I just got another call from Satellite Direct UK telling me that my Sky warranty needs renewing. Oddly enough, nothing has changed since their last call. We are still registered with the TPS so it’s unlawful for them to phone us and we still don’t have a Sky box, so it’s definitely not out of it’s warranty period, which they again suggested. Satellite Direct UK you are not morons: stop ignoring the TPS.
Update: Looks like we’re not the only recipients of their unwanted sales calls: Longrider (also called twice) points out a host of others.
Update: Satellite Direct UK’s business practices have subsequently been successfully challenged in the High Court by BSkyB.
Update 2008/03/10: Satellite Direct UK are investigated by BBC Watchdog (it’s available on iPlayer for 1 week after broadcast).
Update 2008/07/05: The director of Satellite Direct UK appears to have been charged with fraud and money laundering.
Update 2009/04/27 Many people are commenting that Satellite Direct have charged them 10x their agreed direct debit amount. It has been suggested that HMCS MoneyClaim Website is a good place to get your money back if you can’t contact Satellite Direct.
Update 2010/02/24The former director of Satellite Direct UK, Dave Reynolds, has been found guilty of £600,000 tax fraud.
We have also been conned… they took £49.99 from our account in Feb 09 and then upped our payments to £6.50 per month instead of the contracted amount of £5.00 per month, then in June they took another £49.99 from our bank account.
We couldnt get through on the phone, message always the same saying this phone is un available, we contacted our bank and they have refunded us through the DD endemnity.
Be aware because if they have your details they can set up another DD with out your permission, this happened to a lady who worked our my bank she was lucky she spotted it quickly, make sure you ask your bank to block them to prevent this.
The company name is:
Sat Link Services Ltd Forest House Durban Road Bognor Regis West Sussex P0229QT
It looks like I’ve been conned out of £70. Satellite Direct took two payments out of my account in May 2009. I contacted them and was told that they had problems with thier computer and couldny refund my money untill August.
I’m still waiting and not sure if there is anything I can do about it.
Any advice would be welcome.
To Admin
I have read with interest the comments above and will now add mine. Forget the new web site and company name. I have just received a letter saying that they are now(www.one4group.co.uk) Well I cannot find it. I found this one by chance. Forget trying to phne. You call the NEW call centre hang on for ages and when you are transferred you are promptly cut off. My next course of action is a snottagram. I shall also be speaking to my bank to stop ALL PAYMENTS with immediate effect. We have been trying to contact them since June. It all makes sense now.
another VERY DIS-SATISFIED CUSTOMER. 27 Aug 2009
Why is the company taking money called Liquidated Asset Management? When I rang my credit card company to check the payment they first of all thought it was for furniture and the second time I rang them they told me it was something to do with my satellite tv -
Sky Pro Plan say they have a office at
Sky Pro Plan
Specctrum House
Dunstable Road
Hertfordshire
AL3 5PR
This came as a shock to me as I live next door to the people that run this, his name is
[EDIT Name and Address witheld]
His office is underneath the flat where he lives. Hope that people who have had trouble with them will find this useful…..
i was robbed too how can the police allow this
Have you contacted them to report a crime?
Have any previous customers of Satlink or Satellite Direct been telephoned by acompany called Aerial Support, stating they have taken over Satellite Direct’s customers and trying to sell a policy?
NO NOT THAT COMPANY BUT A COMPANY CALLED SOMETHING CORPORATION WHICH HAS AN ADDRESS IN HIGH HOLBORN IN LONDON IS AN OFFSHOOT OF SAT DIRECT. THEY TRIED TO SET UP A DD WITH MY BANK USING THE DETAILS OF A CANCELLED CONTRACT WHICH I HAD PREVIOUSLY WITH SAT DIRECT.MY BANK GAVE ME THE INFO ON SOMETHING CORPORATION AND GAVE ME THE TELEPHONE NUMBER OF A COMPANY CALLED DOCUMNETRIX WHO SETS UP DD FOR SOMETHING CORPORATION. THEY WORK FROM AN ADDRESS IN SUSSEX AND HIGH HOLBORN IS THE REGISTERED OFFICE.BEWARE OF THESE PEOPLE AND CHECK YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS DAILY……
we have just found out about satellite have been trying to phone all day will get on to bank tomorro w and see where we go from there
He’s conned me too out of £100 on 24 April. No more though.
YOU WILL NOT GET PAYED HE IS GOING TO HAVE YOU ALL OVER
I WORKED FOR THAT CON MAN IM SO HAPPY IM OUT HAVE A NEW JOB AND LOVE IT, HE IS GOING TO PRISON
This company rented our flat in Brighton Marina and left us with months of unpiad rent after refusing to leave the property when we did get it back it was such a mess. Mr Tim Harris was the tenant he drives a brand new lexus thou.Tony
Yes Tony, all because your wife lied in July when I tried to rent a flat and she stated to waterfront properties I owed 3 months rent. Satlink owes you the money, the fact you have now named me as the tenant my solicitors will be pleased. See you in court!
Hello Tim. In your earlier comment regarding how delighted you were with the service you received from Satellite Direct, I notice you didn’t mention what appears to be a significant connection with the company. Is this yet more Satellite Direct misdirection; an honest oversight; or something else wholly understandable? I hope it’s the latter.
Well said Rich. He lost the Lexus in the Sat D./Satcover closure. Drives something with a big spoiler now – possibly a Suburu. And I understand he’s part of a new set up in Burgess Hill fronted by Terry Walls and Peter Campbell.
As the poor devil who deposited £500 plus with you for a site wi fi system…can you please tell me what has happened to Something Corporation ????……….tried to e mail Kelly jo edmeads to say “where is our commission” etc ????
not sure if they’re still trading. Try the address at High Holborn or try MCR
http://www.something.info same company ?lots of complaints?sat link company left boxes of these leaflets in my flat after renting of us ? tony
all telephone numbers i have are ‘temporarily suspended’. Does anyone have a live number i can use? does this business still trade?
I Have Been With Sat Direct U.K. A Few Years.I Have Been Phoning Them As They Promised Me A New Sky Box And So When I Phone I Just Got An Answer Phone Every Time. I Think It’s Discustting For Them To Treat People This Way. I Have Been PAYING £72.00 A YEAR
i have acas trying to contact sat direct mr reynold has conned all his ex staff as he keeps changing the the company name all the time acas are trying to track i need help to get information for me and other ex staff for mr reynold to pay what he owes i thinking about using a national newspaper to let the public know what he is all about and don’t use something tv they will rob you they have not paid any reduncies money to an ex member of staff who died not so long ago need help with some info
like you i am an ex employee and have had these con men take me for a ride i have been in contact with the tribunal and caroline barnes who was head of h.r. for sat direct and sat link servicesis now h.r for a company called one 4 staff at you know were imperium house. she said in a letter to the tribunal that she had no knowledge of me or sat link services strange how there company is advertising jobs for sat link services in bognor regis. i would like to hear if anyone knows if dave reynolds has his sticky fingers in this company again that is ONE 4 STAFF
One4Staff was one of Dave Renolds companies but has now gone into administration along with Satellite Direct, Satcover and Something Services. The rumour mill says he has got his fingers in other pies though. Something from the old ‘Wheelie bin’ offices in Burgess Hill and also something to do with engineers from a place not far from the old office at Imperium House.
if you go onto the government website for Directors and Secretaries, it does give home address details for public viewing,try it, its helped me track people in the past. You might also get a contact number.
Will also show other trading names this company has used.
Good luck !
So, two questions…
What’s the website address?
What’s the point of tracking anyone?
i joined digital satellite cover uk march 06 and have paid about £430 since then .two engineers have obviously fobbed me off i have now discovered because latest engineer has confirmed my sky plus box is faulty. they guarantee to fix the fault same day but the engineer did not have a replacement box. Have made several calls over a three week period but promised call from engineer to confirm a date has not materialized.
have just cancelled direct debits which this company have
somehow set up – without our agreement, but luckily spotted it before any money had been actually taken – what are they playing at?
Anyone having been a victim of an unauthorised Direct debit is guaranteed a full and immediate refund by their Bank under Direct indemnity scheme. Dont wait for these Companies – raise the query with your bank and get your money back now. If you wish to continue with your chosen Sat care company then raising this indemnity will not effect any ongoing business relationship that you may wish to persue.
The direct debit guarantee will cover you but only if the bank can get its money back from the company. So you may recieve money from the bank but they may take it back if they aren’t reimbursed by the offending company. Its not worth the paper its written on!!
In cases of dispute, were the bank do not reimburse you, talk to the financial ombudsman.
Satellite Aftercare UK Ltd
phone No 0800 141 2612
this is the most relivant phone number I was able to find hope it helps
had a phonecall of saying how much of a valued customer i have been and my monthly payments were going to be less,they even asked me of upgrading my sky channels. They blabbered on and even knew my name. I honestly belived they were from sky. They continued on knowing my first 4 numbers of my card, i wasnt aware that all card numbers at a certain branch and area was the same 4 digits. He continued to blabber on and ask me my 3 digit signature number at the back of my card. He convinced me so much as he blabbered on knowing my sort code of my branch,he wanted to clarify my card details with the long number across my card. He was so convincing i gave it to him and he told me yes this was correct. To my horror the following day they had taken all my money out of my account,luckily it wasnt hundreds but £40 was all i had in there. Ive occured bank charges of £5 each day ,ive had a threatened phone call saying we could have dealt with it onto a 1 to 1 basis. They said if i didnt take no further action money will be put back into my account but they will not pay the bank charges, so im just waiting,its been 2 days now,so got too see the outcome. Soo sorry for you out there who has also be conned by this firm .xx
Contact the police.
I was insured with Digital stalite they went out of business a company called something took over they told me i had to pay £60.00 for 1 year. I paid over the phone when i checked my old records i was still insured. When you try to call something on 01243200150 ther is always a technical problem and you cant talk to anyone so i think i have been coned also.
The phone number you’ve quoted is out of service as the company has gone into liquidation. watch out for a phoenix company called Digital TV UK Ltd as they’ll probably call you trying to take over your policy. All your records will have been passed onto this company and they probably already have your bank details. The company is being fronted by a man called Terry Walls but basically it’s Satellite Direct/Sat Link/Something under a new name. Check them out before parting with any cash. Who knows, they may be kosher but you should be very wary.
Dave Reynolds has now set up another company in Burgess Hill, the original one in Ford lane is now locked up, however I went past there at 3pm today and lights were on but could see no sign of anyone. there appeared to be on car tucked well out of site from the road around the back. Not sure who or what that was. Stellite Direct and all its sub companies no longer exist, those of you that are owed money will have a long wait i,m afraid.
be careful the company that is in there is called one4staff i cant say that they have anything to do with the satellie companies but i was one of the engineers that worked for satelitte direct and satellite link services that are in bognor regis and were part of satellite direct like most of you we were all hard working engineers that gave the customers the best service we could but behind our backs dave reynolds was conning us just as he was conning you the H.R manager for this one4staff is the same H.R.manager that was with satellite direct and satellite link services and another name used was sat cover ltd. this person is cut from the same mold as dave renolds when answering a letter from the tribunal this person tried to say that sat direct and sat link services did not work out of that building and that they had no knowledge of any of the staff. but as a staffing company they are advertising jobs for satellite link services and sat cover. as i said we are just like you we have been conned as well they owe me several thousend pounds. please dont blame the engineers we were in the dark just as you all were if you know an engineer he can most likely be trusted but that will be for you to make your own minds up.
I worked in admin for one4staff so don’t actually know you Bob but a lot of what you have said here is inaccurate. One4Staff closed the same time as the other companies – 23.10.09 – and ALL staff were made redundant. No one was ever employed by Sat Cover – it was just a means to take payments from people and to pay people from. It never employed anyone. You mention that you worked for Satellite Link Services. No idea who they are but they’ve never been involved with anyone employed by Satellite Direct, One4Staff etc and if you check companies house no company of that name exists. i don’t know much about tribunals but I guess if you were claiming against the wrong company, that’s why your claim was rejected. As I said, no one worked for sat Cover so again if you tried to claim against them you wouldn’t have got anywhere. if you worked for sat link or Sat Support you’d need to claim off Tristan Glaves – his details are on companies house website. I used to get adverts for jobs in my payslips but havne’t had any since about March and that was for sales agents. I’ve never had any adverts for Satellite Link or Sat Cover and the recruitment person went in June/July. For forums like this to have any credibility the comments have to be factual and I’m afraid your aren’t Bob.
No response Bob? You know I’m right, that’s why!!!
He has not replied because you are right being as you worked in H.R. you would know everything
barking up the wrong tree I’m afarid. I didn’t earn THAT much!
How would you know what they earned in hr if you did not work there??????????????
think about it…….
Don’t think so CB
I’d love to see your face when you finally realise who I am!! By my reckoning at least 50 people had access to what people earned plus all the people like me who were told. when are you going to accept that Satellite Direct is no more? You need to get a job, get a life and get over it
There will be no surprise on my face… as I know who you are, and yes I do have a job, its you that needs to get on with your life, not me, and I also think you know who I am, that is why your so vindictive,its in your nature with anyone who you worked with, or should I say anyone that was below your rank.
I see even no nonsense know who you are CB.
I already know who you are CB so there is no surprise there, so sorry to dissapoint you. I have a job now,and I have put SatD behind me, but I can not forget all my friends and colleagues who worked hard to keep that place going,and the witch that worked in HR.
Can I ask for all comments that relate to Terry Walls and my business in Burgess Hill that are related to the operations of any of the associated companies of Satellite Direct, Satcover or One4group to be removed. I am endeavouring to run a legitimate business. I am intending that all customers will be treated fair and square and honestly. Comments associating my business with the above are unfounded I did ask yesterday for them to be removed can you please do this for me.
Many Thanks
Terry Walls
Hi Terry, what is your company called?
I’m happy to remove any incorrect associations.
Terry, how on Earth can you claim to have no association with any of the rogue Reynolds companies when you recently became a Director of the Something Group and of the illustrious Wheelie Bin & Window Cleaning Company Ltd (following in David Reynolds footsteps)both of which are listed in the published accounts of Satellite Direct and Satcover as associated companies? Everybody knows that you have been at Reynolds beck & call for the last 4 years. How about giving some of that misappropriated stock in your warehouse back to the administrators too. It might raise a few pennies to pay some creditors.
…and of Digital TV UK, whose registered office is at Imperium house – the very building owned by Satellite Direct/Satcover!
lets not for get to tell mcr of play radio in south hamton
They’ve already been told and are investigating
Come on Terry you’re just the front man for another Dave set up. It’s an absolute con. You told us at the Southdowns that Dave was going to be working for you as a ‘consultant’ but he would be pulling the strings. Nothing changes. I hope you can sleep a night knowing that you’ve helped put hundreds of poeple out of work. MCR will catch up with you and all the stock you’ve taken. These forums will keep track of you and pete Campbell who didn’t even have the balls to tell the engineers himself that they’d lost their jobs. You can run Terry, but you’ll never be able to hide and Dave won’t be able to protect you forever. Companies House shows when the shares were transfered to you which oddly enough was just before the other companies closed. Odd that…..
Unsurprisingly the domain name windowandwheelie.co.uk is registered at Imperium House, Ford Lane.
I am an ex something corporation engineer and done the best job i could for what was shown to me as a good upstanding company that i now know was a rougue company.
Peter Campbell when reassuring us engineers how good the company was told us that he was good personal friends with Dave Reynolds so obviously he now can’t be trusted. But i will stand up for Peter Campbell and say the day i was told i had lost my job cos of redundancy he told me personally and he came to me.
our box started going faulty so phoned number given on documents and it says this service is no longer available we also had the amount of 50.00 taken out instead of five but managed to get a refund have now cancelled direct debits
I think everyone should go to dave reynolds trial for 1.2mill tax fraud. Throw a party when the big nose twat gets sent to prison.
hi what a mess that man left us all in i have set my own warranty company based in south wales only and only the customer will be in charge of their own bank accounts for a great deal starting from 339 email skywales@aol.com
I have asked you before to please rewmove all references to myself and links with Mr David Reynolds or any of his companies from your web-site.
I am trying to build a legitimate business in my own right and is No way connected to David Reynolds or any of his previous companies.
I am more than a victim of his also and am owed a horrendous amount of money for building works and I am in discussions with the liquidators.
The comments posted are unfounded and can you please remove them.
This would be much appreciated if you could do this.
Many Thanks
Terry Walls
Hi Terry,
I’ve already responded to your email address, asking you to specify the name of your company so I can do a thorough whitewash job; however, I’ve not received a reply, so I’ll try again on here.
I’m more than happy to remove any messages that are unfounded in relating you, or your business, to Satellite Direct or Dave Reynolds. You, are, of course, welcome to respond directly to any of them. If you can please specify the name of your business that will be useful, because as you’ll appreciate there is a lot of discussion on here, and the majority of it is about Satellite Direct, not Terry Walls.
I need your help though.
When I went to remove all references to Terry Walls, I found several messages were apparently left by you, supporting Satellite Direct. The strangest of these was left under the pseudonym of “Tony Wales” but sharing your email address, and ISP. Tony Wales had been using Satellite Direct for several years and was delighted by the service.
Further, there are several more messages that appear to be from you, this time under the name of Terry, also eulogising the service provided by Satellite Direct, here, here, here and here.
Would you like me to remove these messages too? If you wrote them, then obviously I’m happy to remove them, but if it’s some other Terry Walls, then since they are heaping nothing but praise on SatD then I’d prefer to leave them – I’m sure you’ll appreciate that I just happened to write a few articles a few years ago about the marketing ineptitude of SatD and the negative comments, and their social implications for many families have since snowballed; so it’s nice to see that someone was at least happy with their service.
So:
If the “Terry” comments were left by you and you’d like them removed, please let me know – if they were not left by you, then I’ll leave them ’cause it would be unfair to censor another Terry Walls just because of a coincidental name clash.
Would you like me to leave your Tony Wales pseudonym messages on the site or should I remove these too?
Can you please let me know the name of your company so I can find any and all references to it.
Once I know what’s what it shouldn’t take long to remove any unsuitable content.
come on terry!!! It’s very easy to trace through companies house that the day Dave Reynolds resigned as a director of WBWCC you became a director. The same as something group. All of this can be verified through UHY Hacker Young, the company accountants. Any mistruths should of course be removed but you know as well as everyone else Terry, that there IS a link between you. Looking at the company accounts for wheelie bin, how come no profit was shown when you had a large customer database as verified by some of your ex-employees? Why employ so many staff if none of your customers were paying you?
Wide awake or should i say [*], you should of learnt by now that you need to keep your mouth closed…Thats why Dave constantly had his phallus in it, its obvious it was you from the start, now i’ve got a few TRUTHS to tell Satellite Direct, Something, Play TV, Sat Cover, Sat Link, were all run by Dave Reynolds even if they are not stated as his own, he was pulling strings while you where pulling something of his I worked for that conman who REALLY does believe he is a business man, but he is in court now and hopefully going to be sent to prison, and [*] i hope you join him along with [*] and all the other people who Dave kept sorted. It was because of you that fair and hard working people lost their jobs and in some cases their homes. I hope you all rot in the pits of hell and feel the same hurt and pain you caused others. Anyway we all have new jobs and are getting on with our lives now, while his in court and will hopefully be inside soon. Bye bye
[* Names removed]
Well done no nonsense didnt take you long to work out who wide awake is, and I am with you 100 per cent.
Hi
I have not checked the site recently owing to being very busy and hence no reply till now.
I can advise you all that I have nothing to hide.
My business trading name is Digital Tv Uk Ltd and our website is http://www.digitaltvuk4u.com. All our details are there for everyone to see,including our address.
I have set this business up as a direct result of the actions of Satellite Direct and it’s associated companies (directors etc…)and the financial damage this caused to my construction business and myself.
I employ my own engineers and cover at present 85% of the United Kingdom excluding Ireland and we do not cover Ireland at present. Most of the engineers are experienced ex-employees of Satellite Direct.
We will service all our customers and also those of other companies as soon as possible after reported if our Freephone service line is unable to help.
The Wheelie Bin and Window Cleaning Company was also a casualty caused by the actions of Satellite Direct etc… Their actions cost the company its credit card facilities and shortly it will lose it’s bank account.
The business was a victim of circumstance and the decision to stop operations was not taken lightly.
Yes it did have a large customer base, however some members of staff did not perform anywhere near good enough even to cover their wages, also the winter time meant that sometimes for days on end that there was very little and sometimes NO income from some members of staff, but they were all still paid despite this.
Regarding customers not paying some of this was due to some of the cleaners not bothering to do the jobs allocated,saying they had done them when they clearly had not. This meant that although we had some very good window cleaners we were let down by some that just did not care about the job or the customer and only interested in getting paid every week.
After stopping operations I have helped some of the ex-employees to set up business on their own.
For those of you who think the WB & WC business was profitable I can assure you all it definately was not, I put in over 2 and half years of my time unpaid into it and lots of my own money into trying to get it to work.
I used to have an input to this site under Tony Wales as I then did not want my name to be fully out there, however I stand by everything I said as it was true at the time and the service that they did provide at the time was first class.
David Reynolds resigned from the companies I am sole director of as a result of circumstances. This business is mine and I am just trying to earn on honest living.
I do not hide my name, my business address and details, unlike others.
I have probably suffered more than anyone from the unjust treatment I received and would just like to put it all behind me and earn an honest living from this business.
I will and do promise nothing but honesty, good service, good customer care and to treat everyone fair.
This company is nothing to do with David Reynolds at all.
Terry Walls
Ok, sounds fair enough.
So, your call Terry. You can keep every comment you’ve made on the site, or I’ll delete the lot. People are still going to ask questions, and find associations on other sites (or assume them), so it may be to your benefit to leave everything here (and if you like I’ll even put a link in any past mentions to your message above… or if you have a company website and want to put set up a landing page saying something similar, then I’m happy to link to that). It’s better to play a bad hand well, than to cheat a good one, so you might be better off leaving everything.
I’ll let you make the call: keep or delete?
Rich
Hi no lets leave everything out there as I have nothing to hide. If you would like to put a link to my web-site then please feel free.
Best Regards
Terry Walls
Thanks Terry. I was feeling a bit down what with not getting paid but I’ve just looked at your website and it has cheered me right up. I couldn’t stop laughing! “One of the UK’s largest independent providers…” Tee Hee. And the Reynolds-esque phrasing – and the spelling mistakes. All that and your customers get “total peace of mind” too. Well that’s a relief then….
not exactly a natural career progression is it Terry.. The builder for Daves offices to running a digitaltv company. Theres no wonder people are suspicious.
what is the website address Newsgeek? I could do with a laugh
It’s http://www.digitaltvuk4u.com
OMG Neewsgeek your so right!!! It’s vitually a carbon copy of the old sat D stuff!! Of course Reynolds is in no way connected with this outfit!!! They could at least have come up with something original
CB whats the matter arent Dave and Terry friends anymore, As per usual did Dave stop sharing??
Well said Terry. I know you paid all your staff from your own money, I was a witness to that. All I can say is good luck and I hope it works out for you. Even if wideawake may bare a grude about your success I wish you all the best.
wideawake doesn’t bear a grudge at all one4all – far from it. if people can earn an honest living then all power to them. At least terry has now admitted that he misled people under a false name. you seem to be very well informed though one4all. You were obviously closer to it all than the rest of us
not as close as you wideawake I didnt even know about Hacker young who are they? and wheelie bins and windows not making a profit wow!!! for someone only working in admin you have a lot of Knowledge and obviously have access to accounts??? perhaps these details were in your payslips?
come on one4all i thought you were smarter than that. You think Hr were the only dept who knew what people earned? think about it………
Anyone with half a brain can get any information they want on a limited company. It doesn’t take a lot of investigation. Surely even you can work that out. I’d love to claim to be someone else but don’t want to end up getting sued.
Yes I totally agree with you I do only have half a brain thats why I ended up working with someone like you!!!! as for investigating on companies house, WHY, you obviously have nothing else to do, why dont you just leave Terry and everything else behind and get on with your life.
you seem a little obsessed with me one4all – I’m flattered. Are you trying to direct the heat away from the REAL villain I wonder?
What a load of rubbish…….you took over 600 peoples money for a warranty then shut the business down after making fraudulent claims to suppliers and staff ( who still haven’t been paid) You broke the law by using illegally obtained data
What I find funny about all this argumant is the notion that Sky are a reputable company, yet many of their prtactises seem to refute this.
Why doesn’t Sky look after all of the customer systems as part of the package. Is it because when you signed up years ago they used to only charge for the installation of the standard box but issue the equipment free of charge, ie negating a lot of the responsibility for system failure.
Why is it Sky can hide behind evident problems with their own software issues and when customers complain they are told it is ‘their’ equipment that is at fault.
When you sign up for HD or Skyplus, if after one year you decide to cancel your package with sky and obtain a freesat card, why have you no access to the hard drive, which after all belongs to you. Sky could even let you programme your recordings using the manual recording set
up, but you can’t.
If you have an HD box and you decide to quit the HD service why is it you are then barred from watching a lot of channels that you would of got if you had retained a standard or Skyplus box, especially on the anytime tv section.
A lot of the supposed HD contents are films etc that have been put through an upscaler.
Sky is a big greedy monopoly, that has been given a relatively free reign by a government that was indebted to its directors.
Sky can and evidently do eat the Dave Reynolds of this world for breakfast and thats not counting all the small supply and installation fims that were trampled on by Sky.
Indeed, a monopoly. Very bad. Which is one of the reasons why I don’t have Sky, and why Satellite Direct targeting me really was particularly dumb.
I’m getting calls from another (May be same) company trying to flog me Satellite Cover. The number they call from is 0871 265 9865 and their trading addresses are:
1. Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd, 2nd Floor, 145-157 John Street, London EC1V 4PY
2. Unit 5, Capitol Trading Park, Kirkby Bank Road, Kirby L33 7SY
These Fookwits and I’ll say that to their faces given half the chance are nothing more than irritating little twonks being paid minimum call centre wages and who won’t take NO for an answer.
The annoying thing is SKY gave them my details, ex directory number and I’m about to leash my wrath on them for this.
They picked the wrong person this time as I work in the Telecomms Industry at a very senior level.
When they call me now I just say oh give me one second and put the phone down while still connected, it’s their money they are wasting.
Imbeciles – I enjoy taking the proverbial out of them it’s kinda like therapy.
It’s highly likely that Sky haven’t given them any data on you at all. Sky have their own competing warranty service, so it would be silly to let customer detail out like that. It’s more likely (but would make a far less interesting movie plot) that DSWC are just going through the electronic phonebook and filling in the blanks, and guessing/hoping that you have Sky, as SatD unsuccessfully did with us.
In fact, it’s a dead cert that Sky haven’t sold any customer data to anyone other than Domestic & General. That’s not to say that their sub-contractors haven’t. Digital Satellite Warranty Cover appear to be associated to Satellite Direct (see http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/public/tf_ADJ_43603.htm) so they are probably ringing their data and customer list. On that subject, there are quite a few companies that seem to have got their hands on Satellite Direct’s customer list and are actively marketing their services to it. There’s Satellite Aftercare, Sky Homecare (why on Earth do Sky allow that?) but the most surprising of all is Sky themselves or at least Domestic & General who say they are ringing on behalf of Sky. It’s too soon for the database to have been sold by the asministrators, so the question is, how did they all come by it?
Sometimes people who work for Sky, Domestic & General and various other companies, download customer databases when they leave and then sell these on, or start their own companies.
DSWC did have a contract with satellite direct to cover all their service calls.
Are you able to get in touch with anyone dealing with Satellite Direct
The no. 01243 200150 seems now useless
My HD Box was taken away for repair never to be seen or heard of again!! and left with a sky + box instead
Should I cut my losses and try to obtain another HD Box?
Your box is, in theory, still your property and not part of the SD assets that will be being sold off: but getting it back will be a very difficult task. Probably time to claim on the home insurance. I was always very suspicious of the NTL (now Virgin media) policy that the box remains theirs, but in these cases it makes a lot of sense.
Maybe that nice reputable company called Sky will feel sorry for you all and issue replacement boxes, seriously though after talking to one of the engineers who worked for this company, a lot of the HD boxes were left on the vans when they were repossesed by West Wallasey van hire.
To Everyone on this website, Out of you all please state if you are a director of a company, this is a scam and they can obtain details from companies house, they had my old details from where i previously lived, and where my company details havnt been changed yet, some peoples comments on here are from the FRAUDSTERS as you would not leave a message to say how good they are, we only check these sites because we know something is not quite right.DO NOT give bank or card details over the phone. If you already have then ring your bank as soon as you can. Phil Wirral
come on wide awake we all know its you CB
who?
Please can some one tell me how to get hold of satellite direct,as they have taken out money from account,with not even a phone call to tell me that my sky warranty has run out,then they have a nerve to take out twice the amount,i am not happy with this sevice,the telephone number i have is not being answered….
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Satellite Direct aren’t trading any longer.
Every server in Ford went missing I heard and anyone whos hoping to get paid.. forget it, the best you’ll get is via the insolvency fund. Whilst some of you guys from Ford might have been paid something in the last few months, some of us havent seen a penny since July.
I he always wondered whether Sky employ people to knock a lot of companies on these forums even though satellite direct needed a good knocking.
Hello,
I have just found this forum, and what fascinated to read all about the dodgey companies, I have a policy with Satellite Aftercare UK, does anybody now about this one? should i cancel my DD? I think I was with Satellite Direct before in the summer, which went under and now i need to check my bank statement from that period to see if any other DD came out.
Thank you to everybody who has commented, you have just saved me a big headache. I was with Satellite Direct Ltd until they took 10x my DD which I recovered from Direct Debt Guarantee. I was contacted by SD Ltd and stupidly set up a DD for a less amount. Not long after a company called Satellite Aftercare Ltd contacted me, they had taken over SD Ltd customer base as SD Ltd were no longer trading. I said OK to a £4 pm agreement. Having had problems with my Sky+ box I called them and the engineer was booked for Monday 30/11/09, never arrived and no phone call. Contacted them, the excuse was the new box had not been delivered by courier company, but would be tomorrow without fail. no phone call so I called and cancelled the engineer and the DD.
After reading the comments above I decided to check my bank account, low and behold only today a DD has been set up for PLAY, no money had been taken and I cancelled it right away. I immediately called the bank
and told them about it, of course you don’t get your own branch these days so they don’t really care.
I have now told them no DD’s can be set up without permission from me first.
I received a telephone call a few weeks ago from Digital Satellite Warrenty Limited and the telephone number was
08712659865
I was told that I had a warranty with Satellite Direct and this company had gone into liquidation. I was then asked to sign up with them. I asked for them to send me this in writing.
Following this phone call I telephoned Sky, with whom I had set up my warranty. Sky confirmed that my warranty was with Domestic and General and this company had not gone into liquidation.
I have received another telephone call this evening and I asked where they had gotten my details from. I was told that I had cover with Satellite Direct from 2006 until 2007 and that is why they were contacting me. I asked them not to contact me again as my warranty was covered through Domestic and General and it was of no importance to me that a company I had insurance with 2years ago had gone into liquidation.
They are apparantly taking my name etc of their list – lets just hope they do.
I wonder how they got SD’s list. The customer list is the property of SD, and I’d guess it’s therefore now the property of the receiver (MCR I believe), who may be able to sell it in order to recoup some of the funds owed by SD. Perhaps DSWC bought it. Let’s hope so.
The Satellite Aftercare one is easily explained. After Satellite Direct lost their own Direct Debit facility because of all the DD fraud, they tried to go directly to a DD bureau in Sheffield. I don’t remember what they were called. That fell through because of customer complaints after the first DD collection and so then SD went to Satellite Aftercare (who already had their own bureau facility) and offered them a pot of money to process some DDs for them. They did, but immediately got their facility suspended too. After that, Satellite Direct died because of lack of income. Hence, Satellite Aftercare have acquired a large chunk of Satellite Directs customer database. Digital Satellite Warranty was owned by Satellite Direct so they’ve probably got the database too. Everybody is ringing Satellite Directs customers now, trying to sign them up. There’s nothing wrong in that – for many people, a warranty is a good idea – but you have to be careful about who you sign up with. Some companies are trying to do things legitimately but others are just out to make a quick buck – skywarrantycompare.com usually have info on most companies.
…as for MCR selling the database, it isn’t rally worth a bean. It is so diluted now, plus most of the customers were ripped off in one way or another. More trouble than it’s worth I’d say.
any idea whats happening with Reynolds court case newsgeek? All seems to have gone strangely quiet
You should know your a character witness for him.
Minor issue, I was out of the country on holiday at the time!!!! Still wouldn’t want to let fact stand in the way of your little fanstasy would we?? Came back to hear he’s being sent down. Hopefully people will move on with their sad little lives now and leave this website for what it was meant for – protecting innocent customers and not saddos who have a personal axe to grind.
Then why dobt you get off this website saddo
Can you keep us all informed of the court case on Monday I hear your going there for a bit of support.
Any court case updates out there..?
I have today received a call from this company.
I have however, heard about this scam in the past so was already armed when they called.
They are STILL using the same number 0871 265 9865
They told me that my warranty with THEM had ran out on the 18th of last month..
When I confronted them saying that they were talking b*ll*cks and my cover was with Domestic and General they simply said that they would amend my records and hung up
So, these guys are STILL active and STILL scamming
Which company did they say they were?
Christ, it seems like everyone in the country is dodgy
I should think that there are a whole raft of small companies starting up on the back of Sat d. Ex employees
who need to make a living, fair play on them. Leave them alone and give them a chance.
Indeed. Any lawfully operating satellite warranty firm is unlikely to cold call me to sell me a warranty for a Sky box that doesn’t exist, so good luck to ‘em.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with the word lawfully Rich. Unfortunately a lot of the ex Sat D staff wouldn’t know how to do this which is a shame. I’ve just taken out a warranty with D & G who I know I can trust so for once I agree with One4all – not all warranties are bad
I totally agree with you. I had a bad experience with Satellite Direct so regard any of these cold calls offering to insure my satellite dish as suspect. I cancelled sky 8 months ago – Which makes me think that this company is using Satellite Direct lists. I checked with bank, after this call, to ensure that the warning that all new d/d requests should be referred to me. Everyone who has dealt with Sat Direct should make sure they have this warning on their account
I agree with you navvy I am an x employee just trying to find a living to keep the roof over my head although I would not consider going back into the industry not all Satellite companies are con men give them a chance
I phoned One4Group on 10 Dec on 0844 8006467 after I rec’d a call from Satserve UK informing me that One4Group had gone “bust”. Person I spoke to at One4Gp said “we are definitly still in business, but we have moved to 2A Craime Street, Chichester, PO19 1LN and the service number is 01903 264246″. I am in process of obtaining a form from my Bank to recover the £59.99 that I paid to renew my cover on 29 Sept 09. Hope the new address helps you all.
Terry walls company UK Digital TV,has, as far as I know now ceased trading, which is a pity. He lost a fortune because of SDUK and I expect he has lost a lot more money that was invested in this new venture.
it’s a shame if terry really has gone bust buuuuut it all seems a bit coincidental….If Terry really has gone under then he can always go back to building.
lets get rid of all these shabby warranty firms so that we are left with the good guys like D&G or maybe Sky. lol.
Note: Your ratio of messages that are in some way anti-sky briefly dropped below 50% there. What have they done to deserve such relative love?
LOL! Maybe Navvy51s jumped ship!!!
I used to work for them.
Hello to all, i’ve just stumbled upon this site while trying to find some info on Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd, who cold called me yesterday, asking for me by name & i’m also ex-directory. I had previously received a couple of dodgy looking letters (I use that term loosely)which I binned as junk mail. Alarm bells went off for me as soon as the caller said who the company were – I have never taken out a warranty from any company – including Sky & that’s the way I wanted it. Shocked that an unknown company had my ex-dir number, plus asked for me by name, I asked her how she had got my private landline no, to which she replied that DSWC Ltd were Sky’s official/preferred repair/warranty provider so she automatically had my info & being ex-directory made no difference. I basically told her that this was baloney (I had made it emphatically clear to Sky when I 1st had to supply my number that due to serious harrassment/bullying that they must make very sure that it was NEVER to be used for any kind of sales/marketing & that Sky & BT (line rental & also given the same strict instructions) were the only 2 companies that had the information & even then that was only cos I had no choice, given that they needed it to provide their service. I had also made it crystal clear that I was signed up to the Telephone Preference Service. She then began to get narky with me but still insisted that her company had a right to call me. I had to ask 5 or 6 times before she finally admitted that she was not with Sky or anything to do with them. I asked her to remove all my details from her records. She was then rude & sarcastic & hung up on me. Wot a charm school she went to! I find this very worrying, as well as extremely upsetting given that there is a serious personal reason why nobody has my tel no. I’m now also really puzzled as I have no idea who leaked my info – or why, given that I have not been approached this way for years & I can’t be on any previous data base (well, only Sky’s.) I’m so angry but unsure where to direct that. Someone has breached my security but who? Does anyone know how I can get to the root of this please? I feel really let down & quite unsafe now if i’m honest. It’s not so easy to change your no when your broadband & calls r connected to your landline. I work from home & need internet access daily, plus, aside from the inconvenience & lost earnings, i’m sure I would get charged by BT for a new tel no. I have no idea what to do now (I don’t believe for a second that they will have deleted my details) so what now? I’d be really grateful for any thoughts or advice you could offer. Is the most likely culprit Sky? If that’s so, they have let me down very badly. Seems to me you can’t trust anyone any more. Thanks for listening to my drone & waffle – i’d love to know what you wise ones think of my story, or from any similar tales. Thanks again & best wishes, Merc.
Sounds like something the researchers at the BBC’s Watchdog would be most interested to look into. If you follow that link, their Computers & Communication category has a Warranties sub-category.
Hello Rich,
thanks very much for that info & the link, i’ll have a proper look at it tomorrow. I’m going to attempt to complain to Sky as I honestly don’t see who else could’ve passed my number on. Won’t hold my breath tho (have already rung customer services & got someone from India who put me on hold forever & then told me “it wasn’t Sky, it must have been BT so talk to them instead”. I’ll let you know if I find out anything that may be of use to all of you. Thanks again & best wishes, Merc.
Merc, as another redundant satd employee,I gathered from my time there that names and addresses etc which were used for cold calling purposes were bought from 1 of several 3rd party data collection agencies. THEY buy their info from any company willing to sell customer info on for a profit…eg wherever you purchase anything major ( like a tv or washing machine or fridge..)utilities, even probably Sky. They take your details for “guarantee” purposes, and then, UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY ASK THEM NOT TO, they will then have the option to pass (sell) your details on.
Hope this helps clear up a little of the mystery.
i had a agreement with sat link services in bognor regis po22 9qt they have quoted sky tv in there agreement so i thought that i was safe enough but i was so WRONG phoned today to get my fixed as you guess nobody answered the telephone feel so angry as i have lost £170.00 and my agreement does not run out to 2011 so i have had to pay twiced they people who think they can con people so be made to pay
The customer list was sold to Sat Insure in Chichester West Sussex. It was sold on the agreement that they would honour the unfulfilled part of any customer contracts. If you had a policy with any of the companies call 0800 121 8611. They will gladly help.
If anyone has success or otherwise with this, RSVP.
According to the Administrators website, they have undertaken to write to all the customers in the database to tell them of the administration and to tell them they are honouring all outstanding policies. At the death, Satellite Direct was selling 3 and 4 year policies just to get the cash in. If you had bought the database, would you write to those people?
In any case, from the look of the details available at Companies House, Sat-Insure don’t appear to have the history or the resources to take on such long term, non-profit commitments.
Hmm, somebody called [removed] perhaps responsible for gutting that room and taking around £4mill’s worth of goods??
If you’ve got a finger to point, contact the official receiver or make a statement to the police. Anonymous grassing here helps nobody.
I have been paying SatD for about 6 years for cover through a direct debit after recieving one of there calls talking bout my sky warrenty – they are still taking money what should I do beyond cancelling the direct debit!?
For a long time we’ve said that satellite TV warranty salesman David Reynolds is a charlatan – and now he’s been found guilty in a huge fraud case.
The former director of Satellite Direct UK, Satcover and Homecare Services Agreements was found guilty of defrauding the taxman of over £600,000.
[snip]
Satellite Direct has since gone bust with debts of £27,117,210.00 and, no, the decimal point isn’t in the wrong place. Satcover is in administration.
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2010/02/david-reynolds-of-satcover-gui.html
——-
Finally the guys gonna get whats coming to him..
Apparently David Reynolds was found guilty of £600,000 of VAT fraud yesterday 26/02/2010 and will be sentenced some time in March 2010
Hi, it would appear that my father may have been scammed by Sky – Pro Plan Ltd (that is how is shows the name on the paperwork). If anyone has any info please share. Engineers don’t turn up, have now taken an annual renewal from his account and now no reply to calls. Checking Company House there is a company registered as Sky-Proplan Ltd, but I can’t find anything on it from the web.
They are scammers Kim. They list their business activity at Companies House as “Grow cereals and other crops” – I imagine that is just a dodge to avoid being prosecuted by Sky. Call your bank or credit card company and get your money back. Tell your local trading standards office too. There’s laws about failing to provide a service you are taking money for.
Dave Reynolds has been imprisoned and has to serve
minimum of 22 months.
You may mean this company:
Spectrum House is a commercial building where small companies can lease space, so you may get somewhere by contacting the property’s agent to see if she has up-to-date contact details (Charlotte Creasey at Instant Offices (UK) on 0844 636 0129).
Thanks Tony, I’m sure some people will find that helpful. I still don’t have Sky, so it’s a moot point for me.
Lee, FYI, alternative addresses for both companies (for in the eyes of the law they are two companies) are here.
id just like to say… i work for satellite direct and ive just used the last hour of my time to read all of your blogs therefore id like you all to take 1 moment to read through mine, ive worked for satellite direct for a very long time and wouldnt change my job! we have had some payment difficulties of which im not goin to deny but id like to ask you all…Any of you that have ever had a problem with your system and called in have we fixed it? YES we have which is the one thing our company has always stated it will thats what we are here for!., it does take a while to get through on the telephone but its in a holding queue so the longer you hold the closer you are to being answered and although obviously this does cost just mention that your not happy about that to whom ever you speak to and im sure they’ll try and help with whatever they can, we are not crooks otherwise we wouldnt have been running for the 7years that we have! we are only humans so when you have problems we cant provide a miracle cure but we will all do our best so please before you allsit on here and slate us please bare that in mind. and if your still having difficulties on contacting us then call on 08716 641402 and you’ll come through to a team of people happy to help in any way they can, many thanks
To
Sat Direct staff
We know you had problems with taking 10x the monthly amount due..But why promise to have in my bank account with in a month and yet here i am still waiting 3 months down the line for my refund..How long does it take ??
Everytime i ring i get false promises i.e It’s down to be sorted by the finance dept shortly and will be in your account next week Ha Ha…
To tell you the truth enough is enough i will be ringing again shortly and will hang on for the half hour it takes to get through but this time we an ultimatum IF IT IS NOT IN MY ACCOUNT BY THE END OF THIS WEEK THEN I WILL BE TALKING TO MY SOLICITOR AND IT WILL WORTH PAYING HIM £100 JUST TO GET MY MONIES BACK. BECAUSE IT WILL ALSO HIGHLIGHT TO ALL WHO THINK ABOUT DEALING WITH YOU/ WHO ARE DEALING WITH YOU DON’T BOTHER THERE ARE BETTER AND MORE TRUSTWOTHY COMPANIES OUT THERE..
AND I HAVE NEVER HAD TO CALL YOU OUT SINCE JOINING THANK GOD IF IT TAKES THIS LONG TO DO A SIMPLE TASK LIKE REFUNDING MONEY THEY GOD KNOWS HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE YOU TO ARRIVE AND FIX MY SYSTEM
DAVE REYNOLDS IS A THIEF !!
He has stolen £65.00 out of my bank yesterday by setting up a direct debit without my consent or signature.You cannot get them on the phone ……….its always engaged.My bank is going to get my money back through the DD endemnity.BEWARE THE MAN IS A THIEF AND HIS COMPANY IS A SCAM.I HAVE REPORTED THEM TO THE POLICE FOR FRAUD !!!!
THEY ARE SCUM !!!
HA HA HA! SATELLITE DIRECT IS SUBJECT TO A WINDING UP ORDER ON 19TH JUNE AND MOST OF YOU WILL BE OUT OF A JOB BECAUSE DAVE REYNOLDS HAS SHAFTED YOU TOO! NO DOUBT HE IS ALREADY WORKING HARD OPENING UP NEW COMPANIES IN OTHER NAMES SO HE CAN CONTINUE TO RIP PEOPLE OFF. HE OBVIOUSLY HAS NO CONSCIENCE.
THAT IS OBVIOUSLY WRITTEN BY ONE OF DAVE REYNOLDS CRONNIES,HE HAS 16/17 YR OLDS PAYING NO RENT OR ANY OTHER RESPONSABILITIES AND GETS A WEEKS WAGE THAT IS UPED APON THERE ACTUAL SALES AND KEPT HAPPY,ALSO PROBABLY PAID A GOOD SOME OR MONEY TO WRITE A SWEET ANSWER TO EVERYONES PROBLEMS.
another mouth piece for the company they are con-men they have conned the public and the staff
how comes no1 can get through 2 any numbers now?? wat is going on?
Hi Anonymous – can you please provide a Crime Reference Number?
If others report it to the police and can provide CRN’s from other investigations, such as yours, then it will help build a case against the company (if there is one to answer).
have you got a phone number for this con man he has rip me of to
Yes i agree with you. He has taken £50.00 from my account on 29th July. When i have tried to call them,
all i get is that the company is unavailable. I will be going to my bank and also the police. This
surely must be fraud. I cancelled this last year by writing to this dreadful firm but they still
take money from my account.
Sharon
Interesting comments there louise. Can you cite any information sources? Are any of the local press covering the issue?
no they have not
You think it’s funny that people who are trying to support a family lose there jobs and also haven’t been paid since the end of August. Perhaps you should experience it.
Hi, Can i let you all know myself & 3 Engineers have peeled away from this Crook & set our own Warranty company going……. We know how you feel because we have had to speak to most customers personally & take the flak for a Certain Mr Reynolds… While not being paid for the last 6 weeks it is hard to greet customers & take the Understandable agressive attitudes,
Our Company WILL NOT take any Annual or Tri Annual payments like this crook did. If you want more info have a look @ our website.
Good Luck to you all.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL YES HE IS A CON MAN AND A C…
THIS IS THE CON MANS NUMBER CALL DAVE ON [EDIT: Number Removed]
what it the name of your company i use to work for sat direct as a engineer
des like you i am trying to help any of the good customer i had but i would like to speak to you if you would i am not someone trying to get at someone you may remember me as basildon bob
ALL OUT NO PAY
dave has just got a new block of flats in london thats why we do not get payed
Sorry “Jimmy” I’m not publishing that.
no one work on monday till we all get payed
Hi my father has been called 8 times in 5 days.It appears there are 2 more companies that have been launched with illegal data supplies.
Box cover Ltd
commercial house
unit 10
station road bognor
01243 827453
This company stated that they have taken over satellite direct’s customers.
Also
HD Installations
12 Hanover Lofts
8 Finsbury Road
Brighton
BN2 9YU
01903 262475
This company also stated they have taken over satellite directs customers.
Personally I think they have stolen information from a previous company they worked for
I also had £65 taken from a direct Debit and was told there had been an error and that i would not have to pay for a further 15 months. What a fool to trust them.Now trying to get money back via my bank.
who gets his facts wrong!!
Interesting… so I’m a little curious… how come you got all the address details?
That’s some interesting details, Anonymous. Box Cover are owned by L&C in Bognor (2 chaps called Liam & Chris)but they are based in Portsmouth – that could just be a call centre though. The Brighton one seems to have a Littlehampton telephone number – not heard of that one before. As for illegal data supplies, there may well be what with people walking out of Sat D with handfuls of paper data. But there are legitimate sources too so we should be careful not to brand everyone as illegal. However, it is right to ask the question. As for actually saying they have taken over Satellite Directs customers, that’s a brave business move if it’s true. I hope for their sake they are not saying that and also that they can prove it by recording all their calls.
Might be as well to talk to MCR to see if any company has taken over Sat D’s database. If they have and they’ve acquired it legitimately then that money should go into the creditors pot. From reading previous comments in would appear that the server went missing from Ford and maybe this is where the data has come from? It could of course be legitimate. I doubt Chris or Liam are recording their calls. Bear in mind Sat D/Sat Link/Something has an office in Littlehampton so maybe that’s the link with HD installations? They could of course be totally separate and completely legitimate. Let’s hope so!
My 80 year old mother in law has just paid £120 for cover on a box which is not her’s – they called 5 times they need to be dealt with in court – money went out of her account immediately
SatD went into administration, so no phones work. If you had a warranty, it is now gone.
thats really strange how the server went missing as all staff personal files went missing toO HOW STRANGE WONDER WHO DID THAT?
along with all the play radio studio equipment, the ip telephones that were owned by Rainbow Corp the entire server room was gutted from what I heard. i wonder who could have done all that ?
I remember the dear lady on reception telling me after the first pay cheques bounced “Dont worry love, Ive been with Dave for years, he always see people right.” How deluded she was sadly
Paid to whom? Satellite Direct (the subject of my original article) have closed down, so who called your mother?