copy of emails between me and sky - so far.
From: tony hall
Date: 4 March 2010 23:22
Subject: Re: TV Escalation (KMM4870147I15977L0KM)
To: Sky Help Centre <help@skycustomersupport.com>
Cc: skinnerd@parliament.uk
c.c. dennis skinner mp
email 2dear caroline,
From: tony hall
Sent: 04 March 2010 16:11
To: Darroch, Jeremy
Cc: skinnerd@parliament.uk
Subject: 0844 abuse
cc. dennis skinner MP
original emailDear Mr. Darroch,
Please provide an explanation.- why does sky use 0844 numbers? i cannot think of any reason that would be satisfactory.
these numbers are used by companies who -
Valid reason but still carrying a risk of lost business :-
want to deter inbound telephone calls to them; for example because they want to be primarily a web based company.
Corporate Greed Reason
are unaware of the damage that these numbers cause to their business in return for a few pence pay out per minute of the calls.
Greed and Customer Abuse reason
a company who is, or believes themselves to be immune from any commercial damage because they have a quasi monopoly and falsely believe they have no need to be interested in their customers' opinion of them. best example of this offensive arrogance - SKY.
a very high risk strategy
Do you actually believe that i am the only potential customer who will not join sky because of your clearly demonstrated arrogant greed and your contempt for your customers.
if so please visit - in the unlikely event that you haven't already -
www.saynoto0870.com.
i have the following reasons for the email to you
1. i have had my own telecoms business for 20 years and knowing the loss of sales and customer goodwill caused by paid for 08xx number have never advised their use by my clients especially as a sales line.
i suggest that you ask ofcom for their figures on their estimate of the effect of these numbers, on the businesses who use them,
especially in terms of potential customers who would otherwise have called you and the subsequent lost business.
2. i hate being ripped off especially by companies who exhibit contempt for their customers as you do by continuing to use these numbers, despite numerous protests to you.
3 i do not want this country to be populated by self interested, greedy, arrogant, abusive companies and whilst i realise that motivating the general public to act in their own interest is nearly impossible until situations become extreme, i will continue to protest against companies with your attitude to customers.
I wish you a Happy Bankruptcy!
On 4 March 2010 19:13, Sky Help Centre wrote:
Dear Mr Hall,
Thank you for your email in regards to having to call a 0844 number when calling Sky.
National rate numbers mean that customers pay the same rate - no matter where they are phoning from within the UK.
Sky invests £250 million a year on customer service and, unlike many other providers, we’re open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. You can call us for as little as 1.5p a minute from a landline at the weekend.
One option that you may like to consider, if you haven’t already done so, would be signing up for our award winning Sky Talk service. As part of our Sky Talk packages, customers can call us for free in line with the tariff they have selected
Finally, if you would prefer not to call but require advice or assistance, our Sky.com website hosts a massive range information available to our customers and includes the option to email our customer care team.
Kind regards
Caroline
Executive Support Team
http://www.sky.com
2nd emailin view of your complete failure to do so - i ask again.
Please provide an explanation.- why does sky use 0844 numbers? i cannot think of any reason that would be satisfactory.
seemingly you do not have a satisfactory reason, (i.e. one that does not have a pure greed motivation), otherwise you would surely have provided one.
also have you as i suggested actually visited
www.saynoto0870.com and entered the word sky in the search box?
if you have then are you satisfied that any reputable company would not try to respond to the vociferous campaign against you?
if you have not it would again demonstrate complacent or deliberate sloppiness or total arrogance.
instead your response is (deliberately? - i hope not) uninformed, patronising and somewhat offensive; especially since you are trying to sell me your telecom service, in spite of the fact that my attitude towards your employer should now be very clear to you.
i am sure you did not intend to be offensive but i'm afraid the sloppiness and lack of diligence exposed in your answer had exactly that effect - see below.
you must know that the uncomplaining british are and can be exploited on a regular basis.
not for nothing the description - rip off britain - because of this attitude.
employees of these faceless corporations should think long and hard about the social consequences of their choice of employer.
or the result will be that employees will try to defend indefensible employers at the cost of their individuality and personal credibility.
the result - more rip off - more depersonalisation - less choice
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please read my net post for the rest of this email