Answered Cancel Sky but Keep Sky+HD sub

Of course I known the reason. It's the amount - and that anyone still pays it - that's a puzzle!
There was a time when the Sky+ sub was £10 extra on top of the TV subscription and that was per box. Multiroom cost £20 a month for about a year before they dropped the Sky+ sub for the extra boxes.
 
I've had a love chat with Sky this evening and they told me if I pay £25 as a one off fee I can get a new viewing card and use that to view freesat with my existing sky + box. He confirmed I could still record the channels off freesat but would be unable to watch anything I had recorded previously using the equipment off Sky. This seems to differ from what you have been told. Anyone know for sure?
 
I think the chat was lovely rather than love, and you'd get FreeSatFromSky and definitely not Freesat!
The £25 is new to me and does contradict the £10.25 the others have reported.
 
The £25 is the normal cost of a FreesatFromSky card if you haven't been a subscriber or want another card. If you have had a Sky subscription your existing viewing card works as a FreesatFromSky card.

In the past these have not included recording facilities for the reasons discussed above. Unless it's a very recent change I'd guess the Sky operative was mistaken. They don't advertise it and there's a recent thread on their forum that reads much like this one up to post 27.
 
The £25 is the normal cost of a FreesatFromSky card if you haven't been a subscriber or want another card. If you have had a Sky subscription your existing viewing card works as a FreesatFromSky card.

In the past these have not included recording facilities for the reasons discussed above. Unless it's a very recent change I'd guess the Sky operative was mistaken. They don't advertise it and there's a recent thread on their forum that reads much like this one up to post 27.
Confusion probably arises from the fact that the Sky TV and FreesatFromSky (almost certainly the £25 card) customer service departments are totally separate from each other ( a legal requirement to keep customer databases separate) and neither is trained in what the other deals in. You almost certainly will not get ongoing Sky+ facilities without the £10.25 per month sub.
 
I think the chat was lovely rather than love, and you'd get FreeSatFromSky and definitely not Freesat!
The £25 is new to me and does contradict the £10.25 the others have reported.
haha I had meant "live"chat!!

Thanks for the clarity though. I think I will buy a new box that I can record through.
 
Good idea!
 
Do any boxes exist which use the sky dual lnb coax cables?

Which can record, and perhaps have WiFi, and play movies from a NAS? :)
 
Which can record, and perhaps have WiFi, and play movies from a NAS? :)

They are not Sky specific cables thankfully...you can use any satellite receiver/pvr.

Freesat - Humax HDR-1010s ticks all those boxes - visit the Freesat forum to learn more.

Generic satellite receivers - Any Linux based box - visit the Satellite TV forum to learn more.
 
A bit late I know but if you were considering £10.25 to record pause etc............ give Sky a ring to cancel and you will prob get the deal I got, £11.50 for the basic package, , so you would keep the functions and have a few extra channels.........

And just to confirm a sky box with card does not have any pause /record functions, we had one at work, when a lad gave up his sky...... just had the freesat chanels
 
You might be interested to know that Sky seem to have changed their policy on removing the Sky+ facility when you drop the subscription. I was on the phone to retentions at the weekend as I'm cancelling my package - we got talking about the Sky+ sub and I said the likes of BT/TalkTalk YouView allow you to continue recording if you drop the sub. The agent said, yes in response to this we've recently changed our policy to allow you to keep the Sky+ feature for no charge when you drop the subscription. However, it looks as though you have to call customer services to either request it to be added or state when you cancel your subscription that you want to keep the Sky+ feature. I don't think they will automatically add it to non-subscribers with a Sky+HD box. Also note that with respect to CatchupTV, you can only download BBC iPlayer content - I tested the other players and these don't work without subscription. For info, Sky applied the Sky+ feature to a FSFS card that was not used for subscription.

Presumably when you call Sky with your request, they will do their best to get you to become a subscriber again.

I also dropped an e-mail to customer relations who also confirmed that the policy had recently changed, however you must call customer services to request for the Sky+ feature to be added to your viewing card.

As ever with the call centre, policy changes don't always filter through to agents.
 
As has been stated several times - if Sky did not charge a subscription for the Sky + facilities they would be liable for back tax on the tens of millions of PVRs that they have imported.

I thought that Pace and Amstrad both had their manufacturing facilities in the UK.

Sky only have 10.5 million subscribers, many of whom (more fool them) will have paid for their boxes. Either way, I can't see why Sky would be liable for the PVR tax
 
I thought that Pace and Amstrad both had their manufacturing facilities in the UK.
Wrong Pace although originally UK made towards the end of their supplying boxes to Sky had theirs made in the Asus factories in China. Amstrad when Sky took them over had 3 major manufacturing plants (and none in the UK)n- one in Roumania and two in China, last letter on model number of pre WiFi boxes indicates manufacturing plant i.e. DRX 890R = Roumania DRX890C = China etc. Thomson (and previously Grundig) are the only exclusively EU manufacturer of any Sky box.

Sky only have 10.5 million subscribers, many of whom (more fool them) will have paid for their boxes. Either way, I can't see why Sky would be liable for the PVR tax
It is immaterial who now owns the boxes and whether they have been paid for - Sky imported the boxes at the lower duty rate as being of a certain specification which it now has modified. It is not just the boxes in current subscription use - it is all the boxes imported under this "concession" that are now capable of subscription free recording whether or not they are being used in this way.
 
You might be interested to know that Sky seem to have changed their policy on removing the Sky+ facility when you drop the subscription. I was on the phone to retentions at the weekend as I'm cancelling my package - we got talking about the Sky+ sub and I said the likes of BT/TalkTalk YouView allow you to continue recording if you drop the sub. The agent said, yes in response to this we've recently changed our policy to allow you to keep the Sky+ feature for no charge when you drop the subscription. However, it looks as though you have to call customer services to either request it to be added or state when you cancel your subscription that you want to keep the Sky+ feature. I don't think they will automatically add it to non-subscribers with a Sky+HD box. Also note that with respect to CatchupTV, you can only download BBC iPlayer content - I tested the other players and these don't work without subscription. For info, Sky applied the Sky+ feature to a FSFS card that was not used for subscription.

Presumably when you call Sky with your request, they will do their best to get you to become a subscriber again.

I also dropped an e-mail to customer relations who also confirmed that the policy had recently changed, however you must call customer services to request for the Sky+ feature to be added to your viewing card.

As ever with the call centre, policy changes don't always filter through to agents.

Interesting reply. We cancelled our Sky package and bought a Humax PVR to replace it (which is in the cupboard, new in packaging at the moment). In the meantime, Sky sent us a letter suggesting what you have said - that we could retain the ability to pause, rewind/forward and record live TV for free. I always assumed that we wouldn't be able to do this, hence spending £190 on the Humax. The channels remaining on the Sky box are obviously less, but there seems to be a fair range. It's slightly tempting to shift the Humax box in again, and just use the Sky box as is. Unless anyone can work out any advantages of using the Humax PVR?
 
A Sky machine records from slightly more channels but shows a lot more useless ones in its EPG.
 
As has been stated several times - if Sky did not charge a subscription for the Sky + facilities they would be liable for back tax on the tens of millions of PVRs that they have imported. PVRs are subject to a significantly higher import tax than plain receivers and as Sky have successfully argued in the courts against HMRC that the box as supplied is merely a receiver and that the Sky+ functions are part of the subscription. Other manufacturers (such as Humax amongst others) avoid the higher duty by importing PVRs without HDDs fitted and either fit them in Europe or sell as "PVR ready" for customers to fit their own.

So for this reason it is highly unlikely Sky will allow sub free use of Sky+ facilities

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but I was looking here for info on whether you could still keep Sky+ functionality for £10/m if you leave Sky.

I hadn't hear the story above previously. I say story, because although I don't doubt that there is truth in it, it's also all very convenient isn't it. "Not our fault, protest Sky". Well yeah right. £10/m; £120/year; £360 over say 3 years? Are Sky really suggesting there's a £300 tax premium on every box that can record? What a load of.

The reason they charge £10/m is so that they can trouser £10/m. Tax is simply a convenient excuse imho.

EDIT: The tax Sky would have to pay is 5.4% of the box cost, so what, £5 per box? £5 over say 3 years = 14 pence per month.
 

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