Tags: Scams
Phone Spam from Satellite Direct UK
November 23rd, 2006, by Rich.
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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.
January 26th, 2007 at 11:21 am
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.
January 26th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Does anyone know if this is the same company as Satellite Assured?
January 26th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
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.
January 29th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
i got a letter from satellite direct uk but i dont have sky!!! so how could the warranty run out
January 29th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Hi Phil, is it the same as the letter we received?
January 31st, 2007 at 8:37 pm
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.
February 4th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
“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.
February 5th, 2007 at 12:28 am
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.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:19 am
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!!??**
February 5th, 2007 at 11:32 am
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.