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Originally Posted by littld
OK I've finally made the decision to give Sky a go.
Question is, what's the best way to handle the switchover? Should I try to get ntl to finish the same day as Sky starts? How do I avoid being charged for both at the same time?
Also, any downsides? First one I can think of is the high cost of calling customer services at sky. Any other downsides I should be aware of?
Also, the website at sky says their 3 month half price offer expires at the end of Feb. Does anyone know if that will happen or are they likely to just have another offer that ends at the end of March?!
Advice greatfully received.
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I made the switch late last year to coincide with our house move. I gave ntl their required 30 days notice (which naturally they denied I had), despite having a letter from ntl confirm I had!
I had our disconnection date as our moving day, but they wanted to collect the box three days before! Naturally I said no, and they eventually agreed to collect the STB from our new house, which they did. Then one week later they turned up at our old address to collect the STB again!
Sky were fine. There was a mix-up at their end in sending the viewing card to the new address rather than old one, during which time I encountered stupid CS people that could have easily been working for ntl. But it was sorted quickly.
I agree with you about the 0870 number. I think it's scandalous charging customers 10ppm to call their supplier - there are international rates cheaper than that. However if you know where to look you might find a freephone number to call Sky CS on. Also, as they only provide you with TV, you'll probably find that you don't need to call them. I've not needed to since our installation.
You might want to consider getting Sky installed a couple of days before your ntl contract ends. If you live in a standard construction house that faces in the right direction, you'll probably not have any problems. If the installer needs to put the dish on the chimney then I think they have a speciallist team that does the heights, which you'll have to wait for, maybe a week. Also very tall trees can be a problem for dishes.
However these are all exceptional circumstances, if you've got neighbours with dishes, you'll probably be fine with the standard install.
I've not had any problems with picture freezing, even with the snow we had after Christmas, and the STB is far more reliable than ntl's (we went for Sky+ rather than basic Sky, and it's wonderful).
You might find different deals start appearing during March, as they are about to launch their Sky HD (hi-def) system, which will be their focus for April. That doesn't mean that the deal will disappear or that a better one won't appear, but just be aware of what's happening. Don't forget you need to give ntl a month's notice.
Hope you're as happy with Sky as we are, good luck with the transition.