Second stream puck - why do sky charge?

[Ed.B.]

Hi all

Because I got stream at launch I own a puck, and was thinking of getting whole home and adding a third box.

I can get whole home discounted to £6.50 which I'm prepared to pay, but sky want £40 'set up fee' for another puck which, given these things now have to be returned, is a bit of a cheek.

I've looked on eBay but for some reason the second hand pucks are selling for more than £50, so paying sky for a (probably) new one which they'll replace if it goes faulty would be a better idea.

But before I do that, does anyone have any other ideas?

[bemak187]

@Ed.B.  Not sure one from ebay would work, I assume these pucks are linked to your account?  Sky have always done stuff like this.  Same with Q.  You had to pay a set up/admin fee even though your dont own the kit.  Then there were the 1st gen Q boxes that ended up not supporting HDR and sky wanted I beleive £50 to "upgrade".  Part of it is to cover postage, manufacturing costs etc but it has never been a good look.

[Ed.B.]

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@bemak187 wrote:

@Ed.B.  Not sure one from ebay would work, I assume these pucks are linked to your account?  Sky have always done stuff like this.  Same with Q.  You had to pay a set up/admin fee even though your dont own the kit.  Then there were the 1st gen Q boxes that ended up not supporting HDR and sky wanted I beleive £50 to "upgrade".  Part of it is to cover postage, manufacturing costs etc but it has never been a good look.

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Yes - one came free with my new contract and the other I own from a previous home. 

I'd like to get a third if I'm going to pay them another £78 a year, and I'd rather not pay for it given it's only a loaner. 

[Padam_Padam]

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@Ed.B. wrote:

Hi all

Because I got stream at launch I own a puck, and was thinking of getting whole home and adding a third box.

I can get whole home discounted to £6.50 which I'm prepared to pay, but sky want £40 'set up fee' for another puck which, given these things now have to be returned, is a bit of a cheek.

I've looked on eBay but for some reason the second hand pucks are selling for more than £50, so paying sky for a (probably) new one which they'll replace if it goes faulty would be a better idea.

But before I do that, does anyone have any other ideas?

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Who knows why people pay over the odds for second hand pucks on eBay? It does seem strange, given how cheaply made they are. 

You've already got a hefty discount on Whole Home so you're much better off just paying the £40 and getting on with it. If you want another puck to get 4K on another screen then it's really your only option. Sky Go on a console or Apple TV 4K box is the alternative, but that's limited to 720P last time I looked. 

Treat the £40 as a prepayment of postage costs for returning the puck when it dies or at the end of your subscription. Sky don't get all those DPD couriers for nothing - they have to pay for them! Also it's a guarantee - as you say, if the puck dies, Sky replace it. 

Also think about what you want to watch on this extra puck. If it's just for app content mainly then you could always buy a Firestick to give you more streaming options. The 4K Max is often discounted to around the £40 mark and Amazon will replace those if they go faulty. But if it's Sky content you want then just pay the fee and get the extra puck from Sky.   

[Padam_Padam]

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@bemak187 wrote:

@Ed.B.  Not sure one from ebay would work, I assume these pucks are linked to your account?  Sky have always done stuff like this.  Same with Q.  You had to pay a set up/admin fee even though your dont own the kit.  Then there were the 1st gen Q boxes that ended up not supporting HDR and sky wanted I beleive £50 to "upgrade".  Part of it is to cover postage, manufacturing costs etc but it has never been a good look.

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The danger with buying an eBay puck is there's no guarantee you're buying a customer-owned puck. I sold my customer-owned one on eBay and the new owner had no trouble adding it to their account so it is possible to factory reset them, sell them and have a new owner activate them on their own account.  

[Exiled-in-HH]

What "setup" is completed by Sky?

[Exiled-in-HH]

£6.50 is a significant discount🤔

[Ed.B.]

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

What "setup" is completed by Sky?

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None, other than the phone operator in the upgrades team adding it to my account. 

I'd have no problems paying a fiver for postage, but £40 is offensive given I don't get to keep it at the end of the contract. 

[Ed.B.]

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

£6.50 is a significant discount🤔

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Hemel Hempstead?

Haywards Heath?

[Padam_Padam]

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

What "setup" is completed by Sky?

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None, other than the phone operator in the upgrades team adding it to my account. 

I'd have no problems paying a fiver for postage, but £40 is offensive given I don't get to keep it at the end of the contract. 

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What would you do with it at the end of the contract though? Isn't it better that Sky take it back and either re-use it with another customer or they can recycle it properly (as they claim to do) rather than it sitting gathering dust on your shelf? The £40 fee can also count towards (what one can hope is) proper electronics recycling.  

[Exiled-in-HH]

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

What "setup" is completed by Sky?

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None, other than the phone operator in the upgrades team adding it to my account. 

I'd have no problems paying a fiver for postage, but £40 is offensive given I don't get to keep it at the end of the contract. 

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I f you did get to keep pucks ... you'd only be able to use them as door stops ... without an active subscription they have zero functionality😉

[Padam_Padam]

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

What "setup" is completed by Sky?

---

None, other than the phone operator in the upgrades team adding it to my account. 

I'd have no problems paying a fiver for postage, but £40 is offensive given I don't get to keep it at the end of the contract. 

---

I f you did get to keep pucks ... you'd only be able to use them as door stops ... without an active subscription they have zero functionality😉

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I tested my customer-owned puck before I sold it and once I factory reset it was able to re-activate it to my Sky account, even though I didn't have a Streaming TV subscription. All apps worked and the EPG was visible but you just couldn't watch any of the live channel streams. That's not quite zero functionality... and probably why Sky switched to the loan model, because they don't want former customers using their hardware to access apps on their servers without paying them any money. 

[Ed.B.]

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@Padam_Padam wrote:

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

What "setup" is completed by Sky?

---

None, other than the phone operator in the upgrades team adding it to my account. 

I'd have no problems paying a fiver for postage, but £40 is offensive given I don't get to keep it at the end of the contract. 

---

What would you do with it at the end of the contract though? Isn't it better that Sky take it back and either re-use it with another customer or they can recycle it properly (as they claim to do) rather than it sitting gathering dust on your shelf? The £40 fee can also count towards (what one can hope is) proper electronics recycling.  

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Sure, but don't charge £40 fee. 

[Ed.B.]

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@Padam_Padam wrote:

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

What "setup" is completed by Sky?

---

None, other than the phone operator in the upgrades team adding it to my account. 

I'd have no problems paying a fiver for postage, but £40 is offensive given I don't get to keep it at the end of the contract. 

---

I f you did get to keep pucks ... you'd only be able to use them as door stops ... without an active subscription they have zero functionality😉

---

I tested my customer-owned puck before I sold it and once I factory reset it was able to re-activate it to my Sky account, even though I didn't have a Streaming TV subscription. All apps worked and the EPG was visible but you just couldn't watch any of the live channel streams. That's not quite zero functionality... and probably why Sky switched to the loan model, because they don't want former customers using their hardware to access apps on their servers without paying them any money. 

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I reset my customer-owned puck and can't access the TV guide, even though it wouldn't let me watch any channels if I could.

It just says 'no subscription'. I can't get to the home screen to use any apps.

[Padam_Padam]

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@Padam_Padam wrote:

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

What "setup" is completed by Sky?

---

None, other than the phone operator in the upgrades team adding it to my account. 

I'd have no problems paying a fiver for postage, but £40 is offensive given I don't get to keep it at the end of the contract. 

---

I f you did get to keep pucks ... you'd only be able to use them as door stops ... without an active subscription they have zero functionality😉

---

I tested my customer-owned puck before I sold it and once I factory reset it was able to re-activate it to my Sky account, even though I didn't have a Streaming TV subscription. All apps worked and the EPG was visible but you just couldn't watch any of the live channel streams. That's not quite zero functionality... and probably why Sky switched to the loan model, because they don't want former customers using their hardware to access apps on their servers without paying them any money. 

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I reset my customer-owned puck and can't access the TV guide, even though it wouldn't let me watch any channels if I could.

It just says 'no subscription'. I can't get to the home screen to use any apps.

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Mine did that initially but then I factory reset it and followed the startup procedure as if I was a new customer. Input my SkyID and the activation code and it then opened to the main home screen. All apps available. This was back at the beginning of the year so maybe they've stopped that loophole!