Yes. Today I receive another letter from them. Despite the hassle of dealing with them in this post, they’ve sent me another letter. Further below I disect the letter, but first I want to draw your attention to an Advertising Standards Authority ruling:
Advertising Standards Authority ruling on previous mailing from Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd.
Before you read that, I should draw your attention to three things:
- Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd. had a complaint against them upheld on the grounds that their previous mailings breached CAP Code clause 7.1 on the grounds of TRUTHFULNESS.
- Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd. had a complaint agsint them upheld on the grounds that their previous mailings breached CAP code clause 43.2 on the grounds of database practice. They won’t even tell the ASA where they get their mailing list from.
- Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd. had a complaint against them upheld on the grounds that their previous mailings breached CAP code clause 7.1 on the grounds of TRUTHFULNESS.
You’ll get the point of why I’ve over emphasised those three points, and used such large red letters to emphasise that the company breached rules on truthfulness when you see a reconstruction of what they send people:
So, if you get a letter from:
Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd., Unit 5, Capitol Trading Park, Kirkby Bank Road, Kirkby L33 7SY
You can safely throw it in the bin. I opened mine, and was confronted with a big red “IMPORTANT NOTICE” which was “REQUIRING URGENT ATTENTION”. Their capitals, not mine. As with the last time they wrote to me, I was a little sceptical as to how factual their letter heading was.
Foolishly, I read on, I’m re-writing here the exact colour/bold/grammar that they sent me…
“YOUR SKY DIGITAL SATELLITE SYSTEM WARRANTY IS DUE TO EXPIRE.” I’ll correct them here, my Sky box was covered by a standard warranty which expired several years ago.
“WHY WAIT 3 DAYS FOR A SERVICE CALL, WHEN OUR UNIQUE SAME DAY SERVICE IS AVAILABLE FROM ONLY £5.99 PER MONTH.” Since you ask, I wouldn’t pay that because if I had put that amount in a bank account each month since my Sky warranty expired, I could afford to buy a new HD box for myself.
“Call 0871 423 7974 without delay”
I’m wondering why they request my telephonic company so immediately, and find the answer in their smaller block capitals…
AS SOON AS YOUR SKY DIGITAL SYSTEM IS OVER 12 MONTHS OLD, YOUR STANDARD SKY WARRANTY EXPIRES. IN SHORT THE SYSTEM IS NOW YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO REPAIR AND MAINTAIN. NO MORE FREE CALL-OUTS!
IF YOU REQUIRE A SERVICE CALL AND YOUR SKY DIGITAL SYSTEM IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY, YOU WILL NOW BE CHARGED A MINIMUM CALL OUT FEE OF £72. [I assume this is the feeble excuse they have found to write to me again, but it holds no water.]
RESTORE PEACE OF MIND AND EXTEND YOUR SKY DIGITAL WARRANTY WITH US. WE’RE ONLY A PHONE CALL AWAY WITH EASY PAYMENT OPTIONS BY CHEQUE, DIRECT DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD
OUR UNIQUE SAME DAY SERVICE* MEANS THAT IF YOU CALL OUR SERVICE LINE BEFORE 10AM WE WILL ENDEAVOUR TO HAVE AN ENGINEER AT YOUR HOUSE THAT DAY. [Three things strike me, a * in a sentence, not a 1 which would look semi-professional; the other two are that they will endeavour to have an engineer at my house that day. What is endeavour? How hard will you really try? Come on, I don't want to be left without the latest Katie Price and Peter Andre story on Living TV! Another question, would this engineer care to show me his professional qualification upon arrival, along with his I.D.?]
I finally find the little * at the bottom of the large upper case capitals. I squint to see the smallest writing.
*service calls dependent on engineer availability and stock levels. (Not including weekends or bank holidays.)
Sorry, my mobile phone insurance costs far less, and guarantees me someone with a replacement phone on my door that day, are you even trying to provide a service here?
I’m sorry, I don’t buy it. Although I’m not going to get a warranty for a Sky box that’s done fine for several years, I felt obliged to check my options. Here’s a price-comparison: [28 June 2008]
| DSWC Ltd. | SKY | |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Sky System | £5.99 per month | £5.75 per month, for 3 boxes |
| Sky+ | £9.59 per month | £8.25 per month, inc 1 SkyHD or Sky+ box or 2 normal boxes |
| Two Simple Sky Systems | £9.99 per month | £5.75 per month for THREE boxes |
| Sky+ and a Simple Sky System | £12.99 per month | £8.25 per month, includes TWO Simple Sky Systems |
I’m sorry, I’d rather pay the lower price to Sky for a next day service. Maybe three days at the outset, if they are really busy and somoene’s off with gastric flu, just to cover themselves.
I haven’t given a good enough idea of how childishly Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd. convey themselves in their letter. I really cannot recall ever having received any information in writing which was an “IMPORTANT NOTICE” which was “REQUIRING URGENT ATTENTION” with those two parts covering 1/7 of a page. Any solicitor, hospital or doctor etc who has felt the requirement to write to me has used a modest letterhead. So why does Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd. feel the need to make such a striking impression?
We’re all human, and allowed to make our own choices, but believe me, from what I can tell, and Im not a lawyer, professional or anything clever like that, if you use these Digital Satellite Warranty Cover people, you’re a fool.
Oh yeah, their FREEPOST address, which you can send things to is:
FREEPOST RRHK-EUUZ-EKHC Unit 5 Capitol Trading Park Kirkby Bank Road Knowsley Industrial Park LIVERPOOL L33 7SYI’m a member of the Mail Preference Service, I’ve informed them. To me, if you post something to me, it becomes my property to disclose at my will. Next time I receive a letter from these people I’m going to get more personal legal advice.
Update 12th July 2008:
I received another “IMPORTANT NOTICE, REQUIRING URGENT ATTENTION” today. Apparently it’s my final reminder that I need to take them up on their exclusive offer. I still can’t see anything exclusive about it, and their prices are still more than Sky would charge. They’ve introduced a same day service, so long as I report a fault to them by 10:00am and wait in all day.
The Mail Preference Service has responded to say that they will take up the case.
dswc ltd i was with them thinking it was sky protect i was paying for two lots of insurance when i found out i cancelled the direct debit and phoned them and cancelled they stopped taking money out of my bank and i have just found out that they started it back up with out me knowing i have still been paying them for eight month and still would be if i didnt find out by going overdrawn dont use them there a con
What action have you taken samantha, have you reported them? I have just had my parents story published in the liverpool echo, yesterday. You need to contact consumer direct, who will then forward your details on to Trading Standards.
I had been conned a couple of years ago by Systemguard. A couple of days later warnings from Watchdog about these bogus sky box repair plans came to light. The secret filming shocked me that this nonsense is allowed to continue, and still does. I wrote to them making it very clear that they do not deduct any money from my account and stopped the debit order, and that I would be watching my account very carefully. Also, I made them aware that it is known that the same person runs other companies running the same ‘scam’ and I do not wanted to be contacted by any of the companies.
During the same week my 60 year old friend mentioned to me that he was contacted by cold calling and they had convinced him that the 2 years that he had been paying the one company wasn’t enough cover and he would need to take out additional cover. Shockingly it is believed that both companies who contacted him albeit it 2 years apart were owned by the same person/s. I managed to get him to cancel the 2nd one but to date he continued to pay the first one. Last year he was advised by Sat Sure (or Satellite Assure) that the company who he was with has shut down. They said they had taken over from them and required his bank details again. Why did they ask for bank details and why were there no letters of notification? Also, why after he has been paying for 3 months there is still no paperwork? Odd! Luckily he has finally listened and stopped the payments. Might I add they were quick to call and ask why the DD was stopped. After threatening to report them they put the phone down. Regretfully they have his cr card details and his current acc details. Nasty!
Unfortunately not enough is being done and it is disgusting that the elderly are being targeted. How many of these ‘sharks’ / ‘cowboys’ are about and how many victims were there, are there and will be before this comes to an end. Don’t we all struggle enough as it is.
For now it’s just good people are sharing their stories as it does raise awareness.
Until I read the foregoing comments, I was relatively happy with the DSWC Ltd, having been a subscriber for 2 years and having used them (successfully) once. They admittedly were a bit slow in response, but overall their service was OK. However, on the basis of the comments, I queried what they asserted (that they were better value than Sky protect) and found them wanting. The cost difference was negligtible. I also found that, this year, I was double charged in that a debit by Nationwide Satellite (the forerunner of DSWC Ltd) was also actioned in parallel with the current one, so someone else is still using my card details. I am awaiting their response but an interim call by one of their staff was polite. I await the outcome with interest. But I have now moved my custom to Sky protect for £97 pa.
I noticed on the Sky website the other day that they are warning customers against companies claiming to offer warranty and acting on behalf of Sky. The warning gives details of problems a lot of Sky customers have had/are experiencing and tells people ONLY to use Sky Protect which is authorised and run by Sky or Domestic & General.
The service I received from Sky Protect was excellent and I am so glad I signed up with Sky themselves and no one else.
Also, like Andrew Jeans states in his post, if you live in a flat and have problems with your communal dish/equipment, it is up to the managing agent, etc. to sort. That’s what happened to me. The Sky engineer was able to check my Sky+ box but not the actual satellite system installed for the whole building. The downside of this is that it can take ages – I had to go without Sky for a month whilst the management company took their time!
Hi,did you know if you are registered with TPS, and you keep getting these calls, TPS has the teeth to fine these marketing companies a serious amount of cash.
I would also recommend that you pass the details of any calls,literature etc to your local trading standards office.
These people won’t take no for an answer. They bombard me with calls, then hurl abuse when I ask to speak with a supervisor, and then put the phone down.
Extremely rude staff. Being ex directory and registered with TPS doesn’t seem to make any difference to these vile people. I’ve asked many times to be removed from their calling list, but caller ID shows they call me regularly. I just let it go to answer machine most of the time, but unfortunately occasionally pick up the call.
Hi guys,I am a sky employee.
1/as far as I know, we limit mailing lists ( if the customer agrees) to companies in the group,and third parties who may have a product or service you might have an interest in.
2/All accounts are by default registered wth TPS,and the equivalent postal service unless the customer advises otherwise, and advisors must,when setting up the account ask if the customer wishes his personal data shared.
3/ Sky does NOT offer an extended warranty service,although any sevice call,engineer vist for any reason is a flat,all inclusive £65.00, and,all things being equal,we get an engineer out within 3 working days. (some remoter areas or installations that require what we call a special heights team,that is roof top/chimney dishes,or on the walls of buildings exceeding three floors in height,can take up to ten days.) We always refund any loss of viewing,so, if you have no telly for a week, and you pay £40.00 a month for your package, you get ust under a tenner back on your account .Any replacement equipment, if needed ,comes with a further 90 day warranty.
4/If a customer asks us about taking out an extended warranty, we refer them to Domestic & General, a bone fide insurance company (for which sky no doubt gets some sort of commision). D&G however have been in the extended warranty cover business for decades, and underwrite the vast majority of all forms of (legitimate) extended warranty policies in the UK, and as far as I recall, their prices compare with this mob.
The major difference here is that D&G do all the soft sevice stuff,that is, they take the initial call, do the ‘phone checks’ to see if an engineer is needed, and if so, call SKY to send out our engineer, and pay us the £65.00. Plus they run an unlimited call out policy, that is, no matter how many times you have problems in a given year, you still pay the 7 or eight quid a month.(they also accept business from people who tell them their equipment is totalled!! Can’t see the Kirkby kids doing that!!)
Now I don’t have any problem with people trying to make a living, but by trying to panic people into buying something they probably wont need in the first couple of years of getting their kit, well…..
BTW, if you have SKY,but use a communal dish, and it is the dish that is Faulty, then you need to speak to the landlord or the building managers to get that looked at, as Neither SKY,or D&G will do that kind of repair…..
I was caught by D.S.W.C.in sept 08 when Sky warranty ran out, like everybody else I thought that it was Sky. they have just tried again so I. took details to bank. they cancelled card
hopefully that will end the problem. Where are they getting this info from? Sky employees?
The correct description of those perpetrating this scam is ” Lying thieves”
I foolishly accepted their claim that they did act on Sky’s behalf and only discovered the truth when Sky informed me that this company is NOT connected to Sky. Anything referring to Sky can be verified by Sky who will TRUTHFULLY inform you of the facts.
I was dumb enough to fall for this company’s scam three years ago. I had just had a new SKY system inatalled and was about to call SKy to arrange a warranty (which I had had before and found useful) when I got a phone call froma company who said they were SKY warranties.
After I receoved the Certificate I realised I had been had, but I put it down to experience.
I moved house this year, no longer have SKY and suddenly receive a Certificate through the (redirected) post – they have only dipped into my credit card again!
I called to complain and received a letter from them refusing any refund – they claim my failure to respond to their letter (what letter?) telling me they were about to do this was permission to take the money.
It gets better because when I checked my credit card statements, not only did Sky Digital Intern help themselves to £24.31, a month later a firm called Nationwide Digital, who are another firm of warranty scam artists that I had never heard of, helped themselves to £54.99 from my credit card.
So now these scammers have hold of my Credit card number and are passing it around among themselves.
Dam!!
Nationwide Digital and Digital satellite warranty cover are one and the same company. They will both be brought to justice very soon!
DSWC. I have had same experience – phone calls and now letters. Checked your website which is very informative about this company and covers every aspect of why NOBODY should deal with them. Being local to their “service office” address I have tried to find a bit more information directly but have been told this is a call centre dealing with a number of service companies.I have a suspicion that the mailing list is supplied by the installers who in return possibly work as service engineers for DSWC too. Only thing I would add to watch out for is the envelope I received had “for Sky Customers WARRANTY INFORMATION” on the front making it appear to be from Sky. Also the most recent telephone number is 0871 265 9865.
I found these comments very interesting, as I have just received ”important notice” from DSWC.
Very interesting as I do NOT have nor ever had a Sky system.Where do they get info from.
Obviously will not be contacting them, and wonder whether I will get a follow up from them.
I received a call from Ditigal Satellite a week ago. At first I thought it was someone ringing from Sky (I have Sky Protect from Sky) but was very confused as the girl to whom I spoke gave me conflicting information – I had just the previous week received a letter from Sky Protect advising that the amount I pay has been reduced and I need do nothing further. The girl from DS said that my cover was due to expire, I told her it is continuous and mentioned the letter. She replied by saying that I could let them have a lump sum payment and save lots of money. I said I couldn’t understand why they were offering this and suddenly realised she must be from another company. I didn’t give her any information, told her I didn’t want to change or take out a contract with them. She was ok but kept referring to the letter they had sent. It arrived yesterday and has gone straight in the shredder. The thing that bothers me about firms like DS is how they can take advantage of people who may not realise what is going on or be susceptible to such schemes. I am also curious as to how they got my details – and annoyed that they are able to. Actually, when the letter arrived they had my name correct but the address wasn’t quite right.
I would urge anyone not to have anything to do with these people.
D S W C ———- VERY VERY VERY BAD
D S W C ———— VERY VERY RUDE
D S W C ———— VERY VERY MISLEADING AND CHEATING
D S W C ———— CON ARTISTS
D S W C ———— SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN PERMAMENTLY
D S W C ———— TERRIBLE
D S W C ———— BENDING THE ENGLISH TEXT
D S W C ———— COULD THEY BE SAT LINK SERVIES
OR USE TO BE OR EVEN SAT DIRECT
SERVICES.
D S W C ———— LIERS / TWO FACED / CHEATING
D S W C ———— GOING TO CLOSE DOWN THEN RESTART
UP IN A DIFFERENT NAME TO BEND THE
THE QUEENS LAW SYSTEM.
D S W C ———— CRIMMINAL IN THE ENGLISH TEXT
D S W C ———— TOTALY BAD HUMAN BEINGS TERRIBLE
IN THE EMPLOYMENT WORLD.
D S W C ———– DO NOT BELIEVE ANYONE WHO CALLS TO
CLAIM ON ANYTHING UNLESS YOU KNOW
ITS A WELL KNOW COMPANY / REPORT THEM TODAY STAND UP TO THEM , THERE ARE PEOPLE YOU CAN CONTACT MP, COUCIL, POLICE, THERE IS EVEN AN ACT IN FORCE BY THE GOVERMENT THAT STOPS THEM FROM PHONING THEM TALK TO YOUR MP, TALK TO TRADING STANDARDS COME ON STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS AFTER ALL THEY A CHEEKY ENOUGHT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU TO GET YOUR WELL EARNED MONEY. DONT LET THEM OFF THE HOOK LETS GET THEM CLOSED DOWN FOR GOOD, LETS GET THEM TO ID THEM SELVES AND THE CAREFULLY WORDED SCRIPTS THAT THEY CALL TRUE ENGLISH TEXT SO THAT THEY CAN RIP YOU OFF BUT NOT SO MUCH THAT IT PROTECTS THEM FROM THE LAW.
DONT GIVE INTO THEM DSWC / SAT LINK SERVICES / SAT LINK LTD YOU ARE VERY VERY VERY BAD PEOPLE YOUR TIME IS COMING SOON MARK MY WORDS YOU WILL PAY.
i took out an agreement with dswc, and you guessed it they are so rude and very horrible in thier dealings not porfessional at all. I have tried to get an engineer out but to success, i changed my bank account details, and then they told me that i had to wait a whole month with no tv to watch because they did,nt know if i was going to commit theft of there servies because i have changed my account bank numbers they said i had to wait, so with no luck i did as a fool. Now even thow i gave these people 1 month in advance new account details when it came round 1 month later they told me when i phoned up that they have never recieved the payment, so off to the bank to get my direct debits, they also confirmed that they have been sent the payment. So i came home 1 hr later,ish i was back on the phone costing me more money, even then they told they have never had payment and got all stroppy and basically very very rude. Even on the direct debit it had the same reference as which i have on there certificate and i give to dswc on the phone and even then she was very very much telling me it was wrong and that the back had cancelled it, why would there was plenty of cash well over 1200 in there so why would the bank have to act ?. Only if it was a failed payment which it was not. They are ripping people off i demand some one some where do some thing about these people because they are bending the law to make quick money out of people and even lieing to get you to set up a direct debit.
MY ADVICE TURN DOWN EVERY PHONE CALL THAT THE CALLER CLAIMS ,
YOUR WARRANTY IS ABOUT TO RUN OUT OR
GIVING YOU A BETTER DEAL OR
COMFIRM INSURANCE WITH SKY AND THERE ENGINEERS AND GET PROOF AND PROPER PAPERWORK.
DONT LET THESE PEOPLE RIP YOU OFF STAND UP TO THEM.
GET AS MUCH INFORMATION AS YOU NEED,
ACCOUNT NUMBERS,
DEBITS FROM AND TO DATES,
MY ADVICE GO WITH SKY AND THERE COVER AT LEAST YOU WILL GET A TRUTHFUL ENGINEER,
NOT A I CANT BE BOTHERED BUT CLAIM TO BE AN PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER OR SOME ONE WHO DOES,NT EVEN PROBLEM SOLVE ONCE ON SITE OR CHECK WIRES OR CONNECTIONS OR JUST LOOKS AND NOTHING ELSE ANYONE CAN DO THAT.
FINAL THOUGHT IF YOU GET ANY CALLERS USE YOUR HEAD GET THEM TO CONFIRM WHO THEY ARE FIRST AND ASK FOR NAMES WHAT OFFICE THEY ARE IN. IF NOT GENUINE IE THE WELL KNOWN COMPANYS JUST PUT THE PHONE DOWN ON THEM OR PHONE THE POLICE OR GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR COUNCIL OR TRADING STANDARDS OR YOUR LOCAL MP.
DONT USE THESE ROUGHE TRADERS TAKE A STAND AND CUT THEM OFF DEAD.
I received a call from Digital Warranty Care tonight (they sound as though they are from Sky when they call) on the pretext of giving me a new tel number to call if I required their maintenance service (0844 3351338) and then asking if i would like to change my monthly payments to annual to save me money. Next question would no doubt be to ask for bank details! I informed the man calling that we did not have a maintenance contract with them, and didnt want one and was practically accused of lying and told to check my bank statements! (I did and we dont! ) The man from DGW was very rude, very pushy and when he realised he was getting nowhere put the phone down! We had calls like this several months ago from a similar organisation (or same org different name?) and asked to be taken off their data base. is there a consumer organisation dealing with complaints about this company?
Hi Janet, Got caught out as well rang me up on a bad day fed up of them nagging me so agreed to get them off my back,What a mistake! Only came to light when I was rang again offering yet more cover. Rang sky who informed me of a scam and that I didn’t need cover as my box was still covered for another six months.If I do need cover then I will ring sky myself as they were very helpful suggesting that I rang trading standards, who weren’t able to do much to help so then rang my bank who again informed me of the scam.They stopped my cards and are now trying to get my money back and stop any more payments going out, hopefully.I was also given the phone number: 08443351338 but have been unable to get in touch.I also have had no written confirmation or correspondence from them.Hope I have been lucky and not lost much, only time will tell but a good lesson learnt.Sky say’s they do not ring customers, you have to ring them for warranties so if anyone rings they are not to do with sky, sky deal with domestic and general for their warranties.
Just read your letters Janet and Lesleys,
It seems as though I have been conned as well.
Ihave had phone calls over the years about renewing
warranties, but have always told them that I do
not need it, however much they try,
but this time I got caught by a woman with
a Scottish Accent which was hard to understand
in Nov 20009, she gave the same number as she gave to you.
I have rung that number many times but all I get is
the answering machine, and no return calls.
Thank you very much for all this information. I wish I had checked up on them before. I do have Sky and took out an annual contract with them because I live in the middle of nowhere and thought I should but only renewed it this eyar because of the letters already mentioned. I have just attempted to email their complaints department and it has bounced back, what a suprise! I will be cancelling my direct debit tomorrow and expect to lose the remaining nine months of cover I have left.
I reported a fault a month ago and they fobbed me off with excuses as to why no engineer was available. Luckily I didn’t wait in on the day someone was meant to come but didn’t and I was spoken to as if I was an idiot. I am totally unimpressed with their service and their cheek.
Reference XXXXXXXXXX
Further to my phone call on tuesday, my
Sky is still not working, with the
message no satellite
signal being receive.
So I think it must be
a fault with my Sky
box.
Regards
M
I’ve had a call tonight from Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd in fact they have rung a number of times over the last few days when I’ve been out. They informed me that Satellite Direct (S D) have gone into receivership and therefore my warranty with S D is no longer valid. I’ve never been with S D but yet I am on S D’s database. The person tried to wheedle out of me who my warranty was with but all I told him was that when I initially subscribed to SKY through Currys I took up their support and that is costing £52 p.a. Incidentally the number they called from was 0871 265 9865.
This company has cold called my home for the last 3 weeks trying to sell me cover. This is despite me being registered with BTs telephone preference service and several requests from myself to take me off their mailing list. ABSOLUTE COWBOYS, avoid them at all cost!
Dswc is a bad company, satellite direct is a bad company, there are many companys that are
trading unlawfuly.
I am an engineer and know the industry well, dont get caught out, the warranty for sky tv is a good idea and if you get the right company you will be looked after.
There are three companys out there that are realy good, Thay are Satellite & Homecare LTD Satellite assured and Domestic and general, now if i had to choose one of these, my advise would be to choose Satellite & Homecare Ltd, if you ring West Sussex trading standards you will find thay have next to no complaints, you cant please every one, but even british gas and leading companys get some kind of complaints.
Trading standards is the way to check a company it doesnt hurt to ask the question.
Sky TV only endorse one company country wide and that is Sky protect (nee Domestic & General)
how can you contact these people
I have been receiving phone calls from this company for someone who does not live here, we son’t even have satellite equipment. They are rude and practically call me a liar when i inform them that the person they want does not live here. when we phoned them back they were rude again and now we keep getting silent calls from them, the idiots dont even mask their number.
19 Oct 2009
I have just been informed by SKY TV that the: Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd.
Have now gone in to liquidation and I have lost my £72.00 paid to them on 14th July 2009
I have contacted my Bank who can do nothing….is this a Cowboy Company?
There phone line is no longer in use?
No way to contact them?
I wonder how many more people have been conned
I hope this information may help someone
Regards Mick
I’ve been stung by this firm representing itself as part of sky. I have just tried to get some action and they claim my sky+ box is not covered by my warranty. I have contacted trading standards.
Hi, my mother has been signing up with these satellite warranty companies, 14 in total. She suffers from a mild form of dementia.She forgets that she has cover with domestic and general. All these companies give her the hard sell, put the wind up the 85 year old.
I have been spending the last few months thrying to cancel the warranties, however the one that I cannot get through to is Digital warranty care. I did call them (number on Gareth massage), however just get a message. Does anybody have an address or a email for this company.
Any help appreciated
Thanks
Mike
THIS COMAPY LIES THEROW THERE BACK TEETH NEVER TURN UP WHEN THEY SAY THEY WILL AND CUSTOMER SERIVCE MANAGER KIM WAS VERY VERY RUDE! IN FACT THEY ALL WERE! IF I WERE YOU I WOULDNT USE THIS COMAPNY.
I have had them come out once to fix my dish – still same problem with no signal when it rains and no signal on input 2. I have called them a second time – they scheduled a visit from the engineer 6 days later. That day, I stayed home all day – no engineer. They claim his car broke down. Rescheduled to 2 days later – what a surprise – this morning I received a phone call. His car broke down —- AGAIN!! What a coincidence. Rescheduled to 4 more days from now….. what a scam. I will report this to the authorities mentioned, to my credit card company, and to sky.
I’ve just had a letter from them telling me my Sky digital satellite service warranty is about to expire. I’m a little confused, as I’ve never had a service from Sky. Scamming twats.
What we all need to do is this: Whenever a letter comes to you from this bunch of incompetent idiots, wrap up a brick or something large, stick the freepost envelope to it and post that back to them! They will be bombarded with bricks and hefty postage costs.
That might cost them a bit more than a first class letter.
I left my house in UK last 29JUL. I am still receiving mail from you, reforwarded by the present tenant. Please, cease to send me any kind of mail. Thanks in advance. Best regards.
I too have been bombarded with telephone calles and letters from Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd.
I issued them with a Subject Access Request and paid the £10 to find out where they got my information.
They wrote back and in their letter they told me that they had purchased my Data from a Company that advertises in the ‘Exchange and Mart’ called Dalton Data.
To make things clear for everybody…
It is a criminal offence to make calls or send mail which causes annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety, Under the Telecommunications Act 1984 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Simply put, once you have told them not to contact you again, if they do, they are in clear breach of the above Acts.
I’ve just had the exact same letter from them. I do not have Sky. I’ve lived at this address for 12 years and have never had Sky. As a result I wasn’t taken in – but I can imagine it might be very confusing for people who are Sky customers, particularly those who are more vulnerable to scams.
I’ve reported it on the Watchdog website. I hope enough other people will do likewise that they might look into it and stop people being conned by this dubious practice.
Suspect a rougue company as I recieved a letter for the previous occupier of my property.
I have lived here for 4 years, the previous owner, I know did not have Sky satellite. How do they obtain their mailing lists? It would appear they also create Sky system owners !!!
Ref my previous posting — I sent letter containing a request to cease processing my data for direct marketing purposes This to Co Director by recorded delivery. Also Trading Standards in Liverpool are seeking info from people being harrassed/misled by this company.
Letter included this for his information.
Sec 11 of the Data Protection Act.
Right to prevent processing for purposes of direct marketing
(1) An individual is entitled at any time by notice in writing to a data controller to require the data controller at the end of such period as is reasonable in the circumstances to cease, or not to begin, processing for the purposes of direct marketing personal data in respect of which he is the data subject.
(2) If the court is satisfied, on the application of any person who has given a notice under subsection (1), that the data controller has failed to comply with the notice, the court may order him to take such steps for complying with the notice as the court thinks fit.
(3) In this section “direct marketing” means the communication (by whatever means) of any advertising or marketing material which is directed to particular individuals.
I recieved a letter from Sky and Digital Satellite warrenty cover Ltd and was a little confused as both were talking about renewing my cover. After I have just read all the above comments I am pleased to say that I called them and have asked them not to renew my cover. (not that I thought I was with them anyway!)
The telephone number in big bold numbers was an 0871 number which i am sure I would have to pay for from my mobile and home phone (probably some ridiculous amount too). I noticed another liverpool number in small type at the service office at the bottom of the letter so i used that number instead which comes into my free minutes. It worked! The gentleman on the end of the phone made a note on the system not to renew so hopefully that will be the end – fingers crossed!
Thank you all for your posts, they have been very helpful and I shall keep a look out to check they don’t take any money.
I’m from Northern Ireland and i think i’ve got caught……..i know that they have some bad rports about them but there haven’t been that many complaints about their work in general…..but because I’m in Norther Ireland, should I be worried??? I know they’re in mainland UK but what about us that get stuck over here???
I am a fairly new customer to Sky and i received a phone call from someone from Digital Satellite Warrenty Cover LTD offering me cover for 9.95 per month! I refused but she kept going on and on……she then gave into sayin that they have my account details anyway and i would get the cover automatically! Now I’m worried that its all a con and that my details will be used wrongly!!! Please help…..what will i have to do to make sure this doesn’t happen?! I’ve already contacted my bank and cancelled any activity that i haven’t agreed to but they said that i may still be charged!!
I received a phone call from Digital Warranty Care calling from an international number early evening yesterday regarding my Sky insurance. Firstly she told me she was ringing to inform me of a new telephone number to contact the engineers in my area (Shropshire) 0844 3351 338. She then when on to tell me she needed to renew my contract by taking note of my Ref number on my bank card and I could choose to then to elect to pay a monthly payment of £6 or £60 for the year. I told her I would never give my bank details out over the phone to an unsolicited call. She was extremely persisent( around 10 mins) assuring me she was connected with my current policy. I asked her to fax me details and I would check with Sky the next day and my bank to check protocol.
Surprise surprise no fax was received and now I double check on the internet I can see why.
I am disgusted at this practice, but can understand how people can be conned as she was so plausible.
I thought I would post this and the tactics used to inform others, to avoid unnecessary finanial loss and upset.
I agree with previous posts that this should be exposed, or we geniune holders of Sky products be informed by Sky that this is occurring!
have signed with digital warranty care tonight tried their 0844 3351 338 no . no reply would you recommend canceling payment and is there another contact no
Its no good trying to reason with these people – they will tell you your details have beemn removed for them to write to you or call on days later.
After years of being plagued, harrassed , whatever you want to call it I finally seem to have stopped them by writing and telling then I was excercising my rights to ask them to ‘cease processing my information for the purposes of direct marketing’. No doubt this post is tempting fate.
Can’t remember the exact wording but think I either got it from Trading Standards or from Information Commisioners. Sent the letter to the managing director recorded delivery, stating any further direct marketing would be reported as. a breach and outlining the appropriate fines on conviction. Didn’t get acknowledgement but no more mail since February despite having called Sky for an engineer to visit. [ Not making any suggestions but I always seemed to get letters/calls shortly after contacting Sky for repair. Far be it from me to suggest someone having unauthorised access to data. Maybe Sky or their approved Insurers should have tighter audits on wjho is accessing what and what is downloaded.]
I dealt with this company last year. I did pay one off fee of 59.99 – later to my astonishment received a full refund after writing to cancel within that 7 day cooling off period! If it were not for the internet, I’d be blind to all the scams out there. Forums like these educate.
To be safe, alerted the police and the bank to cancel card and issue new one. They’d also recover any future unsolicted payments.
Bang on anniversary we received a phonecall from this trader. Yes we have TPS, this is the only company to get through – they obviously keep a database of our details with annual reminders. I simply said our home insurance covers our contents, any warranty we had expired 10 years ago. No further calls since then.
I must have contacted Trading Standards last year as I have just received a letter from the Knowsley Council Trading Standards Enforcement Officer inviting me to complete a questionnaire and return with any supporting documents (which I have kept). Does this sudden correspondence suggest they have received a significant number of complaints?
Anyone else received a Knowsley Council letter? Seems legitimate, just odd it’s taken 12 months to receive any correspondence from Trading Standards.
I can assure you it is legitimate. By holding onto that form, you are effectively holding back crucial information needed to bring this outfit to justice.
I received my third letter of the month from them today, my “Final reminder”. Whilst reading this thread the phone rang – guess who. I told the girl I was TPS registered but she said the TPS were at fault for not telling them – wrong.
I’ve lodged a complaint with TPS, not sure if it will do any good but every little helps, these people need stopping. Next step Trading standards and Watchdog.
These bozos just called me. I am always suspicious of anyone trying to sell me anything so when I asked exactly who they were, the woman put the phone down on me. Charming. Next time they get the dial tone. Not that I have anything against Liverpudlians but why do all these dodgy firms always have staff with a Liverpudlian accent? Is it one call centre who represent several ‘dodgy’ companies? Hmmmm…..
Had a call from Digital Satellite Warrenty Cover Ltd. I asked how they got my number and they said if I do want to be contacted I should on TPS.
I said I have been for two years to which he replied you need to renew it every twelve months. This is a LIE, once registered it remains in force for ever.
This is partly Sky’s fault as every customers marketing preference is “open” when you become a customer, you MUST phone Sky to stop, telephone, post,email and text messages from Sky and/or third parties
You sent me an “Important Notice” reference breakdown cover.
Perhaps you should read the Directive 1999/44/EC European Parliament, that stipulates that by 1st January 2002 for all new goods should have a guarantee of at least 2 years.
For further information see Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the council of 25th May 1999.
Official journal reference L 171,07/07/1999 p.0012-1116.
I await your reply with interest.
Mr C Simmons.
Mr Simmons,
I can’t emphasise enough, again, that this website is not related to any digital satellite warranty company. This webpage is here to purely offere advice, and a forum to share your issueswith the company. Your advice is appreciated.
ROLLKIT
We have been totaly misled by this DigitalSatelite Warranty Cover Ltd having spoke to SKY directly they confirmed that they have had many complaints regarding this company but were unable to help thankfully our credit card provider is taking up the case.
BE WARNED
They’ve sent me 4 letters and phoned me every second day for a few days – until I installed an app on my Nokia N95 called MobileGenie on which I blocked their number. They’ve stopped calling since then. So the best advice is to ignore their letters (just throw it in the bin) and decline all their calls. I actually tried in the beginning to reason with them and requested that my number be removed from their contact list. A very rude girl on the other end said that it is now removed – only for them to call me again the next day. Which prompted me to install the app on my phone.
i called Tony at Digital Satellite Warranty who told me that under section blah blah of the Data Protection Act he wasnt allowed to tell me where he got my details from…unless i sent the company a £10 cheque, in which case they would tell me!!!
i called him on 0151 547 5250 and not on the Premium Rate number that they send out with their Urgent Notifications, they are a bunch of scammers… HATEFUL…
I received the “IMPORTANT NOTICE REQUIRING URGENT ATTENTION” from Digital Satellite Warranty Services Ltd this morning. I was immediately suspicious as I don’t actually have a Sky digital satellite system. I haven’t binned the letter, I have torn my name off the top half of the notice, placed the uncompleted form in the FREEPOST envelope provided and posted it back to them! That will cost them money.
I assumed their mailing was authorised and endorsed by Sky, to whom I had supplied my details. Yet this outfit had got my data from some form of “data warehouse”. Clearly a breach of the data protection act, as I had not authorised Sky to release my data to 3rd parties.
When I needed the expected service (the Sky+ kit is the product of the Dirty Digger and an East End market trader known as Sralan, so what do you expect), the fun began. The Warranty states “Same Day Service” and “Priority servicing within 24 hours”. That should set warning bells ringing – they are not the same. After reporting the fault, no one responded that day! When I complained they insisted the 24 hour response applied!
Of course that time limit also expired without a call. They went into excuses about their phone lines being down – maybe they don’t have a service contract!!!
By this time I tried to extract the name of the firm who was supposed to contact me. FYI it was Satellite Direct UK at Arundel. Interesting that a Liverpool company should use a South Coast outfit to arrange for the fixing of a faulty Sky+ box in the Midlands!
Do I expect this firm to be any more capable of resolving the problem and delivering on my expensive warranty? What do you think?
This firm need some exposure on TV’s Watchdog scam-busting programmes.
I’m a carer and they have taken money from one of my 84 year old clients. I think this is bloody dreadful and can anyone give advice as to what step to take next. This lady doesn’t go out very often and is now very upset and angry!
Sam,
This sounds terrible, and your story turns my stomach. I have to ask, does this lady have a satellite system? I have heard of elderly people who do not have a satellite system being sold products.
Anyone fully competent as a telephone salesperson would not make cold calls, and would have the common sense to detect that someone is vulnerable. We’ve received a guarantee that Sky do not provide the details, they have their own cover available. My suspicion is still that the companies who install the satellite systems are passing on the information, at a cost.
I have relatives of the same age, and I know how vulnerable they can be. I remember my parents telling my grandparents not to open the door to strangers at all. The best advice I can give is that if the person you cared for paid by Direct Debit, speak to her bank in the first instance. They should be able to charge-back the Direct Debit and refund her. Sometimes you have to be persistent with banks – they don’t make money from doing a charge-back, it’s paperwork and money spent with no return. For Credit Card payments, you’d need to contact the card company.
Whatever happens, make sure that the payment is stopped, and no more money will be taken. The payments are usually recurring, so they happen again, and again.
Because this sounds like such a clear case of mis-selling, I would suggest that you contact your local trading standards office on her behalf. They have a national consumer helpline at Consumer Direct – 08454 04 05 06. Make sure that they are aware, as they do keep records where companies are brought to their attention immediately. [note - they will only deal with cases where something has been sold, not on unsolicited mailings.]
If you are unable to get a refund from the bank, I would suggest that you contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
I wish you the best of luck and I hope this helps!