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 did 6 service calls for Satellite Direct yesterday and as far as I could tell all the customers were happy but, alas, these people will not be seen on Watchdog along with countless other thousands of people who are satisfied with their service. In answering the problem of people getting confused with us and sky,I always ring customers up with an ETA and explain that I am the satellite service technician from Satellite Direct. The customers usually then shout out to their respective households ” its the sky man on the phone”, in which case I have to explain that I am NOT from sky. That is the problem, when you talk of satellite most people immediately think of Sky because of the dominance they have in this country. I have worked for this company since they started and enjoy working for them. I also worked for Sky when they launched Sky digital and I was not impressed.
Thanks for your comment Alan. The problem of people incorrectly inferring the source phone call is indeed one that will persist (and the Watchdog programme highlighted that it’s a problem that Satellite Direct’s sales staff are trained to take advantage of), but that’s not the problem that I was originally highlighting.
I was called by Satellite Direct (even though we’re TPS registered) and the representative attempted to mislead me into believing that my “Sky warranty” had expired. The problem here is not about inference it’s about implication. People who are TPS registered can expect only companies with whom they have an existing contract to call them, so when someone calls and tells them their warranty has expired, the caller implies that they are calling from a contracted party. ie. Sky.
Sky Maintenance scam. A company calling itself Quickcom Solutions
Ltd, from Bognor Regis. They wanted me to cancel direct debit for
maintenance, and pay by debit/credit card. I dont have a maintenance contract with anyone, and dont have a bank account.
I report the fictitious company and details to Sky. I did point out eventually, after letting the man ramble for 10 minutes, that he
was calling from a witheld number, gave me a telephone code for
somewhere local to me, which wasnt Bognor, and if he didnt
nervously cough after every sentence he might have more luck.
Please can someone tell me the address for satellite assured as I really really need to cancel!!!!
Many thanks
An elderly relative of mine appears to have been fleeced twice by people selling dodgy warranties for Sky TV Equipment – once by Satellite Direct UK Ltd, then again by South Coast Digital Services. How do these people sleep at night?
The bank will issue a chargeback for many reasons and up to 6 months too with some cards. If it is a scam tell the bank and they will refund money straight away then get the money bak from the company scamming you. Also the company has to pay costs of retrieving the money. I don’t know if your elderly relative is within time to issue a chargeback but the fact they already had another policy looks like they were at the least tricked in to getting another one.
If these companies have to refund your money and get charged for it too then they have a big problem making money and hopefully give up.
If you have relatives that are infirm or ‘too trusting’ then check they are not taking out dubious policies that last 2/3 yrs with companies that probably haven’t been around that long.
satellite direct and subscriber services are two different companies subscriber services are giving out satellite directs number to customers!!
Just had a letter from Satalite Assured Ltd today wanting £90 of arrears. i can remember cancelling the dd many months ago and refusing to renew the contract over the phone. Must admit that when i took out the warrenty I thought is was Sky offering the cover to me.
as i do not want to pay for a service i dont want or need do i have to pay?? has anyone else had this type of letter?
The thing is they are offering a good service it’s just the information is wrong and the way it is presented(also shown on watchdog) The engineers are gd and interesting people and they do need to call people for them to know about it. many people have the waranty who are satisfied.
Still trying to reclaim my £600 from Stuart King (Satellite Assured Ltd, 16 The Midway, Bognor Regis, West Sussex PO22 7HA). He is behind Satellite Assured but is not registered as a director. Is this illegal? He operates from Vinetrow Industrial Estate Chichester. Mr Scovell of West Sussex Trading Standards is helpful but completely powerless.
just noticed that £65 been taken out of my account by this company have no idea how and why.
I also keep getting threatening letters from Satellite Assured Ltd. They ignore all questions asked of them concerning the mis selling of the warranty. I think that most of their business is based on the mis selling of their warranty and then concentrating on threatening letters to obtain the monies, even when people have a legitimate reason not to pay them. Put a block on any cancelled direct debits you may have with them. They have a habit of trying to re establish them via sending out what appears to be a new warranty with the same direct debit details on.
I had a very odd phone call a couple of weeks ago which has led me to here. A girl asked me if she could speak to Mr or Mrs ******** and I said “speaking” and she told me the cover for my dish and digibox had run out and I said “what to-day?” and she very rudely answered “well, thats why I’m ringing!” so I said I wasn’t aware i had it in the 1st place to which she said “well you have and it’s run out. It will be a one off payment of £60.00 or £6.00 a month” or something or other.
I was really taken aback by her rude and aggressive attitude and she wanted it all to be done quickly. She then informed me if it went wrong it would cost me £85.00 to get it fixed. So I said o.k send me all the details in the post to which she replied “what details?”, so I said the details of the cover and the DD form etc, to which she said “I can’t do that” to which I said “and I can’t give you the details of my account over the phone” and she said “well you’ll just have to pay £85.00 if it goes wrong then”! and put the phone down!!!
I was furious and flabbergasted at the same time and if I’d got my hands on the little cow I’d have throttled her, needless to say it was a caller withheld no. and I don’t know which company it was from but I can see how people get duped. It was her attitude which alerted me though.
Scam or just a crap salesperson?
hi
had a call from someone the other day who told me that my sky warranty was running out. told them that it was in my husbands name and she agreed to call back. as im not married and mine and my partners name is different i know that they do not get phone numbers out of a book – i am not registered with sky broadband but bt but again that is in my partners name – my name is not on our sky bills at all. very strange considering we dont have any form of warranty on sky at all. another scam! (oh and i work for a fraud unit too lol)
We have been with Satellite Direct for a year and a half and have not had much reason to think about them till we saw them featured on Watchdog last night. Now, with some alarm, we have realized how unsafe their contract is. We do not even remember signing anything to authorize a direct debit, but naively we had given our bank details over the phone when they called (believing them to be part of Sky).They have been taking a small sum of money each month since Dec 2006, gradually increasing the amount, so that it is now £1.50 more than the original amount quoted, without actually informing us prior to the increase (something the contract says they will do). We have also never been informed when the renewal date for the contract is (this is the only time when you are able to cancel/refuse renewal) and nowhere on the form does it say how long the agreed term is (we do not remember agreeing to a specific term on the telephone and certainly not to an automatically renewing contract with no clear end date!).
We are about to begin the process of canceling this contract, our “direct debit” and changing our bank account completely if that’s what it takes to get ourselves free of this company. I have been very concerned about some of the comments posted which said that they were threatened quite aggressively with bailiffs, and wondered if anyone had actually stood their ground to the point that bailiffs did come, and what were the consequences?
Thanks for all the advice already posted on this site. Any more gratefully received!
subscriber services, sat cover (and a few other names) are all satellite direct but under a different name how do we KNow this and employee of the company explains it earlier on in this website so mr.kid stop trying to lie 4 the company
Reading everything with interest. My friend has just started working for another company in the same area and I will ask where they get their leads from.
I posted on here several months ago about Satellite Assured, after my client was phoned and threatened. I responded with a letter on recorded delivery asking for full details of the contract and alleged monies owed, together with anything that would prove the contract existed. After an aggressive call, there was no follow up. I also sent another repeat letter, stating that my client would pay all contracted monies, but that any costs would be borne by them for any non contract defence. Then a letter saying that if they did not reply, my client would consider the matter resolved and closed. No response – we were lucky that no money was owed, but the recorded delivery letters were accepted and signed for at the Bognor Regis address. They act aggresively, we act reasonably, they don’t respond – who would win that one at county court!
fully covered is not owened,run, or in any way connected to dave renolds and will never be
I dont have a satellite dish or anyhting, and I dont have a landline… but I do have a mobile. i guard my number very well, and on the occausions I have been in other’s houses, and have picked up phones and got people trying to sell me stuff, I listen to see if i want it – or not. If I dont, I say no thanks, and end the call.
I dont know what the big deal is! Advertising is everywhere and if you need something and you get a call and its what you need, thats great. People are just too weak it seems to not get bothered and not just put the phone down. If you say please dont call back and they do – thats another story!
Business is always changing and developing – so why is it that unless people are doing something negative, they have to be slagged off?
Live and let live. Perhaps British people just like to complain alot!!!
I’ve been reading trough the posts here with some interest.
I’ve been receiving demanding letters from Satellite Assured Ltd claiming that I owe them money on a warranty that
I didn’t know existed – I’ve had four so far. Every time it has taken numerous attempts to get someone on the phone.
The first time they stated that I had missed my September installment which was good considering It was July when I
phoned them! After the second letter I managed to get through again and it turned out they had my details name and address etc., but they were trying to get money from someone elses account on my behalf?
They don’t seem interested in the fact that I have never had an agreement with them, so I have passed the information to Consumer Direct and Trading Standards, and I have written to tell them this. If they still keep badgering me my next step is Watchdog!
Person called Emma phoned me on 20/5/2008 at about 7 pm. I thought it was good idea to have repair insurance on 3 x box and sat disc for £130 for 3 years. So I did. I had no hesitation because I was led to believe that I was talking to SKY! I asked three times, and each time she said yes, “Service section of SKY” or something like that. She also said, on my bank statement I will see SKY-Link against my payment. I know, I have been more then careless in parting with my account details with this people. I phoned 0870 224 5777, and person called Kayleigh said, since I have complained; no money will be taken out of my account. But I must send my complaint in writing to BN18 0DF address.
She also said; people who sold the policy are not employed by them. She also said, we are going to take this complaint very seriously. She said, policy was miss sold. She also gave me her extension number, if I wanted to speak to her.
I also asked, why the paperwork had not arrived, she said Emma should have made it clear that it will take 14 to 21 days. We give you 7 days to change your mind. She also said, money will be requested on 2nd of June 2008. (But not now, since I have complained)
Notice to SKY, why do you give my telephone number to this people?
i started a job at sat support (satelite dircts sales office)as i really needed a new job,i didnt realise what the company was about .My job laqsted 1 day because i realised it was all a scam and i have my morals.We are told to tell people their warrantees have ran out even though we dont really know that.Alot of people were angry and shouted because they knew the truth but there were more vulnerable people who didnt realise this such as old people ,i was really upset about it and didnt return after my first day as it makes me sick knowing what they are doing.
I said in my last post that I had contacted Trading Standards about Satellite Assured Ltd, I was surprised when I had
a reply from them in less than 12 hours, seems they are taking this seriously. Uptil now I’ve always been suspicious
about bodies like this becuase you here stories about how slow they are, but perhaps these guys are different.
I would therefore urge anyone else who is having problems with this particular firm to also contact TS through
their website like I did – I assume that the more people who complain the better the case against them.
If any of you here are following the discussions on other lists about these issues and companies please note that I will be cross posting.
Ref 337. I have today received another letter from them, now demanding £32 instead of the original £54.00. They will place this in the hands of debt collectors if I dont pay. I shall not pay and I am quite willing for them to take me to the count court where I shall have my say about firms that ignore th TPS and imply that they are from or connected to different comapany. (in this case Sky TV)
looks like im one of the last joining this VERY long line is people who have been ripped off by the same company, my cover plan says i have 24/7 cover for my 2 sky boxes and yet it takes 3 days to contact them – a 4th to contact an engineer and a 5-6 further days to arrange a time/date to visit when i will be free..
jesus christ if only i had typed their name into google a few years ago i would have never started a policy with them, i am cancelling it right now and i am moving to another company this very moment
Sat Support are still at it!!!Last week they rang and offered me cover and stupidly I gave them my bankers card no but said I did not want it done until Dec as I was already covered. I phoned 10 mins later to cancel and was assured that it was done. Two days later I received a dd mandate to sign but reading between the lines it was obvious that they would take the payment of my account dd mandate signed or not. On checking my account £9 had already been taken off. Something really ought to be done about this sort of sharp practice.Obviously I have contacted them and my bank but it is time consuming to say the least and I have learnt my lesson the hard way and will never give my card details over the phone again.
so how can you lot justify taking it out on the person on the other end of the phone they are doing a job like anyone else i dont work for this company i work in a call center tho and its a days job when we get twats like you having a go at us well start realiseing its not the people on the phone its the company how would any of you like it if someone come into your work and started having ago at you people on phones have to call the numbers that appear infront of them like anyone else has to do the job that they’re told to do
When a company sells legimate goods I have no problem with that but misleading the public? I am sure the person in 380 sells goods that are backed up buy a guarrantee. And we are not twats just people who can make a decision yes/no why can’t you learn to accept no as an answer its our choice not yours
If you are having problems with Satalite Assured concerning mis selling, please contact West Sussex Trading Standards who would be very interested to hear from you.
In a lot of cases it seems it is not misseling and simply missunderstanding by a lot of the people who are left unsatisfied by what they have paid for, but obviously in any company there are a few bad eggs looking to weasel their way to a few quid – dont think mobile phone companies or banks are any different.
I think the rip off here lies just as much with Sky because once the year warranty ran out its £75 just to call them out, plus parts and labour costs. These other companies wouldnt be able to offer such competetive deals if Sky/Domestic & General were not so grossly overpriced.
A year’s cover that is cheaper than a single ‘call out fee’ with Sky – which only includes inspecting the equipment. No wonder people are tempted!?
My husband has been conned by a bogus sky repair company. They told him our warranty was up, without checking he gave out his bank details for the sum of £65. On our account a grand total of £165 has been taken out and no trace of the actual company who have not sent the paperwork as promised and we havn’t even had our sky set up for a year. We are trying to get the money back thanks to the bank helping us out I just want to warn others. The company name on the bank statement is Redbourn St.A. wp-sky-pro-plan.Lt.
For those interested just seen on bbc website and local Bognor paper Mr Dave reynolds appeared in court at chichester charged with several counts of fraud & money laundering relating to his company Satellite Direct & is to re-appear on august 18th for a total sum of 1 250 000 yes one million two hundred and fifty thousand pounds what more needs to be said apart from there will be a lot of people looking for employment soon (poor them)
Mr Reynolds was runner up in the Sussex Business Person of the Year awards 2007/08
What were they thinking?
http://www.thebusinessawards.co.uk/sussex/winners.aspx
Sussex Business Person of the Year
Winner
Steve Greenhalgh (Kates Cakes) Pulborough
Runner-up
Lynette Baldwin (Baldwin Training Centre), Eastbourne
Charita Jones (Momma Cherri’s), Brighton
Dave Reynolds (Satellite Direct UK Ltd), Arundel
we have just realised that this company has all our debit card details and has a direct debit mandate set up to this and has been taking money every month althiugh the ammount is small im really concerned as they have details they shouldnt have
i have been trying to contact satellite assured ltd that i have cancel my direct debit with them have been trying to find them on the net cant find them on the email addressed that i got on the letter of them tried looking for them on the phone book cant match the address for me its in chichester PO19 9DQ HAVING TROUBLE locateing them can any one help me contect me on my email addr
Hi Michael, on the SatAssured website their address is stated as: Unit 5, New Barn Vinnetrow Business Park Vinnetrow Road, Runcton Chichester PO20 1QH (map). If you have no luck with that address, you might want to use the address of the domain owner which (according to the last update in 11th Sept 2006) is: 16 The Midway, Felpham, West Sussex, PO22 7HA, GB (map).
Is this discussion still active??
i was telephoned last year thought it was from sky “stupidly” paid my years insurance by debit card heard nothing from satalitedirect no policy nothing!!! then a lady rang yesterday quite “stroppy” saying theyd tried to get another years premium but as my card had expired(thank god) they hadnt had their £60 i told her it is illegal to try to get money without the card holders say but my bank say that some unscrupulous companies can do this!!!!!
Hi
I too have been having a problem with satcover They have been taking £110 per month from me for no reason as I already have other satelite cover please can you give some advice as to how I can recover my money
Thank you
caroline Leung
Sattelite Direct isnt a scam haha. I have been with them for a year, twice my skys gone wrong, and twice they have got out to me on the same day to fix it one time and completely replace the sky box the othr time! For just 5 pounds a month, so I dont really see that as scamming
0845 644 8224 SKY SAT from bognor regis called me and not only tried telling me they would reduce my monthly direct debit, but I could hear all sorts of foul language in the background…totally unprofessional even for a scam company!
0845 644 8224
Sky Sat Tv ???
Hi
just had £65 scammed from my account by Satellite
Direct uk.Cancelled dd 3years ago,all of a sudden they are
taking money from my account,how is this possible if i don’t get my money back,i will get in touch with the Fraud Squad.
These people are stealing money from our accounts.
Time something was done,enough is enough.
Michael (388)
The post code you have must relate to a PO Box. in Google Earth it comes up
as the Post Office sorting office in Basin Road Chi. Rich’s address is the
published one for this company and the houses at PO22 7AH are quite impressive,
about £500K. (Wish I’d thought of something like this when I left
T.V. egineering and went into electronics but, like most of us, I am too
honest to be filthy rich).
People wishing to contact Satellite Direct UK should see my communication,
No. 94 in “Junk Mail from Satellite Direct”. Good luck.
hay i am new 2 all this. i got a call a couple of months ago and was shocked to hear my insurance for my sky had expired, so i decided to call SKY and check it. it did so and they was correct,SKY had told me they was a bad company to go with, but when they called the service sounded much better then SKY and cheeper.So i called back and was set up over the phone, and also was given all the correct information e.g numbers, names, and address.I received my paper work in 14 days, and was happy with how smooth it all went. Within 30 days i had a problem with my SKY. I called the services line number and they sorted a same day services for a engineer to come and take a look.The next day they were at my door and had sorted the problem on the same day end am glad to say was very happy with the service.They may sell it all the wrong way but am glad to say is a good service and good rate. Thanks Joey
Readers should note that Joey arrived at the article having searched for “Satellite Direct Dave Reynolds”.
Why would “a customer” who can barely punctuate a paragraph (albeit a temporally challenged one) go to the extent of searching for the name of a company whose services they use, including the name of the director, in order to eulogize their service?
I smell a rat, or at least a plant, and take Joey’s comments with a pinch of salt.
If Joey is a plant why would he slate his own companies selling techniques? I think u getting a bit paranoid Rich
Not paranoid, just reasoned skepticism.
Regardless, I am of course loving the irony that the suggestion of paranoia comes from someone calling themselves only “X” and using a false email address.
I feel really really stupid as I have paid satellite direct £60 for cover as I thought I was buying this cover from Sky – that was the impression I was given on the phone by satellite direct. Sky say I do not need the cover as the box is still covered by an extended warranty. How do I get my money back from Satellite direct? I’ve been well and truly done but will get on the phone tomorrow…