Amstrad: Sky+

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John, Somerset on May 24th, 2009
My Sky + keeps knocking out at 8-30pm every evening,phoned sky who took me through a software upgrade,alright for a week then kept knocking out at 8-57pm.Phoned them again and they told me to switch the auto standby off. This seems to have rectified it for the time being. Yes it is an Amstrad!!

Gary, Yorkshire on May 13th, 2009
Wouldn't recommend Amstrads at all... had intermittent fault with mine for the last 2 years or so, usual faults of getting stuck in standby, lipsync/audio problems, failed recording etc. I have replaced PSU capacitors and also the hard drive and still have problems. Have now given up with it and am going to get a Pace box from somewhere...

Mel Edge on March 19th, 2009
When it works it's great. But. Our box keeps freezing, pauses in recording playbacks, says it has no viewing card, muddles up programme synopsis, says it is receiving no signal, sometimes only part-records progs, but worst of all is the intermittant high pitched noise in background. Drives me crazy. Thought maybe I had tinnitus (!), but kids can hear it as well. Almost out of 12 month guarantee. Phoned Customer Service and followed instructions to reset things. Fine for a day then back to square one. They won't give us a new box and we won't pay for extra cover after what I've been hearing about that little scam. Very disappointed in Sky - happy enough to take your money but forget the rest. Surely they know about these faults, so why don't they do something about it?

Chris, London on December 22nd, 2008
Now on my second Amstrad box. The first a Sky HD box had a very noisy fan or HD that drown out the TV's audio, in the end we cancelled HD for this reason and others. Now I have a Sky + Amstrad box and that also has noise problems this time form the HD which produces an extremely high frequency whine (I can pick up on higher frequencies than other people for some reason). It has also developed to other faults recently the first being that it will not go into standby mode and the second being that the picture goes extremely grainy.

Warwick, Oldham on October 25th, 2008
Never had a problem in 4 years.

Alan, New Milton on October 6th, 2008
why o why do they allow such poor quality products to show a sky brand

Dave, Essex on October 17th, 2007
3 Amstrad boxes in the last year, latest one has a noisy hard disk which you can hear over the TV, and what I first thought was a lock up was a delayed response from the remote - sometimes up to 10 mins - it then proceeds to do exactly what you told it to do 10 minutes previously and then all the following buttons functions you press in frustration. Logged a call with Sky last night and was told they would swap the box - but then told me that the warranty was 3 days over the 3 months period and wanted to charge me £65, I then had a heated conversation with a so called 'floor supervisor' who was the most obnoxious, rude, and totally inflexible person I have ever spoken to, who would not move from the £65 callout. My wife then mailed Sky Customer services direct to complain, as I was still fuming. I recieved a mail this morning from Sky Customer Relations offering a free callout - so if you dont get anywhere with the call desk then try an Email to customer relations from the sky web site.

Sean, Hampshire on October 16th, 2007
Prior to ordering Sky+, I read the reviews on this page, so when it came to ordering, I insisted I would only go ahead if I don't get an Amstrad box. As the box that arrived didn't have a brand name on it, I checked in the 'system details' after having lots of set up problems, i.e. burning smell, slow remote control. recordings failing constantly.....You guessed it. AMSTRAD !! I called SKY and got nowhere, so wrote them an email explaining the initial order caveats. Got a reply saying I don't have a choice what box I get !!!! ?? When you pay for a black suit, would you be happy with an orange one ? I wrote back advising them I am cancelling my subscription with them after many years. We will see what tomorrow brings. It'd be nice if it was a U-turn from SKY and a Pace box, but that's very unlikely. Scammed by Sky again. My standard Panasonic digital box is WAY faster than this. Absolutely disgusted and VERY angry.

Conrad Hart, Cornwall on October 3rd, 2007
Had 2 boxes in about 15 months, the first one lasted a few weeks with failed recordings, the second seem to be as bad but soon as latest firmware was loaded in all was ok. Now at this point in time it is sitting there, can't switch it on as its stuck on standby, possible hard drive or Power error. Before it died it was switching itself off all the time, failing recordings, not playing them back at all. Response from remote was better than any freeview box tho. These boxes are the best when they work but not very reliable at all and cannot even watch tv now.Oh well back to freeview or a normal sat box maybe?

Ki, North East England on August 27th, 2007
No problems so far, had it just installed 3 days ago to replace magic eye off box in living room. Only issue was it switched itself off after about an hour after installation.

Andy on June 10th, 2007
I am thinking of getting a Sky+ box and have heard many reviews on people saying they have been given old boxes. What can I do to distinguish if I am getting a new or old box? I doubt the engineer will actually honestly tell me if I ask, they are bound to say "YES, it's new". Any ideas? Thanks.

Sharon, Rayleigh Essex on March 19th, 2007
Sound dropout really bad at times, especially when we are recording on sky +. Any ideas how to rectify!

Craig, Worcestershire on March 16th, 2007
Yeah, alright I guess

Steven, Lincoln on March 5th, 2007
The engineer called to fit mine today, a reconditioned Amstrad box a year old and discontinued by Amstrad so I told them to take it away and not come back! I am not having old crap from Sky when I pay for the latest equipment and Sky confirmed it was out of date (Sony, Amstrad, Pace ) all no longer made but Sky has a stock of 20 thousand and they are discontinued stock no longer supported. Don’t stand for it, request a new box or not at all or you will end up with red tape guff. Ask first view it and see! If it’s in a plain brown box with one sticker it’s a reconditioned box!

Jason, Kinmel Bay, N Wales on January 19th, 2007
Had sky now for over five years had nothing but problems, original sky + box was an Amstrad which I had problems with sound upon connection to my surround sound, contacted sky and it was replaced by engineer with a reconditioned box, same problem again (they had just got the thing out the box for god sake), engineer went back to van and brought a pace box, had no problems up until recently the hard drive appears to be making loud noises as if its working overtime, called sky and they sent engineer out and replaced it with another pace which had the same problem and also would not record two programs at the same time, called sky again sent out another engineer now been replaced with a reconditioned Amstrad although they said I would have a new one has I threatened to cancel, the customer service and products are absolutely useless I don’t believe this is just down to bad luck, if I can give anybody any advise, save your money get Freeview / TUTV.

Neil, Belfast on December 11th, 2006
I've literally just had my Sky upgraded to Sky +. The engineers installed an Amstrad box. The noise is really bad and Sky's general reaction to the complaint has left me genuinely upset. In one simple step they've taken a loyal customer and lost him with cheap hardware. I'm disgusted that I've paid money to basically get a downgrade in service. Replacement to be installed later this week, but if not up to scratch it looks like I'll be binning Sky before Christmas.

Ian, Colchester on November 24th, 2006
After nine months of grief, frequent so-called engineer visits, replacement boxes (not new and with only three months' warranty!) we got fed up, pulled the plug. Life is so much more enjoyable for us without those stupid boxes!

Will Griffiths, Wales on September 22nd, 2006
Looks like a cheese grater, but quite stable. But I preferred my old Pace box that was replaced due to a broken modem!

Dave, Leicester on August 25th, 2006
Had ours for about 18 months now and we are now on our fourth box.It was last replaced in oct 2005 and we now have the same problems i.e. turns itself off, records things we don't watch, picture freezing, locks up, recordings fail, playback don't work sometimes and so on. Rang sky and even though this is not a year old yet, sky want too charge us £72 for an engineer too come out and tell me something i already know, the box is no good. They said that because the first box was installed over a year ago, the warranty has now expired. According to sky this is a rare ploblem!

Nick, Hull on August 17th, 2006
Had mutiple Amstrad boxes replaced, still with no joy. Poor picture, box locks up, misses recordings, records all night, makes awful noises, high pitched washing machine squeals as well as the noisey drives. Cheap rubbish in my opinion. Oh and avoid a company called ASTRASAT like the plague. They turned up drunk on my first install, damaged my brand new tv cabinet, nocked brick out of my wall, then returned with only one box, when they were meant to replace 2. So far terrible service from sky, especially after being a customer for 5 years, this is the worst service ever and the only thing keeping us with sky is the fact we cannot get freeview

Peter Hawkins, East Devon on August 2nd, 2006
An update on my previous comments. The latest, third Amstrad box has lasted seven days.it turns itself off going into standby, the sky+ planner comes up blank despite eight programmes being in there and no signal being received comes up when it feels like it, this despite the signal being excellent. Another new box is arriving this friday. Please, not an amstrad, I'm praying!

Peter Hawkins, East Devon on July 24th, 2006
I too am having my third amstrad + box installed in just over a week. They and sky+ customer services are useless. The first box had an extremely noisy fan, it would turn off at any time by itself, the network id and transport stream would go to zero so channels would not work and it would lock up all the time. The second box ive had for three days, noisy fan, worse than the first box, wont update to latest software, turns itself off every 30 minutes and locks up so you cant change channels. So far I've rung sky+ customer services 6 times and I've just encountered the most obnoxious woman who obviously doesn't have sky+. When I told her her attitude was not that of a sky representative she nearly went on her high horse so I reminded her of my rights as a consumer, let her chat away and put the phone down. My opinion:-if you upgrade to sky+ DONT have an amstrad box, all you will have is problems one after the other and to think this was supposed to make watching tv more enjoyable!

Roger, Gloucestershire on July 11th, 2006
Just had three Amstrad sky+ boxes in just over 1 week. All rubbish. Twice I have tried to cancel and each time get promised that they WILL fix the problems. First one didnt work out of the box, the next kept turning itself off every hour and the latest one has a fan noise that is so loud it can still be heard when the volume is turned up extremely high so the neighbours can hear it! I have asked for a Pace box but have been told its pot luck and I am likely to get another Amstrad. WHY?? I am BUYING the box from Sky and so I should surely have the choice of what I am purchasing. If the engineer arrives this week with yet another Amstrad, I will refuse it then its DEFINITELY goodbye Sky and Hello cable!

Paul, Lancashire on July 4th, 2006
Had this box for over a month now after upgrading to Sky +. It does everything it should very well. Fast channel changing, excellent picture and sound quality, no failed recordings. Overall, an excellent box. Thank you Sir Alan Sugar.

Rindulus, Aberdeen on June 27th, 2006
got latest Amstrad Sky + box. with following system details:- Amstrad A21B015 1.31BOO Sky+ 4.10c I have recorded heaps of stuff, used the live pause done the two recordinga while watching playback etc etc. I have had no problems whatsoever. tempting fate? probably but I have to say as I see and I have seen none of he problems as detailed below. Have Amstrad sorted their problems out or am I just a lucky customer?

Dave, Falkirk on June 12th, 2006
Had 3 new amstrad boxes every single one has switched itself off with no reason, eventually returning to standby. Incredibly slow at responding to channcel changes (Pace and Thomson are MUCH faster). First one switched off while recording. Not good boxes. Getting our 8th Sky+ replacement this weekend (4 new, 3 "second hand" boxes refused)! Hopeful that the 8th box is not an amstrad and will be usable!

Jason, Berskhire on May 3rd, 2006
Had Amstrad box for 18months, finally it gave up recording. The quality got worse and worse (i.e. sound sync probs and pixelation). Luckily, I took out an extended warranty and the sky man has just left me with a new box from Thompson..... At last, I've got rid of Sir Alan Sugar's rubbish :-)

mr b jones on April 30th, 2006
my sky remote control has stoped working the light flashes on the handset and will turn off the reciever but nothing else

Andrew, sheffield on April 30th, 2006
Further to my post of 28th jan. i now have a new Pace pvr to replace the Amstrad which simply is not fit for purpose. how ? I emailed james Murdoch every day until a nice lady from his office replied and sent a REAL sky engineer with new PAce box, upgraded twice the recording capacity I originallly had and 3 months Sky at half price. Threaten court - and carry it out. the amstrad box is not as described (it doesn't do what they say it does) and is not fit for purpose - Clear breaches of the sale of Goods Act. Sky roll over when you start down this road. They have to ! Anybody still getting problems and being told you are unlucky and they never eard of the problem before ? I sent James Murdoch a copy of this web page. Did the trick?

Nick, Bournemouth on April 27th, 2006
Had Amstrad box for about 18 months now. First year seemed ok but now am getting the usual lip sync and skipping problems on playback I'd say on about 20% of programs recorded although this seems to be getting worse. Not very pleased!!! Should expect better from sky especially as my friends Pace box has been perfect for 2 years now.

Phil, Clacton on April 22nd, 2006
I've had three Amstrad Sky plus boxes so far and I'm just about to call Sky for my next replacement... locks up continually, loses recorded programs, skips on playback... its useless... would advise any and all to avoid like the plague... thinking of ditching Sky all together unless they give me an alternative box...

Chris, Newport Gwent on April 13th, 2006
I have had mine for a month, it skips when playing back recorded programme. Sky+ function disappears at will leaving PLEASE WAIT box on screen when trying to pause/rewind. Crashed a few times. Engineer advised firmware update...did nothing, just had him round, he said it is a software 'glitch' he switched off the instant rewind which kind of defeats the object as thats what they promote on the SKY+ advert. Going to call sky up tonight and tell them I am not happy and if it continues I will demand a new box. I am glad it isn't as bad as the other boxes on here!

Chris, Reading Berkshire on April 4th, 2006
Had a Pace box for 5 years as a replacement for another Pace box. Hard Drive went on the first. The second one got stuck in standby. Tried all the resets to no avail. waited nearly 2 hours and 4 calls before Sky took my call! Engineer replaced today with an Amstrad (Refurb). If I watch a different channel to one I am recording, the picture and sound will stutter constantly. If I try and record 2 programmes at onec (no problem for the Pace) it comepletely freezes up in chunks! I have yet to try and record 2 programmes whilst watching a pre-recorded programme - The Pace had absolutely no problems. Engineer is coming to replace this Amstrad soon. If I get another Amstrad I will quit my subscription there and then. Apparently if a faulty box is returned - it is only corrected for the fault that was designated. QA does not check the entire box before it is put back out to public use. DO CHECK EVERY FUNCTION ON A REPLACEMENT BEFORE ACCEPTING. I can predict more time off work and phone calls to sky Customer Service.

David, Rugby on April 3rd, 2006
I ve had my box 15 months now with very few problems - have upgraded to 250gb HDD and it brilliant all sky+ should have at least this amount of recording space!!!!

Darren Walton, Cambs on March 28th, 2006
Not so good, I'm afraid. We are new to this. Had a Thomson box for a few days which refused to update its software, got it replaced with an Amstrad box. I remember Amstrad from their PCs. Not much has changed. The fan is noisy, rather than one of the new super-quiet fans. Recordings playback with breaks in the sound and when I pressed rewind (on one occasion) it took me straight back to the very beginning of the recording - oh and the hard drive does tick.

Pete, Blackpool on March 26th, 2006
Amstrad box installed 1 week ago, six resets, two switch offs and no luck for me as engineer brought another Amstrad box yesterday. Ok yesterday, faulty today (please wait banner that does not go away). Absolute rubbish. I am SO disappointed with Sky using these boxes.

Steve Crockett, Dover on March 16th, 2006
Pace box went screwy after 18 months, (sound and vision gliches, partial recording, lock ups etc etc). Amstrad box fixed all of the issues except the sound & vision gliches but added another issue of not recording if put into standby. Amstrad box replaced yesterday and still has sound and vision gliches. Interestingly this new one has old software. So it will be another call to Sky tonight. Bl**dy Rubbish

CC, London on March 7th, 2006
Further to pipesfranco message of 2 March 2006 below, I have called Sky today as I have been having problems with my Amstrad Box, only 6 weeks only and problems included sound dropping out, picture breaking up and box freezing when trying to delete recorded programmes. After numberous "helpful" suggestions from the technical line, still the problems persist. Sky then told me they would arrange an engineer visit - he cam this weekend and replaced the box with a brown box Amstrad - I guess this is a recon! Not happy as my new box is replaced by a recon after such a short time. Next day, the problem is there again! Called Sky tody and was told this was a known problem with Amstrad and that they are working on it! Also told the engineer visit was a waste of time - which I had worked out for myself. I have contacted the Customer Care Department (joke!) and told them I want a new box not a recon and that it is to be a PACE or Thomson within 14 days or I am contacting Trading Standards as clearly they are selling products that are not of merchantable quality. Also asked for a refund of fees paid and a reduction for six months. I will let you know what happens.

pipesfranco, UK on March 2nd, 2006
Ive just had Sky+ installed and I lost the set top box lottery and ended up with 2 Amstrad boxes. What a nightmare audio dropouts, lipsyncing problems boxes crashing, and when calling Sky to be advised these are known problems I had a fit. How can Sky be installing new customers with inferior products which breaches the standard of the contract. After 6 departments later I have been promised 2 Pace boxes to arrive in the next few days. This is disgusting and I for one will not stand for a sub-standard service. If you are having the same problems I suggest calling up and when, as I was by the first so called technical representative, told that sky was not aware of this, oh, and we must have been unlucky to get this problem! tell them you DEMAND a Pace box and ASAP or a nice follow up call to trading standards will be instigated to discuss their breach of contract due to a poor quality service and not recieving the promises given. Stand firm, this is for all Sky and potential Sky subscribers.

Kashif on February 28th, 2006
Had for last one month frequent crashes and missed recordings. Called sky on various occassions who have eventualy agreed to replace that.