Our consumer expert helps another reader get reimbursement from Sky after they had trouble cancelling their contract
I read with interest your last column about Sky customer service. I too have had serious problems trying to get Sky to cancel an account. I have enclosed copies of two letters which I hope describe the situation. The first was in reply to a demand for ?27 and the second to a threat to involve a debt collection agency.
I received no reply to the first letter, and an earlier exchange of emails with customer services was fruitless.
Unfortunately I had a serious heart attack and had heart surgery followed by further heart episodes. I am beginning to be concerned that the way I have been treated by Sky is causing me so much stress that my recovery may be put at risk. DR, Glos
You were no longer watching Sky channels and so cancelled your Sky subscription of many years.
Nearly a year later you were contacted by a salesman offering a six-month trial free of all charges as long as you cancelled the subscription before the time was up. At the time you were considering using Sky for phone and broadband and so you accepted the offer.
Finding you were still not watching Sky channels, nearly two weeks before the free period expired you called Sky to cancel.
You were greeted by a recorded voice with the rather surprising message that the waiting times were approximately one hour. So you used the "Contact Us" facility on the website to make the cancellation. You included the account number. Despite this ?4.50 was charged for that month.
You contacted the Sky Help Centre and the response was unhelpful. To avoid further deductions being taken you cancelled the direct debit and wrote to Sky.
Nearly three weeks later you had a phone call from a Sky call centre staff member chasing the disputed invoice. When you relayed the saga to her she said she could see on the records there was a request to cancel the account before the free period ran out. She said she did not understand why it had not been acted on or why you had been billed for any charges.
You were then transferred to customer services and were assured things would be resolved and the invoice cancelled. When it wasn't and you were then billed for ?27 you wrote to me.
Given your indifferent health I urged Sky to act quickly. At 6pm on that day, which was three months after the trouble had started, it called you. Sky said: "We were very sorry to hear Mr R had incurred an extra charge after cancelling his account. We have now reimbursed this amount and finalised the closure in line with his original request."
You said this lifted a great weight off your shoulders. You added that you could have been a future Sky broadband customer but there is no way that will happen now.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/jessicainvestigates/10657669/Trying-to-cancel-Sky-is-adding-to-my-stress.html
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