What are the chances of this happening?

[Charlie_Bubble]

To cut a long story short, I was due to get Sky on sunday, but due to some a small tree in the way the engineer said I would have to either have the dish higher up (He wouldn't do this) or prune/cut down the tree.

Now, my NTL phone has gone. It was cut off during the porting over of my number to BT. My question is, to save myself the hassle of arranging for a different Sky install, or pruning/cutting the tree down, would NTL let me keep the TV without the phone if I phoned up?

The ironic thing is, it's due to go tomorrow, I've had digital for about 4 years and guess what turned up in the post today....an envelope with "Important changes to your Digital TV service" written on it!

[paulyoung666]

even if you did lose the phone it would cost the same , as for sky not installing the dish , they will only work to a certain height , maybe it is a money thing , as awkward installs are done but cost more , i reckon i would be ringing sky up and ask them what is going on

[Charlie_Bubble]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

even if you did lose the phone it would cost the same , as for sky not installing the dish , they will only work to a certain height , maybe it is a money thing , as awkward installs are done but cost more , i reckon i would be ringing sky up and ask them what is going on

tbh I'm thinking of ringing an independant installer to get the dish up. The guy didn't really make much of an effort and like you say, I think anything out of the ordinary and they call it a day as it's too expensive for them. I think they only get a set amount per install and obviously the longer he takes/more materials he uses, the more it costs him at the end of the day.

I made sure that NTL said they wouldn't charge me for my phone from the day they cut me off without me asking them. I would have thought that they could easily stick a credit onto my account for the lack of phoneline. I guess it's up to them if they want to get some money from me each month or not. It's no skin off my nose. It's obviously less hassle for me if they say yes, but if they don't, I'll get interactive sooner.

[paulyoung666]

but you are getting the install for free , unless you are getting sky+ , he might have just been a lazy b@stard or a jobsworth , i would ring sky up and ask for clarification on this one before you shell money out you might not have to

[Charlie_Bubble]

Having been on digital spy, I'm not too impressed with the rep that sky installers have. I saw one person there that had 3 failed installs. I'd rather have someone come and do it that will do a good job, or I won't pay. the truly annoying thing is that my neighbours have a dish about 5 foot away from where I wanted it. His response..."Bet they don't get a picture"!!! I'd rather shell out money and know I'm getting it, than wait and have another shirker tell me he can't be bothered to do anything out of the ordinary.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by Charlie_Bubble

Having been on digital spy, I'm not too impressed with the rep that sky installers have. I saw one person there that had 3 failed installs. I'd rather have someone come and do it that will do a good job, or I won't pay. the truly annoying thing is that my neighbours have a dish about 5 foot away from where I wanted it. His response..."Bet they don't get a picture"!!! I'd rather shell out money and know I'm getting it, than wait and have another shirker tell me he can't be bothered to do anything out of the ordinary.

i deffo think you had the p!ss taken out of you , i would still ring sky and see what the score is

[Charlie_Bubble]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

i deffo think you had the p!ss taken out of you , i would still ring sky and see what the score is

Wouldn't surprise me. I think I have 'MUG' written across my forehead in a pen that only shows up to people who want money for something!

[Charlie_Bubble]

I was told I could phone up and get my install fee back. Yeah, right, like I'm going to call up for a measly £1!

I think I am going to leave the dish install until the end of the summer anyway now. Mainly want it for the football and seeing as that finishes on Saturday... Am considering buying a freeview box on ebay to tide me over. Unless of course I can still get basic channels through the NTL stb and they don't call to collect it!

[dilli-theclaw]

Infect the tree with rot and try again in a few months

[Charlie_Bubble]

Originally Posted by dilligaf1701

Infect the tree with rot and try again in a few months

My dad has already told me about copper nails. Apparently they kill trees. I'm going to chop it down I think. It's round the side of the house and nobody can see it. God knows why the landscaper who originally did the gardens even bothered with it. By the looks of the stumps there, it's not the first round there to be chopped down! Sad to kill a tree, but my interactive needs are greater!

[punky]

Nah, it is true what the installer said, but he isn't lazy. Before I went to NTL DTV, I wanted Sky. We got the official installer over, and he said he couldn't get a signal over the trees. I said, "Why not removed the old analogue dish, and put the new one in it's place?". The response: "Can't do that mate, i'm not insured to". Then I said, "mount it on the chimney, which should clear the trees by miles". The response? "Can't do that mate, i'm not insured to". I think they definitely need a better insurance underwriters.

I just said sod it and got NTL (I was going to get NTL BB at the time anyway, no home ADSL was over 512k, and NTL had just started the 1meg service). I've since found out that some independent installers have better insurance and will mount it anywhere you like. They will also take down the old equiptment too.

But Paul is right, the phone line is free with the TV rental, so you might as well have it. It might come in useful if you want a second line for your kids/fax machine at some point.