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
Hi Jonathon, if the TPS can’t help, then what difference can an independent company do differently?
I have had trouble from a company claiming to be from “Sky Repair”. They rang me to say my time for my monthly repair cover payments was due to finish & for a “valued customer of theirs” I could pay £5 instead of £7.98 All I had to do was cancel my existing direct debit, then they would send me a new contract. At no time did I give out my Bank details to them.A week or so passed with no contract. After ringing the proper Sky repair company to check details, I was told I had in effect been scammed! It was by a company called SATELLITE DIRECT UK LTD & now I’ve found they have taken £5 from my account. How have they got my details? I can only assume they got everything from Domestic & General. Can anyone help?
I have had the same phone call from Satalite direct and I don’t even have a Sky box or dish.
I live in Woking so I think they may have or are still working from their base in Bognor or that area.
They rang me on my spare broadband line and I thought once I read your comments that I would add mine.
i have just given my details to this company they told me they where part of sky so i agreed to the 60 pound deal and gave them my bank details when i phoned sky they told me it was ok and they where legitamate but i have since tried to get through to them by phone and all i get is a machine telling me to leave my name and they will get back to me.i have phoned them at least 3 times this morning and still getting a machine and as yet recieved no answer. i phoned my bank to ask them to stop them takeing the £60 and they told me they cant do a thing
conned by satco thinking they were sky.cancel dd, what more can be done if they have our bank details. regards tas.
Hi I have posted on this site before as mine and my in-laws experiences with Satellite Direct have been nothing but very business like. There are many comapanies that sell these sort of warranties with very similar names. Many operate from around the Bognor area and they do not even have any engineers to attend to call outs. I have received many a call and literature from these other companies and I can assure you that some of these companies have set up with similar names to Satellite Direct. This has probably been done to fool people into thinking that they were calling from them. I have nothing but praise for Satellite Direct and their service it beats Sky hands down and is also cheaper. I took my 3 year contract out over the telephone and pay by direct debit without a hitch. Make sure you deal with them and NOT the other cowboys.
A few weeks ago I noticed that £84 had been taken from my bank account.The company who took this amount was Satellite Direct. I contacted this company and was told we had taken a warranty out with them in 2005 and they had not claimed any payments from us.Nearly 3 years later they have decided to take £84 from us and in addition trying to take further monies from our account.Luckily we put a stop on any more monies being taken from our account.I have never given any details of our account to this company.BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY
LOL.
How funny.
I have an interview at Satellite Direct tomorrow.
(:
i cancelled the direct debit with got you covered, 5 months later they sent a debt notice that they will take me to court for £67, I have contacted cardigan trading standards.. I do not know where I stand if they try and go to court or send in bailifs etc
All you lot that keep slagging off sat direct. Yes we know they they have had their share of problems but they are only one of about 30 companies all doing the same sort of thing. As a former employee of that company I did question some of their ideas but at the end of the day the general call staff are simply doing what theyre paid to do. If you dont like the offer simply hang up, its as simple as that. why waste your time on forums like this slagging off people. get over it,get a life and grow up.
Satellite Direct will be around in one form or another for a long time yet, you dont have to buy the product but over 600,000 others have and most of them are very happy about it.
dodgy dave reynolds on watchdog monday 10th march please watch!
Hi James,
the Telephone Preference Service exists so that telephone owners can choose not to receive telemarketing calls. It’s an opt-out scheme so anybody registered really does not want to hear about anything a telemarketer wishes to sell.
You suggestion that anyone annoyed by telemarketers who disregard the TPS should “get a life and grow up” is laughable. These people already have lives and they’re busy enjoying them, which is precisely why they don’t want to be interrupted by unwanted sales calls.
Satellite Direct ignored the TPS, I know this because they called me. Satellite Direct attempted to mislead me on several occasions about the expired warranty on my Sky satellite system. Satellite Direct were subsequently taken to court by BSkyB about this exact problem, and lost the case.
HA HA HA, Trust the BBC to make a complete balls of it.
Satellite direct does NOT operate from Brighton. Their Head office is in fact in FORD, the office the BBC showed was in fact Satellite Supports office, they are an independant company and all satellite direct does is administer their Warranties, Satellite Direct do NOT sell Sat Support warranties. The whole thing was a complete cobbled together peice of claptrap.If they wanted to se Satellite Direct they should go to Ford not Brighton. As the so called customer said, She thought they were sky, in other words she didnt listen to what she was told. nuff said.
Hi James,
Your unprompted posting here looks a lot like a damage limitation bid on behalf of Satellite Direct. You began by insulting people who are concerned that they’ve been misled, then criticised the BBC Watchdog programme that investigated Satellite Direct on behalf of those consumers. If you can help the BBC clear up some of the cloudy waters, why not give them a call? I’m sure they’d love to interview you for a follow up programme next week!
May I suggest James Garland reads the report of the Watchdog programme (on bbc1 tonight 7.30pm). It showed that Satellite Direct are a fake; they proved this by putting in a reporter on a training scheme run by Satellite Direct – and they don’t get your phone numbers from sky its completely at random. Watch the program on BBC iPlayer and draw your own conclusions.
hi, barbara are you aware of how many companies are doing this?or do you think satellite direct are the only company?
hi james
you must be related to the md or on the payroll because sat support you say are indenpendant but infact are owned by sat direct uk and train the employees as are many other local companies sat uk own and cold call to sell you warranties and i am sure if they hang around long enough ford will be visited
Satellite direct do NOT run the training programme, As I said SATELLITE SUPPORT are independant of Satellite direct and as such recruit their own staff, When I worked for the company we were very definately told to make sure customers understood we were not part of SKY, In fact we were proud to be the largest independant warranty company in the UK, as far as I know they still are, why do you think sky are so worried. That pillock that was shown on watchdog is the sort of individual that gives everyone else a bad name, All the people I worked with were honest people just trying to earn a living, As I said in my earlier message, the fact that the company has over 600,000 customers and is constantly expanding simply speaks for itself.
THEY ARE ALL OWNED BY THE SAME PERSON. ALL REPORTING TO HEAD OFFICE IN FORD.
Hi James,
thanks for your messages.
The problem with the 600,000 customers figure you’re suggesting is that it’s tainted by the previous court case. It’s unclear how many of those customers were generated by mis-selling.
In summing up the BSkyB case Joel Smith commented that Satellite Direct UK was “making six million calls a year to a customer base of 450,000.†and that Sky would be entitled to damages on 80 per cent of sales to the middle of 2005. So if Joel’s figures are correct, BSkyB were compensated for a loss against 360,000 warranty customers (i.e. 80% of 450,000). If we subtract that 360,000 from the 600,000 then 240,000 Satellite Direct customers remain.
If there was absolutely no mis-selling whatsoever after the court case then this would be 240,000 happy, and not misled customers (also assuming a 100% renewal rate), however, several comments to this site suggest that the mis-selling has continued and the Watchdog programme appears to corroborate this.
So since 240,000 customers is just 40% of the original 600,000, and since it appears that not even all of those 40% have been sold their policy without some level of deception, the 600,000 that originally spoke for itself may be lower than the maximum of 240,000 “happy” customers.
You may have an entirely different interpretation of the figures given your historical knowledge of the company – naturally, you or I can only hypothesise on the real figures without the services of an auditor.
I think its like anything these days, theres no such thing as a squeaky clean company, all us minions can do is go by published statistics, as someone else, there are hundreds of cold call companies out there, at least 30 of those are sky related that I know about. Quite possibly the thread about Sat Direct has run its course, everyone knows about the company,everyone knows what goes on, the whingers have had their say, lets just get on with life, Sat direct will be around in one form or another for some time yet, Dave Reynolds has got so many interests that this is just a blip on his empire.ce la vie !
I am registered with the TPS, and I get calls from mobile phone companies, double glazing companies and companies that drop call and when you call back they route your call to somewhere in India and charge you £5 a minute!!!, the TPS doesn’t work, so who cares if you are signed up to it, IT DOES NOT WORK. And when you try to complain, all you get as a response from them is “The company maybe overseas and we cant do anything blah blah, if you don’t have the company name then we cant do anything etcâ€.
James, by “whingers” should we assume you mean “people who’ve been deceived by fraudulent sales tactics or unlawfully interrupted on their private telephone line and who have had the audacity to point out that they’re are not 100% happy about the fact”?
Marc, your angst is noted with empathy, the TPS should have more teeth for international telesales companies. In this case Satellite Direct is a UK company with UK call centres, and they unlawfully called UK residents and misled them – so it’s very much a TPS issue.
Satellite Direct are operating under 6 other companies still taking monies from peoples accounts. It is a shame really because the product is good and there are a few companies in the area that are operated legally and operate a good service. Just beware – check them out!
Youre right the product is good, that good that there are at least 3 companies I know of that ring up Sat direct’s customers and pretend to be them ! That information came to us from our customers ! most of them were small companies in the Bognor Regis area, Flattery, desperation or just stupidity, am not sure which, In most cases though Sat Direct’s customers were brighter than these pretenders, and yes ,If one of these companies is reading this,Sat Direct know exactly who you are !
Hi all
Well there’s so much to talk about. A lot of what is written and published has part truths attached but the information is murky and inconclusive. People read, watch or experience something and draw their own conclusion. This all gets chucked into the melting pot and 2 + 2 = 5
Now their is no doubt that satellite direct have had some serious miss-selling problems in the past and that was described by the court case brought to bare by sky. It is also likely from this forum and watchdog that these things are still going on in some capacity. However we must keep this in perspective. The comments made above by pro satellite direct writers are also true. They certainly would not be put there by order of Satellite Direct, believe me Dave Reynolds has no interest in such forums.
I really don’t know where to stop so I will try and deal with some of the points raised individually.
This covers a few things better get of now but post any questions and I will try and answer honestly.
PS I don’t work for satellite direct but did in numerous capacities, I have no vested interest either but can not stand misinformation and guessed conclusions
Thanks for reading
Thanks very much for taking the time to record those wide ranging and interesting comments “X”.
The one question I have is fairly simple:
You’ve stated in closing that you “can’t stand misinformation and guessed conclusions” and I don’t think you’ll find many people in disagreement here, so is there a reason why you’ve not disclosed your real identity?
I ask because potential SD customers will assess what you’ve said, and have to make a decision about whether they believe you: whether they are willing to trust you – but they don’t know who you are.
Hi Rich
It makes no difference to the reader who I am. I don’t really see any potential mistruths in my statements.
Maybe to your surprise I have mixed thoughts on the company myself but felt the direction of fraud and rip of merchant is a miss-guided one. It is more a case of unwieldy expansion with insuffiecient organisation. This is by no means acceptable but a long way of from a complete rip of merchant. I actually believe the intentions are sincere.
Hay, people will take from this what they want believe it or not, it bothers me not but I am pleased to of had my say.
Sorry if my not being comfortable with putting my name on this website means you are unable to believe what is written.
Thanks
I had dealings with Satalite Assured last year when they mislead me into believing that I was renewing my sat cover. Usual story taken out of my bank account twice. Rang them up to cancel, said I would have to pay for 12 months as I had taken out a 12 month contract and could not cancel. Wrote to them at 3 different addresses to cancel, all three letters returned not known.I asked for proof of the tape recording they had, none provided. Not heard from them for 6 months, then surprize, surprize a threatening letter saying pay up plus they have added another 3 months payment for this year to it or else they will put in the hands of debt collectors. Has anyone else received this threat in the past and have the debt collectors been involved. I will not pay them another penny.
My mother died a couple of weeks ago and in sorting out her estate have discovered that she has been missold several sky warrantees. She had Sky Repair Plan – no prob! However, to my disgust, also the same service duplicated over the last few years to Satcover Ltd, Digital Services Ltd, Systemguard (Harlands). When I rang Systemguard after her death and asked why was this service activated when she already had Sky Repair Plan, the chap said that she responded to a mailshot and it is up to the customer to be aware of whether they are already covered. I said that she was a confused elderly person ( only now aware that she most likely had senile dementia) and she assumed the repair plan was a continuation of what she already had. She loved watching quiz shows on Sky and didn’t want to miss out on her favorite programmes.
She also got done on several occasions by energy companies by tricking her into signing change of supply contracts – but that’s another issue (just proves that she was more confused that we knew).
Any point in contacting Trading Standards? Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
A former member of staff from Satellite Direct stole customers data from Satellite Direct and started up the business Satellite Assured…how professional.
They continue to call customers that already have a coverplan and offer to ‘reduce the rate’ as I too have had the phone call from them. They do not introduce themselves, where as Satellite Direct DO! If they introduce themselves, then it is the customers fault if they do not understand that.
You would have to be stupid if you have been told at the beginning of the call.
I dont know why Satellite Direct are being targeted when there are companies like Zenith Windows calling you 24/7!!!
Hi Nick,
re targeting: There is no targeting – this is my website and I write about things that happen to me. In this case Satellite Direct called me, ignoring the TPS, and attempted to mislead me on more than one occasion. They subsequently mailed me also on more than one occasion, again ignoring the MPS. Since then there have been many other unhappy customers who’ve realised that they, or the people they care for, have been misled into buying an unnecessary warranty, those people have commented. That’s not targeting, that’s customer feedback of the worst kind.
re data theft: if this can be proved, then its a matter for the police; otherwise it’s merely speculation or potentially a false accusation either intended to damage a competitor or hide the truth. You’ve spoken to the police already I assume.
hi rich,after carefully reading your comments and looking at the amount of time you have put in to this site i think you have spent far to much of your own time on this project of the ins and outs of satellite warranties it now seems its becoming an obsession or an addiction!it seems to me that you have highlighted this area in depth and have given people a good but somtimes not correct insight on what to do or advise on what path to take now im sure people can come to there own conclusion and have enough brain power and self awareness to live there lifes without this site!many thanks mr kid
Gosh thanks for your concern Jon! It actually takes next to no time at all because the majority of the research is done by readers, I just collate and encourage. For example, you’ve been a bit vague in suggesting that some of the collective insight here may be “incorrect”, yet you’ve not mentioned precisely what it is that you disagree with or can improve. If there’s something you have specific insight into, then please feel free to indulge us.
By chance noticed withdrawal from my bank account of £36 bank supplied details of drawee. This was STUART KING SATELLITE ASSURED LTD 16 THE MIDWAY BOGNOR REGIS WEST SUSSEX PO 22 7HA. Soon a direct debit dropped on my mat from SATELLITE DIRECT UK LTD, IMPERIUM HOUSE, FORD LANE, FORD, WEST SUSSEX BN18 0DF for £60. Theres only 2 words to say to them and the second is off.
I had dealings with Satalite Assured last year when they mislead me into believing that I was renewing my sat cover. I have now received a letter demanding that I pay £54.00, or else they will put in the hands of debt collectors. Has anyone else received this threat in the past and have debt collectors been involved?
My wife had dealings with Satellite Assured Ltd about 2 years ago.
We have just recieved a letter demanding £65.00 with the threat of debt collectors if we don’t pay. Neither of us can recall having a telephone call from them to renew any warranty.
Contacted Consumer Direct and now have a reference number for the complaint. I’ll be contacting the FSA and Watchdog today as well.
Also I’ve sent a 14 day letter to SA requesting all documents and contracts regarding my wife and I. (sent by recorded delivery)
I’ll keep you updated
I had a conversation with Sattelite Assured this evening on behalf of my mum and dad who had received a threatening letter from them asking for £65 or they would send a debt collecting agency round to collect the outstanding monies.
My Dad had already spoken to a lady the previous day to say that he had cancelled the contract within a few days of them first calling him, as he had contacted Sky and they told him that Sattelite Assured were nothing to do with Sky, yet the representative who phoned my dad said that they were part of Sky.
I spoke to a chap called Billy Clucas who claimed to be a senior representative of the company. He was very rude and childish, and when I asked him for information, he just proceeded to repeat everything I said to him because he couldn’t answer my questions and he at one point said “I bet i’m really getting under your skin aren’t I?” to which I just laughed and said no, not really you are just very childish.
I have taken legal advise from a solicitor, who basically said that unless you have a name of a person you spoke to, or proof that a call was made to their offices (itemised phone bill), there isn’t an awful lot you can do. If you do have the proof, you will have a good case for misrepresentation. As my dad has no proof of his call to Sattelite Assured when he called to cancel the contract, and no longer has his itemised bill, he is left with little alternative but to pay the bill.
If you are in a similar position, always get the name of a person that you have spoken to, a date and a time of the call and if they do record the phonecalls as they say they do, they should be able to back track to the time of the call and there will be your proof.
If you get a call from them asking you to take out a policy, just tell them you are not interested and hang up. Unfortunately my dad has had to learn the hard way!
hello there people , i have been following this site for a while , not all satellite warenty companies are a rip off , i got a call from 2switch you over digital services asking if i had sky television , the answer was yes as do 8million other people in england , the chap that spoke to me was polite and explained to me about them being a new company i took him up on the offer of a year warranty wich i took out over two payments , 3 weeks later my sky box just stopped and i gave them a call , i had a replacement sky plus box a day later , ive since had 3 calls from other companies telling me that they are sky and they will beat the offer i already have but as far as im aware sky use the name domestic and genrel so i dont see how all these companies can opperate on the basis of pretending they are sky , i think its down to the person to know if they are covered or not. look forward to hearing your response
Ref message 338 I have received the same letter as yourself requesting £54.00 or else the threat of debt collectors. I canceled the contract last year and still they try to carry on charging me. The contract if I had not cancelled would have been due for renewal February 2008. I have documented evidence of cancellation and I will not be paying any more money to them. It is evident from this site that they are misleading people on purpose about renewal of polices just to rope them into 12 monthly contracts that they say can not be cancelled. They must make more money with this scam than actually providing the service (so called insurance)!!!!!!!! what a joke. Why has it taken them 2 years to demand money from you or send in the debt collectors? – I recon they are just chancing their hand that you will send them the money.
Hi
I feel like a right mug!
Approx a month a go I had a phone call, I was lead to believe from Sky, and purchased a 3 year warranty for my Sky equipment (2 X sky plus boxes)for £130 (payment took there and then).
Received an agreement from Sat Link Services (part if Satellite Direct) address – Forest House, Bognor Regis owned by Dave Reynolds.
After reading terms and conditions and finding several points different from phone call, also noting that there is no date at all on the agreement (no start date, no end date, no post date, no date of when the letter was written) I phoned them to cancel.
Could not cancel over phone (did argue the point that they took initial payment over phone – but with no joy). Got email address – admin@satellitedirectuk.com. Told time-scale for refund 5 to 10 days.
Just sent email stating want cancellation, mis-selling reasons and asking for responce in 24 hours regarding action they have taken and that I expect refund in next 5 days. Also that I had contact Sky and spoken to a trading standards officer and that I am prepared to take legal action.
I then googled the company and found this site!!! I wish I had found it before the phone call, plus have not seen watchdog episode.
Will update with outcome. Also will take a look at watchdogs site.
Info here is really useful.
Thanks
Same here, I was called and told my Sky insurance had run out. I thought at £6 a month it was a
good deal. Wish I’d read this first! My one was called Satellite Services, but the phone number
is the same. If you leave a message on their answerphone they ignore them. I did actually get
someone to answer and I also got them to send me out a new digibox – after a week. When it arrived,
there was no instructions whatsoever, not even something to tell me that I’d have to phone Sky to get
the box and my Sky card made compatible. Anyway, surprise, the digibox is faulty. I phoned today (and
again got an answer) but they were so rude and patronising. I wish I’d just taken the real Sky’s
insurance in the first place.
I’m now trying to get my bank to stop any more payments but they said that as they had my Switch
details the bank can’t stop them. They’ve said that if they take any more money out then they’ll
send me a form of authority (or something) and then they’ll contact the company to hear their side
of the dispute.
I find it really scary that this company can do what they like and I can’t stop them. As previous
people have said, they had all my details already.
Stop complaining.. we arent bad.. we do offer a good warranty to the people who need it..
satellite assured are a well run company i have been with them for 3 years and they have worked wonders, have been there asap to fix my system! they have nothing to do with any other company and are an independent company run at a very high standard! when i was called i was told which company it was and that they were independent of sky!The staff are also very nice and helpful! i checked up that they run by trading standards laws and they do
I wonder if you work for them Jess.ha ha ha.why would you check on all them details of an insurance company if you were not.?
Jess
Satalitte Assured are certainly a well run company at obtaining money with misleading phone calls about renewal of warranty, i.e. by pretending to be the same company as the exisitng warranty is taken out with and about to expire.
to be fair to sattelite direct I was with them for over a year and they replaced my sky plus when I had probs – it was a fiver a month I paid – when the year ran out another company called satelltie assured contacted me telling me they were the same company and so i started with them. Have just found out is different company from this and am now cancelling that one and going back to sateliite direct as they were excellent with problems I had and they upgraded my hard drive size for free as theyre first replacement didnt work.
satellite assured are a brilliant company after all the hassle wiv sat d id rather say wit sat assured they dont lie there always on time and provide a brilliant service
do i work for them no i checked them up because of all the stuff on here and found out they were a ligit company. and when they called me they said your warranty may have expired and reinstated no renewed and because i was paying more with dom and gen i changed over
just to say, i used to work for satelite direct uk and they are completely fraudulent! they work under sat cover, sat support, sat uk, satlink services, subscriber services… just to name a few. they now work as “something communications” selling fake bogus tv, phone and broadband packages! there is so much more that illegally goes on which i will soon be adding, please can you post this as it wont let me, and i dont want anyone else being conned…800,000 already have!
If you’re aware of illegal activity, walk into a police station and report it, just ask to make a statement, it’s easy to do, and far more sensible than pointing fingers here.
If you’re afraid to go into a police station, call crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
It’s your duty to ensure that justice gets a chance (rather than hearsay-based finger pointing, and kneejerk mob-handed responses which are often wrong, rarely appropriate and never just).
I had a Phone call yesterday (2nd April) from Subscriber Services about renewal of my warranty, offering improved contract. I went with this but was worried that they did not want a direct debit set up. On checking I found that this company had the same call out number as Satellite direct! I could not find the website given or get an answer from the other number given by the telesales person. I cancelled my card so they won’t get the money. Beware that Subscriber Services and Satellite direct are one.