www.iva.co.uk

Hi all, I had a very frustrating day yesterday with sky who are refusing to fix my sky+ box without paying silly amounts of money for engineers or new boxes. Consequently I thought I would change to Virgin who are offering free boxes and installation and it seems to be a better deal for the services that I want. However, having just come off the phone to virgin to arrange an installation the reality of an IVA has hit me as the sales rep mentioned the dreaded credit check. Having explained my situation I have been refered to his admin department so I am guessing that will be game over with having virgin. The thought of paying out lots of money to get my sky+ box which is well over 5 years old fixed or paying £250.00 for a new one just doesn't seem fair to me when I have been what I thought a valued customer for over 5 years. Any words of wisdom on this topic out there by anyone?

Do you know what make and model your Sky+ box is?

If it is the same as mine, an Amstrad DRX280, the power on them is renkowned for going on them but you can get an uprated part on ebay for around £20 or so, very easy to fit.

I would not give up on passing the Virgin Media Credit check. I am 3 years into my IVA and decided to try for Virgin Media, i signed up online and had a few emails from them explaining that they were going to carry out a credit check and i thought game over but within one day they emailed me back saying i passed the credit check and everything was installed.

Pleased to say everything is working well and have no complaints. I only took the TV service. I was not asked for any deposit due to my IVA either.

Good luck and i am sure you will pass the credit check.

if you tell sky that you want to leave stating the reason about having a non working box the 9 times out of ten they will replace it.virgin are really good with peoplw with bad credit history so if you want to move and they say yes you have got a bit off ammo to chuck at sky.

We got Virgin after entering the arrangement and are still with them. Hopefully it won't be an issue for you.

Thanks for all your comments. I've been told they won't get back to me until next week so I will have to wait to see what they say:-(

Our box broke and we decided to leave, we're still with them as they replaced it. Worth a try x

We moved between Sky and Virgin during our IVA and they did th credit check and we passed it ...they are looking to see your address and whether you are on the electoral role in the main ....so go with it and see what happens.

I had problems with my sky box, they wanted £70 to come and fix it asked to put through to cancellations who then gave me a new box free and full package half price for 6 months, since then I always ring up and ask to leave they give some great deals to keep you

well its been a busy morning. I spoke to virgin again and amazingly they are happy to go ahead providing I am happy to set up a D/D and there will be no charge. Great I thought and before arranging the install date I insisted on cancelling my sky subscription first. I've spoken to 3 people from sky in the last week, all of them unable to give me any offers at all. Suddenly, today I ring up to actually cancel and I get offered an engineer call out for just £15.00 instaed of the £65.00 quoted last week. At this point I dug my heels in a bit (knowing that virgin was still an option gave me some confidence). Amazingly the sky rep just noticed that I was eligible for an £18.50 discount off my normal bill for a whole year (yes 12 whole months). This was a good enough deal breaker for me as all I wanted was a continuation of service without paying more. Now I have a reasonable discount for 12 months. RESULT!!!! thanks for all your advice.

told you so.
they always do that.they don't want to lose the business and just rely on people buckling and taking there word for it.
even if you have no problems its worth just phoning and saying you want to leave to get a discount.dont do it too often but it does work.even if they say ok leave they will be back on the phone within a couple of days to try and get you to stay.

I agree they generally do it once they realise you're serious about cancellation. Glad it worked out in your favour.

When I was with Sky once, my box broke. I rang them and they said its £80 to fix it. I said right, cut me off now. They then said "would you stay if we fixed it for free.....but dont tell anyone" that seems to work. Now they put you on a year contract so not so easy unless you have been over a year. I live in Hull where we have a KC (Kingston Communications) line only. No BT, no choice. We can only have Sky. Im Jealous your in a position to choose ha ha. Same problems with the internet. Karoo only if you go through your landline.