Phone Spam from Satellite Direct UK
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.
820 Comments
i am sick of these calls & have informed tps about it; where do they get your number from?
It appears they just go through the phone book.
Had the same problems, first they sent my son a letter to renew a warranty, then phone calls from 08702 402491 which we didn’t answer – they failed to leave leave messages on the answering machine. We are also TPS & MPS registered.
See also Alan Wylie’s discussion of this topic and follow the links – it’s a scam, do not reply or contact them, they have been at this for about 6 months using several schemes, mainly premium rate phone nos. After calls daily for 7 days thankfully no more since yesterday I’m not sure they go through the phone book as my son is not registered to our home number. We think is from registering for SKY over broadband.
These sort of people do sell on contact lists, they get 10 to 50p each, so be careful out there.
Those nice people at Direct UK Ltd have written and offered a whole new service agreement to mother in law as they say her initial manufactures warranty on her digital (Sky TV) system has run out. So kind, EXCEPT , she has an OLD SONY ANALOGUE TV -which was bought about 8 years ago from a shop that sold reconditioned tv’s- and it’s still going strong!! What sort of company would send such letter to a 96 year old lady?
A copy of this will be sent to my local trading standards and to the West Sussex Trading Standards, and lets do the MP’s for both aera’s for good measure.
Hi John, I was halfway through a response where I would have said “scan it and put it on the web” when Em arrived home from work clutching an envelope marked: “Important news for all Satellite tv viewers. Please open and read carefully.” Once I read that I knew what would be inside.
Have the same problem phoned them up told them they are harrassing us and I would be taking action under the telecommunications act. Waiting to see…
Hey! stop worrying…they were really looking for us all the time!
We had a phone call last week telling us that our SKY warranty was about to expire. We checked and they were right.. so we have indeed renewed it… needed to as we have had SO many problems with faulty connections during the year!
So …. clearly, all the phone calls were because they were anxious to locate US… so now that they have found us, I’m sure they’ll leave you all alone at last. Lets hope so anyway, before they drive somebody into hypertension
Satellite Direct get your phone numbers off Sky. They are an insurance company who will look after your system for a agreed sum. You can call them out every day if you wish and the price will not alter whereas sky will charge you £65.00 callout.
They buy a list off sky with everybody’s name address and phone number; that’s how they obtain your details.
[note]
Hi John, do you know this, or are you speculating?
You might be interested to learn that Sky offers an official warranty service called the Sky Repair Protection Plan which costs £69 per year after which there are “No repair bills, call-out charges, parts or labour costs to pay.”
This seems a little more agreeable than the £65 you quoted (given that it has the backing of Sky and costs about the same).
BTW you’ve arrived and joined the discussion out of the blue, so may I ask what your interest is in all this?
the first contact I have had with this company is seeing a charge on my bank statement with their telephone number as the reference, I spent most of yesterday trying to ring them even as late as 10.00 to constantly hear how busy they were and that I was in a queue. I do already have extended warranty on my sky box as Rich says and never had a problem with Sky sorting out the machine. I would really like to know how these people have obtained by bank details and Sky rang last night re the renewal of my existing warranty, so I explained what had happened, I was assured that they do not pass our details to these people as they are in direct competition with them. I have also tried to email them via their website to have the email rejected…..
Could you give the telephone number, please, Elise to see if it was the one we dealt with? I’m beginning to wonder who we actually dealt with when we ‘re-newed’!
Satellite Direct have a couple of numbers that I know of. The one on their latest letter is 08702 245 777. In my notes from previous phone calls I’ve written down 08702 402 559 and 08702 437 673.
Satellite Direct are con merchants! I took out a contract with them, was assured it applied to the Isle of Man. Rang them with a problem, after hanging on for 20 mins got cut off! re-dialed waited 15 mins and told I would have to get my own engineer. They would only pay £65, thats near enough the cost of call-out
Elise’s comments are rather worrying, it takes it to an entirely new ball game if it is correct.
I did a Google for Satellite Direct and ended up here. My mother has been having these calls once a week for the last month and they are persistent to say the least even when told she is not interested. This evening when they called they went into more detail and I had a talk with them. Warranty up after first year free! Well, we’ve had Sky for almost ten years so as far as their info is concerned over us they are talking out of their rear ends. They got my mother very worried and she has been looking through all her bank statements for the last hour to see if they had been deducting anything as they had been implying that she was already with them and it was just a renewal. Have just reported this to TPS.
Further phone numbers they are using:
Tel No. they used to contact us: 01273 771220
Tel Nos. we were told to use to contact them:
08702 402473
08702 245777
As far as we are concerned, it would appear that it really was Sky who contacted us.
They sub-contract the work to local people.
We had a major problem (ie no sky at all) the day our contract ran out… but had renewed at their invitation. The engineer arrived on time, fitted new bits to the dish, as water had got in (not surpprising in view of the recent weather in wales) and left us a telephone no to contact in future to get the same engineer out… at no apparent charge.
My home tel no is ex-directory. These toerags could only have got it from Sky. They called from 08702 402 559 on 8 Dec 06. On answering, it was a message, inviting me to call them back on another expensive 0870 no. I am now reporting this to TPS.
googled to here as well, just got called by Sat Direct. Not sure how they got my details off of Sky, never had Sky at this address. We are registered with the TPS and MPS, but the feeling I am getting is it is not worth calling them or notifying Sat Direct as they will do little. Am I wrong?
Hi James, the number of complaints is a good indicator of how many times people “slip through the net” and can help the regulator when considering if this is an honest mistake or a calculated gamble. Also, if you don’t ask the TPS for help when their list is ignored by companies, you might as well not be registered, so log the incident.
I am puzzled by the statement by John that they only contact people based upon a list they get from SKY when others have already stated that people – like me – keep being pestered and don’t even have SKY. This is simply computer based cold calling and I have again reported them to TPS as they are lible for a £5000,00 fine for each trangression.
Just googled the number and got here. I’m on TPS too but not ex-dir. Neither do I have Sky or any satelite/cable service. They’re just dialling every number. They left their number on 1471 – strange. The scam is to get you to call them back. They get a rake off on 0870 numbers, did you know that? That’s why you are always put through tortuous layers of options and then kept holding. Don’t use 0870 numbers, look up their landline on the internet, or better still an 0800 number. They get answered quickly, don’t you know.
Someone’s kindly pointed me at this article in the Mirror from May of this year (scroll down to find the relevant bit):
Just had a call from our “friends”. I suggest anyone who gets a call do as I did: hang up. Then if TPS registered log a complaint. If enough people do this santa may not call them back with a gift just a huge fine. (fat chance) We live in hope.
N.B: If your Sky has died and you have had it some time with a full package
threatensorry suggest to sky that you may cancel unless they fix FOC. You will pay much more in subs than a call charge. It does work!! I know. Happy viewing.Just been called by them for the 2nd time in a month. This time they used 01273 771 220. I told them that I was registered with TPS and to “sod off”. I then hung up.
I have 151 free entries left in my handset phone book, so still plenty of space left to add any new numbers they use, so I can ignore the calls all together.
Just complained to the TPS.
I just spent 45 minutes on the phone to these wallies!!! I demaned my free tickets but they said they wanted my telephone number, but i wasnt going to give them that again!!! Anyway to cut a long story short, the dont give out anything without a phone number. BEWARE!!! Oh and one last thing, if you ring the number 01273 771 220 and ask to speak to Richard Geoffrys. He’s the MD of the company!!!!
Hi Andy, can you possibly explain what free tickets you were demanding and how you came to be demanding them?
I received a reminder as well. Who gave them permission to send it to me, as when I looked at the name on the letter only one company has my name like that.
# the sit up channels. has any one bought from them?
Just had the same call – registered with TPS for years now, so i have made a complaint to them, also to http://www.justengineers.net/contactus.asp as they list Satellite Direct job vacancies, suggesting that they look into the way this company does business.
I also found (google) a recent article by a law firm called Herbert Smith as this company (amongst others) has already been taken to court by BSkyB for exactly the same thing as they are doing now!!
That aside – a very Merry Christmas to you all!
Thanks for the pointer Joanne!
This extract from the Sky’s Legal representative (Herbert Smith) regarding the outcome:
The story is also covered in The Lawyer.
Firstly a quick note to anyone ex directory and believes it was Sky who gave their number to Satellite Direct. Ex directory merely means that your number does not appear in the distributed book telephone directories, it does get included in distributed CDs of telephone numbers which they should not be using for marketing, they should be using the marketing numbers disks that don’t include numbers registered with TPS.
Today I received a letter from Satellite Direct after registering a complaint with the TPS. They apologised saying:
Why do I have this feeling they are being a little economical with the truth. If I receive any more calls from them I will not accept their advanced apologies, I will continue to report them to TPS
Took a telephone call – made the mistake of believing I was buying a new HD box. They took £300, via credit card, 1 month on, received a statement – for a Warranty????. No chance of a box – totally mis-sold this stuff. Avoid giving details to these people-especially credit card details.
They out source call centers.
Hi,
my mum got a call from 01273 771 220, she just hung up, i did 1471, got the number, googled it, and found this.
Looks like these airheads are still at it.
hello all
just had a call from this company and googled the number and found here.
This was an automatic call, ie a computer generated voicemail.
im pretty sure these are illegal.
also we dont have sky here and they told me i had won free tickets or some crap like that.
then asked me to phone there number 08702 402 559
to recieve them.
i hate these people they deserve to be in the same court room as the ones infesting your computer with adware.
hi i just got a call on 01273 771 220 and its from these people, so they are still going
Has anyone actually subscribed to this offer and required the services of a satellite direct engineer? I was almost convinced until I googled and found this site. It has all the hallmarks of a scam.
I think I will send the paperwork to watchdog.
‘Googled’ to this site when I entered 01273 771220.
Just had a call from Data Partnership Solutions, 1471 revealed 01273 771220 tel no.
Called back and they answered ‘DPS’.
Am registered with TPS, pointed this out when they called. They are removing details from list.
Have registered a complaint with TPS.
Have been registered for a few years now and most companies seem to manage to work with it.
1471 call at lunch time today, no message left, revealed 01273 771220, google brought me here. With TPS and will complain if they call again
I used to work for a telecanvassing company, not outsourced at all, and if a number was on TPS we would not be able to get through to that number. Occassionally I would reach a person who would say ‘You shouldn’t be calling me, I’m on TPS’. If anyone is receiving any marketing calls, and are supposed to be on TPS, they need to check with their TPS provider, as it obviously isn’t working.
Thanks for that insight Helen, can you perhaps suggest what people can do if they check and find that they are correctly TPS registered? (e.g. my number is correctly registered, I checked)
i myself use to work for this company and all i have to say is its the managers
faults and not the people who actualy call you. no person knows that the person there about to call has just been rang or they dont have it, so if this does happen ask tospeak to the manager and please dont take it out on the person callin you because they werent to know
I did ask to speak to a manager everytime I was called by satellite direct and everytime, I was put on hold briefly and then SD hung up on me. Whilst I do not wish to tar all employees with the same brush, I am afraid I will treat any representative of SD with the same contempt they have treated me.
Surely telemarketers of SD must know what is going on, I cannot believe that they are unknowingly doing what they do, they are therefore complicit by their actions. Therefore, in a sense despite my desire to separate the managers in ‘authority’ from the callers, I am seeing them all the same.
Does anyone know if this is the same company as Satellite Assured?
There are no apparent links between these companies. According to Companies House The name Satellite Direct has been used by several companies of late, and the addresses of Satellite Direct UK Ltd and Satellite Assured Limited are different:
Companies house don’t provide URL’s for this data so I can’t link to it directly.
i got a letter from satellite direct uk but i dont have sky!!! so how could the warranty run out
Hi Phil, is it the same as the letter we received?
Had a call today from these people who said they were DPS. When questioned what that stood for I’m sure they said they were Data Protection Services. They started by asking me if I was Mrs XX giving my full address & post code. I warned them that I belong to TPS. They said that as they were not selling anything this didn’t apply – they were doing a questionaire which involved just 4 questions. I put the phone down. I have never had Sky or made any enquiries about having it so where did their information come from. 1471 gave no 01273 771220 – will complain to TPS.
“i got a letter from satellite direct uk but i dont have sky!!! so how could the
warranty run out” … Phil
I get loads of junk mail from estate agents, asking me if i want to sell my flat. but i dont own it, i live in a housing assoc flat. It used to wind me up, especially as i have a sign up saying “no junk mail” Now i dont let it bother me, it goes straight in the recycling pile. Life is far too short.
There are far more important issues to deal with.
Hi Alan,
If there are “far more important issues to deal with“, then I’m pleased you’re spending time dealing with this one. Your continued discussion of Satellite Direct UK suggests this is rather important to you, so I’m happy to continue the debate.
Given that Satellite Direct UK are incorrect about Phils warranty (and my warranty), it’s fair to wonder if Satellite Direct UK have any clue about anybody’s warranty.
Do Satellite Direct UK send those letters out to anyone they feel like? Eventually someone’s going to be a current sky customer, so on the occasions where Satellite Direct UK get lucky with their recipient, is that poor Sky customer then mislead into buying an unnecessary warranty? A warranty that is irrelevant whilst the manufacturers warranty on their Sky box is still in force?
If not, why go to all the expense of all those phone calls and all that junk mail?
You mentioned “other” junk mail. Normal junk mail from estate agents etc. is not personally addressed and does not come with phrases like “Important information inside” on the envelope, there is a big difference between a glossy pizza flyer and the letters that Satellite Direct send out.
Environmental waste is an obvious result for any recipients like me who do not have a sky unit, or who do not require a warranty because they’re already covered. Trees are chopped down, paper is made, letters are printed, letters are transported all the way through the postal system. All for nothing.
So it would appear that Satellite Direct UK are ignoring the bigger issue of the environment, in favour of a quick buck. (Any defence of Satellite Direct on point is going to have to be inspired, because I have never had a sky unit and I am MPS registered – thus it’s fairly obvious that mailing me, and others like me, is pure environmental waste).
Finally there is a significant waste-of-life issue to ponder.
Lets say the average recipient is able bodied, nimble, has good eyesight, can open a letter fairly quickly and has had their morning coffee: it’s going to take them 30 seconds to open the letter, and read enough of it to know that it’s irrelevant and can be safely placed in the recycling.
Think how bad things are with email. It would be worse with physical junk mail because you could not automatically filter the unwelcome, unsolicited junk.
What if 100 companies decided to ignore the MPS and just mail people? We’d all go to the door in the morning and be faced with a pile of spam that’s indiscernible from real important mail. It would take 50 minutes to get through the spam (i.e. 30 secs * 100)
If a thousand companies decided to ignore the law we’d be faced with 8 hours worth of spam per day.
If you think the little things don’t make a compound difference then you probably don’t have energy saving lightbulbs, but you’ve mentioned recycling the junk that arrives at your house, so I think you probably appreciate the problem.
As you say, life is far too short, so we have the Mailing Preference Service, which Satellite Direct UK ignored.
I have just received a call from these people. I said I was registered with TPS and asked to be removed from their call list. The operator informed me that TPS did not apply to them as they are not a sales organisation!!??**
I have just read all the other comments. I was called by DPS using the number 01273 771 220. The call was exactly the same as the one described by Carol on January 31st.