Help! Going from Orange to Sky during Orange trial period

[marienbad]

BB newbie here. I'm currently within Orange's 30-day trial period where I am allowed to cancel anytime before Dec 26th. I've decided that I definitely don't want to stay with Orange (£15/month, superslow, bad customer service) and want to move to Sky's £5/month service (with £20 connection fee.)

However, after talking to both Orange and Sky today, I'm utterly confused. The two companies seem to be saying different things--

Orange said:
(A) You don't actually need to "cancel" anything. You simply migrate. You ask us for a MAC code, which we will send to you in 5 working days. You give that to Sky, and once Sky activates your connection, that's when your Orange service will cease -- ie, you will not go without internet access. However, if Sky fails to connect you before the expiry date (26th Dec) of your 30-day Orange trial period, you are committed to Orange's 12-month contract.
(B) If you actually want to "cancel" Orange, your internet connection will be cut off immediately, you will not get a MAC code because you are not technically migrating, it will take us 10 days to clear the TAG from your BT line, and you will be without internet access until Sky connects you.

Sky said: You definitely need to cancel your Orange service, they will give you a MAC code, and you sign up with us. It will take us 3-5 days to get the box to you, and then once you've set that up, another 15 days to connect you. Which basically means you will be without internet access for up to 20 days in total. (They also said I was on a LLU line, whatever that means.)

I'm having trouble processing what seems to be conflicting bits of information.
Also, I've looked at some threads in this forum and am scared that it will take Sky ages to connect me, not the 20 days they said above.

Can anyone advise me on my situation?

- If I believe what Orange said and simply wait for Sky to connect me, it seems to me there is a huge risk of going beyond Orange's trial period and I will be stuck with them for a year.

- If I believe what Sky says and "cancel" completely with Orange, I will have no internet access for more than 20 days (or a lot longer if the horror stories I've just read are true.) And if I do go with this, what should I do in the interim to check emails? (Using Orange's Pay As You Go dial-up service is my only idea at the moment.)

If it's any use, I live in Central London and am not sure but I think my exchange is North Paddington.
I'd be grateful for any advice, thanks.

[Tanvir Ahmed]

dont even think of joining in Sky, it is worst than Orange. I signed with sky in August and on 13th of December, after 4 months i was told that they cant connect me. In those 4 months i send numorous e mails, complaint letters and phone calls to them but they could not sort out my problem. I was quite happy with talk talk and i am going to join them again.

[marienbad]

Oh my goodness.
4 months????

If that happened to me, I'd probably develop an ulcer or something...

Thanks for the input.

[Murphdiver]

I have had no problems with Orange during my 30 day trial but I will be
cancelling because of the restrictive download limit. For your migration to Sky
the best thing to do is to cancel your Orange service and then sign up after
the tag clears from your line. This will mean more downtime but there is no
chance that you get tied into the 12month contract.
If you wait for a migration the chances are there will be a delay and you foot
the bill for it.

Regards John

[MattB]

Yeah, go for the cancellation route with Orange then sign up to Sky as a 'new' BB customer. No complications with MACs or 12 month contracts that you don't want to be signed up to.

Down side being that you might have more downtime but it's gotta be the better option.