors has it on day and night and frankly life wouldn't be worth living if he hadn't got his tv. My life or his!  Sometimes when people get alzheimersy they get irate about all sorts of things. Not having a tv is one of them.

The issue with the hole drilling is not down to me - it's illegal to damage the fabric of  a listed building without first obtaining permission. Getting permission can take months.  Doing it without permission could incur prosecution.   If I had been told originally that they were planning to get on the roof I should not have booked them to come.   I just thought they were going to change the box in the sitting room, so it was a surprise when two of them turned up!   After they went Him Indoors told me they were lying about having to change the dish...  I don't know when he's telling the truth or making things up. 

[oj01]

@MabelButlin Rest assured, the message you will have received said that your Sky+HD box would no longer receive updates. This is actually nothing new as there haven't been any updates for a couple of years. So nothings changed.

As mentioned above, the dish itself doesn't need changing when switching to Sky Q, but the LNB on the dish does. So, I guess he was half right (and half wrong 🤣)