Moving connection

dahamsta

UTV have quoted me €230 to move my BB connection to a new location, which is a bit more than I was expecting. Have other people been charged similar fees? They say "The charges involved in this are the charges that we pass on from what eircom charge us. The total includes a cancellation fee, one months notice and a reconnection fee." Can anyone break this down for me?

(For clarity, this isn't a straight transfer, I can't afford any downtime so I've asked that the old connection be kept live for a month while I move. The price still seems excessive though.)

adam

gombín

Adam,

If they have any decency they will charge you only the reconnection fee.

Regards.

rymus

Adam, if you remember back a couple of months ago I was in this very same position. I made several phone calls to them and finally I agreed to pay no more than €150. I came upon this figure due to the completely awful service I was getting in my previous house. It was either that or soaking my contract in some type of highly flammable liquid and throwing it into the fire.

As for breaking down the figure you were quoted, I don't really know where to start. At the time I was trawling around the ComReg site alot and found a figure of around €60 (at least thats what I think it was) to enable a line for broadband. Granted that UTV are most likely being charged a disconnection fee by Eircom and are taking 1 months extra rental for.. "administration fees"?

alleepally

Not that I have any experience of this particular scenario but it strikes me as being like a BBC programme recently where a punter was quote lets say £250 for changing their mortgage from one rate to another. She protested and eventually the charge was brought to £50. When she went in to the bank to get the change of morgage done, the bank official literally had to tap a couple of keys and it was all done.

It may be useful to send a letter (not email) to a head of department requesting a detailed breakdown of what work is done - itemised and costed fully. If they cannot give that then get onto pc live or something and get them to do a feature on it? Just something to let UTV know they aren't going to fleece you.

dahamsta

I got up off my arse and checked the bitstream price list (PDF). I see port connection charges, cessation charges and port transfer charges, but I'm not sure which are applicable to me. Straight port transfer seem logical, however I need to keep the old connection for a month so I'll assume that a port cessation and port connection are required, which totals up to €135. So where's the other €95 coming from? And what's the "one months notice" about? They've already got a month in advance from me on the "old" account.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't it work out cheaper to simply terminate the account? And if that's the case, what's my incentive to stay with UTV? I like the company, but that only counts for so much and I really dislike the idea of them taking a profit on something like this after the loyalty I've shown them. I hope I'm wrong about this.

adam

rymus

afaik, you have to pay to have the existing port de-activated and to have the new port activated. I also enquired about the port transfer bit in the pdf but I was given some speil about how that was only if you were changing provider and staying at the same address..

As for cancelling your existing sub and then signing up again; if you cancel your sub within the inital 12 month contract, aren't you then liable for the charges up to the end of the 12 month period? That's what it seems to suggest in the UTV T&C's. I'd say try to argue them down on the transfer charge.

dahamsta

Originally posted by rymus
I also enquired about the port transfer bit in the pdf but I was given some speil about how that was only if you were changing provider and staying at the same address..

Ah, that's right. Been eluding me all day.

As for cancelling your existing sub and then signing up again; if you cancel your sub within the inital 12 month contract, aren't you then liable for the charges up to the end of the 12 month period? That's what it seems to suggest in the UTV T&C's.

Fair point.

I'd say try to argue them down on the transfer charge.

Yeah, that's what I did:

From: adam beecher
To: UTV Internet Support
Subject: Re: [ticket #126848] Moving connection
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 17:40:06 +0100

Hi Rachel,

I've checked the Eircom wholesale price list and the price you've quoted me
seems excessive. I'm getting a maximum cost to UTV of €135, made up of a
port cessation fee and a port connection fee, and since UTV already has a
month in advance from me on the old account, I'm not sure where the "one
months notice" is coming from.

I understand that UTV has built the port connection cost into the original
monthly fee, however there are only four months remaining on that account
now, which should mean that you've already recouped two-thirds of this cost.
Can you break down the €230 for me please? How much would you charge me to
cancel the account completely?

It occurs me that I could get better value simply by creating a new account,
and to be honest this strikes me as ludicrous. Moreover, it creates little
or no incentive for me to stay with UTV for broadband, or to create a new
dialup account at this location.

Thanks,
adam

machalla

I see from the pricelist above that the cessation charge is €75 up to the end of last year and €60 for cessation this year.

Does this mean that if you disconnect from a BB service this year the charge should only be €60?

Or is based on when you signed up for a BB connection?

Why are providers charging VAT @21% on the cessation charge as well? Its not exactly a service to the consumer is it. More of a business to business charge I would have thought.

dahamsta

Originally posted by machalla
Does this mean that if you disconnect from a BB service this year the charge should only be €60?

Yes and no. You need to bear in mind that the operator will have paid the higher connection fee when you subscribed, and invariably all or part of this cost has been built into your monthly fee. They need to recoup some of this cost if you cancel, which I absolutely don't have a problem with. However in my particular case:

• I'm two-thirds of the way into my original contract;
• I've already paid a month in advance on my original contract;
• I'm staying with UTV, just in another location; and
• I indend giving them an additional dialup account.

With all that in mind, I'm surprised at the figure I was quoted, especially considering the figure rymus was able to argue them down to. Hopefully they'll be able to break the number down into more understandable figures for me. I am blond after all.

adam

Ripwave

Originally posted by machalla
I see from the pricelist above that the cessation charge is €75 up to the end of last year and €60 for cessation this year.

Does this mean that if you disconnect from a BB service this year the charge should only be €60?

It means that eircom will charge IOL or UTV €60 if they cancel the port you are using (because you have cancelled your contract, for whatever reason). IOL and UTV pass this on to you, the customer.

Why are providers charging VAT @21%

Because it's the law.

rymus

As you've only got such a small amount of time left in your contract, I'm sure theres wiggle room in the price you were quoted. As you said, you'll be staying with them and signing up for another 12 month contract once your new line is enabled so they have no reason to try and squeeze as much money out of you as possible because they know they've got you for at least another year.

C'mon man, toughen up! Give em what for

dahamsta

I'm in no rush. Haven't even got a bloody line yet, due to Eircom's usual incompetence. Would you like the rant? (Just had to cancel a Sky install because of them, so that's another thing to add to the growing list.)

adam

dahamsta

Just to close this out, UTV have agreed to do this for me for €157, which seems fair enough given that it's not a straight transfer. Thanks to Rachael for her help and putting up with me. Not a chore I'd savour!

Also thanks to the other person for helping me out with the other thing.

adam