Sky Talk illegally applied to my business line

[Craighew]

Without authorisation, consent or any correspondance whatsoever, Sky started billing me for calls made on a business line installed in my home by my employer.

I only noticed when I queried high direct debits from my bank account to Sky.

After a few heated phone calls Customer services apologised and admitted that the service had been "mis-sold" they refunded my charges to my bank and apologised again, but couldn't discover why the service had been applied in the first instance.

This morning, when I come to use my business line (I work from home a lot) I get a Sky recorded announcement saying that a Sky Talk restriction had been placed on my line, phone customer services to arrange re-connection.

After several extremely irate calls Sky advised me to call BT (my original provider) and have them re-adopt the line. BT will, but only after charging me for a new connection service.

I call sky back (even more incensed) and Sky say they cannot do anything apart from lift the restriction in 72 hours, and my line will be 'dead'

When I say this is categorically not acceptable, they suggest I write in........

My blood boils over and I demand they put my line back to the state it was in before they made their illegal takeover, they say sorry, you'll have to wait 72 hours after which time your line will be dead....................

I am led to believe that Sky CANNOT add this sky talk service to a business line by law.
I can't get any sense out of Sky, even though I have an e-mail saying it's their fault in the first place....!!!!!
Should I contact an Ombudsman???

[IWasNotTheEnemy]

yes, but this is a BB forum...

your best bet is no ask to speak to their complaints department, or customer relations, and explain what happened rather than going through customer services...

regarding the business line, is it the number linked to the Sky account? If not, how did they get it?

[Netgeezer]

Taking over a telephone service without the owner's knowledge or permission is known in the trade as "Slamming" and there are very specific and strict laws and guidelines to prevent it happening. OFCOM or OTELO would take a very dim view of any provider doing so and they have a history of raising quite hefty fines to those caught doing it.

That said, Sky are one of the better companies that do not perform Slamming. The advice given above is sound and you should give it a go before getting on to the regulators. You also need to keep some written evidence of your complaint, so I would suggest following up all calls with emails or letters. A hassle, but you need to have a leg to stand on if you intend to go to OTELO or OFCOM.

Suggestion; when calling Sky do try your best to keep on a tight focus and do not get angry with the person you are speaking with. They are all limited in what they can actually do there and then. In any event it is going to take time to put right, and you can and should seek compensation for your energies spent, possibly after the event. I would suggest that you prepare a list of your wants and desires before you make the call, that will help you keep objective and on focus. If you get nowhere with the person you are speaking with then ask them for the escalation route, the manger or senior manager you could discuss this with. Be firm but also completely polite - you can always go kick the dog or cat after you get off the phone. I know this will be hard to do but it is really all in your voice as to how you get dealt with. Try smiling when you are speaking, crazy I know but it actually changes your tone to the person at the other end, helps them empathise with you. There's some real trick-cycling on the go and I don't know how it works, just that it really does!! I've had some really difficult situations to resolve, smiled my way right through the call and had the person at the other end not able to do enough to help me!!! Really

[fihart]

From my experience of dealing with British Gas and the electricity company EDF, the quickest way to get a utility company's attention is, having made a complaint to the supplier with no result, to go immediately to the regulatory body -- in this case OTELO or OFCOM (they'll tell you which one you need).

They will short circuit the usual call-centre nonsense and before long you will have someone senior at Sky apologising, sorting it out and (hopefully) offering compensation.