Sky (LSE: BSY.L - news) is being formally investigated by the regulator, but is still refusing to treat its customers fairly.
Sky customers are still being prevented from ending their subscriptions, despite the watchdog, Ofcom, launching a formal investigation into the firm.
Last week Telegraph Money revealed that the communications regulator Ofcom had launched a formal investigation into the television, phone and internet provider over concerns that it does not allow customers to cancel at the end of their contracts.
This newspaper first highlighted the problems in January 2014 and our own investigation found routinely poor treatment of customers .
Sky?s contracts stated that customers could cancel by letter, email, fax or phone, but Sky routinely refused to accept any cancellation requests that were not "verified" by the customer over the telephone. But even when they phoned, customers were kept on the line for up to two hours at a time, and some still couldn't leave.
Sky claimed it had improved its cancellation process, but a number of readers have contacted this newspaper over the past week complaining that they are still struggling to cancel.
Sky (Amsterdam: BK8.AS - news) subscriptions: why is it so hard to cancel?
John Snoxell is a classic example. He gave Sky three months written notice of his intention to cancel his Sky TV package but the firm completely ignored his request and continued to bill him. It then sent debt collectors after him, when in fact Telegraph Money 's investigation revealed that Sky actually owed Mr Snoxell money.
Last year, Mr Snoxell decided to move from his rented home in Epsom, Surrey to take up a new job in the United States.
He wrote to Sky in October advising the firm that he was moving to the US and would be vacating the property on January 13 2015.
The letter, seen by Telegraph Money , stated: ?This is formal notice of cancellation of services from that date. All payment arrangements from that date will be cancelled and I would ask that you adjust the account at that date accordingly.?
Mr Snoxell also advised Sky that, starting immediately, any correspondence must be sent to his UK holding address, which he supplied.
He moved to Florida immediately and returned to his flat for a week in January to terminate his tenancy.
He was shocked to find two letters from Sky on his doorstep, despite his explicit instructions to use another address. The letters stated that Sky needed to discuss his ?password?.
?I later discovered this to be a bogus reason for delaying or invalidating the cancellation,? Mr Snoxell said. ?They had ignored my original letter that mail should be directed to the new address and I therefore only became aware of these letters in January 2015, something which again I consider to be a deliberate tactic to avoid the cancellation instruction.?
Sky customer gets ?1,500 payout after two years trying to cancel his contract
Mr Snoxell wrote to Sky again, reiterating that he had vacated the property and moved overseas. He pointed out that he had cancelled the Sky TV package in writing three months previously.
Despite Mr Snoxell's two letters, mail from Sky continued to arrive at his old address rather than his holding address, and Sky sent him emails offering to cancel an outstanding balance if he returned to Sky.
Last month, he received an email from debt collection agency CCS Collect, working on behalf of Sky. It said Mr Snoxell owed the firm almost ?60 in late payments.
?I assume this is what Sky believe I owe them for the use of a service which is impossible to provide, the cancellation of which they had been informed of in writing twice, originally three months in advance of the cancellation date,? Mr Snoxell said.
?I regard this as a simple attempted fraud; to facilitate the fraud they have deliberately ignored the contents of the letters and continued to send correspondence to the vacated address, a tactic designed to delay and confuse the resolution of the matter.?
Sky said that if a customer writes to cancel their account, it needs to speak to them to "verify their request".
A spokesman said: "After receiving Mr Snoxell?s letter we called him four times and sent four letters to explain the situation."
When pushed on why Sky ignored his instructions to send correspondence to his new address, the firm did not respond.
However it later emailed Mr Snoxell and admitted that his account was actually ?53 in credit. It promised to issue a refund and call off the debt collectors.
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