Sky Really is the Limit

Having got nowhere I decided to look into these T&Cs myself. Perhaps I could use them against Sky? I had a quick look and discovered what I thought might be my way out – clause 7a, which states.

“We can vary the maximum speeds or capacity of your chosen Product. If we reduce the level of service provided by your chosen Product and you reasonably consider that you have been disadvantaged by this you may move to another Product or end this Contract under Condition 11, even if you are within your Minimum Term”.

Aha! While my loss of service was being ignored, my initial troubles with speed could be my way out. I forthwith drafted a letter detailing my tribulations and sent it to the fabled ’customer services’. I’d love to say that this did the trick but unfortunately so far my missive has been soundly ignored.

In fact, even if I hear nothing I’m tempted to go back to NTL even if I have to keep paying Sky and despite the fact that the connection has stayed up for the last couple of weeks. It’s the principle of the thing.

Of course Sky Broadband is not alone in being a terrible ISP. One of our freelancers related a fantastic story regarding Bulldog a company with a quite unparalleled reputation for bad customer service. It truly excelled itself by actually cutting him off without warning. It turned out that someone had cancelled but it had got it wrong and cut him off instead. When he phoned, Bulldog had the gall to blame BT and told him that it would take over two weeks to reconnect him. Not surprisingly he gave Bulldog its marching orders.

The moral of the story is you get what you pay for. While local loop unbundling has provided more competition for BT and caused broadband prices to tumble it hasn’t helped improve the level of service. In fact, since the arrival of free broadband from the likes of Orange and Carphone Warehouse’s Talk Talk, complaints about poor service have massively increased. While BT may not be the cheapest, it has a solid reputation.

Broadband is now a commodity doled out in the cheapest possible way and while free or very cheap sounds tempting, you all too often get what you pay for – nothing or virtually nothing.

If you want an average service and aren’t bothered about reliability or speed, a free or very cheap broadband service will probably suffice. If you want it fast and you want it reliable, then avoid Sky Broadband and its ilk – and go with companies whose main focus is being an Internet Service Provider, rather than just flogging you something that’s an easy way of increasing their bottom line.