Engineers lose jobs after court steps in at Ford company

The majority of satellite television warranty company Something Group's engineers were laid off last week, though many had not been paid for the previous two months.

Treated like dirt

It has also emerged that West Sussex Trading Standards has taken court action against three companies with links to Something, based at Imperium House, Ford Lane, and that Sky is investigating its business practices.

A staff member who worked closely with the engineers, and asked not to be named, said: "The way these guys have been treated is disgusting. They have worked really hard, and are now being treated like dirt.

"I have had one on the phone to me in tears, others have lost their homes and are sleeping in vans. Some have even split up with their partners over money worries."

Thousands of complaints

A trading standards spokesman said it had received thousands of complaints about Satellite Direct UK Ltd, Sat Cover Ltd and One4Group, which are also based at Imperium House, and company directors David Reynolds and Kelly Drew, for "numerous breaches" of consumer protection laws.

Chichester County Court has made an interim enforcement order, which requires that the three businesses stop, among other things, giving the impression that they are, or represent, BSkyB or Sky, giving customers false information about the need for a warranty, and taking overpayments or unauthorised charges from customers' bank accounts.

Peter Evans, county council cabinet member for public protection, said: "I want to reassure those who've been affected by these companies that we are taking their concerns very seriously and West Sussex

Trading Standards will continue to monitor these business activities."

Mis-selling "not acceptable"

A spokesman for Sky, which took Satellite Direct all the way to the High Court in 2007 for mis-selling warranties and was awarded 10m, said he understood that companies trading under the Something name were contacting and attempting to sell services to Sky customers.

"We have had some complaints about the activities of these companies, which we are investigating as a matter of urgency. This process is ongoing, but should we be concerned about any attempt to mislead our customers, we will take necessary action to protect them.

"We're aware of a number of warranty companies who pass themselves off as linked to Sky. We don't think it's acceptable for our customers to be treated this way and there's no justification for misleading sales tactics.

"We alert our customers to the presence of these companies in the help centre section of our Sky.com website and take legal action where necessary, as in the case of Satellite Direct."

* The Littlehampton Gazette attempted to contact Something Group for its response, but a recorded message said that "technical difficulties" had rendered the phone systems out of order.

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