Put "trading standards" and your county into Google and find the address of your local Trading Standards office. Write your tale in a letter and send it to them. Send a copy to Sky.
Keep the letter brief and just state the facts. Cite the reference to the quote for free installation. Name the subcontractor and list all dates of contact with Sky.
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DIY_Johnny
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Grockle
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I fancied getting a high definition satellite recorder for our hi def television.
We went into Comet and spotted a special offer of a SKY hi def recorder box for about £75. Told the saleman we wanted one and that we are SKY customers.
He said; No, he couldn't supply the box, we had to contact sky and on top of the price of the box we had to pay another £10 per month and about £60 for installation. I said that I could do the installation myself. He looked down his nose and said oh no I couldn't.
I then decided to look into Freesat HD. It looks ok so I have ordered a Humax FOXSAT HDR reciever/recorder. I put up a sat dish with a quad LNB. One of the outputs goes to the bedroom, the other two going to the living room for the Foxat.
It's all a bit more expensive to start with but when I cancel my existing sky contract it will start paying for itself and I don't have to put up with a bodge installation.
PS. I might have to wait a while for the Foxat as someone had nicked a lorry load of them.
We went into Comet and spotted a special offer of a SKY hi def recorder box for about £75. Told the saleman we wanted one and that we are SKY customers.
He said; No, he couldn't supply the box, we had to contact sky and on top of the price of the box we had to pay another £10 per month and about £60 for installation. I said that I could do the installation myself. He looked down his nose and said oh no I couldn't.
I then decided to look into Freesat HD. It looks ok so I have ordered a Humax FOXSAT HDR reciever/recorder. I put up a sat dish with a quad LNB. One of the outputs goes to the bedroom, the other two going to the living room for the Foxat.
It's all a bit more expensive to start with but when I cancel my existing sky contract it will start paying for itself and I don't have to put up with a bodge installation.
PS. I might have to wait a while for the Foxat as someone had nicked a lorry load of them.
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Rich-Ando
- Pro Tradesman
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if you email them and head it "letter sent to trading standards" you may be surprised how fast they reply. i've done this int he past on 4 occasions and each time i had a fast response. one of them i had sent 12 emails but all were ignored. the moment i sent one headed with that i got a reply instantly.
IDBI, all has been said above but i 10000% agree with you, they don't give a flying toss. you know as well as any other tradesman, they are subbies that want the most for the least work. easy route is all they take.
we had NTL (VM) free package just to get a better freeview picture. (well i wanted to compare it to a digital aerial for free anyway)
when i spoke to them i told them what i wanted but they said.. all you need to do is tell our engineers what you would like and as long as it doesn't involve lifting carpets or floors they will comply.
when the bloke arrived, i told him what i wanted, he looked at me and laughed saying "you don't do it like that m8" to which i told him, you do if a customer asks for it.
he then proceeded to try to explain to me how cables are installed and that they fit them externally because of interference
idiot, he got it didn't he. i asked if he had ever heard of screening etc. in the end he agreed to leave me the cable and come back in a couple of hours to test. told him i wanted 23M but no, he had to argue i was wrong and he needed to leave the drum. i insisted he cut 23M and when he came back..ahh, one of those moments you enjoy
he asked me where the cable was cos he couldn't see it...one simple answer i gave him...EXACTLY
IDBI, all has been said above but i 10000% agree with you, they don't give a flying toss. you know as well as any other tradesman, they are subbies that want the most for the least work. easy route is all they take.
we had NTL (VM) free package just to get a better freeview picture. (well i wanted to compare it to a digital aerial for free anyway)
when i spoke to them i told them what i wanted but they said.. all you need to do is tell our engineers what you would like and as long as it doesn't involve lifting carpets or floors they will comply.
when the bloke arrived, i told him what i wanted, he looked at me and laughed saying "you don't do it like that m8" to which i told him, you do if a customer asks for it.
he then proceeded to try to explain to me how cables are installed and that they fit them externally because of interference
idiot, he got it didn't he. i asked if he had ever heard of screening etc. in the end he agreed to leave me the cable and come back in a couple of hours to test. told him i wanted 23M but no, he had to argue i was wrong and he needed to leave the drum. i insisted he cut 23M and when he came back..ahh, one of those moments you enjoy
he asked me where the cable was cos he couldn't see it...one simple answer i gave him...EXACTLY -
Grockle
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I can't find my receipts but I am pretty sure that I bought them from Melksham Satellites LtdRich-Ando wrote:Grockle if you don't mind me asking, how much does that system cost? i've wanted to hook our TV upto High def for ages but wasn't going to pay to have sky installed just for that.
http://shop.satelliteonline.co.uk/frees ... v-77-c.asp
They have, at the moment:
Humax FOXSAT-HDR Freesat receiver with built in recording hard drive. £299 (In stock???)
60cm Sky Dish about £25
Quad LNB 4 Output LNB (4 Independent outputs) for Sky Digidishes (Zone 1 and Zone 2)
£24.95
It is worthwhile giving them a ring to tell them your needs (cables, F connectors, Satfinder etc.) to make sure that the lnb will match the dish.
I have done a Google search for 60 cm satellite dish with quad lnb it brought up loads of dishes including one from eBay for £20:
dish & quad lnb. http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/tvandsatellite/
These sites are very useful sources of information:
http://www.freesat.co.uk/
http://www.astra2d.com/freesat.htm
http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/humaxfoxsathdr.html
http://www.petertyson.co.uk/ebuttonz/eb ... html?fshop
Forums:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/foru ... .php?f=142
http://www.hummy.org.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=74
I hope that helps.
