Sky HD box on its last legs!

shakeyhands

Hi everybody,

Over the last few weeks my Sky HD box has been acting up, live pause not working, very load whirling nice coming from the fan (much much louder than normal), no signal strength on input 1 but good signal quality!, failed recordings etc., well to solve these problems i have to keep taking the plug out of the wall and waiting about 1 minute before plugging it back in again (the box is a Thompson box bought back in 2007). So today I decided to ring those "lovely" sky people in the Cork call centre to see what options are open to me and was totally taken aback when they quoted me €149 for a new box and €30 installation charge. When i asked how come there is an installation charge for basically taking the cables out of the old box and then connecting them to the new box (you could train a monkey to it) I got some gibberish about warranty etc. I then informed them that I have been a customer of Sky for at least the last 14 years and at present pay €91 a month and asked the question "well what are you going to do help?", I was informed that the price would be €179 in total and basically take it or leave it. I did all the usual haggling about changing to UPC, the price here as against the euro equivalent price in the Uk etc. but to no avail. Don't get me wrong I think that the on the TV end of things Sky is expensive but good, but when it comes to looking after their existing customers they are mediocre at best. Anybody got any ideas as I really don't want to go to UPC or have to climb down and pay €179. Thanks in advance as any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

John mac

ring them again and ask for cancellations.
they should agree to replace the box.

steveon

The problem with your box is because of a failing Power Supply, the Thomson boxes should in my opinion all be replaced free to charge due to a extremely badly designed box. The fan as you speak of is underneath the box and so if placed in a non ventilated location such as a press means it doesnt get much of a air flow.

You can order a replacement part if you are somewhat confident of being able to carry out the repair yourself, or if you know some1 that mite be able to do it for you then there are a large number of companies that sell these such as the one I have included below.

http://www.free-sat-tv.co.uk/SkyRepairs.php

John mac

I replaced the power supply on my box a couple of years ago, got the replacement from satcure .

no problems since.

(in the uk they are replacing these boxes for 49 as they are not compatible with the latest software)

soundsham

Any update on this
Having problems with my hdmi connection at the moment
Connected by scart just not the same !
don't fancy paying €179
Wouldn't mind €50 or something but €179 ffs there getting over a grand a year off me

Marco85

loads of them knockin around on adverts.ie

mad muffin

When my old Thomson was packing it in Sky wanted €100 for a referbished box and an "engineer" to come and install it.

So I just called cancelations and they waved the fee plus I got one of their brand new Amstrad boxes, which is smaller, faster, quieter and has a larger HDD.

jc84

Had the same problem with my box, rang up and complained and they told me there was nothing they could do, I threatened to cancel and they went right to the end of the cancellation to see if I really would, and I would have, I got put on hold and told I'd have an engineer out in 2 days with a brand new hd box, haven't had a problem since
Worth a try

Cantona's Collars

Sky are replacing thomson boxes free in the UK as they are now obsolete and not compatible with Anytime+.Chance your arm and tell them you have a thomson box that's no longer fit for purpose.
Another solution is to tell them you had a UPC rep around and are considering joining up,you'll get a new box free then,especially with the amount of money you spend on the service every year.