ISP Reviews by petesvilla

A few years ago I had a package from Sky consisting of phone, TV and broadband. (at that time you had to have the TV to get the broadband).It was reasonably OK.
After a year I decided that because I didn't watch TV very much (and didn't want to pay for something I didn't use) that I would ditch the whole package and change ISP. I moved to O2 and the immediate speed increase of 25% was great.
After O2 sold out to Sky I was eventually put back on the Sky network with an instantaneous drop in speed to the levels I had before joining O2 and found it unacceptable.
So I cancelled with Sky, (although they tried to insist that I was in a contract with them which I was not) got my MAC code and moved to BT fibre.
So far so good until I found a Sky subscription had been taken from my bank account AFTER I had left them.
I contacted Sky via their chat system to complain, only to be told after about 15 minutes of security questions etc. that the issue couldn't be dealt with on line and was given a 0844 phone number to call which I did. The girl I spoke to told me that I would be refunded but that it could take up to 45 days for the money to be returned to my account. So how come they can take money instantly but it takes 45 days to put it back? Absolute rubbish!
Anyway, after several more (unproductive) phone calls over several weeks I decided that enough was enough and that I would give them one last opportunity to pay up or would write a review on here AND go to the ombudsman if necessary. So I dialed the 0844 number again (I think I've spent about £6 so far on calls trying to get my own money back)and eventually got through to billing. The girl I spoke to pulled up my details and said that I was due to a refund but it hadn't been actioned yet, that she would do it right away but it could take up to 45 days to get the refund. Now where have I heard that before I wonder?.
I explained to the girl that I had left Sky on the 27th of February, it was now nearly the middle of May and I wanted my money back within 24 hours or face the consequences. I also informed her that I have recorded every phone call I've had with Sky over this matter, and kept print outs of all the chat sessions and emails that have been exchanged (which I have,really). Miraculously I was now told it would only take 3 days to refund me.
Time will tell but I will not hesitate to take this complaint to the ombudsman in three day's time.
So if you want abysmal service, money taken from your bank account that shouldn't be taken and then spend even more of your money on the (0844 number) phone trying to get it back then why not join Sky?
Absolutely one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with.