Sky TV outage: Can customers now claim compensation?

Sky customers want to know whether they will be entitled to after they were . A massive outage hit the popular TV platform last night with thousands disappointed as they couldn’t see their favourite shows, view movies or binge on a boxset.

The problems, , included error messages on the screen and things completely freezing. Sky has now apologised for the issues and has confirmed things should be back to normal. In a message sent to Online, Sky said: “We’re sorry some customers had trouble accessing Sky Q last night. The issue was quickly resolved, and service has been restored.”

But still customers would like to know if they could receive compensation over the incident. DownDetector reported more than 60,000 customers had problems with Sky TV.

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One person wrote: "Mine [Sky box] says 'you can’t watch TV at the moment due to connectivity problem'. But my internet is fine and the box is connected. Has to be [a problem] at Sky's end." Another comment said: "Mines completely gone off, can’t get on the app. Can’t do nothing."

And although the satellite system is back online, some people are still having trouble. Social media remains full of posts saying Sky Q isn't working.

Speaking on X, one user said: "My Q box keeps shutting down since yesterday. I turn it off it reboots and works." And another added: "Sky Q box still down. Unable to contact Sky by phone as they have stopped answering. What’s going on?"

But as to whether customers are entitled to compensation, Ofcom says that people should take their complaint to Sky where each claim will be dealt with individually.

People with Sky broadband and landline services can get money back from their provider if there is a problem without needing to claim for it. But it is only these two services are covered by Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme.

In these circumstances there must have been a delay in repairing the connection for compensation and this means two full working days, with £9.98 paid out for each day

Those who have been impacted by the recent Sky Q outage can contact Sky directly. Ofcom told that as with any complaint, it will assess on a case-by-case basis whether customers are due any compensation.

For those people who are still having a problem with Sky Q, even though the satellite system is back online, Sky now says there's a simple fix. Yes, the old trick of hitting the power button should sort things out.

If your Sky Q box is still stuck in standby, the solution is to switch it off at the power socket for 30 seconds and then turn it back on again. This should restore the service and end the errors. Give it a go - it might give you TV in time for the weekend.

It's worth noting that last night's problems didn't affect devices that use the internet to beam content to the big screen. Those with Sky Glass and Sky Stream have been able to continue watching content without any errors. Issues with Sky systems are rare, and this is one of the first times Sky Q has been hit by serious gremlins.