can sky say you owe us-from 4yrs ago!

[da_ging]

Ok trying to help my mum out here as she dont need the stress, today they recieved a letter from sky saying that they owed £34 from 4 years ago and that it has to be paid within 7days

now my mum obviously cannot remember if this was paid originally 4 years ago , but is sure it would have been

now i dont think that this is right, can sky do this i dont know, hopefully some1 here can help

[Agent]

Your best bet is to get in touch with tranding standards.
Its pretty shocking if they can......

[shiato storm]

id have to agree. almost a 'stealth fee'...i'm not familiar with sky but if its like any other subscription service then direct debit is probably the most common option for paying as its more convienient for all etc. This would leave me to suspect that your mum's bank account will have given sky the correct amount each month - hence a bank record would probably show this up. failing that any documentation from sky around the time they're asking about.
On the other hand them asking you about something 4yrs down the line is really not on and its up to them to sort themselves out in the finance dept than to come to you so late. clerical error, ergo = I'd personnaly give them the finger

[Jimmy Little]

ask them for more time, i'm sure they would understand that 4 years is a long time and you need a week or two to dig up the old records, i don't think they could force payment 'just like that'

[da_ging]

should also of said that the letter was not actually from sky but a solicitor on behalf of sky (nothing from sky previously tho) and also in the letter it has the cheek to say that if you are not a current sky member that if you sign up they will not persue the money from you!!

oh and from what my mum said at that time it was paid at the post office over the counter so no bank records to check

will get my mum to go advice bereau asap tho

[Proplus]

Hang on a sec.....

From what I recall, Sky normally do its charges by direct debit, or an annual or half annual fee upfront, if this is the case, how did you mother end up at the PO to pay for it.

You (or your mother) needs to check or recall if any other letter has been sent to her in the past concerning this matter, and there was, then Sky has the right to pass this incident on to its solicitors to deal with, and in turn most probably pass it onto baliffs.

[shiato storm]

you sure its not just some scam...sounds like it could be - especially since you said it has

"...the cheek to say that if you are not a current sky member that if you sign up they will not persue the money from you!!"

...it all sounds rather suspicious to me.

[MD]

does it have a ref to quote when you call to get the sky?

If it does maybe its a reseller scam?

m@

[SilentDeath]

Contact the solicitors the letter came from and ask for more details about this money that you owe. They (or sky) are the ones you need to check with to see why you owe the money.

7 days after 4 years, Id tell them to fo anyway tbh, good thing its only £34!

[Saracen]

If the debt is owed then yes, they're entitled. You can pursue this type of civil matter, in the courts, for 6 years.

[Stoo]

I very much doubt they'd bother over such a piddling amount though, it's not even worth the solicitor's time to write the letter!