Media Insider: Inside Sky TV’s satellite shambles – signal outages, technicians failing to show up and an apology; are customers entitled to refunds?
The Herald reported on Tuesday that Sky has had to increase helpline and frontline technical call-out resources to look after customers – that article sparked dozens of emails from disgruntled Sky customers.
Some customers say they have been without a fulltime Sky reception service for weeks and months – in many cases, customers say they lose their TV signal for several hours in the early evening, apparently as a result of the Optus D2 satellite’s position in space.
Publicly listed Sky is under fire on several fronts – some customers variously describe its response as the “worst customer service”, a “PR fail” and a “corporate disaster” – and consumer watchdogs say the company is liable for refunds and credits.
Another viewer said Sky’s customer communications had been “pathetic”.
Customer rights organisation Consumer NZ says it has received a “noticeable increase” in the volume of Sky TV complaints, covering a range of issues, in recent months. ”Most disappointingly, many customers are finding it difficult to get adequate support from its customer service team,” said a spokeswoman.
Sky told the NZX on Monday that it was aware of “intermittent signal disruption in recent weeks” after Optus had placed the D2 satellite into an “inclined orbit to conserve fuel”.
Sky is planning for a new satellite by April/May. While that will operate on the same path in space as the existing satellite – meaning satellite dishes in people’s homes won’t need to be realigned – Sky warns there remains “inherent technology and logistical risks” with the switchover.
Sky last night went one step further than its earlier NZX statement, apologising for the ongoing existing issues: “It’s not the experience we aim to provide,” a spokeswoman said, adding that the company was “very sorry”.
Sky’s response is published in detail below – it comes as the company settles into a new contract with Downer to provide nationwide, in-home technical support for customers. That contract is under public scrutiny, especially with the delay – or non-arrival – of technicians to help sort out viewers’ problems.
The roar of the crowd
Craig Masters of Central Otago was one of more than 200 people who responded directly to the Herald yesterday – through email or as a commenter on the original article – to outline their issues.
There were also more than 500 comments on the Herald’s Facebook page and talkback lines were busy with the issue. A social media page dedicated to Sky TV complaints has now amassed more than 4000 followers.
Masters said he had been losing Sky for about four hours each evening for the past two months: “I pay a lot of money to Sky each month – $165 – and I am getting poor service and a product not of merchantable quality.
“I have been a customer for 20+ years. Surely there are breaches of consumer laws here. Surely the Commerce Commission should investigate, surely I am due refunds as I am not getting what I am paying a lot of money for.
“I really think they are covering up a major, major problem here with enormous financial implications. Apparently they have no technician available in Central Otago at all. This is a corporate disaster.”
Another customer, John Morrison, waited four times for a technician to turn up, between October and January. The problem was finally fixed when he threatened to cancel his subscription. “I have never encountered such appalling customer service in my life.”
David Weller of Auckland threatened to go to the Sky board. “I moved from the city centre to Devonport. My tech-savvy daughter helped me set it up. But the system said there was a fault with the dish. I called Sky and was advised they would book a technician.
“Two days later, nobody turned up and nobody rang to inform me. So the first instance was on December 4. That was followed by identical results on December 10 and 16, 19 and 24. In January, there were another three attempts. I threatened a letter to each board member and I got a text saying [the technician] would be there the next day. He was.
“Getting compensation was hard but it was doable with discounts of several months off my package.”
Taupō resident Jenny Duncan questioned Sky’s “PR fail”.
Duncan said she and others in the region had been having problems since October.
“Calling the help number means an extremely long wait to speak with a person from another part of the world. They are polite but are of no help,” she said.
“They arrange a technician to come on an agreed date. Technician may or may not turn up with no text/call to let me know. In my case, it means I have cancelled appointments and have driven a long way to meet the technician. This will be the same for many others.
“At no time has Sky itself told me the reason for no signal – ie the satellite. A PR fail? How could they let this happen?”
Bob Benson from Northland gave up waiting after three no-shows by technicians since late November. “I took the bull by the horns and got up on the roof and adjusted the dish. Everything has been fine ever since but still waiting to hear from Sky.”
Geoff Nieuwelaar advised Sky of issues on December 20. He said he was told a technician would be there on December 24, but he said they were a no-show. It was the same scenario the following week.
“On the third call, I was told he was on holiday and would be here on the 15th of January, but he never showed up. Then on the 20th of January, I called again and [was] told yes, he is in your neighborhood and yours is the next job. No, it wasn’t.”
A technician did turn up on January 26 but they didn’t have the right parts. “After all this, I am told yes, we have you all booked in he will definitely be there on the 4th of February.”
Rob Mitchell said that he, like many, was affected after moving house.
“A technician was booked and never turned up. A check of online chat forums will show this is endemic. Our response: cancelled Sky and got the Sky Sport app, which is billed through Apple.
“The CEO needs to … speak with the customers she is losing, which I imagine is a large number based on the consistent poor feedback online.”
One couple said: “We are in our 80s in a retirement village. Unable to watch TV generally between 1700-2000h, pixelated. Problem since early December. Sky says it is the fault of the village. The village says it is our TV. Sky man recently gave us a new black box, he says it is not our TV. He explained about the satellite problem. So no one cares but we still pay our money for intermittent TV!”
Customer after customer wrote in with similar frustrations.
However, Brody Dunn, was “very happy” with the service he received.
“I called Sky for help and had a technician on-site two days later. He adjusted the [dish] for a slightly stronger signal and we’ve been good for the last week or so. Our problem was a loss of signal for a few hours each night and the technician said the satellite is sort of moving about in a figure-of-eight pattern so if our dish wasn’t bang on, it could lose enough signal to stop working.”
Sky responds to customer anger
In a detailed response to Media Insider, Sky TV apologised to customers for the satellite problems and broader service issues.
“We are very sorry that some customers are having issues, and we’re doing our best in a difficult and evolving situation,” a spokeswoman said.
Sky appointed a new national provider – engineering, infrastructure management and construction services firm Downer – to provide its in-home Sky customer support services from November 1.
The Sky spokeswoman did not wish to comment on whether the new deal had seen a reduction in payment for technicians – one Sky customer has claimed that in Canterbury, for instance, the number of installers has dropped from about 150 to about eight because technicians were being paid $25 per installation rather than the $100 offered previously.
“While we don’t comment on specific commercials behind the legacy and new supplier relationships, we wouldn’t say that the assertion made is a like-for-like comparison,” said the Sky spokeswoman.
“We now have more Downer-employed technicians available around the country to support customers than under the previous supplier system – and we are confident that the rates agreed are competitive and reasonable.”
When pressed further, she said Sky wanted customers to enjoy “good and efficient service from us and so, no, we’re not satisfied when our customers are not getting the support they need”.
“We know it hasn’t been perfect as we have transitioned to the new partnership and while we are dealing with higher volumes than usual, but everyone is trying hard to get it right.”
She said transitions of this nature were complex.
“We had some initial challenges in ensuring our customers receive prompt visits from technicians and that our communications were clear and accurate,” said the spokeswoman.
“Challenges included some technical data flow issues that meant that we were sometimes sending incomplete data to Downer, which led to some missed visits. These issues have been resolved and we are sorry that they caused some delays for customers in the early days of the transition.
“While we are confident that our processes between Downer and Sky are now much more effective, there are still ongoing improvements to the way we work to give customers the best possible experience… we are working closely with Downer on this.”
She said Downer had national reach.
“We are now able to deliver more than double the technician visits than we were delivering previously, right across the country,” she said. “The onboarding of Downer as a single supplier coincided with an increase in requests for in-home technical support from Sky customers so Downer has been scaling up its workforce to reflect this demand.”
According to the customer feedback to the Herald yesterday, the issue with technicians failing to show up continues to be a major issue.
“There is still much work to be done,” the spokeswoman said.
Media Insider sent a list of questions to Downer yesterday and is awaiting a response.
The old and new satellite
Sky TV says its migration to a new satellite had to be “significantly accelerated” after Optus advised that the existing D2 satellite was running out of fuel faster than anticipated.
“Some of the issues we are talking about today are a consequence of the increased urgency with which we need to transition to our new satellite,” said the Sky spokeswoman.
She “sincerely” apologised to customers experiencing outages. “The intermittent signal disruptions are a result of an exceptional set of circumstances, which we are working hard to mitigate in the short term and will be resolved when we move to our new satellite in early April.”
She said based on current data, 95% of Sky’s customers won’t have issues.
According to its 2024 annual report, Sky has 938,760 customers, of whom 479,192 are Sky Box customers. Based on the spokeswoman’s comment, that means up to 24,000 of them might be exposed to issues.
The reasons for intermittent signal issues were varied “and we’re working hard to remedy those in our control”, said the spokeswoman.
“In some cases, a technician can visit and fix any in-home set-up issues (eg sometimes it relates to the way multiple boxes are configured in the home, or the movement of a dish over time).”
From a practical viewpoint, Sky was also encouraging people to restart their Sky Box, as this might help restore any lost connection.
“In addition, our technical team and Optus are working hard on some short-term solutions to improve the strength of signal that our customers receive on our current satellite.
“We are making a technical change tonight [Tuesday night] that should allow impacted Sky dishes to connect more effectively to the D2 satellite. We believe this change should result in improved customer experience, reducing the length of or even eliminating signal issues.”
She would not say how many customers had already received refunds.
“We are working with individual customers to resolve any issues that they are experiencing. Where customers experience time without service, we of course look to recompense them.
“I don’t have any numbers to share – as we said, we’ll look to update further on any cost and revenue impacts associated with providing additional pre-migration customer support at our half-year results.”
Sky, whose share price closed at $2.94 on Tuesday, will deliver those results on Febraury 21.
What are your rights?
A Consumer NZ spokeswoman said businesses were obligated under the Consumer Guarantees Act to provide their service with “reasonable care and skill”.
“That extends to resolving issues within a reasonable timeframe. Sky TV customers dissatisfied with the service not being up to scratch have the right to request a remedy, especially if the issue hasn’t been resolved in a timely way, or if you think you were misled over the ownership rights of your Sky Box.
“This is particularly difficult if you’re struggling to get access to customer service in the first place, but we urge customers to persist. When making a complaint, act promptly, be specific, provide evidence, keep records – and do it in writing.”
If customers felt they had been misled, or believed they were owed a refund they had not received, they could report it to the Commerce Commission. “If you’re still hitting a wall, you can also lay a claim with the Disputes Tribunal.”
Commission receives complaints
The Commerce Commission says it has received 18 inquiries about Sky, “alleging service disruptions over the last year, five of these specifically alleging service disruptions due to satellite issues”.
The commission said it was “not currently investigating Sky and encourages any consumers who have been affected to contact Sky directly”.
“The commission met with Sky last week at their invitation to brief the commission on their satellite migration planning whereby Sky has plans to move to a new satellite by May 2025 and has two options for that satellite delivery,” said the commission’s competition, fair trading and credit general manager, Vanessa Horne.
“Sky provided a general overview of their planning and mitigations in place, including their increase of customer service staff and additional technical staff.
“During this meeting, the commission committed to providing Sky information about the number of inquiries the commission has received about Sky and the areas of concern people had raised.”
She said that under the Consumer Guarantees Act, products and services were guaranteed to be fit for purpose and of acceptable quality. Consumers could seek repairs, replacements or refunds when these guarantees were not met.
“These guarantees are implied by law,” said Horne. “The Consumer Guarantees Act is self-enforcing, which means consumers can take their own action. If a guarantee is not met, consumers have the right to insist that the seller or service provider puts it right.
“It is an offence under the Fair Trading Act to mislead consumers about their rights, including their rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act.”
If people believed they had been misled about their rights or that a business had breached the Fair Trading Act, they could contact the commission.
The Sky spokeswoman said the company was mindful of its obligations to customers under consumer law and was “doing our best to resolve issues as they arise”.
“We have not received complaints or requests for information from the Commerce Commission, but we have proactively shared information about our satellite migration programme directly with the Commerce Commission, along with the steps we are taking to support customers through this transitionary period (as we have done with a number of important stakeholders).”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including managing editor, NZ Herald editor and Herald on Sunday editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.