Sky Warranty Dilemma

SportiveUK · Oct 20, 2002

I had a phone call from Sky today informing me that in 6 weeks my warranty would come to an end. I was told that for £6.90 per month I could keep the warranty running and this would cover anything including call outs, new equipment required etc....

I was under the impression that after a year, if the box went wrong the problem was down to me but if there were dish related problems, Sky would still sort it. I was however told that everything would be down to me and a call-out is £65.

I don't really know the best course of action as I have already has a box go wrong and had 4 call-outs. At £65 per time, that would soon add up!

I would be grateful for any advice as to what others have done and whether many non-box related problems tend to occur.

Many thanks

Starburst · Oct 20, 2002

SKY CS were correct (For once), after 12 months all hardware and installation problems are the responsibility of the owner not SKY so you will be left to foot any bills.
They would include digibox repair, faulty LNB's, cables and dish realignment not forgetting labour charges.

However many people have got out of warranty call outs for free by asking to cancel the subscription based on the call out charge that they can't afford to pay.
I consider myself lucky as I have a four year old Pace 2200 which has never gone wrong (software bugs not withstanding) and is still in use although it's menu system is SLOW

I would say that the majority of problems are digibox related, once the dish and LNB have been installed correctly and running then the odds of those failing are low so the question is would you buy a new or used digibox or take out the warranty which may still mean they replace the broken digibox with a used one (with a 3 month warranty).

SportiveUK · Oct 22, 2002

It is certainly a gamble....when the box went wrong, the guy that came originally did not think it was the box and checked dish alignment, changed the LNB, checked cabling. Tech support thought there was interference coming from somewhere and due to the "symptoms" the box was the last thing looked at.

It is this kind of situation that bothers me....a problem that might be harder to trace and takes some time to sort out.

I am not sure what you mean by only having a 3 month warranty on a replacement digibox? The woman I spoke to said that all equipment was covered from the time the monthly direct debit was paid until such time as I chose to cancel it.

When my box was replaced the first time, I insisted on a particular model.....it took some doing but I got the one I wanted (and needed due to S-Video connections used).

I think I might go for the warranty but it bumps up the cost of the monthly subs by 19% which seems a bit steep.

Starburst · Oct 22, 2002

Originally posted by a.wright
I am not sure what you mean by only having a 3 month warranty on a replacement digibox? The woman I spoke to said that all equipment was covered from the time the monthly direct debit was paid until such time as I chose to cancel it.

I was refering to replaced or repaired digiboxes under the £65 out of warranty callout method (Not th extended warranty) which only come with a 3 month warranty.