SkyBroadbanned.com

I became a Sky customer for the first time on September 15 2006.  Since then I have experienced nothing but pain and distress thanks to Sky's awful customer services department.

The problems began when upon signing up I was asked if I would be interested in FREE Sky Broadband.

At the time of joining Sky I was already a happy customer with the Bulldog Broadband Company but was assured that the service Sky could provide would be cheaper and as-good-as the service I was currently receiving from Bulldog.

This would turn out not to be the case.

Saying Goodbye to bulldog..

As instructed by the Sky Broadband customer service department I canceled by Bulldog Account and moved my telephone line to BT.

By November 2006 I was ready to order Sky Broadband!!

This is when the problems began.

I ordered the ‘Sky Broadband Connect’ service a on the 10th of November 2006 and paid the £40 connection fee. 2 weeks later I received a letter containing my ‘log-in’ details and a strange bill for £0.00.

After trying my log-in details it became clear that no service was available.

It appears the details I had received were in fact wrong; the order had been cancelled without my knowledge due to ‘problems with the phone line’.

The ‘bill’ I had received was in fact a cancellation letter in disguise?

At first I accepted this as a temporary glitch and re-ordered the service a month later.

Again, I received the SAME letter with similar log-in details. Another call to customer services yielded some explanation:

“You currently cannot receive Sky Broadband in you area.”

As you can imagine after a few months without a broadband connection I was rather upset by this news as I had canceled a perfectly good service with Bulldog.

What happened Next...

It was soon after this bombshell I decided to re-order broadband with a new provider. This is when the real problems began.

It turns out that even though I never actually had Sky Broadband Sky had essentially hijacked my phone line making it impossible for me to re-order a service from someone else.

Chasing a MAC code..

So again I called Sky's customer serviced department to find out what to do.

After over a week of misplaced calls, literally hours on hold and being transferred to multiple departments I was informed I needed to order a MAC code. Eventually, I did this on January 3rd 2007.

Err.. You don't need a MAC code...

It was January 29th 2007 when I received a letter stating that I didn't actually NEED a MAC code from Sky.

I now had a much bigger problem on my hands; Broadband Tags and Markers!

<Tags> and </Markers>

Sky explained to me that although I was never a Sky Broadband customer they had essentially parked their service (which I couldn't receive) on my telephone line in order to STOP other Broadband providers from using this line.

The next step was simple. Sky offered to remove these markers and therefore allow me to order a new broadband service.

It sounds simple doesn't it?

Its not...

Sounds simple...

Almost a MONTH passed after the initial 'tag removal' letter had been sent to me and tags and markers on my line still remained.

During this magical month I had also sent letters to BT, OfCom, Otelo, Watchdog and Trading Standards.

NONE of these organizations could help my case.

The best advice I received was from Trading Standards; they assured me I had a very good case to sue Sky in the small claims court.

As threatening as this may sound, I cannot actually start proceedings until after I have ended my dispute with Sky, i.e. when I finally get broadband with a new provider.

I could be old and frail by that time....

After another month of going nowhere I reluctantly dove back into the depressing world of Sky's customer service department.

22nd February 2007

On the aforementioned date I first of all contacted BT Wholesale in order to track the status of markers on my line.

I was, as ever, told that the markers were placed on my line by Sky in December 2006 and have yet to be removed.

I was then informed by a BT Wholesale customer service representative that “No request for marker removal had been made”.

Following this I again contacted OfCom at and spoke to a representative who advised me to again call Sky and request a ‘Manual Cease Order’ in order to try and finally resolve the problem.

During this call the adviser recommend that if I did not receive any kind of assurance that anything was being done by Sky to resolve this issue I should cancel my current BT telephone line and order a new one?!

This, he claimed, would be the only solution to my problem.  

So.. after a 26 minute wait I reached the Sky Broadband customer service department.

The representative checked my account and confirmed that no request had ever been made to remove the markers on my telephone line.

As instructed by OfCom I urgently requested a ‘Manual Cease Order’ be implemented. I was assured this would be done...

I was then informed that the ‘Manual Cease Order’ would take between 5 and 10 days to reciprocate.

But! I was then told that Sky would make a special case of my request and ensure it was rushed though the system. Finally I was informed that if nothing had happened within 5 days I should again contact them.

Just to be SURE I then requested written confirmation that the ‘Manual Cease Order’ had been placed.

I was told this could not be organized?

I then asked if I could speak with a member of the “tags on the line team” in order to verbally confirm that the ‘Manual Cease Order’ had in fact been placed.

This request was again denied as I was told they only communicate using email?

OK?... By now I was a little confused.

I therefore asked if I could be emailed a confirmation that the ‘Manual Cease Order’ had in fact been placed.

This was again denied???

My initial optimism soon dissolved and after ending the call I decided that the only way to record this frustrating episode was to write this letter to the three parties involved (OfCom, Sky and BT).

Which I did, it made little difference.

Suicide is painless, dealing with Sky Broadband is not..

A week later and the tags still existed on my telephone line.

Again, I called BT - I was informed that “No request for marker removal had been made”.

I again rang Sky. This time I spoke to a supervisor who assured me that he has already personally sent 2 requests to BT which he claims were received.

Again, I called BT - I was informed that “No request for marker removal had been made”.

Last Request

Its now over 100 days since I began my rolercoaster ride with Sky and I still do not have a broadband connection.

The tags/markers are still on my telephone line.

BT strongly claim they have never received a request for their removal from Sky.

I cannot ask for them removing myself, no matter how hard I try..

If you are thinking of applying for Sky Broadband, please, handle with care.