Our second home is 120km north of Christchurch in the Cheviot area. Sky technicians only visit once a week on a Thursday. There are only two covering the whole of North Canterbury.
Before Christmas I logged with Sky help the issue of fading reception on half the channels between the hours of 7pm-10pm and requested a technician visit. Eventually I received an email to say a technician would visit of 16th Jan. I drove the 120km on the 15th in order to be on the premises as required for the visit.... no technician turned up. Upon complaining, an email arrived to say it had been re-scheduled to the 23rd Jan. The technician eventually arrived at 4pm (his last job and just as I was getting agitated once again) and the conversation with him was quite revealing.
If you live in the South Island especially in a country location, you can expect at least a month wait for one to visit. There is a disconnect between "The Helpdesk" personnel and the Companies that employ the technicians in so much the helpdesk makes the appointment without consulting the Company as to whether they can schedule it. THAT'S REALLY EFFICIENT!
Sky says you'll receive a phone call before the visit to check you are home. Mine came 20 minutes before he arrived. Technician says, no phone call means he's not coming. There'll never be a phone call to say "We're not coming"
{sigh} I guess if you are a monopoly company you can treat your customers in such a manner.........
The plus side is that the technician was great. He efficiently replace the LNB in 15 minutes almost doubling the reception signal. Apparently Sky tender the technical side each year screwing the price down which means the technician wages are likewise affected.