Sky card
 

My sky card is comming next week. I called them (from my skype phone) and did the contract. Took me about 30 minutes (Indian call centre and the woman did not understand me too well. Lol.). But...... I made the mistake of telling them there was a landline in the house (my parents). If I tell them that the box is upstairs and there is no telephone point there will they activate the card from satelite?? Or will they insist on it being activated through the phone line?? My mate in Manchester who is a sky engineer said if the worst comes to the worst send him the box and card and he will activate it from there. But that is a last resort.

Re: Sky card
 

Hi, I think you will find you must have an active telephone line. You will have entered into a contract with BSKYB..... I think this is a 12 month contract. If you get your friend to activate the card for you it might work for a month or so. I do know they send a signal to your sky box every billing month and if they cant get the signal to go back to them you will default.

I used to work for them quite a few years ago, maybe this has changed but i doubt it.

Hope this helps.

Re: Sky card
 

Also this is a copy off the sky website

General: Prices shown for new customers unless stated otherwise. Pre-registration required for existing customers taking a Sky+HD box due to exceptional demand. Once registered you will receive an indication of when you can complete your order.

Your Sky box(es) must be connected to a fixed telephone line for 12 months.
Sky+/Sky+HD box prices may vary if you live in a flat. You must get any consents required (e.g. landlord’s). Minimum Sky TV/Sky+/HD Pack/Multiroom subscriptions 12 months. You must be 18 years or over. Prices subject to change. Prices shown apply to customers paying by Direct Debit. For continuous debit/credit card mandate, 50p monthly charge applies. Information only applies to residential customers in UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Further terms apply. Calls cost 5p per minute (plus up to 8p connection fee) for BT customers. Calls from other providers may vary. Correct at 1st October 2009.

Re: Sky card
 

Thanks for the reply. I was told that you can have a subscription without telephone line. We will wait and see. I also have the equipment already so I am not buying any discounted equipment from sky. For that reason I dont think they can demand that it is connected to a phone line.

Re: Sky card
 

I am sure you can get connected without a landline. Many people just have mobiles now.

Re: Sky card
 

You can get a subscription but you will not get the box at a discount - for that it must be connected for 12 months.

CBANDY has the box already so no problem without a line.

Re: Sky card
 

correct.
if you have a sky multiroom, or an installation by sky in the uk (where sky discount the installation xosts) then you muts have your box and card connected to the phone line - for a discounted installation for 12 month, or for the lifespan of a multiroom contract.

if you ordered a sky card and already have a dish and box then you do not need your equipment connected to a phone line.

in many cases many cards can be activated manually, just call them up with the details and off you go - the activation is done over the satellite anyways and not the phone line!

and i dare say the phoneline nuber on your sky account ill be used more for sales calls rather than anything else!

Re: Sky card
 

Thanks "The Guy" and everyone else. I just need to prepared on the phone if they ask me to plug it into the phone line. Lol. I´ll just say that it is not anywhere near a phone socket.

Re: Sky card
 

sometimes the old "the box is in the childrens room and i will not allow / they do not have a phone line in there" works....

Re: Sky card
 

There is another way of contacting Sky without having to worry about phoning from Spain.

Set up a MySky online account at https://mysky.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/mysky

You enter your personal details and Sky card number and then you can do various things online such as upgrade your package etc. The key thing is that they have an Email facility.

A friend had a problem last week as his card had been sent out from the UK but after 3 weeks still had not arrived and he was getting 15sec messages on the screen telling him to insert his new card.

I set up an account for him and emailed Sky. Less than half an hour later he had an email telling him that another card was in the post and the messages on the screen had gone away!

Re: Sky card
 

Hmmmm.... Wonder if it would work to activate the card. I will have a look tonight. I have my Sky id at home.

Re: Sky card
 

If they can cancel the warning messages I am sure they can do the same with activation - whether they are prepared to do so you will have to find out by trying it - you have nothing to lose - just tell them in the email that you don't have a phone line.

Re: Sky card
 

Can you get BB without a phone line in the UK ?

Re: Sky card
 

We have sky Freesat here in the UK, a one off payment for box and card, no telephone line needed. They will send us a new card whenever it is needed, but guarantee that the cost of the new cards will be no more than 19.99 a year. We get all the major channels, BUT no Sports Channels are available, but things like QVC are there, it's basically a big freeview package.

Re: Sky card - MySky
 

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I am very interested in your suggestion, and thank you for sharing the info. Can this be set-up from outside the UK, without SKY realising we are abroad? Wont they be able to tell from the IP address? Or doesnt it shows when registering? Just very concerned that I could make a mistake which would cancel my subscription. Cheers!

Re: Sky card
 

You can set it up from Spain.

Since it is perfectly possible that a UK customer might be on holiday and wish to access his account for a variety of reasons, there is no way they would (or even wish to) block access from anywhere.

Personally I have a suspicion that the "phone from Spain" thing is a bit of an urban myth. The only cases I have heard of where someone has been cut off is when they actually told Sky that the box was in Spain.

Sky have to go through the motions of preventing access outside the UK for various reasons but in reality they just want your money.

Does anyone know of an actual confirmed case where Sky have deactivated a card just on the basis of some clever chap at Sky tracing the origin of the call?

Re: Sky card
 

I am in the UK at the moment and went into a Sky "shop". I told them that I wanted a HD Box with all the channels without Sports. He informed me that they had a special offer on at the moment and the box would cost me £30.00 and I would have to sign a contract for 12 months at c.£27.00. I told them I did not have a landline and he said that was not a problem. He told me that Sky are not so rigid with the phone line as they now realise that not everyone has a landline.

I told him that I did not want the installation and he said to tell the installer when they turn up that you will do the installation yourself. They will not argue with you as they have so many installations to do in a day they will be pleased to get away.

So I have a new HD box, an excellent price for the contract and also included in the contract that the box will not be connected to a phone line.

Re: Sky card
 

On a slightly different vain....
We originally got our sky box / card though an company over here about hmm 4 years ago, he has recently gone bust ! & of course we can't find him. We still get sky & still pay through the bank.
So as we have no idea where the new card will be sent, are basically just waiting to be cut off. :(
Any helpful :sneaky: suggestions :unsure: please..

Re: Sky card
 

There is a previous thread that might help / confuse you :o

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626056

Re: Sky card
 

yes I have known this happen, although it is a combination of "suspected non uk phone line" and some questions like "what the weather like?" knowing its 10 below in the uk and waiting for the answer of 30 degrees in spain!

Re: Sky card
 

Yep, just done the same on my last visit to the UK in June,, They have also just sent the new card to the UK house also,

Re: Sky card
 

Well there are obviously some very stupid Sky subscribers out there!

Re: Sky card
 

you would be surprised the number of people that i have visited who still subscribe to sky in order to receive BBC!

the look on their faces when i take their sky card out from their box and they can still get BBC.

Even more so when I say that they have not needed a viewing card for BBC for 6 years!!!

Re: Sky card
 

Thanks.. :thumbup:

Re: Sky card
 

I started that thread and we are still trying to get the payment cancelled and get the new viewing card operating. Our bank has written to Sky asking them to cancel it, so whether they put two and two together and wonder why we should have taken out a new contract when we were paying for the old one in some other dude´s name!!

Re: Sky card
 

Received card, called sky, activated card but still saying "card unauthorised" . Sky guy said box might be faulty???? Sent out activation signal. How long before I call sky back or maybe look for a new sky box? Is it the signal strength or the box at fault??

Re: Sky card
 

check the software version on yur sky box: for basic boxes hopefully it should be on 3.7.6, but 3.6.X.X also works.

The cards can take upto 24plus hours to activate.

Always leave the box on a strong signal channels, even something like Fiver or Five USA.

Sometimes it can be best to do the activation when the 11778 frequency is at its strongest - first thing in the morning and late at night.

Re: Sky card
 

Thanks. Was activated this morning. Do I get the stronger frequency for 5 now? If so, how do I get the frequency?

Re: Sky card
 

service
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4
12422 h 27.5 2/3
find
yellow button
select

strong five in "other channels" list