How often does a company (such as your bank) call you, and ask you to prove who you are by giving your security password, name, address, DOB etc, but how do you know it is your bank calling and not just a scammer phishing for your details.
Normally I am pretty savvy about this stuff and I never give personal details out over the phone, if someone calls me claiming to be from a company that I do business with and they want to discuss my account or personal details I make them prove who they are or I call the company back on a known number.
But alas this week I let my guard slip and I was scammed out of my debit card details. I have been ill this week, so maybe I just wasn't as with it as I normally am, but either way it just goes to show how easy it is for any of us to fall foul to these evil scammers.
Here is what happened.
I had a call earlier in the week from a company stating they were the providers of my SKY protection plan and that they were calling from sky. This is an insurance you take out when your sky equipment is out of warranty so that you can get it repaired or replaced if something goes wrong. The service is actually provided by a 3rd party not by SKY themselves, but it was SKY who setup the cover so I had no clue who the company were that actually provided it..
They informed me that they had reduced the cost of the protection down to £65 per year for anyone that had not made any claims or had any callouts, and would I be interested in updating my protection plan to this new price.
- They knew my name
- They knew I was a sky customer.
- They knew I had a protection plan
- They knew I had recently renewed it
- They knew I had not made any claims since renewing it
So while this all seemed legit, I still gave my usual answer, stating how do I know who you are, he said he prove this by asking me some security questions about my account (accounts details they do not even have).
He then asked me to confirm which bank my payments usually came out from, which I told him, he then confirmed the first 4 digits of my debit card to me, so it all seems very cosher at this point.
So I then duely gave him the rest of my card details so he could setup a new direct debit for the new amount and he told me to cancel the old direct debit.
No sooner had I got off the phone, then I started to think.
- When someone confirms your card details to you, they give you the last 4 digits and not the first 4 digits.
The first 4 digits are actually specific to your bank and are thus usually the same on all cards issued by that bank, so by confirming my bank to him, he could easily tell me the first 4 digits of my card.- I realised that the offer was meaningless to me as I paid for my protection plan yearly, so it was already paid for for the next year anyway.
- He never gave me his name and actually avoided giving me a contact number when I asked, insisting he would call me back.
- If they already had my card details, why would they need to ask for them again
So I then called SKY to check if this was legit. Which of course it was not, they confirmed that no sales calls had been made to me and they had not heard of the company name before. They then gave me the number of the company that did the payment protection and I called them. Same answer, it was nothing to do with them, and they had actually had a few other calls about this "Fully Covered" company.
I then called my bank and promptly cancelled my card. All this was within 20 minutes of the scam, so they didn't have a chance to even use my card I thought, but I was wrong, they were quick.
I also did a 1471 and got the number of the scammer and passed it on to the police along with the details I obtained from companies house.
The other scary thing is that these people have clearly got hold of SKY's customer details somehow seeing as they did actually know I had a protection plan.
So if you are a sky customer beware, do not believe anyone that calls you with regards to your sky account or protection plan. In fact don't believe anyone who calls you and says they are from ANY company, ask them to proove who they are. Never give out your personal details on the phone to someone who has called you, always call the company back on a known number. If they ask you to prrove your identity, give them fake details, wrong passwords etc and see if they notice, they shgould of course tell you the details are wrong.
NOTE: The company that officially provides the protection plan for sky is "Domestic and General". No other company is anything to do with SKY or is authorised to provide this service. Any other company claiming to be calling you on behalf of sky is lying, and there are several companies known to be selling "sky cover" who just take your money but provide no cover or service what so ever.
Domestic and General can be contacted on 08702 404142
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UPDATE
It turns out that "FUlly Covered" are a real company and I have tracked down the company and contacted them, and they do actually claim to provide sky cover plans. But as I said above, they are nothing to do with sky and it seems they are taking peoples money and providing no such service. They are also of course obtaining peoples credit/debit cards by fraudulent methods as detailed above. As you can see from the details below, they were only incorporated less than 6 months ago and they have no credit history.
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UPDATE 3rd March 2007
This is classic.
Fully Covered actually called me again yesterday and tried to convince me to not cancel the order stating that they were a legit company.
They actually tried to claim that they had not fraudulently obtained my card or led me to believe they were calling on behalf of sky, stating that they had recorded the phone conversation and could prove this.
I told the guy he was liar and to play the recording back to me in that case, to which he replied that it is illegal to play the recording to another person, even me. Which of course is not true.
I had quite a lengthy argument with the guy about their ethics and techniques and got some interesting explanations from them.
Their excuse for asking me to confirm my bank and then telling me my first 4 digits of my card is just to confirm that I am using the right card and that it is a debit card and not a credit card. They do not have any of details not did they claim to have.
Hmm, that rather conflicts with the conversation I remember, where they told me the opposite. I actually specifically asked them "if you already have my card details then why do I need to give them to you again", and their answer was that they needed to me to confirm my card details for security reasons, or something along those lines.
I just couldn't believe that the guy was actually trying to convince me that most of the conversations in the phone calls had not happened and that I must be mad or something. I do actually have the conversation recorded as all calls on my VOIP line are recorded automatically.
UPDATE 9th March 2007
---------------------------
I got an email today from GREGORY SEAN KEARTLAND, threatening me with legal action if I did not remove this false information from my blog and telling me that I did not have permission to post their company details and should remove this also. It seems Greg has never heard of Companies House and does not know that anyone can find this information online at any time. Also how odd that a company does not want anyone to know their address and phone number, unless of course they have something to hide or are up to no good. As you can also see he has since posted a comment on my blog pretending to be "Mr Reay" a happy customer. I know this because he then posted again as "Fully Covered" several hours later from the exact same IP address. Unless of course Mr Keatland and Mr Reay just happen to conveniently live in the same house and share the same computer.
As anyone with half a brain cell can clearly see I have made no false accusations against "Fully Covered", all I have done relay the events that led to them scamming my card details out of me, all of which is true.
Company Name | FULLY COVERED LIMITED | ||||
| Registered Number | 05938016 | ||||
| Legal Form | [Private Limited] | ||||
| Date Incorporated | 18 Sep 2006 | ||||
| Issued Capital (Returns) | - | ||||
| Registered Office | 15 GRAFTON ROAD, WORTHING, WEST SUSEX, WEST SUSSEX, BN11 1QR | ||||
| Last Recorded Trading Address |
|
| Current Directors | |
| Name | GREGORY SEAN KEARTLAND |
| Address | 21 AGNES PLACE, CHICHESTER, WEST SUSSEX, PO19 7TN |
| Date Of Birth | 17 Jul 1985 |
| Nationality | BRITISH |
| Occupation | SALES MANAGER |
| Date Appointed | 18 Sep 2006 |
| Name | CARLA LEE KEET |
| Address | 21 AGNES PLACE, CHICHESTER, WEST SUSSEX, PO19 7TN |
| Date Of Birth | 13 Sep 1983 |
| Nationality | BRITISH |
| Occupation | TELE SALES |
| Date Appointed | 18 Sep 2006 |
SATCOV - Another Scammer
On the 22nd Nov 2007 I had another one these attempted scam calls, this time by a company called SatCov, a name you will see mentioned many times in the coments below. This time I was on the ball thankfully and didn't believe them for a second. Again the caller pretended to be calling from sky tv, I even got him to confirm this just for the record. Supposedly my sky box cover had expired (which I knew it hadn't) and did I want to renew it and continue paying monthly as I had been up to now. I went along with him for a couple of minutes and then stated that I have just checked and that cover has not expired and was in fact renewed yearly and even if I was paying monthly how could it have possibly expired as the payments would be taken automatically every month. He then got very flustered, said he must have made a mistake and hung up.
Surprisingly he had not witheld his number either, so I called it right back and got through to SatCov.
There are many of these companies about using the same illegal practices. Check out these reports from BBC weatchdog on the subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmohLJc00i0
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgMFJnDmNA
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NB: I am now disabling comments on this blog post as it is clealry just attracting abuse from idiots and screwballs. I think there has been more than enough now anyway.
207 responses to “SKY customers beware of scammers”
Comments now closed
Mar 2, 2007 at 11:47 AM Cheeky gits, god knows how many people they've foxed with that..
Mar 6, 2007 at 10:35 PM I've taken to telling companies that wish to "confirm details" with me to "verify that I am the account holder" to go away. (Usually not that politely)
Unless I call them I will not speak to callers about anything.
You just can't be too careful these days. Too much social hacking and phishing going on.
Mar 9, 2007 at 5:01 PM Warning - these guys emailed me today. They thought I was the blog owner. They told me that if you did not remove the information they would take legal action.
Mar 9, 2007 at 5:55 PM This company is not a scam and when my system was struck by lightning they sent their UKTSG and Cai (Confederation of aerial industries) approved Engineers that replaced the whole system the same day. I think your comments are absurd as they have never treated me in that way. Are you sure you even took a policy out with this company as there are hundreds out there.
Mar 9, 2007 at 9:26 PM The comments made by Russ "SNAKE" Michaels are untrue. We are a repair company that supply's extended warranty's for a range of products including satellite equipment. We repair or replace your system within 24hrs like for like if you have a fault . We are completely independent so we can offer you a lower price. If you require any further info please visit our site www.fully-covered.com
Mar 10, 2007 at 12:25 PM Note: This blog records the IP address of every visitor. The above 2 posts by "Mr Reay" and "Fully Covered" were made by the same IP address and from the same computer.
Subsequent other abusive posts were also been made under various different names , and all the IP addresses tracked back to the same place. These have been deleted as they were simply abusive and had nothing to do with the topic.
This blog entry is in no way accusing "Fully Covered" of anything or making any claims about the conduct of their company with other people, I am simply stating the facts of what happened to me.
Mar 10, 2007 at 3:20 PM I don't know who you think you are or what you are trying to do to a very reputable company but i am a customer of fully covered.
Mar 19, 2007 at 1:00 PM Russ - I can't wait to hear the converstaion you had with these morons.
What you should do is send both conversations to the Office of fair trading, or the trading standards, or even Watchdog.
I'm pretty sure that what they did was illegal under some legislation. I wonder what sky would think if they new also.
Guys, you maybe a legit company, but your selling techniques suck big time!
I for one would never use you. Smarten your act up or close down.
I'm going to put a copy of this thread on my blog.
Mar 19, 2007 at 1:32 PM I have already forwarded all details to the police who have been in touch with sky and it is being investigated. I am waiting to hear back from the police as to whether I can get into any trouble for posting the recorded telephone conversation online before I do it.
Mar 19, 2007 at 5:03 PM Russ. Good luck with the police, we hope you get the go ahead to relate the conversations with these muppets.
Mar 21, 2007 at 6:14 PM just another quick update. I have had a few people email me after finding my blog and told me they have been scammed by fully covered in the same way. I have given them my crime number and told them to contact the same police officer with their complaint.
The police have also contacted me to say Fully Covered is now being investigated by them and sky.
Mar 22, 2007 at 9:20 PM I found this blog after this happened to me today. Luckily, I became a little suspicious when they started to ask for details that they should have maybe had if they were legit. It went something like this:
I received an unsolicited call from a company calling themselves Sky Repair Services. The guy on the other end spoke with a Midlands accent. He made small talk attempting to build a rapport, saying he was from Nottingham also and had lived nearby. He mentioned a street and the area name. But apparently he now lived in sunny Bournemouth. He went on to say that I was being charged too much for my Sky Repair cover and that they could offer it for less and went on about the other benefits of switching to them. Apparently, they wanted to bill me quarterly instead of monthly to reduce their admin, but the cost would remain the same and so it went on.
He then asked what bank I was with. And said that he needed me to give my name and bank number as they only had my wife's name. I told him that I was not comfortable giving these details without verification of knowing who he was. He said that he would get his manager. Another guy came on the phone, this time with a Southern accent. This was his manager. He told me nothing useful and did nothing to convince me that I should hand over my details. I voiced my concerns and he said that I could call back after I had visited their website and checked that they are a real company etc. I said that I would do this.
The website name the manager gave me did not exist (www.skyrepairservices.co.uk). Not a good start for them. I called the first guy back on his supposedly direct number but got through to his colleague. When I asked what the website was, he had to check and said he thought it was www.skyrepairservices.com. I thanked him and said that I'd check it out. Before I hung up, I asked for their physical address. He gave me an address in Bournemouth with a BH1 postcode.
The website (with the .com domain) was there but very basic and unconvincing. The address was different to the one the guy had given me. It was a BH9 postcode.
Mar 23, 2007 at 9:59 AM It seems there are more of these companies out there.
This one appears to be using the name of another company. If you check companies house, there is a "sky repair services Ltd" who are in Bournemouth, but the site you were given above lists their name as "Sky Repair Services UK Ltd" which appears to be a different company with a different address.
Mar 23, 2007 at 10:28 AM Interesting... They're an elaborate setup that's for sure. I'm somewhat worried as to how they got my details. I'm very careful when it comes to disposing of paper which has my details on it. I bought my Sky repair cover when I subscribed about 4 years ago at a (large) High Street electrical store.
We're ex-directory, so they shouldn't have been able to trawl the phonebook for us. Sounds like our details have been sold on by some unscrupulous individual. I think I'm going to report it to WatchDog and the OFT. The more awareness about this the better. No reputable company should (or would) be able to obtain and use your details in this manner.
Mar 30, 2007 at 8:32 PM Why have you not posted the recordings yet? I don't believe you. I am an engineer that works for Fully Covered and none of their customers have ever complained to me. If you have been to the police with these alleged recordings surely they would have done something about it?
Mar 30, 2007 at 8:35 PM Also we are in the process of becoming a ASA a authorized SKY agent so surely they would not allow this if we were being investigated?
Mar 30, 2007 at 10:59 PM Whoever you are, I suggest you use your brain and contact SKY and Domestic General directly for further information about the investigation instead of posting these pointless comments here under various different names.
Apr 11, 2007 at 2:00 AM After reading this I look a look at their website www.fully-covered.com awsposted by "Fully Covered Ltd" above.
It was created by btconnect's simple sitebuilder software, it was product order pages inviting you to enter your credit card details but is not secured by https and submits the details in plain text via email to [email protected] - I did like the little lock image at the top of the page that links to NatWest Streamline page.
The mailing address differs completely to the company address (as above and on whois) - this time it's Customer Contact Centre, Fully Covered LTD,Grafton Lodge,Grafton Road,Worthing,BN11 1QR
May 15, 2007 at 8:42 PM recieved a call today from "fully covered" telling me my sky protection had expired and asked me to take out another years policy. Caller Amy had all my details and gave her all my credit card details and agreed on a quarterly payment of £41.00 yearly total £124.00.I asked for my policy number and she said that she was unable to access it but they would call back in the morning to tell me it.Approx 1 hour later i recieved another call from a male this time offering me sky protection as mine had expired,i then said fully coverded had contacted me earlier for him the to gasp and ask if id given them any of my details because the were a fraudulant company that had stolen details from bskyb he asked how much id paid to be told thats twice as much as we sell for and to contact them immediately to cancel the policy.i asked him which company he was calling from but due to panic setting in my mind went blank to what he said.He asked me to take out a cover with him to which i said let me deal with fully covered first and thanks for telling me and would he send me out details so i could do all this via post.No was the answer because i wouldnt get my discount and the price of £65.00 if they did it by mail.Ive asked him to ring me tomorrow to arrange this.Ive since spoken to sky who gave me the name of Domestic and General and there number which i rang to find out if they had contacted me at all today to tell me that my policy had lapsed in January 07(this was due to bank details changing and myself failing to inform them.i lead a busy and hectic life, you know how it is)so i took it that the guy who had called earlier was trying t on too.I await his call tomorrow and will find out which so called company hes from.ive since cancelled my bank card and have also spoken to Fully Covered and asked them to give me there address as since they are a new company to me as i like to keep details on file i didnt tell them anything else Amy didnt know their address and put me on hold for Carla to answer and give me their address and also web details.Obviously ive been on this rather amateur site and address was correct.Ive googled Fully Covered to see if there was anything relating to them which is how ive come upon Russ' site and find it strange that Carla named in russ' blog as a company director is also the same person who answers the phone and deals with your enquires.i do plan on contacting the police once my other guy who called me rings back and i can see what info i can get of him since he doesnt appear to be legit either.Noticed date on blogs were mostly for march 07 i wonder if they've laid low for awhile and are now making a comeback.
May 16, 2007 at 3:59 PM Hi Mrs Davies we do not steal details from sky they are provided by a marketing survey If you have any questions or problems with your sky system don't hesitate to call are Customer Support Center on 08712003782 Most of the comments on this site are posted by the blog holder Russ Michaels who had a bad experience with one of our salesmen (who no longer works for our company) We offered to give him a free Sky HD box for the trouble but he refused.
May 16, 2007 at 4:14 PM David, if you continue to keep coming back here and posting lies, I will simply delete your comments. The only FAKE comments posted here were posted by Fully covered themselves pretending to be other people. As I have shown above, this was proved by the posters IP addresses being the same in each case.
Every additional complaint posted here is legitimate.
Anyone can call SKY or Domestic General directly to inquire about fully covered and their reputation, and I would encourage anyone to do so rather than simply believe what is written on my blog. As stated above Domestic and General can be contacted on 08702 404142
I am also more than happy to provide my crime number to anyone else who wants to contact the police and add to their investigation.
May 16, 2007 at 4:23 PM Regarding the FREE HD box, needless to say that is also a lie, surprise surprise.
They agreed to send me a FREE HD box by way of an apology if I would take this blog entry down, I did actually agree initially, but of course they never sent it.
Now that I have evidence and other complaints showing that that they have been doing this to other people, I would not be bribed into taking it down now anyway.
Any further comments by David (or whatever his real name is) are now being deleted as despite my previous warning he continues to post more silly lies from a fake email address in his futile efforts to try and deny the facts by arguing with me.
This guy isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer is he. He just can't grasp the fact that anyone can just call SKY or domestic and general to find out that everything written here is true. Clearly someone else must be pulling the strings for this poor muppet, he can't even keep his lies consistant.
His last comment which I have just deleted said
"Our company has never bribed anyone to my knowledge but i did see a e-mail from you informing us to send you sky HD box for the trouble"
which totally contradicts his previous post above which says,
"We offered to give him a free Sky HD box for the trouble but he refused".
What a plonker. If your going to be a bullshit merchant, at least learn to do it properly.
On another interesting note, I was checking my stats the other day and there are quite a number of search engine results showing people arriving here from searches on things like "fully covered scam" and "fully covered rip off", and the very fact that this article has been viewed over 1200 times tells you something.
May 17, 2007 at 9:13 PM HI DAVID OR GREGG if you read my comments you will find that i only commented on what info i had been given by the other caller who tried selling me more sky protection, this company for your information was called Satellite Assurance.They are the ones who advised me to call my bank and cancel my card ASAP.On receiving this info that is what i did.Thank them for all.
Russ thanks for setting up this blog and if you can pass me on your crime number this will be useful as we will be contacting other outside agencies so every little bit helps.
May 24, 2007 at 2:34 PM Oh dear, just when you think they cannot sink any lower.
I just had another call from them today, from Greg, asking why I cancelled my card payment and claiming to be totally unaware of all previous conversations, emails and of this blog. Denying that they would post on this blog etc etc. Oh you must have spoken to another greg in another office. They can't seem to decide how big their company is can they. I have emails from Greg whinging about how they are only a small company with one office and my actions are severely affecting them, and another where he claims they are a big company with multiple offices. As I said before Greg, if your going to bullshit, try and keep it consistent.
He then proceeded to say that they would be putting their debt collectors on to me for cancelling my payment. Quite funny considering they actually sent me a cheque and refunded me the money.
At this rate I’m going to have to take legal action against them for harassment.
Jun 23, 2007 at 5:41 PM hi i work for one of the companies listed above and completely think that the comments posted are untrue
the way we sell a repair service is completely legit and legal at the start and end of the phone call we tell your our name
and where we are calling from so to think we are calling from sky even though thay do not provide a service and is a different
company called d+g so for some one
to think other wise and think we are calling from sky they must be stupid sorry
just becouse we are not sky{approved}this means that d+g pay alot of money for sky to pass them on to them so you pay more for your repair
plan than you should
all our engineers are approved by sky and can carry out work on all equipment
and also if russ had a recording he would of listened to it back and realised that it was his fault for taking up the policy because we allways
state the name of the company and leave you with full contact details in case of any problems
there are a lot of companys selling cover and are called mostly names like satcov, sky sat, satalite direct ,sat assured, homecare,satlink services
sat repair groop,satalite support so obvously it can get confusing but for some one to think that the company fully coverd was sky stupidity thats wat it is
Jun 23, 2007 at 8:14 PM The only person here that is stupid is you i'm afraid Lloyd, for actually thinking that anyone would actually waste their time making up such things. I spose you think WATCHDOG is all fake too. Either your a very nieve kid, or your just Greg using another name again.
The only thing I will say is that I have called Fully Covered several times since pretending to be a potential customer returning their call, and they haven't tried to scam me again yet, so hopefully they have learnt their lesson.
Jun 24, 2007 at 3:51 PM i dont know greg and work for a nother company and think that
you russ must be really bored for spending your time with this
Jun 24, 2007 at 4:10 PM I guess you never heard that people generally don't like being conned, or perhaps you do, in which case your just weird. I also guess you never heard of blogs, well your looking at one right now, if you don't know what blogs are for I suggest you go and do some research, there are these great things called search engines where you can find things out like that, just go to www.google.com and type into the search box "what is a blog".
And no i'm not bored. Like most people taking 2 minutes out of the 1440 minutes there are in a day to post this reply doesn't really take me away from anything important, especially considering I was sititng in front of the computer anyway.
But being that you think someone would have to be bored to do this, must mean that your very bored or very sad and lonely to actually be reading this and posting comments then right?
If you have nothing constructive to add to this dicussion, please do not post anything further.
Jun 27, 2007 at 11:50 PM Hi i used to work for a company called satellite direct uk ltd them and their sister company sat cover have just had an 18 month court case with sky which they lost. They have been running for over 5 years and have had about 7 different names some of which are Sat cover,Satellite direct uk,Home care service agreements ,subscriber services and the newest sat link services. This company is no longer renewing warranties because its not allowed to. So what they done is set up a new company name (sat link) and switched the old customers to the new company name so they can trade. I think what there doing is illegal but their still selling warranties. When i first started working there it was a good company but one day i went to work to find all of the call centers voice recordings had been seized by the bank or something and soon after that i left the job . i have also worked for sat assured which is a very good company. there is a lot of good warranty company's and a few bad ones just make sure you lookup the company before taking cover if you want any info on Satellite direct uk go to http://boakes.org/spam-satellite-direct/ or visit http://money.guardian.co.uk/consumernews/story/0,,1983665,00.html
Aug 5, 2007 at 8:40 AM Seems I have fallen victim to these con artists too!Sky said I should report them to the police & other authorities which I have!What utter morons!
Aug 6, 2007 at 11:06 AM I too have fallen for these fraudsters crap... i received a call saying they are calling from sky and my one yr warranty is up so i need to cover my equipment as i would have to pay alot to get engineers out if anything should go wrong...ow i'm seeing a direct debit from satcov and sky said they are unable to touch my equipement seeing that i'm covered by a totally different company... i was extremely mad and to my suprise while searching online for a contact number for satcov i stumbled on this blog so words cannot describe how infuriated I am to know i was scammed.... i cancelled the direct debit immediately and reporting this to the police... i really hope they do put these people out of business....
Sep 10, 2007 at 10:04 PM wow 2498 Views, this is the most popular post on my entire blog.
There must be a lot of people being scammed by these sky repair companies, or perhaps even by "fully covered" as most of these views are coming from google searches.
Sep 20, 2007 at 12:07 PM watch out for SATCOV on your bank statements!!! they are
gaining you information and bank info from sky some how and
doing a customer service call for sky, checking you are still at
same address etc...
then months down the line, bang money is out of your account!!!
if this happens phone you bank straight away and they will do
their best to sort this out and cancel the direct debit
Sep 20, 2007 at 2:52 PM SATCOV are trying to con me too, just took over 72 quid out of my account claiming that it was "back pay" for an insurance policy my wife set up in May 2005 at £6 a month. £6 a month for 28 months isn't £72 for a start. We have never heard of them, have no policy from them and when asked for prof of this was told they could supply it but it would cost us £10 for a copy of a telephone instruction from my wife to take the money!! no signature, no Direct debit form, nothing!
Wife has reported them to the bank, am going to report them to Sky, trading standards and the police now that I've read this blog!!!!
Sep 20, 2007 at 9:03 PM Just as an added side note it seems that SATCOV are a division of Satelite direct (UK) ltd. and looking through this blog I see that they themselves have also been mentioned above for similar reasons!
Spoke to them again tonight and they seem to be under the false impression that they can keep this money without providing any evidence that we authorised it. If this happens to you, dont phone them (it's an exprensive phone line!!) just report it to your bank who WILL refund your money - if SATCOV cannot provide your bank with supporting documentation your bank will recover the money from them. I have confirmation of this from my bank, do not enter into discussion with them, let your bank do it - they have good legal departments that know their stuff, we dont!
Sep 20, 2007 at 9:17 PM I would suggest that everyone reports these companies on www.blagger.com as well, which will help even more people.
Sep 21, 2007 at 1:36 PM i have had my £72 refunded to me from the bank as soon as i
called them. but the are looking further into this as i also had
£6 taken out 4days previous but bank are unable to refund this
straigh away as the £72 was taken out after.
i think everyone who has been affected by this should take this
further!!
any ideas where we can go about doing this.
Sep 26, 2007 at 9:04 PM Hi there,
We (as in the family) have just been affected by this, Satcov have just taken £72 out of my partners account with no authorisation - we don't even have Sky and havent since May!! It was only through a Google search that this came up, otherwise we would be none the wiser.
The bank haven't been very helpful apart from cancelling the DD, and telling us we have3 to prove we didn't sign up for this!!
Anyone got any advice about this.
Thanks
Marc
Sep 27, 2007 at 9:49 AM Interesting twist now - spoken to SatCov. Who claim it was for an agreement taken out in December 2004. And we cancelled the DD before they could take the first payment so they are taking 'their' money back now! Checked with the bank and no new direct debits were setup in Dec 2004 - therefore none were cancelled - so Satcov are now saying 'maybe the bank forgot to set it up'. However Satcov AGREE that they never chased up this 'debt' - we've had no letters asking for money, no agreement about this cover, they even have the equipment wrong - they claim it was to protect a Panasonic Sky Box, at the tiome we had Sky but not a Panasonic box.
So they have now setup a DD on the 6th September, and supposedly sent us a letter informing us that they had setup a DD on the 14th of September (which we have yet to receive).
They are also saying that it is all on tape, and if we send in £10 we can have a transcript of the conversation - but I don't won't trust that - I want to hear the tape and they don't seem to think that it is possible.
I have reported them to Trading Standards, and my partner has a meeting with the bank to find out what they can do about it.
This company are dodgy as fook, youy'd imagine quite a large call centre etc, but we got through to the same person twice and there was a time difference of 45 minutes between calls (coincidence?)
Satcov is also a trading name for Satellite Direct UK Ltd - but supposedly this service we 'requested' was under the name Subscriber Services (or something similar).
Sep 27, 2007 at 10:39 AM You should report them to the police as well as they are breaking the law.
Sep 27, 2007 at 12:01 PM The bank now have an indemnity form filled in and got 3-4 weeks to wait for that to be sorted.
Thats just great!
Sep 27, 2007 at 12:40 PM To note aswell:
I have posted this link onto a couple of car forums (one I am a member of and one I help run), hopefully this will spread and will stop others being ripped off too. Between the forums they probably accumulate somewhere in the region of 5,000,000 hits per month ;)
Lets stop this horrible scammers.
Sep 27, 2007 at 1:51 PM My Mrs had a call from this company a few months back, TBH if
our box goes, We just get another one on ebay!
So glad she didn't hand over our details!
Dodgy fookers!
Sep 27, 2007 at 2:30 PM This lot want to start taking £6 a month every month from next month, why? we don't need it and they are refusing to cancel it until they have dealt with my snotty email ! This just is not on!
Oct 5, 2007 at 4:35 PM I have had money taken from my account by direct debit by SATCOV.
Similarly to posts above I have reported the problem to my bank and asked them to stop any further direct debits. I doo feel there is a hole in the banking system if bogus requests for direct debits can be set up without official authorisation from an account holder.
I have contacted SATCOV - Satelite Direct UK Ltd by phone and got an unsuccessful answer form them. They said that I authorised the payments in 2005 and that they had only recently invoked the direct debits and that if I had a complaint it would have to be submitted in writing.
I have therefore Emailed them and have since spoken to Trading Standards and the Information Comissioners who are concerned with data protection.
I do not believe that I have ever given my bank details over the phone. The trend of this Company seems to be targeting Sky Customers who have a Sky Protection Plan. I would like to know where they have got their information from, in particular banking details. I would tend to point the finger in the general direction of either one of 2 Companies who would have this information, which I may suggest has either leaked or been given by either the satelite provider or the protection plan Company.
Either way I am far from happy. I may get my money back through the bank but the information issue is greater and far more important.
Please keep listing your own experiances and thanks to 'snake' for raising the initial words of caution
Oct 5, 2007 at 4:44 PM We have an update, after speaking to SD-UK and them refusing to do anything, we got a letter sent thorough by second class post saying our 'agreement' has been cancelled - wahoo! They also enclosed the letter they claimed to have sent on the 14th September - which was dated 29th August - bit strange that unl;ess the letter was just made up!!!! - but couldn't suggest such a thing.
But back to the money - it is back with us within 5 days it came backinto the bank account, now from what I gather SD-UK have to give the bank authorisation to give the money back - we've had no contact from bank or SD-UK and money has just re-appeared.
And now we have a letter stating it is all cancelled.
I think they must have got scared by me using proper terms like 'Data Subject Access Request' from the Data Protection Act, and Agreements from the Consumer Credit Act etc.
Have told the OH to leave the money in the account 'incase' anything happens and are going to be checking the bank account around 12th October to make sure they havent setup a direct debit without our say so.
Oct 5, 2007 at 6:10 PM I would strongly suggest that everyone makes a written compalint to sky, because if these dodgy companies have details about your sky acocunt, then they can only have obtained them from sky.
I also think there are enough complaints on my blog alone to warrant reporting them to watchdog.
Oct 7, 2007 at 9:14 AM In future whenever you are asked to provide personal details by any
insurance company or other financial institution, always ask for their
Financial Services Authority registration number. Any reputable company will be registered and they are required to provide their number when
requested. If any company is unwilling to provide this information
or claims that they are not registered, then do not give them any
details. The FSA's website, to check on any company is
www.fsa.gov.uk
Oct 16, 2007 at 10:38 AM Update re: my post above.
My bank have refunded my direct debit.
I am now concerned about the information issue with Satelite Direct (UK).
Questions as to how they are getting people's bank account details still need to be answered and I have Emailed them twice now on the advice of Trading Standards and the Information Commission. I have had no reply, but Trading Standards did tell me give them 'resonable time' - Whatever that is. I have given them 11 days to-date. Does anybody know what the definition of 'reasonable time' to reply is in these cases?
Nov 26, 2007 at 5:15 PM Gee - thank goodness for this blogpage - I had the usual call today from Dave of Fully Covered and gave them hell ...
According to them, my subscription was due for renewal shortly and they were "pleased to offer me a reduced fee" if I paid a single annual payment.
They wanted me to confirm my banking details - seemed to know that I banked at HSBC - wanted me to confirm my Switch details ... and I was suddenly suspicious.
I said that I wanteed to verify things - would they send me details of my current cover etc etc as I was sure this had recently been renewed.
He REALLY wanted me to sign-up there and then - I told him to give me details of his company, his phone etc (he actualy obliged).
THEN .. I found this blogpage ... and phoned the "sales manager" - another Dave!!
Talk about defensive ... tells me his staff work to a script so he knew exactly what Dave "salesman" had said - that he had not lied or attempted to
mislead - that they were entitled to offer their service ... that they usually said they could offer a reduced fee ... that they listened to what the customer said and
changed their story to suit ... AND WAS NOT HAPPY WHEN I SAID THAT I WAS GOING TO TRADING STANDARDS!!
Keep up this blog - it does GOOD
Nov 28, 2007 at 4:35 PM Have been subjected to the same as most of you yesterday! Call from a male stating he was from SKY, my protectin plan was about to expire etc etc etc.... knew some of my bank details (very worrying) and asked me to confirm my Bank, which I refused to do stating why on earth would he have to ask this as I currently pay them direct debit through the bank so surely they would know who they were! I then phoned Sky, found out this company "Satlink Services" were nothing to do do with
Nov 28, 2007 at 4:39 PM sorry missed some text last time!. A bizarre conversation took place with someone who originally said he was Alan Shaw, then Adam, then called me back claiming he was a manager (the same man all 3 times). Put the phone down on me when I asked for the Company's address and again (I rang back three times) when I said I was going to the Police. However, he seemed to have a change of heart and then rang me to say the Policy was cancelled. When I said I was still going to the Police, he denied the Company had ever said they were anything to do with Sky or that they asked for bank details! He then went on to say all calls were recorded and that this would clear them. I asked him to keep the tape (likely of course) as the Police may be interested.
Nov 28, 2007 at 5:37 PM Just had a call from Emma at SatLink Services pretending to be from Sky and informing me my warranty is about to expire. At this point alarm bells rang as I don't have any equipment from them with any warranty at all!
After questioning some more Emma confirmed it was SatLink Services (but that Sky give them the information) and she was based in Littlehampton (they all seem to be in the same area). Emma then simply put the phone down as she realised I had rumbled the scam.
Emma's number is 01903 718296 but is engaged (no doubt with other outbound calls) everytime I try to call back to say take me off your records.
Oh well, just filed a complaint to the Telephone Preference Services and directly to Sky's corporate HQ.
Has anyone alerted Watchdog or Rogue Traders yet?
Dec 8, 2007 at 12:02 PM Re sky. It is still going on. We have recently been taken in by lies from Fully Covered costing us £65 + inconvenience. Can u supply your crime no. etc? Whats the latest. Surely it is illegal and must stop?
Jan 10, 2008 at 11:55 AM So glad I stumbled across your blog. 86 yr old dad conned out of 365 just before xmas by Fully Covered. Have taken case to Trading Standards.Suggest everyone who has had similar experience does the same.
Jan 10, 2008 at 12:05 PM Sorry ,that should have read £65 not £365 although it is impossible to put a price on the distress and inconvenience this scam has caused my elderly parents
Jan 14, 2008 at 5:28 PM Oh dear I wish I'd seen this blog sooner. I was aslo called back in August and I was busy so assumed I was renewing my Sky cover plan and
confirmed all my details, etc. and then cancelled the other direct debit since this cover plan was cheaper. I received confirmation from Sky Repair Services UK.
I have a minor problem with Sky and wondered if it was coverved by this plan. I cannot get through to Sky Repair Services UK and it's an 0844 number and I wondered if they were keeping me a hold (not professionl and doesn't state the company name) to make money. I've discovered 0844 is charged at 5p per minute from landlines and should not really be used for customer service numbers. So they've got a double scam going on there which I'm going to report to Ofcom. I doubt very much my call would ever be answered and I'd simply rack up telephone charges as well as wasted £20 every quarter.
I'm going to phone the bank and cancel the direct debit and phone the legitimate cover plan organisation as stated above.
I thank you for this blog or else I'd be none the wiser and I'd be continuing to hold.
Jan 14, 2008 at 5:42 PM Even worse I've fallen for the same thing with SATCOV who ever they may be be but they are also billing me! I feel annoyed with myself more than anything.
Jan 19, 2008 at 2:39 PM does anyone have a number for this sat cov they appear to be taking money from my 85 year old grandmother
Jan 21, 2008 at 1:30 PM CJ,
I did have the number but no one answers and it's not a local number so you're giving them more of your money by phoning. Your best bet is to cancel the direct debit. I've doubled checked with Sky and they have confirmed that no other company other than Domestic & General are approved to support/repair their equiment. My bank also told me to visit the branch and fill out a claim form so you may be able to retrieve the money already lost.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Tara
Jan 25, 2008 at 6:38 PM they phoned me and I gave them my details thinking they was
part of sky.Thanks to seeing what you wrote, I've canx my DD
And contacted Sky.Thanks for you posting
Feb 9, 2008 at 9:23 AM I've also just received a cold call from satlink services ( tel 01903 719831 ). In fairness they didn't directly say they were from sky and when I clarified this they said they were not be that sky use their own inhouse company for cover. I gave them nothing but asked where they got my details from. She said she didn't know but if I wished to write in they would be able to tell me. Address: imperium house, ford lane, ford arundal, w Sussex, bn18 off.
One final thought. You don't actualy NEED extended cover with sky! If they try to charge you for a repair visit you simply argue and ask to cancel your sky subscription. say you've found a better deal (with free repairs) from cable. The charges will quickly halve and if you keep going, be reduced to zero.
Mar 10, 2008 at 11:48 AM Just received a cold call from 01903 718 296
I do not have Sky and, thanks to your blog, will not be calling them back
Mar 20, 2008 at 3:21 PM Just received a letter from Sat LInk services ltd, thanking me for 'choosing them to protect my satlellite system' - which I haven't. Letter had bogus details of a service agreement and payment details including details of my bank account which gave rise to some alarm before I realised it was not actually my bank account.
Have a phone number 0871 664 1400 which presumably is a premium line. Am sending the letter to BBC Watchdog office
Apr 2, 2008 at 2:27 PM I wish i had found your blogg before.
I to have been totaly had.
I recived a call in early Dec 07 from satassured.co.uk they asked for my husband(by name) and said that he was behind on his payments and that our cover would be affected. My husband was away on buisness at the time so i said that i would pay the £18.00 outsatanding to bring the account up to date.
I have just recived my bank statement and they have taken a 2nd payment on the 4th march.
I have phoned them ( 08700 600250) they said there was nothing they could do, that it was my fault i gave them my details, i explianed the situation again and Billy the head collection man said tough!!!!(by this time i was very angry and raised my voice) I then asked to cancel the cover with out refund and he said that because i had raised my voice i had no chance and he was going to report me,
I have worked in Customer service and sales for the last 16 years and have never come in contact with such a terrible customer service department before before, I have since spoken to my bank and cancelled my card, I feel silly that i have fallen for this scam, is it to late to add my details to the police enquiry please could you send me details?
Apr 8, 2008 at 8:54 PM Guess it's my turn to feel like a plonker. Fully -covered suckered me in March - same tactics as other bloggers fell for. I'll contact my bank and the police tomorrow but it's still goodbye £65. Seems all I've been 'fully-covered ' in is bullshit. Wish I'd read the blog before.
Apr 9, 2008 at 5:00 PM just to let you all know i am a proper dave satcov has been taking direct debit from me have just cancelled with my bank after reading your blog nice to know im not alone though
May 9, 2008 at 3:31 PM Well folks, I got caught by the Sky Repair Services Scam about
3 months ago so cancelled my card and the D/D losing £25.50
which could have been a lot more. Unbelievably, this company
phoned me this morning saying they had been unable to collect
the qtrly payment and wanted the new card details. Said they
would need to ring me back about 5.30. I am now eagerly
waiting to tell them what I think of them and that the calls
have been recorded. Be warned, they will try again if you
cancel!!!!!
May 13, 2008 at 10:26 AM Hi. After reading all of this I too have cancelled my direct debit to Sat Link Services, cancelled my card and ordered a new one.
I've also reported them to my banks fraud office. They will investigate further. Better to be safe. Thanks for the blog and the info. Cheers.
May 13, 2008 at 9:08 PM i had a missed call today from 01903 718296 i did not recognise the area code so done a search on google and came accross this blog which is excellent as now when i receive another call from this company i will know to hang up straight away.Thank you!!
May 24, 2008 at 7:35 PM I have been paying sky repair services for years and on monday
my sky broke I telephoned the company and they said that they
would send a engineer out which they did'nt and still have'nt,
yesterday I get a phone call from fully covered to say that if the
other company do not come today they will cover usfor £99 per
year and they were saying that sky repair services have 187 pages
of complaints against them I wish I had seen this blog earlier
I will contact the bank on tuesday and trading standards,.
thank you so much
May 27, 2008 at 10:58 PM Exactly the same thing has happened to my mum as written by
Pauline Goodie above...the sickening thing is that my dad set
this up after a cold call. He was terminally ill and wanted to
eliminate any problems my mum might have to deal with.
He's not long died and now we've discovered this.
Jun 9, 2008 at 4:04 PM Sorry to say but Fully Covered are still at it pretending they are Sky by offering a discount on my current repair plan and
stinging me for £65. I am surprised they have not been nailed
by now but we live in hope. Next port of call the Police
and Trading Standards.
Jun 19, 2008 at 3:58 PM I have cancelled my direct debit with your company as of today, thankyou for your service, my plan no is- 116411
Jun 25, 2008 at 4:25 PM A new scam seems to have started, my partners credit card has been hit for £65.00 by fully covered!! He hasn't spoken with anyone from the said company or made any purchases on line, we but we do have sky and it is covereed through sky protectionplan. Having contacted our credit card company we were told transaction was done online on 6 June. Were are they getting these details fromGettin Getting in touch with trading standards and the police now. Have tried to contat fully covered but surprise surprise you just get cut off!
Jul 10, 2008 at 11:09 AM Just had a call on my mobile from 01903 718296. Said they were from Satlink services and wanted to sell me a warranty. I asked whether they had my details from Sky and they said no, from market research. Not possible - they knew my address and my *work* mobile number. I smelled a rat and told them I didn't want a warranty, then found this blog post. Good idea to list phone numbers of scammers as they can then easily be found by Google.
Jul 11, 2008 at 12:49 PM I also had the same scam on the phone and fell for it too! Again they knew about my sky plan and convinced me i was just re-newing my original plan rathr than than starting another contract. I only realised this when a letter from Sky Repair Plan arrived asking why I had cancelled my plan!! I am disgusted by this company so called Satellite Assurance and have cancelled the direct debit immediately BEWARE THIS COMPANY!!!!
Jul 14, 2008 at 8:17 PM Oh dear, I took out my policy with F.C. in December 07, and it was through frustration of after contacting them by e.mail for a repair 3 times and getting no return contact, that I put a search on for Grafton Lodge 15 Grafton Road and apart from finding numerous other businesses at this address (which made me start to smell something may be wrong), then found your website. Luckily my sky box has returned to normal for now, but I think I had better start to look into F.C. further as all your other contacts are. Thanks for the info..
Jul 28, 2008 at 8:35 PM Well i don't know if these company's are legitimate or not but they do seem to be a little loose with the truth when selling themselves. Today i checked my elderly disabled father in law's Paperwork only to find that he had insurance cover by Domestic and general £8.25 pm, Satcov £110 py, Sky repair services uk £22 pm approx and Sky Lite (£unsure at present.).
I haven’t yet checked his bank account to see how long this has been going on but I know in the last 50 days he has paid out almost £160 for insurance cover for his sky equipment. I have of course immediately cancelled his card to stop further payments from his account. Note Domestic & General was the only one that was done by Direct Debit and not by card.
I only hope there is some way we can get his money back but alas I hold out little hope. I would like to thank the blog owner as my initial check up was on line and as soon as I put the first company name in the search bar up popped the blog with as much information I needed to find out which was the genuine Sky insurance out of the four.
Its disgraceful that these people can take confused pensioners money with such ease.
Aug 14, 2008 at 7:54 PM Thank goodness for this blog!! Believe it or not it is Fully Covered I have to thank for leading me to this. They rang me tonight about my SkyCover (here I go again I thought). I had already been scammed by Sky Pro Plan Ltd earlier on this year so now I am more careful. Usually everytime I receive a phone call now saying my policy has run out I just say no it hasn't as my policy is ongoing quarterly until I cancel it. Tonight though when Fully Covered rang me they asked who I was with and I told them Sky Repair Services Uk Ltd, he hen said "can you hold a minute please" so I did. When he came back to me he asked if I had seen the Watchdog programme on Satellite Direct UK Ltd and I said no, he then informed me that they have been reported for their selling techniques and that Sky Repair Services are part of this same group and recommended that I immediately cancel my direct debit with them as they are going out of business very soon and should set up a policy with them. I told him I would look into this as I have been scammed before and are now very wary. He finished by saying by all means please do look at the Watchdog website and could he call me next week which I agreed to. The watchdog website did not say anything about Sky Repair Services UK Ltd and so I phoned them to say I had received this call and the first thing she said to me was "that we're going out of business" I confirmed this and she said they have had countless calls regarding the same thing. I then went into google for Sky Repair Services and saw this blog which I have read with interest although it's got me a little worried with some of the comments about Sky Repair Services but at this moment all I can say is that everytime I have called them they have answered within a couple of minutes, also I have a password which they ask me for and if any company rings and makes out they are Sky Repair Services I can ask them what my password is and if they cannot answer this the phone goes down. The only thing I cannot comment on is their repair service as I have had no need to call them out as yet! But I would just like to say thank you Fully Covered for leading me to this and I look forward to our conversation next week!!!
Aug 20, 2008 at 3:17 PM I was called on 16/08/08 from Sky Repair Services UK with an
offer of cheaper cover. The female caller said they were Domestic
& General and took my debit card details. They took £ 15.00.
pounds from My Bank of Scotland account. I have reported
them to B of S,D & G and the police.
Aug 21, 2008 at 11:16 AM I was called yesterday evening, from someone claiming to be D&G asking for my account number and sort code.I explained that if she was D&G she would already have my details....she said that they don't hold them under the data protection act..Luckily enough i had my insurance plan to hand and when i told her that it was valid til next year she put the phone down on me.
Oct 14, 2008 at 11:06 AM Hi,
I have read this thread with great interest. I have recently been dealing wi
sorting out my Mothers financial affairs. She has been very ill for a long time &
no longer able to deal with things. I noticed a £60 DD from SATCOV
but could find no paperwork. I was looking for their details when I
discovered with horror that my Mum had been victim of a Scam.
What should I do? I will contact her bank. I have no idea how long this has been going on they may have been taking money for years.
It makes me sick that therre are people out there doing this kind of thing.
Having read this blog, a lot of people who have been caught are
ill or old. People who need protecting not ripping off!
If anyone has their details or how I should proceed I would be most grateful.
Oct 15, 2008 at 4:41 PM I work for Sky Repair Services UK as a call centre agent and I can verify that we are legitimate company. We are based in Bournemouth and offer Sky customers a cheaper, more
comprehensive cover package than other companies. I personally would not work for any company that I felt was offering a sub standard service or was 'scamming' customers. Our job
is made increasingly difficult by other unreputable companies and by claims such as this. I have not had any complaints about our services by any of my clients. Not all of us are criminals.
Oct 23, 2008 at 12:15 PM My father is 86 years old. I spent a week last week cancelling four of the five policies he had in force covering his sky equipment. Sky Repairs Services UK Ltd is one of the most persistent, and I cannot get them from Germany (where I live) with an 0844 number.
ALL the companies have phoned my father and told them that up until now he has been covered under guarantee. He uprated his sky box in November 2007 and got another spate of phonecalls.
I got a member of staff at Sky Repairs Services UK Ltd to cancel my fathers cover without further charge... they rang him AGAIN this morning and demanded more money from him. It makes me sick. How many innocent old-age-pensioners are being covered by more than one company for their sky equipment?
Oct 23, 2008 at 12:24 PM I think what is even more disgusting hat Trading Standards or the police will not do anything about companies like this because it is "a civil matter" as they put it. These companies exist because they can, because they no-one will lift a finger to stop them. Yet if you refused to pay any dodgy rogue trader who has provided you with a service which is not adequate, they can take you to court. The law is definitely on the side of the rogue trader most of the time.
Oct 24, 2008 at 12:14 PM I have just got a credit card bill and the only transaction on the my account the account is £110:00 to Fully Covered. This transaction took
place without my consent. My so called cover with them was
until Dec.08. On the 24th Sept they withdrew the money from
my card. This is theft and deception. Needless to say no reply
on the phone No.given. Getting in contact with my card now.
Oct 27, 2008 at 4:45 PM Replying on behalf of my aged father, he also has had money
withdrawn from his account without authorisation by Fully
Covered Ltd. As pointed out by J. Chapple, this is theft and
deception. Numerous phone calls have been unanswered. If this
is not a scam by Fully Covered Ltd. then answer your phone and
return the money.
Oct 28, 2008 at 8:26 PM I can confirm fully covered limited have now gone bankrupt and will be trading under fully covered services ltd! lol! Will their ever be an end to this! I would also like to point ot that sky repair services uk ltd are as bad as the others if not worse. After ficticious speculation these two companies are actuallly connected but trading as different names. Hope this helps. Jamie
Nov 11, 2008 at 9:44 AM Great information in this blog!
Just to make anyone aware reading this, I too have recently had a phone call from a company calling themselves Satellite and Homecare Services, same scenario as all the above, slightly different patter, they said they were reducing my cover down to £5.00 per month as I had had no call outs in the last year (funny that as I have only had my plan for 7 months and I have had a call out in that time and had my box replaced). I was really suspicious but at the same time, it was sort of believable. I did part with my card number, however I knew damn well that the card expired that day, Chris said if he had a problem with the card he would call back the following week. Once off the phone I did some checking with Sky, found out my plan is with Domestic and General and then contacted my bank, moved my money, canceled the card just to be on the safe side and took out extra protection on my bank account, they have not managed to get any money out of me thankfully!! So yesterday, Chris phoned back, saying that he had had a problem with the card and that is was expired, I said yes I know, he said did I have a new one? I said yes thank you, he said would I give him the number, I said no I don't think so, Pause...Silence....He then said, but we need it to update your account, I said What account? He said your Sky Repair account...I said why on earth would he need my debit card number to confirm an account that I didn't and never had as my plan was with domestic and general? Pause....Stutter....He then said, Well it's been switched over, I said, switched by who to what? There was a rather large humfff, and the phone went dead!
So beware a new name on the list! I would be curious to know if anyone else has had this company call them.
Nov 11, 2008 at 10:16 PM My wife had a call from a company called Sky Repair Services, they managed to convince her to give our bank details and said that there would be an 8 pounds charge per month for cover
on my Sky equipment, when i returned home I phoned this company and said that i wanted this cancelled, they said they were unable to do this and that when i received the paperwork i
should return it and then the money would be refunded. a couple of days later a charge of 25.50 got taken out of my account for SRS i contacted them and they agreed to refund the
money which they finally did 10 days later, this was in August. Now today November 11th they have decided to take another 25.50 out of my account even though i never actually signed
up with them, does anyone know who i can take this to and what my next step would be to stop this.
Nov 26, 2008 at 9:31 PM Had a call from Sky Repair Services asking for my Father who lives with us, I have a Sky Subscription and pay Sky for my repair plan or whoever they deal with telling me they could save me money, when questioned why they were asking for my father I got all kinds of excuses about just had the wong details sorry asked they put something in writing as I was not happy about this call gave me web site www.skyrepairservices.com said have a look and he would call back later did not answer any calls later then looked on web found this blog and was astounded I may have been duped. They told me have Engineers up and down the Country and they were independent Engineers. I like to have a Sky Van appear if I have a problem as this is who I have a Contract with not some unknown !
Nov 29, 2008 at 7:11 PM I WAS PHONED BY A YOUNG LADY ON 15TH OCTOBER OFFERING SATELLITE COVER. IT WAS PERFECT TIMING AS MY MANUFACTURERS GUARANTEE HAD JUST RUN OUT. I GAVE OVER BANK DETAILS ETC AS THE PRICE WAS £65 WHICH WAS £35 CHEAPER THAN SKY WERE OFFERING. SHE THEN ASKED ME FOR A ONE OFF DONATION OF £5 FOR SOME CHARITY WHICH I ALSO DID. AFTER 6 WEEKS I THOUGHT IT WAS STRANGE I HADN'T RECEIVED ANY DOCUMENTS ETC AND SO HAVE STARTED TO LOOK AROUND AND FOUND THIS SITE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE INFO. SO FAR I HAVE ONLY LOST ABOUT £16 IN DIRECT DEBITS AND I KNOW IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE AS SOME OF THESE OTHER POOR PEOPLE HAVE SHOWN. THE NAME THAT SHOWED UP ON MY BANK STATEMMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE IS "SATCOV". HAVE REPORTED THEM TO POLICE BUT THEY NEED MORE INFO LIKE PHONE NUMBERS ETC. WILL TRY TRADING STANDARDS ON MONDAY. NOT HOLDING OUT MUCH HOPE OF THEM GETTING CAUGHT BUT YOU HAVE TO TRY!! THANKS AGAIN.
Dec 12, 2008 at 6:22 PM Just had a call from a Sky Repair Services, guy calling himself Shaun Dalton. All went pretty much as other contributors, had my name, address and said they would save me money, asked which bank payment came from then he gave me the 1st 4 numbers of my debit card.......then he asked for the rest of my card number! Luckily it set alarm bells ringing and I just said no I will ring you. He gave number as 0844 800957. I won't waste my money ringing back.
Dec 14, 2008 at 8:28 PM I had exactly the same experience as Gill - called by Sean from Sky Repairs on 12/12/08. I've had Sky for a few years and it was initially done in my wife's name, but everything including the repair plan is now in my name. Odd that Sean didn't know that. Perhaps their information isn't terribly up to date. Apparently Sean is going to call back on Monday....
Dec 19, 2008 at 5:50 PM Just had a phone call from Sky Repair Services offering cheaper payments. They had lots of details address etc. When they asked me for my bank details I refused and said I needed to check. Then I found this blog. Guess I'll not be ringing back.
Jan 5, 2009 at 5:36 PM have just been scam by sky proplan now they wont ansser the they have just taken 250 poundes off me now and i have to live on benefits and some my bills
Jan 6, 2009 at 4:48 PM Same thing got a call from Sky pro plan. Thought it legit gave them card details thinking I was paying £50 for a year cover, when I checked my statement they took £ 250.00 and can I get my money back? can i F++k !!.
Jan 8, 2009 at 7:05 PM Same thing has happened to me, I actually have paper work from Sky Pro Plan but when you call it's just an answer phone and no one is returning any calls. I have had £250 taken from my account and no chance of getting it back or any service.Sky Pro Plan Ltd is a big scam.
Jan 17, 2009 at 9:41 PM A bit too late for me. My digi box was replaced by a Sky - appointed service company in late June 2008.I was later phoned by a young lady claiming my SKY box was out of warranty and offering me cover. I immediately agreed as she had all my details and appeared to make sense and she was calling from SKY, so I thought. In reality there were three companies involved and they are not related to Sky:
(1) SAT SUPPORT LIMITED - who later wrote a letter to me to confirm cover. At the back of the letter are details of terms and conditions and reference is made to a service agreement which I have not received yet.
(2) SAT COVER Limited - who are assigned to collect payment by Direct Debit (SAT COV on the bank statement)
(3) SATELLITE DIRECT UK who are assigned to provide the service (customer service call 0871 664 1400).
So far SAT COV have collected £44.50 from my account. I am furious to learn that its all bogus. Is it really? I have cancelled the DD to find out. Thanks for your blog.
Jan 17, 2009 at 11:27 PM SAT SUPPORT LTD was incorporated in 2007 and is now in liquidation. So,beware of references to come from SAT SUPPORT LTD.
Jan 19, 2009 at 8:12 PM Contacted by Sky Repair Services - usual nonsense: they knew my details and offered a discount. I asked for their telephone number but was given a false number and the website name I asked for does not exist. If Sky Repair Services call you, just say No.
Jan 27, 2009 at 3:08 PM I just had a call from Sky Repair Services and was suspicious so Googled them and found this blog.
All the comments added to my concern so I checked my bank payments and found I am covered by Sky Protect who are part of Domestic and General
so will stick with them. I have received several calls regarding my Sky maintenance but always told the caller to put the info in the post but never received anything - now I know why.
Thank You for making all this information public, you have done many people a good service.
Jan 27, 2009 at 3:22 PM That company have just called me. I thought something wasn't right quite and told the guy I didn't have a debit card. They seem to know a lot obout my Sky account and even when my direct debit for Sky and my cover came out of my account. I shall be contacting Sky myself.
Jan 29, 2009 at 8:50 PM do you have satcov phone number,
Jan 30, 2009 at 4:08 PM SatCov Tel No. 08716641400
Feb 1, 2009 at 9:53 PM 0870 224 0442 is another number we have for sat cov, they have also taken money from our account even though we have never signed or agreed to this, i think all these companies are con artists and its stupid that despite going to trading standards and the police, no one wants to know or help.
Feb 5, 2009 at 10:39 PM My partner has had two debits on her account be SATCOV one for £49.99 and
one for £56.49 these have put her over her limit and she has had bank charges added.
When she phoned sat support ltd (thats the name on the letter) on the 26th Jan 2009 she
was told that since it was their fault that they would refund the money.
Its the 5th today and they haven't. She was also told that they would refund the charges
if she writes to them with copies of the charges. My partners bank have been unhelpful
to date.
We have written to them detailing this all out to them and will keep this blog updated
as to our progress.
Incidently Satsupport ltd letter states that all payments are processed by their
appointed collection agency Satcover Ltd.
Also on the back of their letter it states that;
To contact us or give notice under this agreement.
Please write to the customer care manager at;
Satellite Direct UK Ltd,
Imperium House,
Ford Lane,
Ford,
Arundel
West Sussex,
BN18 0DF,
Tel: 0871 664 1400
Fax: 01243 556304
Feb 5, 2009 at 10:50 PM Re my last post I thought you would all like to know ive just done a bit of online searching and found an alternative number for Satellite Direct UK Ltd
its 01243556000 I've just checked it out and it works. Its a similar number to their fax number. Dont use their premium line and give them any more of our hard earned money.
Feb 6, 2009 at 12:19 AM Re my last two posts I went to You tube and typed in "satellite watchdog" and up popped some
watchdog programmes on the company and David Reynolds whom watchdog attribute the companies to.
I'll be writing to watchdog since they said they will be keeping an eye on the companies. As above I will let you all know how I get on.
Feb 6, 2009 at 5:56 PM Just had phone call from I D S Independent Digital Services saying my Sky repair plan has expired asked when a couple of days ago I was told. Thought here we go again, so asked questions on how much etc could he put something in writing said no but would e.mail me gave them e.mail address so awaiting to see what happens there!! Have cover with Sky so have e.mailed them to find out when cover expires as not sure. Steven said I could call him back when I wanted to take cover out Tel No 01903 881431 can't trace no or Company put no in brings up a Recruiting Agency advertising jobs at a Telemarketing Co in Arundel. Is this yet another Company trying to get our business by not being really honest who they are. Anyone else heard of them new one on me!!
Feb 11, 2009 at 12:22 PM Sat cover took £49.99 out my bank account without my permission. I pay £6.50 per month for cover, so this was in error.
I called their customer support on 01243556000 (don't call the premium number) and they were actually quite helpful and apologetic. They agreed they made a mistake and are refunding me the £49.99.
What worries me is that they had access to take this money out of my account without my permission and if I hadn't checked my account, I might have missed it.
Feb 17, 2009 at 8:59 PM I have also had £49.99 taken from my account today, as well as £6.50. Orig got the call in June 08 and was supposed to be paying £5pm to 'Sky'. It suddenly went up to £6.50 but I didn't notice. It was today's £49.99 that rang the alarm bell. I got the DD cancelled by my bank and they have reclaimed all the DDs under the DD Guarantee. Waiting to see what SatCover's reaction will be...
Feb 19, 2009 at 2:11 PM Satcov have sadly been taking£6.50 per month from me for quite some time. I assumed it was a Sky service. However in Jan they took 2 payments of £49.99 when I called Sky they told me that it was not them. I called their number and was told this was a mistake which they will rectify. interesting that £49.99 is the current cost of SkyHD which I have just applied for. Is what they are doing an offence?
Mar 3, 2009 at 9:18 AM I had SATCOV about 2 years ago but cancelled the DD when I realised I had no use for it (I don't have Sky, just whats left-over from cancelling it, some kind of freesat type thing) I had a call from them a couple of months later offering all these great deals and advising me that it was better to have this cover. I agreed (nowadays I wouldn't but then I was more trusting) and they set up a monthly DD for £6.50. I don't recall the exact details but a few months into it they took too much (only a few £ but enough for me to notice) so I called them straight away and the man was very pleasant, saying it must have been noted down wrong and they would refund the money and give me a month free.....this didn't happen, but as it was a relatively small amount I forgot about it. Til this morning that is!!! I have'nt seen a DD on my online banking from them for months, then all of a sudden BANG £65 out my account!!! Called them straight awa and the woman told me that they had got the flippin decimal point in the wrong place and it was meant to be £6.50!!! Not only have they taken waaaaay too much money, they've sent me £22 over my overdraft! Apparently she's "started the paper work on it this morning" and if I want to cancel the 'cover' and claim any bank charge I've to put it in writing. Funny though how she stumbled over her words when I told her all I'd done last time was cancel my DD and I was no longer with them, no writing in involved. She had no reply. Just about to call my bank for advice. Really hope this gets sorted cos I cannot afford £65 to disappear!!
Mar 3, 2009 at 9:25 AM Just off the phone to my bank. They were great and have put the money straight back into my account (thank god!) and I have now cancelled my DD with 'SATCOV'....they don't know this yet but I'm sure they'll figure it out soon enough! They can shove their service where the sun don't shine! I hope they don't have the audacity to call me back again cos they'll be getting nothing but a mouthful!!
Mar 3, 2009 at 6:09 PM Unfortunately my mother has just been scammed for £250. Sky pro plan called, with the all too familiar annual subscription due etc. etc. One annual payment of £50 next thing you know, £250 has found its way
into some scrotes pocket!! So if there is anybody from from Sky Pro plan out there reading this, please feel free to get in touch so we can discuss this clerical error. Thank you Russ for getting your your blog out
there. It is selfish, but it is of some comfort to my mother that she is not the only one out there to be ripped off by these faceless leeches.
Mar 11, 2009 at 6:20 PM Another instance of a SATCOV practice - I noticed last week that the normal DD deduction from my bank account for SATCOV had increased from £6.50 to £65!!!! This was without ANY notification and after contacting my bank I then contacted SATCOV who said - rather parrot fashion - that it was an admin error and the £58.50 would be credited to my bank account ASAP. That was last Friday so today I checked my bank account to see if the money had ben refunded; it had not but on further investigation found out that the actual DD mandate/arrangement had been altered to £65 so hardly an admin error, more a deliberate action. I called them again and was advised that that too was a finance admin error and the guy I spoke to said he would 'chase' it. Needless to say I have cancelled the DD and instructed my bank to monitor my account for any further attempts on SATCOV's part to invoke a new DD. I am still waiting for my £58.50!
Mar 11, 2009 at 7:00 PM I had £49.99 taken from my account as well as the normal
£6.50 on 9th Feb 2009.I phoned and was told it was for a
broadband package I had signed for which was news to me!!
They said it was their mistake and I eventually got a refund on
5th March.Needless to say I have cancelled my DD. Other
complaints sites are showing that there are many others who
have suffered the same "mistake"
Mar 13, 2009 at 10:38 AM Ive also been charged £65 for this SATCOV. Ridiculous, how on earth can they get away with this. I only found out after checking my bank statements i guess there are people out there that don't even bother checking their statements.
Great blog by the way
Mar 19, 2009 at 12:01 AM Have just noticed on my latest bank statement that SatCov have taken £65 this month instead of the usual £6.50. Thank goodness I discovered this blog.I will be contacting my bank in the morning. Am dubious about cancelling DD immediately as this might cheese them off and will have no chance of a refund, however having read these comments that could be pie in the sky anyhow. Will report back as soon as I have any news. Here's hoping!!!!
Mar 27, 2009 at 3:31 PM Today I was woken up by sky repair services (I am on shift work), I ALMOST gave them the bank information they wanted. I have phoned sky and the national consumer complaint organisation 08454040506 to complain and my bank. IF it is the same scammers who seem to be operating under different names, over a number of years WHY HAVE THEY NOT BEEN STOPPED BEFORE NOW?They did not make it clear that they were not from sky itself and tried to confuse me into thinking my sky subscription had been reduced rather than a "repair plan" I do not have or want and have rerjected in the past.
Mar 31, 2009 at 7:34 PM Hi
I have just read this blog, I was given a link for it from the satcure website monthly newletter.
I was very interested as I have not been approached by them but I do know of them, I have a policy with them that I have had for years for appliance cover this is cover for all my kitchen appliances, I have used the policy many times and a date for repair has always been set and they do turn up and sort the problems, on one occasion they replaced my washine machine as it could not be repaired, I have always had very polite and helpfull staff on the phone and the engineer is always helpfull. They have never been pushy regards renewals and are very cheap.
I would consider a policy withthem for SKY but dont need it as my equipment is so new at the moment.
As you can always see there is two sides to all stories so make your own judgements.
Apr 1, 2009 at 11:57 AM Richard, there are hardly 2 sides to this story, you are probably the one and only person to say anything positive, whereas they have hundreds of complaints about this company. And regardless of whether you may have had a good service from this company, that doesn't somehow make it ok for them to lie to people and pretend they are from sky and fraudulently charge their credit cards. Breaking the law is breaking the law, simple as that.
I would like to see this newsletter you are referring to, as I find it rather bizarre why they would purposefully link to this blog and show everyone what they have been doing.
Apr 1, 2009 at 12:02 PM Actually I found the newsletter in question if anyone is interested.
http://www.satcure.co.uk/reviews/review127.htm
Apr 1, 2009 at 8:28 PM Hi
Well you will not beleave it but I have received a written letter from the company fully covered today and they are trying to sell me the warranty as mentioned in this blog. Thing being as you have mentioned how did they know I have sky installed and how do they think they know when my warranty expires. They have this wrong as I upgraded to HD and then that has given me a full year warranty so they dont have the correct facts. I have not as yet experienced the phone call but will add a comment if I do.
Russ maybe you are correct the fact that I have a policy with them and have had no bad experiances has nothing to do with this blog. I do support what you say and will keep you updated if they do in the future.
Apr 2, 2009 at 6:55 PM Hi,
I was also contacted by Fully Covered yesterday just before 5pm, they stated who they were and that my sky box cover was out of date. How wrong can they be...my cover is not due for almost six months.
It is not hard to understand how this might work:
1 Sky TV boxes have the dish in full view from the road.
2. BT sells list of numbers to companies for legit reasons. I would guess as computer files.
3. Put the address of the box against the list of numbers, names and addresses provided by BT and bingo.
It would be
Dial number, can I speak to X and so on.
As I have been contacted before by other scammers I simply told them that my cover is in date and that I only deal with SKY directly or Domestic and General.
As a rule I NEVER give personal details to anyone OVER an open telephone line, one can never be sure who is listening in.
Paranoid, you bet, just because you do not think they are out to get you doesn't mean they are not!
Apr 2, 2009 at 8:04 PM Steve
But it's more worrying than that. My Sky dish is totally out of sight from the road, but i still get calls from these people (SatCov, Fully Covered, SatLink etc - I think they may all be the same) saying my Sky warranty is out of date. They've called about 4 times in the past year. I am also registered with the Telephone Preference Service. No this company is getting its information direct from Sky somehow, either officially or unofficially via employees taking a back hander. Watchdog has featured the company a couple of times, but even they seem to be missing this vital point - Sky is passing on our details!! For the reports see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmohLJc00i0
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgMFJnDmNA
Angus
Apr 3, 2009 at 9:23 PM Had £129.99 direct debited from my account in march by satcov
Thought I had cancelled this Direct Debit 2yrs ago, did notice we were paying it again but thought my husband had restarted it, got such a shock at the amount. My bank have given me it back as I cant get reply on phone, but if bank cant get money from satcov I will have to give it back. Have cancelled direct debitBank also said that satcov can restsrt direct debit at any time, only way round this is to close this account.
Apr 7, 2009 at 11:25 AM Sat Cov have stitched me up to, i have been paying for Sat Cov since May 2006 at £6.50 this month it went upto 65.00 as seems the common practise i assusmed that this policy was SKY and i did not take this policy out as i moved in Sept 2006!!! Spoke to Lloyds who will reimburse me for the £65 but do not hold out to much hope for the rest!! Make sure you warn everyone scammers like this just keep reinventing themselves, just cancel your direct debits its the only way you can contact them and when they chase you they are paying for it rather than premium rate numbers.
Apr 7, 2009 at 4:46 PM Hi All, great blog site, I have heard of a few people actually getting scammed by similar companies, but today I have been harassed by 2 people from a company called Sky Repair Servcies UK (This is Spelling on their website by the way, notice the spelling error), using the exact same techniques as stated in other peoples comments, such as asking for your bank name, quoting the first 4 digits of my bank card etc...When I tried to object about the method of handing over such details over the phone to unsolicited callers she got a little offensive and I was instantly passed to a 'Supervisor' who tried to explaining it to me over again, like I was some kind of idiot who had actually misunderstood the point...trying to tell me she didnt need my account number or sort code, and I said yep I know that, all you need is the big number on the front, the expiry date and the security code from teh strip, then you'll have all you need to take cash from account at will...I tried to ask for documents to be sent to my address so that i could sing the contract and DD form myself and get a chance to check out the site before committing myself and she told me they 'didnt do that', in other words I had to sign up now using this method alone, this I know is nonsense and any real legitimate company would have no issue with me wanting research them and requesting another call-back or asking for hard paper contracts/proposals, I told her I would check out the website and as was in midflight when she said goodbye and hung up on me...
I do not know if this company is a scammer or not or simply follows the pattern set by these other similar companies who take money at will and offer no real services...I do know this though, they are suspect in their methods, they were rude, impatient, aggressive and it seems are following a pattern set out by other so called companies working the same 'business', my advice, be very careful about this company and any other company who claim they need your card details over the phone from an unsolicited call...
Apr 7, 2009 at 4:49 PM Hi all, ive mistakenly linked the website address http://www.skyrepairservices.com/# (who I am commenting on)for my above comment to my name, didnt realise it would link in that way...apologies...
Apr 22, 2009 at 12:18 AM Further to my message of 19th March, surprise, surprise, today SatCov refunded £58.50 to my account!!! So there may be hope after all!!
Apr 22, 2009 at 4:13 PM I have also been had by Sky Repair Services in exactly the way described, 1st 4 digits of my bank card !! I called back the same night to cancel as my common sense had returned, but 7 months on am still fighting to get my payments refunded - any tips ?
May 18, 2009 at 11:22 AM i actually work for a company called sky repair services UK. i can assure you now that the only reason sky wont regonise us is because we wont pay them to use there name or get there customers. the reason domestic and generals prices are more extreme then us other compaines is because they have to pay sky a large commision to be able to use there name and to get there customers. just becasue we wont do that doesnt make us cons! i know for a fact that the company i work for acutally provides a better cover plan and serivce to sky. considereing you seem to use the interenet so much to slag these compaines off i think that you would atl,east use your brain and research these compaines online or look at there web pages and accept that were are all genuine and not cons!
Jun 5, 2009 at 9:27 PM Very good blog and much to my relief I managed to avoid this scam on Wednesday. Received a call on my mobile about 4.30pm and the guy on the other end quickly told me my SKY repair plan was about to expire. Similar to what has already been posted I was then offered a 1 yr deal for £5.99 or 2 years for £100. After panicking and thinking my protection was indeed about to expire I agreed to this special offer the guy at the other end said all paperwork would be send out in due course and all I needed was to give my account number and sort code. At this point alarm bells ring so I asked him to phone back after 6pm once I got in from work and checked the Sky paperwork. Needless to say I've heard nothing since I do not hope to. Just to let everyone know they are still at it and keep a look out.
Jun 6, 2009 at 2:30 PM I work for SKY in the TV technical dept-
1st we only recommend Domestic & General (sky protect plan)
2nd most other companies are scammers as most people will by now have read or seen on watchdog
3rd I had to laugh at the comment from Fully Covered:
"Also we are in the process of becoming a ASA a authorized SKY agent so surely they would not allow this if we were being investigated?"
NO you're not...... naughty people
4th If any company calls you EVER regarding your warranty ignore them & call either any of the advisers at SKY on 08442 411 411
Or
D&G directly on 08444 810 444 option 2
Hope this helps out.
Jun 11, 2009 at 10:42 AM Found this page while looking for some legal advice regarding 'satcov' as they took a DD of £65.00 from me in March this year instead of £6.50 and today I am still waiting for them to refund it. I've been given every excuse under the sun.
I'm pulling my hair out with this issue not to mention that every time I call i'm on hold for an average of 28 minutes a time, costing me more money!!!
Jun 11, 2009 at 9:45 PM I feel so stupid now, I fell for the SATCOV line and set up a £5 direct debit, as they explained I would need cover once my Sky warranty expired. I got the impression they were from SKY. Anyway the dreaded £49.99 direct debit came off today, I picked up on it straight away and checked and its actually a two weekly direct debit!!!!! Anyway I'll be at my bank tomorrow and negotiate al the direct debits refunded under the guarantee. I stopped the direct debit online but will check this has been carried out using humans too. Hopefully. And maybe the cops. Who knows? Not that I think they'll do anything, but I love see them pouring out of the station and into their van, and taking off down the road with cops falling out the back etc etc. Hot foot to the doughnut shop. Bless them they ain't much good.
Jun 16, 2009 at 12:16 PM we took out cover about 3 years ago from satcov claiming they were with sky after looking into it cancelled the agreement no problem there, over the years we get the odd phone call asking if we want to take out insurance for my sky box just said no it was left at that then today 16th june i notice £100 came out of my account from satnav i phoned up the bank they cancelled it money back in my account i never authorised it but they still take it HOW THEY DO THIS BEATS ME CHECK BANK ACCOUNT EVERYDAY ITS YOUR MONEY NOT THERES
Jun 17, 2009 at 11:09 AM Satcov took £129.00 from my account yesterday without even writing calling or anything. Sky must be selling customers details cos that's the only way they could have done this to me. (More than a weeks pension)
Jun 17, 2009 at 5:34 PM Boohoo... approx 5 yrs ago I was harrassed, and I say harrassed as that's how
how i felt when cold called and told my Sky warranty was about to expire, and
would I like to take out a warranty. I assumed (gulp) that they were from Sky
as they knew so much about my Sky warranty.
They took the first payment, then I decided
to cancel the contract and direct debit. I called and informed them. All well and good....
You would think! 5 years later (today) £65 has randomly been direct debited out from
my bank account to a company calling themself satcov.
I didnt set it up, I don't know who these ppl are, and the phone number my bank has for
them just rings and rings and rings......
Trading standards contacted, bank contacted...
I hope i am as lucky as some on here and get my money back.
£65 is a lot to lose when you don't got it in da first place!!!
Jun 17, 2009 at 8:12 PM Girlfreind just got stung for £110 pounds. She was called, but did not want to take out the cover, yet they still managed to set up a DD and take the money. Have contacted bank and been told to contact their fraud department in branch tomorrow.
Jun 17, 2009 at 8:20 PM have also been ripped off . was paying 6.50 then in march satcov took 65.00 off me have phoned lots off times just get told money will be getting refunded . that was over 3 months ago have got my soliciter to send them a letter threatening legal action will let you know how i get on
Jun 18, 2009 at 1:53 PM Dave why don't you get your girlfriend to call Sat Cov and ask for a refund? We did and we where succesful in getting our money back its a quicker process than going the bank route!
Jun 18, 2009 at 4:39 PM Anthony... You mean someone actually answered the phone ? I tried for days but no answer. Just keeps ringing, then get the engaged tone.
Jun 18, 2009 at 6:31 PM My elderly father had a call last night from someone offering him 2 years Sky Repair Insurance for the very high price of £200. Luckily he told them he would have to think about it and he phoned me. I thought the price was a bit high as he only has a standard box and dish and has never had a problem in the 5 years he has been with Sky.
I told him it sounded like a con then I found this site which confirmed my suspicions.
They called back today , he told them if he had any problems and Sky would not repair it for free he would just switch to Virgin the lady on the phone did not have an answer to this and gave up.
He forgot to get the name of the company but the number is from Shrewsbury
01743 453 140
01743 453140
01743453140
Three versions to make it easier for a goggle search
Jun 20, 2009 at 1:13 PM Hi Russ This has just happenned to me this week with £38.00 being taken from my account by direct debit for Sat Cov. I didnt authorise this but as my bank just told me Signatures are no longer required
to set up DD's over the phone, which I did not do anyway. I am to go to my banks local branch to sign an imdemnity form on Monday to get my money back but now I need to check my account every month
to see if they set it up again. You mentioned you had a crime number after reporting it to the police, but how did you report it and under what crime? ie theft ect as I would like to do this but would like to
hear from you first so that I can be forewarned as to what to expect etc. Thank you in advance, Michael todd.
Jun 20, 2009 at 9:18 PM My dad has just had £6 taken out of his account today from SatCov. A very small amount compared to some others! He didnt know who they were and had'nt even heard of the company before. He rang SKY to see if it was related to them (of course it wasnt!) and the guy from SKY gave my dad the company's phone number & even the guys name who runs SatCov - David Reynolds. Obviously they have these kind of calls all the time as he seemed to have all the information to hand! My dad has no idea how SatCov got any of his details as he has never spoken to them! After searching the internet about this company (and Satallite Direct who David Reynolds also owns) it seems clear they are totally misleading people. Oddly enough my dad was also conned last year by Fully Covered! Steer clear of all of these bogus companies! One other to mention is Satellite Support Centre/Systems. I'snt it funny how my dad has just rang Sky on a saturday at 8pm and got straight through to a PERSON! Unlike these above named companys who only seem to work mon-fri and have a permanant lunch break as they never answer the phone or have an answering machine & never get back to you anyway!
Jun 22, 2009 at 12:05 PM Has anyone had any dealings with a company called Satellite and Homecare Ltd - Telephone - 0871 6419910?
Jun 22, 2009 at 4:49 PM I had £6 taken by DD on 19/6/2009.
Reported it to Bank fraud squad.
Dont know how they got my details.
Bank has been fairly inundated with complaints about SatCov.
Cant ring them as line is always engaged
Jun 23, 2009 at 12:34 PM So Far so good, contacted the bank who said they won't take legal action against the villains cos its my problem not theirs that they paid out my money when someone else asked them to! However they would ask for the money back, and if they got it back that would be the end of it. Except these t*ssers can start a new DD mandate any time they like, and the bank won't block them. So every week I need to check there is no new direct debit. Great. Spoke to the cops, and they told me the bank has to take legal action and I can't. This is bollocks, but then they said I need a lawyer to take a civil action out. I mean I know from watching police actions at demos and matches that they havent a clue about the law, but this gets so tedious. Anyway, no joy there, but if i had a matchbox full of castor oil seeds i could get banged up for terrorism........Hmmmmmm? Don't get me started.
Anyway - I phoned Navco on their real number, and spoke to someone who apologised and refunded my money. I told them I had cancelled the contract because of this and she asked me to put it in writing. So I have got my 99.98 refunded and so far its stayed put. Wish me luck and good luck with yours. But Banks and Coppers, what a bunch of wazzocks!!!
Jun 23, 2009 at 12:38 PM the above post should read SATCO not Navco, lol sorry
Jun 23, 2009 at 5:34 PM Update on my prev post. Managed to get through to SatCov, amazingly! They informed my dad that they rang us 4yrs ago!!!!!!!!! And then again last month (not to his knowledge thats for sure!) and that we had agreed to set up the cover with them. OUTRAGOUS! They were talking bo***cks! We have had the £6 refunded but only via an indemnity from the back. If they cannot recover the funds we will have to pay the bank back. Its all mad!
Turns out a friend in work has also had £65 taken out if her account from Satellite Direct last month & she hadnt agreed to anything. She hasnt had a refund. And the policy wasnt for £65 but for £6.50 - similar to ALL the other stories.
Jun 24, 2009 at 11:28 AM Just looked at my account and guess what Satcov took £6.00 out of my account! At least it wasn't the £65.50 as it has been from other peoples' accounts, but when it is getting towards the end of the month before you get paid every penny counts!! Cancelled the Direct Debit they had set up without talking to me although I think this is the company I got duped by about 5 years ago so it is possible they still have my account details, but I haven't spoken to them since. Rang my bank and they are now sending a mandate to retrieve my £6.00! I have cover which I pay quarterly for and it's just a rolling payment which means my contract will never expire until I stop it, so when these companies ring and say my contract is about to expire, I know they are lying through their teeth. I do enjoy questioning them though eg "So my contract is coming to an end with you?", "What was the payment plan I had with you?" "How much have I been paying?" When you know what the answers should be and it is obvious they don't it's quite enjoyable listening to them falling over themselves hoping they are giving the right answers!! Needless to say I inform them in no uncertain terms where to go!!!!
Jun 24, 2009 at 11:34 AM SATCOV have a new approach now. They are not even phoning you
you. They are just taking money out of your bank account
by Direct Debit. There phone number is a scam it is rigged
to be engaged all the time So if you have sky check your
account and instruct your bank never to accept a withdrawl
or DD in there name. I think it is time the Police were involved
with SATCOV
Jun 24, 2009 at 12:44 PM It seems SatCov were very busy on 16/17 June! I too had £65 taken from my account on16th on a Direct Debit allegedly set up on 9th June. I had NO KNOWLEDGE of this at all so I immediately contacted my online bank. A tifrst they seemed not to understanad what I was telling tehm, but a second message triggered tha action I wanted - I've just has a phone call to say that the have set up an indemnity on my account and refunded the £65. They have also set up a note to prevent SatCov ever setting up another DD on my account - but of course they could change the compnay name and sdo the same again, so we shall all have to go on being very vigilant and report any unrecognised DD immediately. I'm told Trading Standards are on the case, so so hopefully this will stop soon.
This company got my details several years ago when I had a Sky Freesat box and dish installed and contracted the installer, Satellite Direct, to maintain ti. I cancelled this after the last payment in September 2008 because I had managed to install my own Humax HD Freesat box and dual cable, and raliesed I didn't need maintenance. They phoned me learlier this year asking whay I had cancelled, and seemed to accept my explanation, but then this month they set up this new DD without even contacting me! They are clearly working a good scam, and THEY MUST BE STOPPED!!
Jun 25, 2009 at 12:42 PM Having recently had a scam run by Emusic with my bank paying
back the 4 payments of £19.99. I had paid I began to be suspio
us of Satcov as I could not remember giving them any details of
my bank account and how could they produce a direct debit when
I had not signed anything. I was amazed at the number of complaints
against this company in Google. I informed my bank not to pay
any more yesterday and later the same day had a phone call from Satcov
to ask me to renew my subscription. When I said NO the phone was slammed down and I am just hoping that will be the end of the matter.
Jun 26, 2009 at 2:22 PM Judging by the above comments and from comments on other sites it seems that the "SatCov Club" now has an enormous number of members. I also was forced into membership on 17 June when this godforsaken disreputable shower took £65 from my Bank account without any refernce to myself. A similar event occurred some 18 months ago when this mob somehow obtained my Bank Account details (possibly through some dubious link with Sky)and helped thgemselves to £130. I immediately cancelled this false direct debit and managed to get reimbursement on that occasion. I thought that was the end of the matter until this happened last week. I have cancelled the latest false Direct Debit with my Bank and am seeking Indemnity under the Direct Debit Guarantee since it is impossible to get through to this disgraceful crew on the telephone but it seems there is nothing to stop this lot from raising a further Direct Debit some time in the future and helping then selves to some more of my money unless, of course, the Bank Account on which they will try to raise the Direct Debit no longer exists.!!! It is a pain in the proverbial to transfer to another Bank, or even open a new account with the same Bank and transfer everything across before closing the old account but if it stops these scumbags it will have to be and I'm going to do it anyway. If any unauthorised activity then occurs on the new account it will obviously because of fraud and the appropriate authorities can then instigate criminal investigations. I see that some others have approached Trading Standards and Consumer Direct and I am, therefore, adding my complaint to theirs. Hopefully if theses bodies get anough complaints they will do something to snuff out these vermin.
Jun 26, 2009 at 6:15 PM Hello what is been described in this blog happened to me today
but i told them that i would think about it and speak to my
partner about it and they said they would phone me back next
week it wasnt until i got of the phone my partner thought
there was something dodgey about it luckily i never gave my
bank details out, so we phoned sky and they said they didnt
know anything about it and gave us a number for sky protect
and they also said that they hadn't phoned us either they said i
had to try and get details off them when they are suppose to
phone back next week and pass the details onto them
Jun 29, 2009 at 11:54 AM i would just like to say all of the people on here who are slagging off sky repair services obvisously have no idea how these sort of things work,
i used to have to deal with complaints about companys like this, however when i had one of there calls the other week, there was abosolutly
nothing wrong with it! They gave me all the details the phone number and extension and website address, i tried them all before i rang back
and it all worked absolutly fine they, told me straight up that i was with another tird party company and that what i could get was a lot and
cheaper and a more comprehensive cover and it was true as my sky equipment broke down last week, i called up the number and had a engineer
with me the next day, the equipment couldn't be fixed so they provided it for me brand new with no exess like i was told on the call.
I have no idea why you people start up the blogs when it is clear that you were not listening to the call... i was told "i understand you have the one
standard sky system and you pay between 6 and 8 pound per a month for the maintaince and repairs is that still correct?" i am guessing that the person
whos has done this blog replied yes, well it is your responsability to you how your paying and whether it is monthly or annualy so how have they conned you
if you awnsered the question wrong!! you should think about what you did wrong rather than what they did before you slag off a company who are trying to save you money...
Jun 29, 2009 at 3:19 PM Ryan, I guess you must work for one of these companies and you are trying desperately to pull your reputation out of the gutter. Sorry but fraud is a criminal offence no matter how you try to disguise it, and Satcov are quite clearly guilty of fraud by charging people credit cards and setting up direct debits without customers consent as well as mis-representing themselves as sky and making other false claims. There is more than enough complaints on this blog alone to prove that, but you will find many thousands of others elsewhere on the web saying the same, there are even recordings of the phone conversations. So your word against several thousand other people plus undeniable evidence does not hold any credibility at all, however it is quite entertainly to see these pathetic attempts by someone like yourself to deny the cold hard facts.
Jun 30, 2009 at 10:12 PM i do need to ask 1 thing though your all saying that they've set up direct debits without your consent which i do agree is bang out of order.
however how have these companies got the correct details for your correct account if you haven't given them out as its not comon knowledge
as to whos banking with who and what peoples account numbers and sort codes are. ill happily admit i work 4 sky repair serivces UK and
when people do swap there cover to us they understand what im doing and why and if they dont then i happily answer there questions with
the truth. i have herd what sat cov and satelite direct UK have been doing with peoples direct debits and im not excusing that all im saying is
that just because there are compaines out there that are conning people does not mean that everyone is doing it. if you get a call ask questions
don't just assume and hang up. and rember yes sky will only recomend domestic and general and proberly always will but thats because they
pay to have them selves re-comeneded just becasue others don't does not mean that they wont provide you with a better cover.
Jul 1, 2009 at 6:09 PM Just got a call from these people but looked up the number
before i called them back as i wasn't in the first time they called.
The guy wasnt too happy when i told him i knew who they were and i wasnt giving them my card details. Thank god for this blog or id have been scammed also.
Jul 3, 2009 at 11:36 AM OK - once scammed and have learnt lesson. Satcov did me good and proper at the beginning of this year. Today I recieved a call from a company call Skycover - I asked if they were form Sky they said yes they were calling about Sky I asked the same question again and got the same answer - I then said do you work for Sky. He said well..... no - I said I didn't want to speak to him - he disconnected immediately. I cannot understand how we seem to be unable to stop this IT IS CRIMINAL yet no authority I speak to seem interested or able to take it up. I am not intererested in feeling powerless whist these scammers rip us off. If anyone wants or is taking any action that will do something about this then please contct me I AM IN!
Jul 3, 2009 at 5:52 PM I'm reading this site and am furious. Why is this scam still going? I've been trying to contact someone, ANYONE who can stop this and the apathy displayed is overwhelming. everyone I've
spoken to has been very sympathetic and willing to pass it on to someone else as its 'not their fault', 'not their company', 'not a big deal'. WELL IT IS TO ME!!!!
My mum rang me in tears this morning because Sat cover had taken £6 out of her account. She was upset in case the bank thought she was senile as she does not have satellite TV.
My dad died in Aug 07 and I cancelled his service with Sky and with Sat cover who, my dad believed, was his 'sky insurance'. since then my mum has received a number of phone calls from
Sat cover and she has repeatedly told them that she has no longer got Sky and asked them to remover her from their list. (incidentally my mum has the telephone preference service)
The last call from Sat cover was on 15th June at 19:17. Once again they were informed that mum did not have satellite TV. this time however they decided to set up a new direct debit
from mums account on 16th June and take money out of her account on 19th June. The bank refuse to refund the £6 as the direct debit seemed appropriate as they no longer have to
be signed and it was payed out in 'good faith'. The police stated they are unable to do anything as they would have to prove 'intent to steal' but in this case the company would probably
claim it was an error. I did point out that this company appear to make dozens of 'errors' daily but was informed that there is nothing the police can do. So I'm back to square one!!!
I'm leaving an email for watchdog and posting a warning on facebook, I know this seems pathetic but I encourage everyone out there to do the same in the hope that if there are enough
of us then somewhere someone might just be able to help us stop these b#$%#&#d's.
faith'
Jul 3, 2009 at 6:14 PM It is very bizzare that the police or Trading Standards will not take action as this is not a civil matter, these companies are committing fraud which is a criminal offence, not to mention harrassing and terrorising old people. I'm sure if you took someones credit card and used it without their consent, the police would be knocking at your door, yet it is the exact same thing, but because they are a company they somehow get away with it. Perhaps we are all in the wrong business, it seems that being a criminal is indeed very profitable as certain crimes are above the law.
Jul 3, 2009 at 6:47 PM I wish I'd thought of this 'perfect crime' which has no consequence. But then again most of us haven't had our decency and conscience surgically removed to allow us to financially
and psychologically harm others, especially vulnerable people.
Jul 20, 2009 at 11:37 AM I work for Sky Repaire Services in Bournemouth and it is a legit 3rd party, they are not part of Sky but you choose to take out insurance with Sky for their products, you can always choose someone else, for example, Sky Repair Services. It's the same as if AA sold cars, you bought a car and also chose to have your insurance through them and then a 3rd party company specialising in insurance for AA only purchased cars.
Jul 20, 2009 at 12:05 PM Ryan,
Lying to customers and pretending you are from sky, fraudulenting charging creditcards and setting up directs without customers is all illegal activity and against the law no matter what excuses you use and try to explain it.
Jul 21, 2009 at 2:57 AM If you could kindly point out where we're lying and fraudulently using people's debit/credit cards, I'll happily back down.
We get given details from marketing companies that show how much Sky customers pay for their maintenance and repairs services, normally £6-8 for standard sky systen, £9-11 for Sky+ etc. For a standard sky system our cover is £5.50 a month, debitted quarterly, no risk of losing details in the post after the initial paper work, we don't take a sort code or account number, only 16 digit and 3 digit code on reverse of card. The cover is far more comprehensive, covers the box, dish, controls and cables for all eventualities including weather should it re-align your dish. We don't cover for deliberate damage. We have engineers based in every post code area and aim to get someone out to you that same day or the next working day whereas D+G (Domestive and General) who are Sky's recommended service aim for within 72 hours. So even saving 50p a month is still £6 a year which basically works out as a month's free cover per year. If you have a fault with your system which cannot be fixed we will replace it with new for old or like for like, in other words a brand new sky box. So us using details provided by various marketing companies with consent from the potential customers, there is NOTHING Sky Repair Services is doing wrong.
We're contacting people who we believe are paying above what we can offer and giving them a better deal. Just because to you it sounds too good to be true, doesn't mean you can slate it because you or someone you know may have had a bad experience.
At Sky Repair Services in Bournemouth, we DO NOT know if you have recently renewed, we DO NOT know if you have made any claims since you last renewed.
All we know is the name, address and telephone number of Sky customers who willingly gave their information to marketing companies in which we used to contact these people to cut down their costs.
Argue your case as much as you like, there is no scamming, there is no fraud.
Ring Sky Repair Services yourself tomorrow in Bournemouth, 0844 800 9577, ask for their company registration number 5927936, we have 0844 BT Secured lines being monitored constantly, and all information is handled and processed by Barclays EPDQ.
http://skyrepairservices.com/
You have no case in trying to defend yourself. If you had such a bad experience, maybe look to see if there was any way it was your own fault. under 1% of customers who take out our cover plan call to complain, because they realised that since they'd submitted the information to a marketing company, they've found cheaper cover not realising that ours was a little more expensive, and we're not the cheapest because cover plans offered for annual payments are often cheaper in comparison to paying 4 quarterly payments and a lot of people don't like to pay such a large amount at one time because they're not sure whether they'll have Sky in 12+ months time. Other than that it's because they've forgotten to cancel their other third party cover plan and been debitted for 2 policies, which is their own fault as our closing statement and part of our dialogue says that you must cancel other policies.
Don't have much of a leg to stand on now do you? Making a huge fuss over nothing.
Jul 21, 2009 at 8:48 AM Hi
I am a customer of Skyrepairservices and I am willing to support them as a genuine and very helpfull company. I have got cover for my sky system and have had a few problems recntly, I called them up and a engineer came the next day and sorted the problem, they did replace the box with a new model which was great. There was no messing around and the engineer did know what he was doing.
I work for a company who sells car warranty, we also buy lists of people from various marketing companies, again this gives us the basic contact details, no credit or bank details. Check the small print of most contracts you sign, be it BT or car insurance, it normalt gives you the option to opt out of having your details sold to marketing companies, if you dont tick the box then your details will be available to companies to call you up regards their products. It is really no different to you getting various car insurance quotes before taking the one of your choice. Why should you only go with skys recomended company. They pay sky a percentage for every policy taken out.
So like all stories there will be complaints, but then consider the fact that errors can happen, it does not make the companies a scam.
I am more than happy and will stay with this company.
Jul 21, 2009 at 10:40 AM Show you where? Erm, you mean aside from the hundreds of comments here and elsewhere on the net all saying they have been lied to and have their cards fraudulently charged?
Jul 22, 2009 at 8:54 PM hey its me again.....engineers are actually all self employed firstly so if they chose to work 4 us aswell as other compaines as well as sky does it really make that much of a difference as to who your covered
by as its likley to be the same person who will fix or replace it? secondly i did say russ that if you could prove to me that sky repair services UK (were i work) was a conn then id leave them and also
publically apologise on your blog thing and i still havent herd anything so does that mean that they not a conn? (well i no there not so a stupid question really) again people that are on here saying
that these compaines have set up dd with out there concente i do have to keep asking how are compaines able to do that if you havent given them your details? you must of somwere weather its a
mistake or not.....you cant just go online and type someones name in and find out all there banking details can you? also yes it is illegal to take money out of peoples accounts with out there permission
but youll probly find that its normally put back in there....or its not been taken illegally otherwise something would of been done. every company has its flaws and compliants even banks do but if
we were doing things wrong or lieing and what we are doing then we would of been shut down buy now. also when we phone most people dont listen anyway and only what they want to here for example i
had a customer ask me earlier "Are you actually part of sky?" and i replied with, " no sky themselves dont deal with maintence and repairs its done through third party compaines such as us." she then
still then said "well yes then you are part of sky." i had already said know at the start of my reply.......listen to what these people say and if you dont want them to take money out of your account
make sure that somewere you havent given them your details. and i look forward to hearing from you russ
Jul 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM Abbie, as I have not actually said anything about Sky Repair Services I of course have nothing to proove.
As you can clearly see in my blog post I have only mentioned Fully Covered and Satcov as these are the companies who have called me
and tried to scam me.
Jul 23, 2009 at 12:43 PM "Tried" to scam you? So you've not ACTUALLY been scammed? Not every third party insurer will know of EVERY other third party insurer, no single person at Sky will know of half the third party cover companies out there, so just because they've never heard of someone, doesn't mean they're not a legit company. Sky recommend D&G for your cover, but only for your mechanical, techincal and electrical faults, not for accidental damage and weather damage and they're cover is more expensive than ours. For a standard sky system, £5.50 a month (£16.50 per quarter) which is nothing to be honest, if it saves you forking out £65 for a call out charge and between £150-300 in total to get your system fixed.
£66 a year with unlimited call outs and even aim to send you out a new remote the next working day if yours breaks, and they're normally £25 brand new.
If a company is legit, you can obtain the callers full name, extension number, website address, company registration number you can use to search on companies house, the company telephone number (0844 is BT secured line).
Sky Repair Services UK in Bournemouth is a legit company, if you would like to get cover for everything including your box, dish, cables and remote, then give us a call on 0844 800 9577.
Jul 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM Ryan,
I strongly suggest you actually read the many hundreds of comments posted here and elsewhere on the web about what these companies have been doing
as your own comments are clearly ignorant of the obvious facts or you are simply another blagger. If you think defrauding people is legal then I would suggest you contact your local police station and discuss this with them,
Jul 25, 2009 at 1:01 PM Hi I just want to thank all those who have written in about Sky repair services as it does help. I notice the comments go back to 2007 and this company is still calling people with their little sales pitch 2 years later. I had a call on Saturday and told the guy who was called James Binn that only Domestic and General
were authorised to repair Sky equipment because I had already checked. He said that they were not specialists and used re-conditioned equipment unlike Sky Repair who use new boxes etc. I said I would not give him any details until I had checked the company out. What is scary is that we have no repair contract
and I would like to know how they got my details.
Jul 29, 2009 at 8:04 PM Here is a quote From ABBIE
"when we phone most people dont listen anyway and only what they want to here for example i
had a customer ask me earlier "Are you actually part of sky?" and i replied with, " no sky themselves dont deal with maintence and repairs its done through third party compaines such as us."
Abbie that's a BIG lie there.........
I Work for SKY in TECH so i book s/c i speak with our SHS (Sky home services) engineers & the outsource partners we use, we have & never will use sky repair services.
ALSO some GOOD news (in away but bad in others)
Satelite Direct have gone into administration, for those who are not familier with them they also pulled these nasty tricks to get customers.
Jul 31, 2009 at 11:57 AM Hi
http://www.littlehamptongazette.co.uk/news/500-jobs-lost-as-Ford.5508349.jp
Check this out it seems that one of the dodgy sat repair companies has gone bust, It is a article about Satellite Direct LTD. Well at least that is one of the scammers gone, just need the others to go now and we will all be ok.
Aug 4, 2009 at 10:46 AM I have a problem with my Satunit and had taken out an insurance cover with the web site mentioned.over the phone from someone purporting to be from Sky TV.I have a telephone number whichI called to staer my defect..a;as when answered continually states " this service is temporarily suspended " anyone know what is what here ??
Aug 4, 2009 at 3:05 PM I have been pestered twice now by this company asking for my card details to which i replied i do not give my details over the phone, he phoned again last night saying he had set up the first quater for me and needed my card details, i told him not to bother me again. my brother has the same problem as you when he tried to call them he got the same phone message.
Aug 6, 2009 at 11:11 AM with regards to robert tuckers post, try calling 01243 200150. its the number you need to get an engineer
Aug 11, 2009 at 9:03 PM I think I was called by Sky Repair Services (you know what it's like, so many boring calls, you don't properly listen to who they are this time). Same drill - cheaper cover. They didn't pretend to be part of Sky, but they did want my card number, expiry date and 3 digit number on back. They said they took the money like it was a card transaction not direct debit. I'm an idiot, and I gave them the numbers. I was a bit suspicious though, so I phoned my bank who agreed I was very silly and cancelled the card (I'm hoping I got to it in time). Thing is though, they gave me a different number to the one on the site and the one that has been mentioned already - 0800 9 555 444. I can't find reference to that number anywhere on the net though, but thought it was worth mentioning.
Aug 11, 2009 at 10:31 PM speaking of 0800 numbers, I recently discovered that they are another tool in the scammers arsenal. It turns out that calls to 0800 numbers are not recorded and do not appear on your itemised biil, so you cannot proove any calls you may have made to a company who uses 0800 numbers or indded track down the number you called.
Aug 25, 2009 at 4:37 PM I've recently joined Sky Repair Services and the freephone number is a new number. They do not charge for calls to their customer services now. Something which is money saving and it's not a scam.
It's something I was told would mean I wouldn't be charged should I need to call them.
I've read the comments on this site and while I would definitely say there are scammers on the net, Sky Repair Services have sent me all the documents for cover and I've recently had an engineer out!
I think it's important to be fair and when a company is taking money fraudulently then that's fair enough, but I've recently had a look at the FSA site as Sky Repair Services are regulated. This means I am protected and that they are under an extremely
important body who it is impossible to be scamming with.
I haven't had any experience with the other companies but I've saved a bit of money and I'm happy.
Just thought I should let you know as this blog seems to have been going on for some time.
Sep 1, 2009 at 6:23 PM Today I recieved a phone call from Satelite Repairs Services UK. They said that my card was no longer valid. True. Several weeks ago I received a phone call a call from another company to say that my previous provider had gone into liquidation. I then canelled my card to stop any further payments. On phoning Sky to report a fault they told me that they only deal with Domestic and General with their Sky Protect. I had then arranged cover with them. When the guy from Sky Repairs Services (Paul - my husband asked for his name) asked me to provide my card details I told him I was not happy doing this. He quoted my bank and card type as well as the first four digits of my old card. He sounded convincing as he told me a password. When I asked him to invoice me for the outstanding amount of £15 he said that they are an admin free business and do all their work by phone. I asked him for a copy of my policy as I did not have it. I also asked him where I should send a cheque to as I am not giving my card details out again. The address I got was 4th Floor, Kingsland House, 21 Hinton Road, Bournmouth, BH1 2DE. He asked when I would be sending the cheque , as soon as they recieve it they will cancel my policy. My husband thought they sounded suspicious and said we will not be paying them. I decided to check them out and hence why I am here. Never again will I give a company my card details! Direct Debits only from now on!
Sep 3, 2009 at 10:50 PM this is to danni who posted the above comment....firstly the compopany is called sky repair services UK. domestic and general are the only company recognised by sky for the repair plan as they have to
pay a fee for the recomendation fee. however this does not mean that any over company who deals with maintence and repair would not do what they say they do. even if you did stay with us or kept
your policy running if you needed an engineer you would still get a sky approved engineer as most engineers are self employed anyway which means they dont just work for sky. yes that is our address
we are based in bournemouth in kingsland house thats not sometihing were asshamed of...were doing something good for people. were not suspisous at all if you read the posts on here in depth you
would find that hardly any of them are about sky repair serives UK. sky insurance is the same as most other thing. would you always get your car insured with the company you brought it from? no you
shop around first and see whats best....it doesnt mean that becasue you didnt get your insurance off the company you brought your car from would be a bad type or insurance or a conn so why is it
that if you dont go with sky for your insurance then your with a conn? i will admit there are conns out there but im telling you for a fact that sky repair services UK isn't ive worked there long enough
to know that. and i will keep coming on to this site and correcting you as you coment on here about this company because what your all saying is wrong and the worst thing is none of you have
actually recieved a service from us or an engineer or anything like that so you cant really comment on what were like as a company.
Sep 4, 2009 at 12:29 AM Abbie,
You seem to be missing the fact that the people who post here are for the most part the victims of fraud. Perhaps your company is legitimate, but any bad press you are getting is not the fault of the people posting here, it is the fault of all those other sky repair companies that are calling people pretening to be from sky, pretending they have your account details, claiing your insurance is about to expire, and conning people into giving over their card and bank details, and is thousands of people reporting this activity all over the internet. So if you want to point the finger of blame or have a rant, then you should be directly your complaints at those companies, not at the people who are simply trying not to get ripped off.
Sep 10, 2009 at 4:06 PM I think my Mum has also been scammed. 5:50 being deducted
indefinately from her credit card - only discovered because of
My Fathers recent death and sorting out affairs etc. Tried ringing
their 0844 number - guess what a voicemail service for which you
need an access code!!
Sep 10, 2009 at 11:18 PM Hey,
I work for a call centre that provides comprehensive insurance cover for sky equipment. I learnt that to provide any kind of financial service, such as insurance, you need to be regulated by the Financial Services Authority, the FSA, any company offering a 'waranty' or 'extended' warantee'. It's amazing how many waranty companies up and dissapear after moving the decimal point in their customers direct debit!
Just for reference everyone, a direct debit only uses the sort code and account number, which is fully protected by your bank, if this amount changes you are legally allowed to get a full and immediate refund of the total amount paid if the amount does not equal exactly what is stated in the initial agreement!
I didnt know any of this before I started working for them.....
Sep 16, 2009 at 8:42 PM Hi
l had a phone call from sky repair services today apparently l have had a policy with them for a year, its a shame they didnt send me the policy
documents because l never actually took the policy out, they now want payment arrears but are willing as a "good will gesture" to reduce the payment
to £5.50, l have since researched this company and they are fsa registered (l am writing to the fsa as we speak) My advise is to stick to the company's
sky recommend at least you know they are legit.
Sep 30, 2009 at 10:32 PM oh dear, I am soo angry with myself for falling for this. I got
several calls from SatCov and eventually set up a DD. It wasn't
until I got a call from 'Paul from Sky' offering me the same thing
with a very pushy attitude that it got me thinking. How stupid
to give out my details like that. I then found this blog.
I will be onto my bank in the morning. I hope it's not too late!
Oct 8, 2009 at 11:37 AM You are all stupid. You’re not being scammed, when these people call you maybe you should all take the time to LISTEN to what you are being asked. But you are not listening properly. I used to work for sky repair services UK in Bournemouth and u are all so rude and ignorant you presume you are getting scammed. To set you all straight SKY "bSKYb" do NOT deal with maintenance and repairs cover they leave it to 3rd party companies, so don’t bother ringing sky to find out if there a legit company because sky will just say I don’t know, never heard of them. They don’t care it’s not sky’s problem. Domestic and general are recommended by sky because domestic and general pay a fee every year to sky to have the rights. Some1 said in one of there messages domestic and general are the only company authorized to sell maintenance cover. LIE no there not, maybe you should do your research before you put doubts into others minds. Domestic and general no doubt are a good insurer; they probably cover your washing machine if you have cover on that. But they are expensive, so that’s why there are lots of other companies out there offering you a cheaper price. There are hundreds around them around the UK. none of these companies have your bank details they have the 1st four digits of every bank card, this way if your card details don’t match the 1st four they have then u don’t have a valid card E.g. you will have a cash card which u cannot use. The reason you are being asked for the long number that runs through the middle of the card as it is a cheaper way of processing the transactions. And once the details are entered into the system they cannot be accessed again, where as a direct debit your payments can change. Ever wondered why your direct debits may go up and down quite frequently without any1 notifying you! And if you are wondering why they have your name and address, it’s because all the questionnaires you lot fill out or competitions u enter etc. your details are sold to market research companies. That’s how companies have your number. If you don’t want to be called, put yourself on the telephone preference service or don’t fill out stupid forms telling people your info. Also, just a bit of advice for you all, if you on the telephone preference service and u get calls from call centres. Don’t abuse the person. It is the TPS’s job to block your phone you need to contact them and ask them why they are not doing there job properly rather than giving the person calling you a load of Gob. If you are still not sure call them back on the number they have giving, ask for there company registration number they will give it you. Ask to speak to a manger and ask them why they are asking for your details. If they are a legit company they won’t lie to you. In these companies you are listened to, every call is monitored and if they are rude to you they will be caught for it. but these people are just doing there jobs at least there not sat at home claiming benefits like half of the people reading this blog!
I understand people would be wary of giving there details out over the telephone I am, because you can’t trust everyone! But when you don’t know the facts and u haven’t bothered to ask questions and listen don’t stereotype all of these companies because most of them are trying to get your business and a completely legal fashion. I hope this has help some1 make up there mind for themselves.
Oct 12, 2009 at 6:29 PM Hi,
My auntie received a call from Sky Pro Plan Ltd (0845 130 8278) in August and she took out a £65 contract, but has not received any documentation. It now looks a bit wottying as I sent an EMail requesting the paperwork and received the following reply:-
Oct 12, 2009 at 6:30 PM Hi,
My auntie received a call from Sky Pro Plan Ltd (0845 130 8278) in August and she took out a £65 contract, but has not received any documentation. It now looks a bit worrying as I sent an EMail requesting the paperwork and received the following reply:-
[email protected]
Delivery Status Notification(Failure)
Your message:
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Missing Paper Contract !!!
Sent Date: Mon Oct 12 17:24:21 2009
has not been delivered to the recipient's BlackBerry Handheld.
The return receipt is not what I would expect from a 'proper company'?
Oct 16, 2009 at 12:07 AM well ive had an intresting read on here and belive you all need to get a life you must have jobs and families to attend to rether than sit on here slagging off people on here that are working hard to make a living
i visited this blogg because someone at work told me about it i couldnt belive how bitter people could be i am sorry to hear that people have been ripped off and yes you should always be careful about who you give your details to i know i always am and i have never been a victim to fraud, and as a telephone advisor i am very complient in making shure the customer understands whats going on and that we are chaninging there thrir party cover to our firm and that they do need to cancel the other direct debit quote"with the other third party company at the bank" also if they do feel pressured i help them relax and tell them all the details they need to know like company reg number fsa regulation number website and tell them if they would like to ring me back that is fine so y dont you all do better research and get on with your life
Dec 5, 2009 at 9:25 PM I'm replying to Kellys post really, I had a phone call from the company who you worked for saying that they were 'SKY', they said that they were reducing my monthly payments, and to give them my details and so on, which like an idiot I did, today I have received a letter saying 'Thank you for taking out Sky cover, your payments of £23.10 will be taken out every quarter', mmmm confused, never agreed to this at all, they have taken the money, now I don't know what to do, I can't get in touch with them by phone, and the number that my bank has for them is a travel agent, I know its my own fault and I don't even know why I did it, when i'd put the phone down from this guy I actually phoned the number that he gave me to see if it was legit and the guy that answered was like 'Oh yes I know you've got to be careful, always better to check', i've cancled my card now, but it wasn't right what they did, they told me they were some one that they weren't.
Dec 23, 2009 at 11:17 PM Has anyone had any dealings with Sky Home Care Ltd, Eazycollect (a company that set up a Direct Debit from my account on behalf of Ske Homecare Ltd) and Sat Insure, a company who told me that they had taken over my from Sky Homecare Ltd who are no longer trading. Sat Insure wanted £5:50 a month to cover my Sky box. Eazycollect have already taken £55 from me which they say went to Sky Homecare Ltd for a year's cover and will continue to cover me with Sat Insure. Sat Insure say no, if I want my £55 back go to my bank. I did and guess what I have to go to Eazycollect since they set up the Direct Debit. Conned or what!!!
Jan 13, 2010 at 2:40 AM Another company to be aware of, "Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd, Kirkby Liverpool. Have currently got Liverpool Trading Standards involved, as they have ilegally taken money from my fathers account. I am on a crusade at the moment, it really has me incensed. I have contacted watchdog, my local radio, local television company and local papers. Still waiting for any of them to get back to me. Changing tact now - gonna bombard them all everyday, until they get pissed off with me. Not gonna drop this no way!
Jan 20, 2010 at 2:52 AM I rang Satinsure the day after they contacted me and said that I did not want to proceed with their offer. Their representative said that he had taken me off their database.
However, some days later I received a letter from them setting out the details of the plan which I had supposedly taken out. I immediately rang them and the lady explained that nobody had reorted to their head office that I did not want to proceed. My details had been removed from the local database; she apologised and said that she would inform the head office to stop the plan. Imagine my anger when I checked my bank account a couple of days later and found that a direct debit had been set up against my instruction! Again I had to ring them. I got another apology, a cheque has been recieved to cover the first payment but I am still waiting for writen confirmation from their head office that the plan has been stopped. What a way to do business! To cap it all, my bank can stop an individual company from setting up a direct debit but they cannot put a blanket hold on any more direct debits being set up. I have a meeting with them to find out why not and to sort out what to do with an account that has had two companies set up direct debits without my authorisation. How safe is your banking?
Jan 22, 2010 at 1:53 PM A warning to all of you. Don't just cancel direct debits, the company can easy set up in another name. Same goes if you have given these companys the long card number. My father has cancelled his card altogether and got new one. I have advised him to change bank altogether, but he wont, out of some misguided loyalty. My story will soon be published in the paper, cant wait. Once I know, I will inform you all.
Jan 25, 2010 at 11:53 PM Good news, the Liverpool Echo have printed my story about these con artists. Of course, they deny everything. Campaign aint over though, so be warned DSWC Ltd. I aint stopping til your business is closed down once and for all.
Feb 9, 2010 at 12:10 AM well i was going to have a bit of a wine about these guys too but looking how bitter it has made tracy makes me think.... maybe it is us that shoud be changing! fool me once shame on you! fool me twice shame on me!
if im honest i probably didnt listen and i just wanted to vent my anger at myself for being so stupid!
the compay that got me actualy sent me paper work and they said they will refund my £8.79 we will have o see if they stick to their word!
anyway guys this site has actualy left a bad tast in my mouth worse than the bloody phone call i got.. come on guys, F##K UM!
Feb 28, 2010 at 7:55 PM it would appear there is another one of these outfits on the go.this one operates out of Arundel and even answers it phones. calls itself Independent Digital Services. I got caught out in January. I have since cancelled the contract. was told the refund had gone back into the bank, which it hasn't.
On contacting them to find out where my refund had gone they put me onto their FINANCIAL MANAGER, they seem to have a lot of managers. Chris the finances man told me that the bank had already stepped in cancelling the payment and actually taking a £7 fee off the company leaving them out of pocket. need less to say the bank was very interested to hear all of this information and were very pleased when I gave them contact details. They are now dealing with it for me at the moment
Feb 28, 2010 at 9:22 PM i actually feel really sorry for all of the people that have written on this page because your lives are sooooo sad that you have nothing better to do then write stuff on a page on the internet. if you dont
want to get conned by companies that you beleive or know are going to conn you then dont give any details out...its simple! if you think that what they have told you on the phone is a lie....then dont
give out details! if you recieve paperwork before or after you have set it up then its likley you have swapped to a better/different company.
guys stop negging your selves out on here and do something about it! or stop giving out your details on the phone!
Mar 24, 2010 at 3:00 PM Suck cock Russ u sad sad man u have caused so much worry to people who buy these products. Companies who sell these products are strictly regulated by traiding standards or the FSA all call scripts are checked by the regulators. As these companies are call centers and most people work on commision this leads them to lie to customers on the phone so it may not be the mentioned companys fault it is due to rouge traders. I think blogs like this can ruin a companys reputation and thanks to people like russ companies could be forced into liquadation leaving thousands of customers with no money and no cover. I think u are a joke russ and if I ever meet u it won't be a pleasant experience for u! xxx ps I hope sum1 starts a blog about the joke of a company you own/work for "cfdevcon"