Query on Smart Billing

Couch Potato

I am considering moving over to Smart but I do have one query with relation to billing.

Do Smart break out on their bills the Line Rental charge separately ?

In other words is the Broadband charged at 39.99 including vat or is it broken in to

1) line rental 24.18
+
2) Broadband 15.81

Reason I ask is that my company pays for broadband for me as I need this for work purposes and if the two were combined I could charge both back - saving me money

zeusnero

Couch Potato wrote:

Do Smart break out on their bills the Line Rental charge separately ?

No, you lucky SOB. They just charge for the broadband - line rental is technically free. Enjoy

Couch Potato

zeusnero wrote:

No, you lucky SOB. They just charge for the broadband - line rental is technically free. Enjoy

Thanks - PM sent

dub45

Couch Potato wrote:

I am considering moving over to Smart but I do have one query with relation to billing.

Do Smart break out on their bills the Line Rental charge separately ?

In other words is the Broadband charged at 39.99 including vat or is it broken in to

1) line rental 24.18
+
2) Broadband 15.81

Reason I ask is that my company pays for broadband for me as I need this for work purposes and if the two were combined I could charge both back - saving me money

There is every danger that a company could regard this sort of behaviour as theft and use it as grounds for dismissal - apart from the theft aspect there is loss of trust and confidence in the employee.

For any viglant employer Smart does a breakdown of the cost of broadband on the website:

# Smart Broadband for €15.81 (Including VAT)
# Now Basic Package includes 4Mbs
# Higher speeds than eircom
# Always on
# No download limits

Couch Potato

dub45 wrote:

There is every danger that a company could regard this sort of behaviour as theft and use it as grounds for dismissal - apart from the theft aspect there is loss of trust and confidence in the employee.

For any viglant employer Smart does a breakdown of the cost of broadband on the website:

They currently pay my bb bill with another provider.

I have a company mobile also.

I privately pay for my Land line with about 3 to 4 Euro of calls - I am looking at ditching the land line altogether.

Others in the company have their land line charges bundled with their bb charges (Eircom and BT) as they insisted on this !

I already had BB and they just took over the cost of the BB only (early adopter !!).

dub45

Irrespective the warning stands - if a company tells an employee that they will cover broadband charges and the employee tries to 'stick' in the line charges also without agreement then they are leaving themselves open to dismissal for theft its as simple as that.

Sponge Bob

dub45 wrote:

Irrespective the warning stands - if a company tells an employee that they will cover broadband charges and the employee tries to 'stick' in the line charges also without agreement then they are leaving themselves open to dismissal for theft its as simple as that.

Thats a tad OTT in this case Dub45

BB and mobile phones (rental and usage in that case) are the only employee perks that do not attract BIK nowadays so companies happily pay them .

If Smart REFUSES to itemise line rental on its invoices and maintains its FREE then no BIK is to be paid and everybody is happy...even the taxman. Were the OP to get a charge hidden which is normally not hidden then you are correct and a fraud is committed. Not with Smart though.

HTH

pizzahead77

Checking my current Smart telecom bill, this is the way that they have the charges listed:

Rental Charges
Period for Advance Charges: May 07
Description Charge(€)
4Mb Plus Upgrade (512k upload) 8.26
Smart BB - 4Mb/256kb (STD) 33.05
Monthly Line Rental .00

Couch Potato

Sponge Bob wrote:

Thats a tad OTT in this case Dub45

I agree - I am going to cancel (transfer to smart) my land line with Eircom and get authorisation from the company that they will cover BB service with Smart which INCLUDES a cost for Line Rental making it very clear at the outset.

I don't really see it as a problem as it is the same cost to them anyway.

dub45

Sponge Bob wrote:

Thats a tad OTT in this case Dub45

BB and mobile phones (rental and usage in that case) are the only employee perks that do not attract BIK nowadays so companies happily pay them .

If Smart REFUSES to itemise line rental on its invoices and maintains its FREE then no BIK is to be paid and everybody is happy...even the taxman. Were the OP to get a charge hidden which is normally not hidden then you are correct and a fraud is committed. Not with Smart though.

HTH

I wasnt specifically making the point in this case alone although I think the poster was 'silly' to phrase his initial post the way he did. I meant it as a warning to people in general in relation to how they present expense claims to employers.

And I can assure you I speak from experience on this one (not from presenting such a clam thankfully but from witnessing the painful fall out)

Smart are no longer going with the free line rental bit anyways as I have pointed out in my previous post.

Sponge Bob

If smart are not 'lumping' it anymore then the OPs company should be informed that BIK must be paid on it , they may decide not to pay that portion. Fortunately its not €24.20 from the total ....or is it ???

dub45

Sponge Bob wrote:

If smart are not 'lumping' it anymore then the OPs company should be informed that BIK must be paid on it , they may decide not to pay that portion. Fortunately its not €24.20 from the total ....or is it ???

From the Smart website:

Smart Broadband for €15.81 (Including VAT)
Now Basic Package includes 4Mbs
Higher speeds than eircom
Always on
No download limits

There is no longer any mention of free line rental. Also the bb can be upped for a payment of €5.

They probably wanted to get away from the 'free line rental forever' as a marketing policy but I think there was also issues with getting line rental payments from the Dept for those who were entitled to it.

Sponge Bob

So they are nowadays charging €24.18 for LR and €15.81 for BB for a total of €39.99 a month .

BIK is payable on the €24.18 so , the company can only pay the €15.81 without any complications.

and of course at least 1 in every 6 lines qualifies for dept of social welfare subsidy ...or something like that , one in every 5 residential lines .

Thankfully both of my parents are still alive

pizzahead77

As per my previous post, they are still billing as free line rental, all the charges fall under broadband

Sponge Bob

maybe not for new customers though ???

chopperbyrne

Not for new customers.