I live in Belgium and i have a problem with my sky+ hd box.It is impossible to phone  the 0800 or the 08442 from Belgium.I tried with skype ,but no result.
Thanks.

Hi, I only joined Sky two weeks ago, since then I have been  on the phone several times trying to sort out one problem after another! Do they cause problems so you have to phone them and therefore pay them even more. I have been left hanging on the line, wasting my time and money also  disconnected  twice after long waits. The customer service is a joke, I will not be staying with Sky after my contract expires.

less choice -higher prices and costs;
and more and more under-rewarded dissatisfied employees of faceless self interested greedy corporations;
and more and more individuals joining the rapidly increasing timid, job loss fearing, overworked, ripped off drones and clones brigade.

is that what anyone would seriously want as a free choice?

well it is time this changed and being an employee of a company determined to squeeze every halfpenny from their customers should not be the choice of anyone who is not desperate for a job.

i do not at all intend to be gratuitously offensive but have some constructive suggestions that you might find a bit direct but hopefully helpful for future responses.

firstly  i suggest you do some research and base your future replies to complaints on the facts.

even though you are offering sky telecom service you clearly have no knowledge of 08xx numbers so let me enlighten you.

first of all 0844 numbers are not "national rate"
domestic bt non discounted daytime national rate numbers are the most you can pay for a non business national call.

your employer offers a telecom service why do you not know this basic fact? - i am sure you have people who know these answers - please go and ask them.

0844 call charges are appreciably higher than any national rate number but it is the only number left that has a worthwhile payout to the called party i.e. sky.

you could use 0845 numbers, the call charges are less but still not included in most packages

you could use 0870  the call charges are less,

you could use 0871  the call charges are high,

you could use 03 numbers but these could incur you in a cost depending upon your arrangement with your telecom wholesaler.

so we conclude that your stated reason for using loathed 0844 and not even the hated 0845 cannot be true and that you just want the highest payout and the hell with what's best for  your customers.

for your information and assistance my use of 08xx refers to the range of 08 numbers such as 0800,  0844, 0845, 0870, 0871.

1. all forms of 08xx numbers and indeed any other telephone number called from a number within the uk to another number within the uk costs the same from wherever to wherever. they might be free or chargeable to the caller but none of them bear any relationship to national call charges - so stop saying that they are national rate - they are NOT,

Local and national rates were merged long ago. go have a look at your own sky tariff!

2. all forms of 08xx numbers can have the same intelligence and call reporting capability.

3. talk talk for example includes 0845 and 0870 numbers in its off peak package but no provider includes 0844 except, strangely, sky customers calling sky because there is an appreciable outpayment to the called party.

4. the only reason why you would choose to have an inbound 0844 number, as you do, is for the outpaymet that you receive. for every minute of calls that you receive.

5. you appear to be ignorant of the fact that you accrue revenue to you by use of 0844 numbers. if this is true i am appalled that you are left by your peers to concoct explanations without this crucial
knowledge.if you do know this then your reply is cynically offensive.

6. using 0844 sales line numbers is like having a shop widow where potential customers are charged before they buy anything. i bet you would object to that so what's the difference?

for this reason a chargeable 08xx number , especially a sales line 0844 number is deeply damaging to the process of customer acquisition.

you spend a fortune advertising your company and then expect obliging customers to pay you with their phone call before they join.

7. as for using sky talk you cynically allow just your own 0844 charges to be included in your packeage knowing that 0844 numbers are not included in any competitors package.

8. you clearly believe that you can force, bribe and bully your customers to do what you want because you are a quasi monopoly and can abuse your market power.

what would you say if everything you needed to buy was from a company in this powerful market position.
I bet you wouldn't like that would you - so why support this abuse by your employer?

as far as your 24 hour support line is concerned - many companies are astute enough to realise that providing good customer service is essential for their business.

the best and cheapest to acquire business comes from referrals.

am i going to ever trust a telecoms company whose executive support team members display such breathtaking lack of knowledge about telecoms.

i happen to be a telecoms business owner and am concerned that your overt lack of knowledge could be damaging to our industry.

you clearly hope that your customers are as ignorant of their facts as you are and this suggests that your business contains people who blunder along without taking the care and diligence to preserve their credibility.

is this i wonder a sky corporate culture?

when we try to expand our business by offering a very attractive proposition to potential agents, we look for people who are more awake and aware than your average wage slave.

they are a rapidly disappearing breed

most people do not, it seems, bother to learn enough about their own job functions and so often try to impress with bull-sxxxx.

what's worse is that their management appears to find nothing wrong with this complacent sloppiness.

i do not use embedded email as you suggest i might because it does not provid

Had to activate new (£20) viewing card after sky has gradually switched off our old one which cost £20 5 years ago.

Didn't expect to have to ring 0844 to activate it and after viewing this thread I can appreciate the problems others have had.

Rang 08000466432 and asked for Customer services.   After speaking to a computer for a few minutes I was put through to a young woman who confirmed my details and went through the whole registration process only to tell me I was not through to Freesat Customer services.   She agreed to transfer me but, after speaking to several people, this failed.   Then tried 020 7705 3036/3118/3758 and every time I asked to speak to someone to complain, was told to ring Customer services on an 0844 number - talk about rubbing salt into your wounds.

Again tried 08000466432 and, this time told the first human being I spoke to that I wanted to register a Freesat card.   Again was put through to different people but eventually I SUCCEEDED (although the card hasn't yet activated because it can take up to 24 hours)  BUT the 08000466432 does work but you have to be very precise and stick with it.

FOR INFO - We are with TalkTalk and quite happy with them.  The call to activate the card would have cost about 54p (9.5p connection chatge and 5p per minute) which might not seem a lot but multiplied by the number of customers Sky has makes a HUGE amount of money

juancar186, you are one of about ten million subscribers.  Sky won't care that you're miffed.

Heinz

WHAT A NEGATIVE COMMENT "YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF"

Cheers Dave point taken