Cost for a Sky callout

A

Azrikam

Guest
Over the past few months, I've watched as my Sky picture quality has degraded to the point of being almost unwatchable. The main channels are still good (BBC, etc), but all of the secondary channels suffer from major artifacting, pixel breakup, and very dodgy sound.

Checking my stats on my Digibox, I'm getting a good rank for Signal Strength, but my Signal Quality fluctuates from roughly 40% down to 5%. (my estimates, based on the graphic)

I've done a hard reset on the box, and since we've recently had some pointing done outside, I'm thinking that my Sky dish has been jostled or has started to loosen.

Question is, how much does Sky charge these days for a callout? If it is something as simple as a dish realignment, would it be better for me to call an independent satellite guy?
 
Last time I heard it was £65, that would cover the labour and parts required even if it was more than a simple alignment job.
An one man independent might be cheaper IF it's just alignment, a independent chain would certainly be more expensive.
 
Would they really charge you for that? In the past when I've had problems with my cable, NTL have come round and sorted things out for free.

Bit of cheek charging you I think!
 
Originally posted by SansSouci
Would they really charge you for that? In the past when I've had problems with my cable, NTL have come round and sorted things out for free.

Bit of cheek charging you I think!


NTL loan you the hardware, it is their property so they are responsible for it's upkeep.
SKY give you the hardware and charge you a nominal fee for installation, standard one year warranty applies but after that you are responsible for the upkeep. You can also sell the SKY hardware if you cancel the subscription unlike NTL who reclaim it.
 
Originally posted by Azrikam
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Checking my stats on my Digibox, I'm getting a good rank for Signal Strength, but my Signal Quality fluctuates from roughly 40% down to 5%. (my estimates, based on the graphic)

Sounds like a faulty LNB....:thumbsdow

I had exactly the same problem some time ago. You can get a replacement LNB for about £30, and its a doddle to replace yourself..:smashin: (if you can get to the dish of course)

If you replace it yourself, you MUST seal the LNB/COAX connector with self amalgamating tape to prevent ingress of water.

Check out www.brymar.co.uk
 
When faced with this problem last year, I was also shocked at being told i had to pay £60 for a callout. My reasoning was that I was already paying £37 a month for SKy to provide me with a service, and due to the hardware not functioning as it should, I was not recieving the service I was paying for.

Sky CS wouldnt budge on it, they just kept insisting i pay them £60 for an engineer. I told them to stick it, and then emailed the head of Sky television Tony Ball, and vented my anger at him. Within 20 minutes of the email (on a late late friday afternoon), a secretary from his office phoned me back and on the following monday a specialist engineer for Mr Ball's dept arrived with brand new digibox and lnb in hand, and didnt leave till my signal read 100 on strength and 90 on quality. I havent had a single viewing problem since.
 
Originally posted by Johndm
Sounds like a faulty LNB....:thumbsdow

That would make sense. Although it's gotten really bad lately, it's been getting worse for months, and I noticed a lot more breakup during heavy rain than I ever had before. (the original installer probably didn't seal the thing correctly anyway)

Thanks for the responses. I'll probably call around to some independents and get a price for a callout plus a new LNB. If it's too much, I'll probably give it a go myself. Getting to the dish is easy enough, as it's fitted very low. (too low, if you ask me, but...)
 
The LNB might be OK - its worth getting up there and removing the cable to see if any water is in it. I was getting the same breakup during the rain. I removed the cable (which had Water in it) dryed it out and re-connected using plenty of the self amalagamating tape and a bit of clear silicone for good measure. not a problem since.
 
Hi Sweetmate - could you please give me Tony Ball's email address - I have been waiting for over a week now for a reply to a couple of simple queries to Sky with no success. Maybe, by the sound of it, I could get a response from him.

Thanks :smashin:
 
More than likely it's just the alignment thats off. No big deal, just that you need someone with a sky digital meter to re-align it for you. Sky will charge £65 to send an engineer out, BUT - if you threaten to cancel your contract they will reduce the price to £35.
A pushy sister-in-law even got them to call out for free to repair her's!
I got my dish realigned today when I got sky+ fitted. My signal went from 30% to 75%...
 
Aw crud, I should have threatened to cancel.

Anyway, I've got an engineer coming out tomorrow. Then, as soon as my signal is fixed, I'm cancelling for real. :D
 
Hope the "engineer" sorts it out.

Just for the record, I wouldn't be too hasty in blaming the LNB. For anyone using a Pace BSKYB2500, those are classic symptoms of the ZIF tuner module failing. A replacement costs around £25 I think.

Fman
 
Well, the problem is sorted, and I feel like a dope.

The dish alignment was off. It was done by some builders doing the pointing out back, but my picture quality had been getting progressively worse even before that, so the dish couldn't have been tight enough.

It was a costly lesson, and I should have just got up there and tried to re-align it myself. But, hopefully he taped up the cable better this time so I won't get so much breakup during the rain.
 

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