Sky TV has come under fire from customers after replacing its network of contractors with a single national provider.

The move, which occurred in October, has sparked a wave of complaints about delays and rescheduled appointments.

At the time of the change, Sky’s Chief Operations and “People” Officer Antony Welton defended the decision, saying, “The changing nature of our business means that the way we serve our customers is constantly evolving, particularly following the launch of the new Sky Box, a hybrid satellite and IP box, and our IP-only Sky Pod, both of which are designed so that our customers can easily self-install, without the need for a technician. Previously, we engaged over two dozen suppliers across the country, with varying levels of customer service and care, as well as requiring extensive management resource.”

Despite these assurances, complaints have flooded social media, with customers citing delays, poor communication, and substandard service under the new system.

A Sky spokesperson acknowledged the issues, telling chrislynchmedia.com, “We recently appointed Downer as the national provider for our in-home Sky customer support services – we made this transition to a single supplier so that we can provide a consistent and effective level of service nationwide to our valued customers.

“As is common with transitions of this nature, there have been some initial challenges, which led to some customers having their appointments rescheduled.

“This certainly isn’t the experience we want to provide, and our teams are working diligently to reschedule affected appointments as quickly as possible. We welcome any customers who need support with their Sky services to call the Sky customer care team.

“Despite these initial challenges, we are pleased with the transition to a single provider and are confident that we’ll be able to provide an effective in-home support service once the transition is complete,” the spokesperson said.

In a Facebook post four days ago, Sky admitted that “some customers haven’t had the seamless in-home technician support experience we aim to deliver.” The company said it has been listening to customer feedback and is “hard at work making improvements.”

The post added, “We’re working to improve our systems to give you more accurate information, and we’re increasing appointment availability to ensure that you get the support you need from our friendly, well-trained technicians. Plus, we currently have all available technicians out around New Zealand to ensure that any customers with issues that have taken a while to resolve are sorted.”