SKY customers wanting to get their discount have been faced with system problems, long phone calls and a confusing message. One is threatening to cancel her subscription and is urging others to do the same.

People have to phone a national information line and quote their name and customer account number to receive the ‘special price’.

‘Why is it only 15%, why does it come into effect only in April and why was I kept on the phone for six minutes?’ said Liz Van Katwyk.

‘It’s an absolute cheek. They’re putting it through as an offer to us and are not prepared to pay the VAT back.’

She said she was going to cancel her subscription if Sky did not refund the VAT already paid and offer a full 17.5% discount.

‘It’s just a sales pitch, a con, and a total con that I was kept waiting on the phone as well.’

When the issues were raised with the call centre operator, she was told, after the second phone call, to write a letter.

‘Someone needs to do something. If we all cancelled our Sky, they’d be in trouble. Islanders have to be aware of this going on and put their foot down.’

The system was down when Sky campaigner John Robilliard tried to arrange his discount.

And when he got through, he got a ‘priceless’ response. He said he had four different explanations.

‘When I asked about a rebate, they said that since July we haven’t been paying VAT, we’ve been paying the full price for the services. But the price to the UK person hasn’t changed because Sky are giving them a discount equivalent to VAT already.

‘That’s the best one yet; absolutely cracking.’

Herbert Winterflood received a letter telling him that he could obtain a reduction of £19.50 and £16.58 each month.

He phoned Sky to obtain this but was told three times that it could not connect him to the system.

‘The letter says all you have to do is call and on three different occasions I’m getting the same stark answer that I can’t get into system,’ he said.

‘I think it’s a very poor system that’s wasting our time and money and it does not reflect well on their efficiency.’

The phone call costs 10p a minute standard rate, 7p cheap rate and 6p a minute on Sundays.

Stephen John, from the Guernsey Consumer Group, is concerned that Sky is trying to get people to upgrade to more expensive packages.

He got through straight away, but knows some people who have had the VAT effectively reimbursed from last June.

‘I tried but got nothing at all. I think people are having different experiences – if you ring in the evening, you end up having long delays.’

He said that if the 40,000 subscribers in the Channel Islands all switched providers, Sky could be in quite serious trouble.

‘They certainly pulled a fast one in the VAT issue and had a nice windfall from us,’ he said.

‘The way they have behaved has not been ethical. They should have been honest and I think that could have done them a tremendous amount of good.’

Despite the concerns raised by islanders, the States remained powerless to act.

‘It’s not in our mandate: that’s to ensure we get terrestrial TV and if people want Sky, that’s their choice,’ said Broadcasting Committee president Dave Barrett.

He had to phone twice but said there were no hassles. Deputy Barrett felt he had gained by getting a better package for the same price he was already paying.

A Sky spokesman said that no refund was due because its residential subscription prices were quoted inclusive of any VAT that might apply where the customer is based.

‘We’re confident that the introduction of these new offers ensures that Sky continues to offer outstanding choice and value for money for Guernsey customers,’ he said.

‘We apologise if any customers have experienced difficulty in getting through to Sky to take advantage of these offers. Our customer service agents will be happy to help if they call again.’

He stressed that Sky had complied with the law in relation to VAT.