Sky Missed Payment

Gringo180

Hi Guys need a bit of help here, I missed my 1st direct debit payment for my sky tv (61 euros) and have just received a letter out this morning stating that I now owe 122 euros and if i dont pay by the 21st my Sky will be suspended.

The thing is I never got a bill out in the post from Sky telling me when the first payment was due which I was expecting, so I could make sure I had the money in my bank account for the payment....

So the 1st question is should Sky have sent me out a bill in advance letting me know the date which the 1st payment was due??

And when does the Sky contract start, does it start when you make your innitial up front payment by credit card or does the contract start the day the Sky box is installed??

Sorry for being a bit dumb, dont really have a clue about these sort of things

Thanks.

dudara

You should have a contract from SKY outlining the start date. If you don't, request a copy.

Do SKY offer paperless billing? It's getting to be quite common now and might explain why you didn't receive any bills.

amcalester

Before a company takes a direct debit from your account they must give you notice of the amount and the date it will be taken i.e. a bill

So call them up and say you didnt receive a bill.

However, the contract probably states when and how much the first DD will be so that could be seen as a bill.

You could try asking them to waive the charges as its a first "offence".

jor el

Gringo180 wrote: »

So the 1st question is should Sky have sent me out a bill in advance letting me know the date which the 1st payment was due??

If your bill is for a fixed amount, then I don't think they have to send you a bill. Do you have any documentation from Sky that says anything about the monthly amount and when the direct debit should be taken? I think they must tell you what date (usually they say "on or after" a certain date) it is to be taken, but if it's a fixed amount then you don't get a monthly bill.

Gringo180

dudara wrote: »

You should have a contract from SKY outlining the start date. If you don't, request a copy.

Do SKY offer paperless billing? It's getting to be quite common now and might explain why you didn't receive any bills.

Hi thanks for the quick reply, just did a bit of digging up there and found the contract, date on it is 17th of september which means im now bound to there 12 month contract.

Its a bit annoying that they dont send you out a bill stating when your first payment is due, and then doubling your bill for a missed payment, very harsh

Gringo180

jor el wrote: »

If your bill is for a fixed amount, then I don't think they have to send you a bill. Do you have any documentation from Sky that says anything about the monthly amount and when the direct debit should be taken? I think they must tell you what date (usually they say "on or after" a certain date) it is to be taken, but if it's a fixed amount then you don't get a monthly bill.

Hi the only documentation I have is the installation Prices of 67.50 which was payed up front by credit card, no bills whatsoever stating a due date for payment

blahblah06

Did u sign up for paperless billing
They don't doubt your bill you missed the first and now the 2nd payment is due on top of it

penexpers

You pay for Sky in advance so first payment is previous month + next month.

kearneybobs

Also, Sky have recently implemented a system where you can see your bill via your Skybox. Have a look at it there if you can. Have no idea how though as I dont have Sky. They said this to my gf's mam the other day. She hadn't gotten a bill yet they still expected her to pay it.

gerrycollins

Gringo180 wrote: »

Hi Guys need a bit of help here, I missed my 1st direct debit payment for my sky tv (61 euros) and have just received a letter out this morning stating that I now owe 122 euros and if i dont pay by the 21st my Sky will be suspended.

The thing is I never got a bill out in the post from Sky telling me when the first payment was due which I was expecting, so I could make sure I had the money in my bank account for the payment....

So the 1st question is should Sky have sent me out a bill in advance letting me know the date which the 1st payment was due??

And when does the Sky contract start, does it start when you make your innitial up front payment by credit card or does the contract start the day the Sky box is installed??

Sorry for being a bit dumb, dont really have a clue about these sort of things

Thanks.

with me sky take their DD on the first of every month, if that fails they try to take both payments the next 1st of the next month. There is a chance that you actually missed 2 payments and its only then that sky issue a letter.

the same letter should inform you that to recieve a paper monthly bill and pay via non DD will cost an additional €5 something per month.

on the plus side sky dont charge you for missed DD like others do. Also contact George Hook

MANUTD99

You pay your first sky bill 2 weeks after it was installed and then pay it monthly afterwards.

They usually tell you this during your initial call to them

Agent_99

No monthly bills from Sky, you will only receive one if you have used premium services and they take the DD on the same day each month.

You can pay over the phone with Laser card or credit card for the missed month if you don't want to wait until the double DD is pulled.

smelltheglove

I have to say I am brutal with direct debits and Sky are brilliant to deal with. The amount of times I have missed direct debits and not even noticed the letters is crazy. I have had 2 or 3 occasions where it has been cut off, all I do then is call them up with hubbies credit card number pay half of what is owed give them the direct debit details again and then its up and running within a few minutes, their heads must be wrecked with me.

I dont receive bills anymore, only the letters if dd is missed, I''d say that has been going on about 8 mths so at least now when I see a sky letter I know I forgot the dd and have to lodge money into the bill account.

foggy_lad

The double amount is for two months payment, they have not penalized you for being late with the payment. FIrst payment is usually due 14 days after installation and they usually use the sky viewing card letter as notification of amount and date of direct debit.

abouttobebanned

In fairness another company would just cut you off. Sky give you another
Month to pay.

Gringo180

Hi guys thanks for all the replies, just off the phone to Sky there and there customer care agent stated that although I received a letter stating I missed a direct debit payment and that I now owed 122 euros he assurred me that once I pay the first months bill of 61 euros by friday that I wont have to pay 122 euros up front and thats just my next months bill on top of this month's if you get me (which wont be due until 22nd of november):)

Panic over:p

Thanks for all the help.

Gringo180

This has taken a bit of a twist now guys, my Sky connection has been suspended, this is after having the money in my direct debit for the 1st months bill of 61 euros

So rang up customer care and explained to the guy on the phone that the money was now in my account for my bill, but he said they tried to take out the 122 euros and failed again so they suspended my account (this is after being told tuesday that once you have your 1st months bill in by friday everything will be ok)

I tried explaining this to him but he said something about making a payment of 43 euros :eek: by credit card, as they will not be able to upgrade or update my box till another 14 days if they go through my direct debit account,...

Very confusing indeed, does anybody no why ive to pay money up front like this to get my channels switched back on (why cant they just take it from my bank account??), and if i do pay this 43 euros does it get deducted from next months bill????

Thanks for all the help

dumb_parade

I would ring Sky again and ask them about the 43 euro. I would also assume despite what they initially said, that they will require your account to be paid and up to date. i.e. the 122 paid, and possibly another 61 soon once you get reconnected.

Is the 43 a reconnection fee or just another upfront payment for reconnection. Might be easier to just clear the arrears by credit card if there is an issue with direct debit. Then contact your bank and see if they can tell you why its not being accepted.

Gringo180

dumb_parade wrote: »

I would ring Sky again and ask them about the 43 euro. I would also assume despite what they initially said, that they will require your account to be paid and up to date. i.e. the 122 paid, and possibly another 61 soon once you get reconnected.

Is the 43 a reconnection fee or just another upfront payment for reconnection. Might be easier to just clear the arrears by credit card if there is an issue with direct debit. Then contact your bank and see if they can tell you why its not being accepted.

There is nothing wrong with my direct debit, there trying to take out 122 euros out when there is only enough in my account to cover my 1st months bill of 61 euro....

Havent a clue what the 43 euros payment is all about, all the guy said on the phone was he couldnt upgrade my sky box until he received a upfront payment, dont ask where he pulled the 43 euro estimate from, i dont mind paying the 43 euros once my Sky is back on and once the money is deducted from my bill

dumb_parade

As with most call centres, every time you ring them you will talk to a different person and get a different answer....

Third time lucky maybe...:)

Gringo180

dumb_parade wrote: »

As with most call centres, every time you ring them you will talk to a different person and get a different answer....

Third time lucky maybe...:)

Thats true mate hopefully I get this sorted, but theres no way im paying 43 euros up front if its not going to be deducted from my bill.

Am going to ring back later and tell them ill pay the 61 euros first month bill up front hopefully they will switch me back on.

By the way none of this would of happened if they had of sent me out a bill stating when my first months payment was due :rolleyes: