Three Towns Forum
Members' Lounge => Help Centre => Topic started by: Bellringer on January 29, 2011, 02:55:21 pm
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Can anyone offer any advice, comment,observations on Freesat as an inexpensive TV system, ie no subscription.
I currently am on Sky but a bit fed up of paying £20 odd a month for a load of repeats and uninteresting programmes. I am thinking I could watch the same 'rubbish' for nothing but the licence fee!
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Freesat's pretty good, Stan, although nowhere near the choice offered by the expensive Sky option. Butyou do get the main channels, although relatively few HD offerings.
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Stan, I am paying £87.50 per month to Sky and I would dearly love to reduce my monthly outlay.
The same goes for my telephone and broadband.
I spoke to BT this morning and found out I was paying for 'Caller Display' when it is now free. I also established I am paying for 'Friends and Family Mobile' which I never use.
I wish there was somebody local who I knew and I could trust to come into my home and sort the whole thing out for me.
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Get a good Freestat box such as a Humax which will do all your recording, single or series, and delayed. It will give you 100's of Vision and Radio programs and will run from your SKY dish which by now you probably own. Humax uses Foxstat.
Then get someone such as Plusnet for your Internet and phone.
Job done.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Humax-FOXSAT-HDR-Freesat-Digital-Recorder/dp/B001L5YU36/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296318519&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Humax-FOXSAT-HDR-Freesat-Digital-Recorder/dp/B001L5YU36/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296318519&sr=8-1)
http://www.plus.net/residential/affiliate_offer_promo.shtml (http://www.plus.net/residential/affiliate_offer_promo.shtml)
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"A large number of digital TV channels can be viewed on a Sky Digibox without a Sky subscription or a viewing card, as the signal is not encrypted - see Sky's Free to Air channel list. Over 200 TV and radio channels are available, including the BBC channels, some of the news channels, and most of the shopping channels and radio stations.
If you have an old Sky box and a satellite dish, you should be able to watch these free-to-air channels. For a list of the free channels that can be viewed on a Sky dish and decoder without subscription, see Sky's Free TV channel list.
A small number of channels are available "Free-to-view", which means they can be viewed on a Sky box for free, but they require a viewing card. These are the Channel 4 and Five channels. Sky used to supply cards originally known as Solus Cards, as part of Sky Freesat. If you need a card, but don't want to take out a subscription, give Sky a call and ask for a Sky Freesat viewing card."
http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/satellitefree.html#fta (http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/satellitefree.html#fta)
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Paying so much to Sky eh?
Every six to twelve months I phone them up to ''CANCEL' my SKY subscription.
When you do this, they put you through (eventually) to the customer retention team in Scotland.
They exist to keep you on their books at almost any cost.
I just tell them I don't think its good value for money, and they just offer me halp price subscription for 3 months, and sometimes 6 months.
With SKY, I always cancel my Sports subscription in Summer also, (when the footy season is over) ... but they just offer to leave it on for free!
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If you have an old Sky box and a satellite dish, you should be able to watch these free-to-air channels.
Depends on the age of the box. Boxes produced within the last three years, however, don't even need the sky free-to-air card.
We have all three: Sky, Freesat , and Freeview. Freesat is very useful for those days when there's too much on Sky, as we record everything so we can watch progs without commercials.
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Thats a good point Ian makes there, about adverts.
I'm surprised that SKY actually wanted to introduce a product such as SkyPlus, give the revenue that come thier way from advertising??
I too record everything, and (attempt) to watch it later.
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Thanks guys, I will 'wade' through the information and sort out the possibilities appropriate to our needs (and resources!). I do like Fester's strategy though - I recently challenged my broadband provider and they offered a new contract at the same price as before BUT with TWO FREE MONTHS to start with.
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It works every time Bri, for the last 5 years or so.
SKY deserve all they get, the product is getting worse.... and the customer service is so appalling they can give you a heart attack.
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Stan, I am paying £87.50 per month to Sky and I would dearly love to reduce my monthly outlay.
:o :o
have I read this right £87.50 per month? I'm happy with Freeview and the free skybox (no subscription ever) mind you we never want sport!
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Thank you everyone for focussing my mind.
I shall phone up tomorrow and adopt Fester's approach and threaten to cancel.
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Although not always the case, on THIS issue.... FEST KNOWS BEST !
The beauty is, you can do it time and time again too.
Just make sure that you get quickly through to the Cancellations dept, the call centre operators try to debate the issue at first, but soon give up and transfer you, once they see you are adamant.
Let me know how you go on.
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Might be worth checking you can receive a good freeview signal before you make any outlay. There are a few black spots round here especially if you haven't got a direct line to the transmitter. Ask a few neighbours if they can get a good signal. The other thing of note is that Freeview do offer some HD channels(ITV and BBC I think!) without subscription so if you've got a HD TV then you get those for free.
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I have been told that if you try cancelling Sky with a view to getting a reduced rate or free months always try and do it as close to the beginning of the week and and the beginning of the month as possible. All the cancellations team have a personal quota of the freebies they can hand out and once they are gone they can't do any more until the start of the next period.
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Another alternative is to contact one of the lads at
Orme Television
42A Madoc St
Llandudno,
Gwynedd LL30 2TW
01492 875 352
Excellent service at very reasonable prices from a couple of lads (actually men) who really know their stuff and will give an honest solution.
I have used them a number of times and found them very helpful.
All this cancelling stuff is only putting off the inevitable. Get a permanent solution and save the hassle.
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I have been told that if you try cancelling Sky with a view to getting a reduced rate or free months always try and do it as close to the beginning of the week and and the beginning of the month as possible. All the cancellations team have a personal quota of the freebies they can hand out and once they are gone they can't do any more until the start of the next period.
Unless Fester advises otherwise I shall delay that telephone call until Tuesday, 1 February. $thanx$
Yorkie, I have had Keith and his brother round a few years ago and I can endorse your recommendation but I still like the idea of a trying for a price reduction first but call the lads in later if this fails.
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You do it your way Bri.
Not sure what point in the month I have called in the past, but its always a similar result.
I always tell the truth also.... ''I would like to cancel please, because I really don't think its good value for money anymore...''
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Well I took on board the advice provided and I telephoned SKY this morning.
At one stage I thought I had overdone it and I had got my own way by cancelling SKY but the young lady from north of the border eventually offered to reduce my £87.50 per month down to £43.76 per month for 12 months.
I have had to sacrifice ESPN and MUTV as well as my HD on all but the six terrestrial channels.
I manage to keep Sky World and Sky Multi-Room although I could have saved a further £3.14 had I agreed to drop Sky Movies.
Total saving is £44.74 per month.
So thanks to everyone for their help and support.
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&well&
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DaveR, that’s not all.
I have also spoken to BT this afternoon and agreed a new deal for the next 12 months for Line Rental, Phone Calls and Broadband with an increase in usage from 10GB to 40GB per month for the same price.
Now that I have more time on my hands, I am managing to do what I should have done years ago.
What next ?
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Well done indeed Brian...!
I have never managed to get more than 3 months, or or the odd 6 months at half-price.
Thats a fabulous result, you are the Master.
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$thanx$ $thanx$ $thanx$ $thanx$
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Well done Bri.
What are you going to invest the saving into? You won't have to go far for some advice presumably!
We have discovered that we can get Freeview through the Sky dish so we are using that more to see how it meets our needs before making any decision about cancelling Sky.
I am glad I posed the question in the first place and just knew that a lot of worthwhile advice would be forthcoming. Thanks guys.
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Well I know what I'm doing tomorrow...............rigging up my freeview to the sky dish. I was told I would have to get another aerial which I did. I haven't fixed it to the roof yet so this could save me a lot of hassle........nice one xx
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Well done Bri.
What are you going to invest the saving into? You won't have to go far for some advice presumably!
Stan, I am now working from home so it will have to go under the bed. $lol$
Even the extra MB on my broadband will be useful as my Home PC is now turned on for fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.
My challenge at the end of these 12 months deals is to see if I can have just one provider for my TV, Line Rental, Telephone Calls, Broadband and Mobile instead of having Sky, BT and Orange.
Like yourself, with the help of this forum, slowly but surely I am getting there. $3towns$
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Pen: Freeview only works with rooftop-aerials. It's Freesat that uses a dish./
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And there's me thinking that our old aerial had been dis-connected. If what Ian says, and I am sure he's right, then that's a bit of a bonus.
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Oh well ladders out, back on the roof then.....................gutted :(
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I used the recommendation of Orme TV for an urgent job,,, and they were very kind to me... They couldn't do my job for a couple of days, but instead put me on to Kevin Gibbon. (A close neighbour, that I didn't previously know!)
He was great, got the job done quickly with no hassle .... will use him (or the lads at Orme TV) anytime.
Thanks for the recommendation Yorkie! $thanx$ &well&
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Another alternative is to contact one of the lads at
Orme Television
42A Madoc St
Llandudno,
Gwynedd LL30 2TW
01492 875 352
Excellent service at very reasonable prices from a couple of lads (actually men) who really know their stuff and will give an honest solution.
I have used them a number of times and found them very helpful.
All this cancelling stuff is only putting off the inevitable. Get a permanent solution and save the hassle.
Seeing the above, I have recently left 3 messages, 2 on the land line and one on a mobile, but received NO response.
No response to one message is maybe forgivable BUT three is rather disappointing to say the least.
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Having made the recommendation, I decided to check this out, and have just come off the phone to Tony at the above quoted number.
He says he has no undealt with calls on the land line.
He has another mobile number in addition to the one you may have called which is
0777 625 1702.
Keith, his oppo, is away in Austria on holiday, so can't check with him at present.
Give them another try on the new nobile number. ££$
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Thanks Yorkie, I have now rung both the land line and Tony's mobile number, and left a message. Hopefully will get a return call shortly.
Many thanks for your help.
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Have now spoken to Tony and and am going to take the action he says, so all should be well. Still a bit of a mystery about the messages but all now resolved.
Many thanks once again Yorkie for your help.
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Good to hear Stan. I think the mobile problem is Keith. He has invested in a new, all singing , all dancing mobile phone, and Tony says that he hasn't got to grips with it yet. I can understand what he means! :D