I'm with SKY around 2/3 years. In the first year with them, I had to call to sort out the BB, and the hold times were awful. To boot, I got a very high bill for the call to SKY, I think one call cost me 10 Euro. Last year, conscious of the high call costs, I contacted them via Twitter. I agreed a lower amount on my last annual bill - dropped to 65 Euro a month for essentially BB & basic TV package. I get speeds around the 70mp mark, and it's adequate. The contract deal expired and now the bill went to 93 Euro a month. I'm abroad and cannot use the local 0818 number to contact them. They no longer respond to Twitter, and the customer service on boards.ie is closed (COVID I think). I've logged into SKY and queued on the 'webchat' only to be told I was on the UK site and asked to call IRL, I explained I'm away and told they they don't have any other ways to contact SKY Ireland. I eventually contact SKY (UK) and they tried to transfer me to SKY Ireland, and I was left on hold for nearly an hour before I finally hung up.
I finally found an email "roi-complaints@sky.ie " (should anyone need it) and sent a complaint - still no essential response, despite promises to do so in the procedures. I have now told SKY I will be canceling my package when I return to Ireland irrespective of any response they give me now. My point is at least twofold. I will LEAVE SKY no matter what they do now, so they have lost a customer and over 1100 Euro a year because of terrible customer service. On the flipside, they offer price incentives to 'new customers only' to entice new customers in. I noted from the website that, if I was a new customer, I could get to webchat straight away - it appears only existing customers are sent to the back of the queue, or basically told to' go away' in not so many words. At several points on their website 'service' areas they sent customers in a loop to 'self-help' sections which are mostly useless. The facility to change 'my package' informs the customer that it is 'having technical difficulties' and try again later, and these difficulties have been experienced every time I've gone to their website, and that has been many times, believe me.
My points?
* There's more money in serving existing customers better than new ones.
*Make retention a key objective of the business.
* Make sure the website works.
* Self-service facilities only work up to a point -customer care agents are needed.
* Webchat/email and telephone customer care are not optional extras for any modern business.
* Customer care can be a great selling point.
I will be leaving SKY regardless of any offer they make and I mean that. They will not see me as a customer again, and I will tell anyone who asks me about my experience. They are losing a customer, 1100 euro a year, and all the reputational damage an irritated customer can do. There has to be some smart service company who can capitalize on that.
I finally found an email "roi-complaints@sky.ie " (should anyone need it) and sent a complaint - still no essential response, despite promises to do so in the procedures. I have now told SKY I will be canceling my package when I return to Ireland irrespective of any response they give me now. My point is at least twofold. I will LEAVE SKY no matter what they do now, so they have lost a customer and over 1100 Euro a year because of terrible customer service. On the flipside, they offer price incentives to 'new customers only' to entice new customers in. I noted from the website that, if I was a new customer, I could get to webchat straight away - it appears only existing customers are sent to the back of the queue, or basically told to' go away' in not so many words. At several points on their website 'service' areas they sent customers in a loop to 'self-help' sections which are mostly useless. The facility to change 'my package' informs the customer that it is 'having technical difficulties' and try again later, and these difficulties have been experienced every time I've gone to their website, and that has been many times, believe me.
My points?
* There's more money in serving existing customers better than new ones.
*Make retention a key objective of the business.
* Make sure the website works.
* Self-service facilities only work up to a point -customer care agents are needed.
* Webchat/email and telephone customer care are not optional extras for any modern business.
* Customer care can be a great selling point.
I will be leaving SKY regardless of any offer they make and I mean that. They will not see me as a customer again, and I will tell anyone who asks me about my experience. They are losing a customer, 1100 euro a year, and all the reputational damage an irritated customer can do. There has to be some smart service company who can capitalize on that.
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