Sky PPV fraud?

[Odd Bod]

Hello and a happy new year to you all!

I have just discovered that I've been billed for the Ricky Hatton fight on 9 December and various other wrestling stuff on PPV.

The problem is that my wife and I are not at all interested in sports of any kind and also more worrying is that I'm pretty sure my Sky box was disconnected from the phone line for the Hatton fight.

I did buy another new Sky box at the end of November and left it overnight to “synchronise” as per the new box’s instructions, then disconnected it again.

We do have a 9 year old boy, and no he does not know the PIN, and even if he did, the fight was on from 22:00 to 06:00 and he would have been in bed. Also a phone extension lead would be required as the socket nearest to the Sky box is broken.

Chap at Sky customer Services was aggressive and more less called me liar as he says PIN was used and therefore phone line was connected.

I will be writing to Sky to complain and possibly Trading Standards and OFCOM.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems recently?

Is there a way to check on the Sky box itself Pace DS440N whether the PIN has been used?

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

[Paul D]

Can you check with SKY the time of the actual PPV fight?
It was on several times on Sunday day and not just live etc.
Wrestling and boxing do seem like ideal fodder for a 9 year old!

You say he doesn't know the Pin, but you would be surprised how many do.
Unless you have changed it, it is normally the last four digits of your viewing card number.
Again, most kids know this from school/friends etc.

My three year old recently (unknown to me) watched me punch in my code for a PPV film.
Whilst watching the said film, my pin number suddenly started to appear on screen.
The channel changed before the last digit was put in.
He was sat there with the remote and a big grin!

I'm not saying this isn't just another SKY cock up, but so many friends have told me similar stories etc.

So with the above theory aside, maybe i can help.

If you haven't connected the box to the phone line since/before the fight, then it would be impossible for SKY to know about any PVV activity.
The box has to phone in and register any PPVs.
If like you said the box hasn't ever been connected since the initial installation then maybe BT can help.
Request a full itemised bill, explaining that you need it to investigate a possible fraud.

I'm not sure what the number Sky uses, but i seem to remember 1470 being involved. (i'm sure other members will jump in with the correct number to look for!)

If the box has in fact dialled back, then you know "somebody" has been naughty! (and has a spare phone extention!)
If there is no record of a dial back, then you can be confident SKY has cocked up and have the evidence to prove it...

 

[Tesla]

What happened to your old Sky box and viewing card?

 

[Paul D]

Tesla, i think that was a waste of 60 seconds of our lives!
(nevermind eh!)

 

[Odd Bod]

Many thanks for the replies guys and sorry for not posting sooner.

It seems that when I received my new Sky box the requirement to enter the PIN was disabled by the manufacturer...... So we didn't watch any of the PPV stuff, but as I understand you only have to flick onto the channel to get billed?

So lesson learned – make sure the requirement to enter PIN is enabled.

Blood pressure now returning to normal!

 

[kentish_lad]

Many thanks for the replies guys and sorry for not posting sooner.

It seems that when I received my new Sky box the requirement to enter the PIN was disabled by the manufacturer...... So we didn't watch any of the PPV stuff, but as I understand you only have to flick onto the channel to get billed?

So lesson learned – make sure the requirement to enter PIN is enabled.

Blood pressure now returning to normal!

You cant 'just flick onto a PPV channel to get billed' forgeting about the PIN for a moment there are still stages to 'purchase' the programme you have to go through, you dont get billed for channel hopping.

The only way you can get billed by 'clicking on the channel', is if it was pre-book

 

[Odd Bod]

I still have the same viewing card and the old Panny Sky box.

It seems I'll have to some more digging to see what's been going on if you need to jump through "extra" hoops to view PPV.

Thanks again all.

 

[Platelet]

...
Chap at Sky customer Services was aggressive and more less called me liar as he says PIN was used and therefore phone line was connected...

Yeah He was an idiot then. I booked a film on Saturday with the phone line unplugged - yes it still asks for the pin.

The boxes have a credit limit after which they will stop you purchasing further ppv events if the phone line is never connected but until that's reached you can book without the phone line, and it will just pass the info along as and when it is connected.

 

[rich78]

Maybe you were charged for my viewing, as I haven't been as of yet. I've had my box 6 months, wtached a few films and only been billed for one and no Hatton fight! Its all plugged in and I've done the test, red button voting works so I'm guessing the communication is working also.

Hmmm.