Switching to sky.

[Rich]

Good evening team, as an existing sky customer on a basic package, I am coming round to switching to an HD+ package, I am also looking at changing from Tiscali to Sky broadband as an ISP.
Has anyone done the same? is it worth it, were there any difficulties, I'll be calling Tiscali on monday to obtain a MAC code and will take it from there but I would appreciate any for and against comments in the meantime.

Regards,

Rich.

 

[Peter T]

My father-in-law changed from Tiscali to BT last year when he moved house and it was a complete nightmare!

Admittedly he was 77 at the time so there may have been some communication difficulties but, even so, there were unnecessary problems and it took the best part of 6 months to get rid of them.

It was the usual stuff; call to tell them you want to quit, they want it in writing, you write, they ignore it, you call again and speak to someone else, they deny receiving any instructions in writing, etc, etc.

All I can say is keep every scrap of relevant paperwork and keep a log of phone calls.

Good luck,

 

[Rich]

On reading the Sky site, if you supply them with your MAC code they execute the switchover for you, it takes between 30 mins and 2 hours, I appreciate that Tiscali will try and dissuade us, but we will not actually cancel Tiscali until we are sure we are confident of what we are doing, I just wondered if any other forum members had done the same, not being a techie, a word about pitfalls would be appreciated.

Rich.

 

[Digit]

For what it's worth Rich based on experience ANYBODY bar Tiscali. The first problem I found was they limited the use, second thing was they never managed to tell their accounts dept that I was no longer with them, so the bills/threatening letters went on for ages. Then I changed to Sky, much better, but if they tell you that they will inform Tiscali just make sure they do and keep any records of any transactions.
You have been warned!

Roy.

 

[LeeElms]

I didn't have any problems switching away from Tiscali a few months ago -- they did say 'can we help you stay with us', but once I was definite I wanted the MAC they didn't make a fuss about it, in fact, got it by SMS, e-mail and letter very promptly. Don't ever ask to cancel the service, just ask for the MAC code, and everything should go smoothly.

 

[andycktm]

Don't know if it matters Rich ,but i believe Sky are doubling their B.B prices in the future

 

[yo_chuci]

i heard sky putting prices up too... sounds about right tho get loads of peeps onboard then jack it up...

warning...

if you can help it then set it all up WITHOUT using the supplied cd...

it always use to install some peer2peer software hidden away (and didn't show up in add or remove programs so you couldn't lose it unless you read up on deleting via the registry)
which is used for sharing around the shows you download from sky.
it is your terms and conds but there was alot of upset people when it became common knowledge, it works away in the background sending and receiving info to and from other sky BB subscribers... slows down you connection speed.

this was a year or so ago so they might have changed it since.
just had a quick google, lots of talk about it from end 06 thru 07 but nothing recent, but nothing to say it has changed...

 

[Rich]

We won't need the cd YC, we already have our own modem and router and my son tells me it's easy to get rid of peer/peer if the need arises, but thanks for the warning nonetheless, these are the sort of pointers I was hoping for.

Regards,

Rich.

 

[LeeElms]

Are you aware that Sky supply a pre-configured router, which their Terms & Conditions say you are supposed to use ? ... I believe there are websites which will derive the logon details for you, but Sky can tell whether you are using their router. Whether they actually care enough to take any action ...

 

[Rich]

I already have sky and use my own belkin router (wireless) the only t/c that came with the sky package was that we MUST have a BT landline which we have, I am only looking to upgrade to HD+.

 

[LeeElms]

Apologies if my information was wrong or out of date re. the T&Cs ...

 

[Rich]

No mate, those are the pointers I am looking for, thanks for the heads up, nice to know theres a woody not too far away.

Regards.

Rich.

 

[dennyk]

I was with Tiscali a couple of years ago, I cancelled due to bad service and and a call centre that was in india, where I had no end of trouble trying to get across to the call centre operative the problems I was having, I switched to Sky witout a problem once I gave them the MAC code.

Sky was good up to a point, I was paying for a 8mps service for 12 months but it kept breaking down , I had the sky engineers out to sort the problem but they could not fix it, I then found out that they could only supply me with a 2 mps service due to the distance I was from the Telephone exchange, they did not tell me this when I signed up , so I am now with Cable Broadband from Virgin (formally Telewest), the 3 MPS I get is always there I have never been cut off.

I have Sky Plus TV and my phone and Broadband is with Virgin, I am a happy 75 year old

 

[Rich]

Thanks for the advice Denny, anywhere near Wavertree and Mystery park?

Regards,

Rich.

 

[dennyk]

Rich

I have sent a PM