Have I been screwed over? New Sky+ Install

[chrispostill]

Hi guys,

On Friday my girlfriend and I had Sky+ installed. They sent a third party contractor to do the work, not one of their own crews.

After plugging in 2 boxes which both appeared to be DOA, the 3rd, a PACE seemed to work.

HOWEVER

A couple of issues have come to light:

1) I don't have the Sky Anytime option that my parents have on their VASTLY older box

2) We are running out of space VERY quick. We have less than 20 hours of recorded stuff yet the bar says less than 25% of space remaining.

I'm no expert - but this leads me to believe I have an old box - and it seems like it has a 40gb hard drive. But I know Sky discontinued these a long time ago - and the box appeared to be brand new with the chap taking it from the box in front of me.

The box details are as follows:

PACE BSKYB3100
Model: 4.030
Version: 9F2128
Serial Number: 0070522594
Operating System: 1.31B03
EPG: 5.03G

Is anyone able to shed any light on my box? If so, i'd be very grateful - and thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Chris

Edit: Just to add that we are new Sky customers - not existing customers, and that the install was not to replace or upgrade any existing equipment.

[davemurgatroyd2]

That box is a PVR2 and is probably at least 2 and a half years old, the next model the PVR3 came out around October 2005, and only has a 40Gb Hard disk (against the PVR3s 80Gb for personal recording.

[chrispostill]

Thanks for the reply

So I should call Sky tomorrow and get it swapped for a new one then?

[Skytech]

Most definitely. make sure you ask for a brand new box, a 'within 90 days' service call.

[chrispostill]

I'll phone up in a few minutes then.

Have I been given this box in error? Or are Sky just trying to get rid of old stock?

Which is the box I want - whats the one to go for?

[grantsteve]

This is interesting as I am due to get SKY+ installed in a week or so as a new customer. Interestingly its a Sunday install date I have (don't these guys ever have a rest?! )

Anyway, is there a quick way for me to tell if I am getting the most up to date box installed whilst the installer is still at my house so I can get him to change it before he makes a run for it?

Thanks

[chrispostill]

They are contacting the contractor who installed the system - and insisting they swap it out for a brand new box. They couldn't understand why that had been done, and i spent a good 40 minutes on the phone to Andy in Customer Services - who is probably the best call centre employee in existance.

Sky confirmed that it's a PVR2 and a refurb at that. He said it was the contractor being very, very sneaky.

I shall write to Sky and ask for my install fee to be refunded, call costs for 1 hour and 5 minutes of calls to their 0844 numbers re-imbursed and some compensation for my wasted time due to their (albeit their contractors) neglicence.

Funnily enough, i've been left the manual for an Amstrad PVR 3...

[davemurgatroyd2]

Originally Posted by grantsteve

This is interesting as I am due to get SKY+ installed in a week or so as a new customer. Interestingly its a Sunday install date I have (don't these guys ever have a rest?! )

Anyway, is there a quick way for me to tell if I am getting the most up to date box installed whilst the installer is still at my house so I can get him to change it before he makes a run for it?

Thanks

Check in "Services" "System setup" "System details" third line = version number
Pace PVR3 = 9F22xx
Amstrad PVR3 = 4F21xx
Thomson PVR3 - 4E21xx

xx are just numbers showing sub versions (minor hardware changes) - the higher the number the later the buikd date

[grantsteve]

Originally Posted by davemurgatroyd2

Check in "Services" "System setup" "System details" third line = version number
Pace PVR3 = 9F22xx
Amstrad PVR3 = 4F21xx
Thomson PVR3 - 4E21xx

xx are just numbers showing sub versions (minor hardware changes) - the higher the number the later the buikd date

So basically don't let him go unless I've had a PVR3 installed?

[Stevenage Neil]

Originally Posted by grantsteve

So basically don't let him go unless I've had a PVR3 installed?

What do you want?

[grantsteve]

Originally Posted by Stevenage Neil

What do you want?

To make sure I'm not being fobbed off with a refurb unit like the OP seems to have been.

[chrispostill]

I've just drafted this up:

Dear Sirs,

I am writing with regards to the Sky+ service that myself and my girlfriend (the account holder – xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx) had installed at my property (xxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx) last Friday.

Following the installation of the minidish by one of your contractors, we were given a Sky+ box of the PACE variety – which happened to be the 3rd unit the installers connected due to the previous 2 being dead on arrival.

Two days after installation, I attempted to watch some programs that I had recorded – they all appeared in my planner yet on each of them I got the message “Recording Interrupted, Please Wait.” After lengthy research on the internet to determine the reason for this fault, I discovered that the installer had not paired the viewing card to the box – fortunately something I was able to resolve over the phone with Sky themselves although with the call being at my expense. More to the point, however, I did not expect to have to do this myself nor was I told I would have to do it – and I had programs in my planner that I really wanted to watch. Whilst this is not the end of the world, it was quite a disappointment.

That was, however, the tip of the iceberg.

I noticed that the free space on my unit was diminishing rather rapidly – with an indicated 20% left after just 17 hours of recorded material. There was also no “Anytime” option on the TV guide screen of the EPG. Following several hours of research on the internet, I could only come to one conclusion – that I had a “PVR 2” type box with the substantially smaller 40Gb Hard drive and of course the type that was previous to types that are compatible with Sky Anytime. I found this hard to believe, however, due to the fact that these units were discontinued a very long time ago in favour of the “PVR 3” with the 160Gb Hard Drives – with 80Gb of storage available to the end user and 80Gb reserved for Anytime.

Today I phoned up Sky customer support and the technical department confirmed that we had received a “PVR 2” box that is at least 2 and a half years old – and of course confirmed that we should have a “PVR 3” – with all the features available that were advertised to us before we signed up.

What this means for us is that we have the further inconvenience of staying at home whilst the contractors come and change our box for the type we should have originally received, and only then will we be receiving all the features that we have been paying for.

Worryingly, if we were not so technologically switched on, we may not have noticed that we had been supplied with the wrong box – especially as we were left the instruction manual for a PVR 3 box of a different brand. I worry that the same situation is occurring with other customers – it was only by our curiosity and hours of research that we discovered this situation.

After spending 1 hour and 10 minutes on the phone to Sky, they have contacted the original contractor to request they rectify their mistake – something I am not entirely happy about – not least because of their conduct and language in the quiet residential area in which we live, and of course because I can’t help but feel they aren’t the most honest of contractors. I must at this point mention Andy in customer services – who is quite possibly the best call centre employee I have ever spoken to, with him being a wealth of information and help. Sky, however, were not able to even give me a date for the rectification – with us being told that “xxx xxxxxxxx will be in touch, if you don’t hear by Thursday, call us again.” I’m sure that you can understand this is not ideal for us as we need to ensure someone will be in.

If It was only Sky TV that I am signed up for, then we would have no hesitation in looking at cancelling our contract with Sky – especially as we are well within the cooling off period – however, we are without an internet service at the moment – save a 3g mobile broadband stick - and are in the middle of having Sky Broadband activated. I would otherwise take my business to Virgin Media – as Cambridge is predominantly a cable serviced area. I gave my business to Sky as I have experience with your services but I’m sure you can understand there are now alternatives and unless you can rectify our situation suitably by reimbursing us for our installation fee (as it wasn’t completed as it should be), the phone calls to you your 0844 numbers and our wasted time in both waiting for a replacement box and spending the initial time working out that we had in fact been given a sub-standard product compared to the one we signed up for then we may have to re-consider our relationship with Sky.

I hope you understand all the points that we have raised and that we can come to a positive resolution – in which case I will be more than happy to continue my services. I should also mention at this point that I have put the details of this situation in the public domain on two separate and incredibly well populated internet forums. There are members waiting for the details of the resolution, and I daresay by its very nature the outcome of this may well determine whether or not some of them sign up for your services.

We look forward to your reply,

Regards

xxxxx xxxxxxx & xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

[Stevenage Neil]

Originally Posted by grantsteve

To make sure I'm not being fobbed off with a refurb unit like the OP seems to have been.

You've answered your own question then.......

[grantsteve]

Originally Posted by Stevenage Neil

You've answered your own question then.......

Sorry, I thought my implied question was clear. Obviously not.

What I really want to know is should the installers only be giving out PVR3s now, i.e. are they the standard, or are there some, legitimate, instances where PVR2s are being installed?

What I don't want to do is look like a idiot if I try and refuse to accept a box which is being used widely, and it just happens to be luck if you swing a PVR3.

BTW - your smart ar$e attitude stinks.

[chrispostill]

New customers should only recieve PVR3 boxes - confirmed by Sky on the phone this morning.