Line not capable for Broadband

Is1ldur

Guys, I am sorry if you have ssen this type of post a million times. But I just tried to order Broadband with Eircom, and my line failed the test. I called them and was told that Broadband access is not guaranteed and that if the line fails, there is nothing they can do. I asked about where the line may be unsuitable and was told that it could be in my house, it could be aproblem with the exchange, could be anything, but they are not going to do anything about it.
This is a service company, supposedly looking to make a profit. I was not asked any questions about where I lived, or anything. You would think they would be screaming out for my thousand odd quid for the year.
My question is, what do I do next. Is there anything I can do? (besides go down the Satellite route).
Regards,

dahamsta

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?postid=1127069#post1127069

Ok, that's a little chancy, but some people might like to take that route. On a more serious level, here's some advice I gave someone recently via email...

-----Original Message-----
From: adam beecher [mailto:adamATbeecherDOTnet]
Sent: 15 September 2003 17:58
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: RE: dsl, ioffl


> Just wondering - do you know offhand who I should yell at about my line
> failing DSL test?
>
Officially, Comreg. You'll find details on how to contact them by various
means on the consumer section of their website.

Unofficially, everyone. Make as much noise as you can. Get tested by every
ISP that offers DSL and keep the rejection notices. Write to them - the old
way, with paper - and complain about it, including copies of all
correspondence. Ask them to elevate it to Eircom. Do the same with Comreg,
again in writing. Ditto the Eircom company secretary, you'll find his
details on the IrelandOffline forum.

Comreg will almost certainly reply with a confirmation notice, but if they
don't respond properly within a week, chase it up on the phone. Lock them
down to deadlines, and if they don't respond within the deadline, chase it
up again. Whenever one of the ISP's or Eircom replies to apologise, write
back and complain again; and again include all previous correspondence.

When you get going, grab a thread for yourself on the IrelandOffline forum
and post the lot. Everything. Everyone you'll have written to visits there
regularly so they'll see you making noise. Of course the underlying problem
won't go away, but if you make enough noise there's a good chance that
you'll get an engineer out one or two more times, and if it's something
simple - which is possible - it'll get fixed.

All that being said, if your line is ****ed, it's ****ed. They won't give
you a new one unless you pay for it. If you're lucky though and it does work
out, don't forget to sue Eircom in small claims for all the time and money
you spent chasing it up. It'll only cost you a tenner and myself and the
gang will come along and cheer you on for the craic. :)

adam

jd

Originally posted by Count666
I called them and was told that Broadband access is not guaranteed and that if the line fails, there is nothing they can do. I asked about where the line may be unsuitable and was told that it could be in my house, it could be aproblem with the exchange, could be anything, but they are not going to do anything about it.
This is a service company, supposedly looking to make a profit. I was not asked any questions about where I lived, or anything. You would think they would be screaming out for my thousand odd quid for the year.
My question is, what do I do next. Is there anything I can do? (besides go down the Satellite route).
Regards,

There have been quite a few posts about this. Try and see if you can rule out a problem inside your house ie after the junction box. How many sockets do you have, how much equipment (fax machines, portable phones etc etc) do you have sharing the same line?

Da Man

You can try EsatBT's business ADSL as well. This is not the IOL offering, which is just reselling Eircom's service.

bk

OK, sometimes phone equipment in your own home can cause you to fail.

Eircom retest the line once a month.

So what you need to do is diconnect all phones, fax machines, etc. except one standard Eircom phone (and disconnect that when you are out/in bed) for about 6 weeks. After a few weeks check again with Eircom, you might now pass (you can check frequently using the checker on the Eircom Website).

There is no guarantee that this will work for you, your problem might be something else like a pairgain on your line or you might be more then 6km from the telephone exchange. However it did work for me and I have NS bb now, so it is worth a try

griffzino

I got a letter from Eircom marketing dept this morning saying that although my exchange has been enabled that unfortunately my line is not suitable for I-Stream.

Incidentally, I also recieved a package from Eircom this morning containing a modem & I am typing this message on I-Stream at the moment (hooked up within 20 mins of receiving the letter)

Look at my previous posts for hints, but my local engineer really helped me out (ring 1901 and ask for the local enigneers number)

Keep at them, and eventually you might rectify the problem

Best of luck

Griff

Da Man

Maybe you should write up a "sticky" based on your experiences?

flamegrill

Originally posted by griffzino
I got a letter from Eircom marketing dept this morning saying that although my exchange has been enabled that unfortunately my line is not suitable for I-Stream.

Incidentally, I also recieved a package from Eircom this morning containing a modem & I am typing this message on I-Stream at the moment (hooked up within 20 mins of receiving the letter)

Look at my previous posts for hints, but my local engineer really helped me out (ring 1901 and ask for the local enigneers number)

Keep at them, and eventually you might rectify the problem

Best of luck

Griff

Heh I got a letter from their customer service dept back on july 7th. On the 16th the exchange in carlow went live after "no ports were available since may" and I signed up with netsource there and then. No problems, they don't even look into your problem. Its simply "send out the fob you off letter"

Oh well

Paul

ColinM

Hey Count666, if you have the time and can muster the energy, it would be great to become another crusader. If nothing else you can at least have fun plagueing people and not be fearful of harassement charges like you would if you were just prank phone calling people.

Actually, you might have alot of fun if you treat it like prank calling them. Any time I have to make tedious phone calls, I like to treat it like I am pranking calling them - even in small ways like being over enthusiastic about everything or gushingly nice to the person you are speaking to. It gets their attention because it's so different to the thousands of other calls they get every day ranting and moaning. Also they're more likely to think you're unhinged because if you sound like you actually enjoy calling someone who is sitting at their desk all day who hates their job and counts the seconds until 5 o'clock and specialises in doing as little as possible for anybody, well then - you probably are. And as everyone knows, people like to placate mentally unstable people!

But my point is - this is going to be a tiresome experience - so why not try to get some fun out of it!

Maybe you could tape the calls and post the funniest ones in mp3 format up here?

sceptre

Originally posted by Count666
Guys, I am sorry if you have ssen this type of post a million times.

Not quite a million but yeah, quite a few. Don't let that discourage you though, a few people have ended up getting passed for broadband after following the paths some people have pointed them to after posting. Of course a few haven't, but it's worth the aggro if you are eventually successful in your quest.

css

I have had a incident happen similar to this, but I have documentary proof that Eircom are absolultely screwing Esat and UTV, thanks to a spelling mistake Esat made.. I'll gladly discuss it with some of the Committee. I don't want to give out the info publicly just yet however..

ColinM

Ok - sounds enigmatic to say the least!

Maybe you could just tell us what word was spelt incorrectly?

That's just one word. That couldn't possibly be a breach of confidentiality, could it?

css

My first name. Sorry I have a reason for being so damn vague, i'll elaborate a bit more next week... Like I said I'll discuss it with some of the committee, just not on a public board just yet.

ednwireland

what is going on here according to david mcredmond 80 per cent of the lines on the pre qualify test pass how come half the people i knwo fail the line tests anyone got his email address maybe we should send ou complainmts tohim, mind you an engineer i know can't understand why some lines are failing reckons eircom are deliberatly failing lines - why neither of us can understand maybe its to get the 57 euro for calling out an engineer

ColinM

Ok, thanks lads. This looks like it could become an interesting thread!

I understand why you don't want to say too much in public, css. Good luck with your endeavours anyway.

Nice to see the conspiracy theories may well have some grounding in fact!