Customer accuses Sky TV of 'false advertising' as free cinema ticket offer can't be used in NI

Sky TV have been accused of "false advertising" over a free cinema ticket offer that cannot be used in Northern Ireland.

Sky Cinema has been advertising a promotion throughout the UK where customers can claim two free cinema tickets a month if they join the service. However, the tickets are only able to be used in Vue Cinemas, which do not have any locations in Northern Ireland.

The promotion has been advertised in Northern Ireland, although Sky says that it has aimed not to where possible and does not have any billboards currently active that are promoting it.

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Sky customer Tony Horne said that he believed that the company had been falsely advertising the promotion here, saying that he was "sold" the promotion by call centre sales staff when he was making a decision on whether or not to sign up to Sky, and it was only after he did that he found out that the free cinema tickets could not be used in Northern Ireland.

Mr Horne said: "I had been deciding on whether or not to choose Sky TV or Virgin and was talking to the sales staff on the phone who kept highlighting that by signing up with Sky and Sky Cinema I would be able to get two free cinema tickets a month.

"At the time I thought that it was a very good incentive and it is what ultimately pushed me to join with Sky.

"After it was installed I had an issue with my connection and was speaking to someone at the call centre about having it fixed and I was told that at least I could go to the cinema as I would have no internet for a few days and then when I attempted to do so, I saw that they could only be used at Vue cinemas and the nearest one was over 100 miles away in Dublin.

"This left me very frustrated as this promotion was repeatedly highlighted to me during the sales process without any mention of Vue cinemas or the fact that there were not any in Northern Ireland.

"I rang the call centre again to highlight this and make a complaint and was shocked when I eventually got speaking to a manager who told me that I could send the tickets to someone in England to use.

"I am very disappointed that it seems that Sky have developed this promotion without any consideration for customers in Northern Ireland and they should at the very least include a notice that this promotion is excluded from Northern Ireland in their advertising."

Sky has said that it is aware that there are no Vue Cinemas in Northern Ireland and that it has tried to exclude the area from advertising the promotion where possible. It has also said that it has trained its sales teams to tell Northern Ireland customers that while they are still able to use the offer at cinemas in other parts of the UK and Ireland, there are no Vue Cinemas in Northern Ireland.

A Sky spokesperson said: "We offer two free Vue cinema tickets a month to all of our Sky Cinema customers. We are aware that unfortunately there are no Vue cinemas in Northern Ireland so have done our utmost to exclude it from all of our marketing campaigns promoting this offer. Sky Cinema customers in Northern Ireland can still enjoy the latest blockbuster movies, Sky Original Films and over 1000 movies on demand, as well as mountain of entertainment on Paramount+, at no extra cost.”

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