After reading your letter about Sky customers dropping the paid-for service and using Freesat instead, I tried to do this. But when I phoned I was told that “option” was no longer available.
I have two Sky boxes and offered to pay a £10 fee for each box. I was told the only way to keep the recording facility for the free-to-air channels that I use was to enter into a new contract at a special rate of £17.50 a month as I am a “loyal customer of over four years”. I did question why, if I was loyal, I had been paying £32 a month for the past 12 months!
Transmitter service in this part of Cumbria is so poor that satellite TV is the best option, but Sky seems determined to make me pay over the odds. AS, Cumbria
There seems to have been some confusion over this, so we asked Sky to explain. It says a Sky+ box can be used to enjoy free-to-air channels and the record, pause and rewind functions, for £10 per month.
Customers simply need their Sky+ equipment and their existing viewing card to do this. Out of contract customers who own a Sky+ box but who don’t have a viewing card can buy one for a one-off fee of £25. This price has been in place since 2007 and has not changed recently. This relates only to Sky+ boxes and is not applicable to Sky Q boxes.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
