Ok, so we started having a lot of problems with our internet Sunday. Finally phoned Sky. Note that you have to pretty much say you are one of those households that have been shielding to get through by phone - otherwise they refer you to the internet and/or tell you to hang up! Not much good if you have no internet!
Finally got through to a tech support guy, who said there was a problem with our router. Since our Sky router had been sent to us in 2017, it was out of warranty. They would send us another for £99. I told them I'd cancel the service first. Was sent to a customer (retention) specialist who said they could send one for free if we upgraded from "essentials" to "essentials boost" and opted in for an 18 month contract. I told her we were leaving in three weeks. She said I had 31 days to cancel for any reason. So I went with it. Router is on the way, should arrive tomorrow.
Of course, we have had absolutely no trouble, since the call, with our current router. Got the confirmation email, and they put the cell phone on an 18 month contract as well. (That was not discussed.) The cell had previously not been under a contract as it had expired some time ago.
I smell something rotten in Denmark here.
In doing a further check, it appears that there was a rate hike due to come through in August that would have triggered an option to drop the contract at no early termination charge for us.
My plan: do not open the new router when it arrives. Download the return label from their website. I will then phone Sky (using the backdoor in again, I assume) and cancel the contract. The 31 day cooling off period should apply. I will then take the router to the post office, send it back and get proof of mailing. And if I am not happy with what I hear from Sky, I will promptly cancel the direct debit for Sky that comes out of my account, as it will have pre-paid for into September by that date (it bills tomorrow, I think).
As the only way you can cancel is by phone, as soon as the movers have contacted me with their time of arrival, I will give them the contact number for my emergency 02 cellphone. Actually, no, I think I'll send them that information now.
My USA Voip had been set to ring through here to my Sky landline phone, but I'll change that to forward to my 02 phone for the time being. I had wanted to keep my Sky cell service until we landed in the USA and were in the hotel, but that may not be possible. I have contacted my favorite USA cell phone service, Ting, and closer to the time we will arrive at the hotel they will have a sim card sent to me in care of the hotel. The hotel has indicated they will hold that package for me. I'll have two weeks in the hotel, cooling my heels, to get it to work.
That would leave us without a working phone from the time we leave the UK until we arrive at the hotel. No way to call AAA if the car breaks down, etc., and that makes me nervous. I do not expect a lot of the shops at the arrival airport to be open due to Covid. Can anyone recommend a "burner" phone sim here that we could use in the USA that has no contract?
It may well be that we can still cancel only our landline and internet here and keep the Sky mobile (assuming they don't jerk us around with the contract/no contract issue), which would serve well enough. But just in case...
