Sky refuse to book an engineer for me

[SidV]

I have a Sky HD+ box which has been working without any problems for about ten years. During the last few weeks I have lost satellite signal during the heavy rainstorms we've been having.  The signal loss has been occuring on some, but not all channels, and the channels affected varies. Sometimes Input 1 shows no signal, sometime Input 2. Reception gradually comes back to normal after a few days of dry weather. I've tried all the tests  Sky recommend, but nothing works. It seems to me that the problem must be with the dish, LNB and/or cabling in poor weather rather than with the box. If it were the box, reception wouldn't return in the days after the heavy rain.

So I phoned Sky and tried to book an engineer to sort the problem. I accepted that I'd have to pay £65 for the visit. However when I spoke to an 'adviser', he refused to book a visit for me. He said that Sky no longer supplied HD+ boxes, and so the engineers would not be able to replace the box if it were faulty. I said that I was certain the problem was with the dish/LNB, but he just repeated what he had just said. However he could book an engineer if I upgraded to SkyQ!  I said that I didn't want to upgrade, but he repeated that I couldn't book an engineer unless I upgraded.

Is this now Sky policy?

I should add that I have a spare, unused Sky HD+ box so even if my currently-connected box were faulty, I could switch to the other box once the dish problem was addressed.

[Annie+UK · Accepted solution]

The Sky Plus system (inc' box, dish and cables)  has reached end of life and cannot be supported indefinately

The last Sky Plus box to be manufatcured was approx' 8 years ago now

IMO this is Skys way to make people move to a non-legacy system that they can support into the future

[SidV]

Can't argue with Sky not supporting the HD+ box, but I'm not asking them to. I'm asking them to provide an advertised, chargeable,  support service (a Sky engineer) to rectify a problem with the delivery system (the satellite/LNB). This the same mode of delivery, albeit with a different LNB, that SkyQ uses. This seems to me a bit like a local authority refusing to repair a road because my car is too old 😕

[Mark39]

You can, of course, get a local installer to take a look at your dish setup.

[SKY1992bf]

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@SidV wrote:

Can't argue with Sky not supporting the HD+ box, but I'm not asking them to. I'm asking them to provide an advertised, chargeable,  support service (a Sky engineer) to rectify a problem with the delivery system (the satellite/LNB). This the same mode of delivery, albeit with a different LNB, that SkyQ uses. This seems to me a bit like a local authority refusing to repair a road because my car is too old 😕

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@SidV sky can and have as in this case withdraw advertised support services at anytime 

Can you post a link to where you have seen the service advertised 

[SidV]

How about on their own site, after I worked through all their troubleshooting steps.

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/book-engineer#

and

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-tv-engineer-visits#

If they want to withdraw the engineer service for Sky HD+ users (who are after all also Sky subscribers), they should state so on the relevant pages.

[oj01]

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@SidV wrote:

Can't argue with Sky not supporting the HD+ box, but I'm not asking them to. I'm asking them to provide an advertised, chargeable,  support service (a Sky engineer) to rectify a problem with the delivery system (the satellite/LNB). This the same mode of delivery, albeit with a different LNB, that SkyQ uses. This seems to me a bit like a local authority refusing to repair a road because my car is too old 😕

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@SidV Hope you can find a local satellite engineer to come out and fix things for you. Absolutely no need to try and force you to get Sky Q. 

[Judith.Anders]

I pay for the complete sports channels on my HD+ Box

Sky happily take my money every month

The Tennis channel was on at 5he beginning 2hen it was launched 11th Feb

I watched Dubai Abu Dabi Doha Indian Wells Miami on and off some on the Tennis Channel some on the MainEvent channel as the Tennis Channel says no satalite signal although every other HD Sports Channel has it 

The advisor couldn't help and I was told as my box was old she couldn't send an engineer out BUT SHE COULD UPGRADE ME lol

Sky continue to take my money continue to put my prices up but unfortunately can't offer a decent service 

All they are interested in is trying to upgrade you .. 

[Mark39]

@Judith.Anders Sky+ is a legacy satellite system for which Sky no longer provide engineer support unless you have Sky Protect. The solutions are either to engage a local satellite installer to investigate, or to upgrade to Sky Q - Sky's current satellite platform - during the installation of which the dish and cabling will be checked and fixed at no additional cost to you. 

[Daniel0210]

@Judith.Anders 

As stated above Sky no longer support Sky+ or Sky+HD systems and won't send an engineer even if it's for dish issues. If you already have Sky Protect through Domestic and General Insurance contact them direct otherwise you'll need to contact a local satellite company at your own expense.