Eircom "you can cancel 12 months contract but you can not!"

greenhouse1234

Hi guys

I moved my phone & broadband service to vodafone, due to recent price hikes by eircom increases.

it was published customer having contracts will be allowed to cancel their contracts without panlity.

I switched over and now eircom esnt me the "early cease charges".

I called today and was told that you were free to cancel your phone service but not broadband! hence you are liable for early cease charges for broadband!!

I asked can ok I will not cancel my broadband package.. so can you provide me the service without landline? the lady said "No", BUT still you can not cancel broadband"

GGRRRRR!!!
can anybody here explain me please. when eircom saying "you can cancel your 12 months contract BUT but you CAN NOT cancel "

I spoked to vodafone and guy told me that this is happening to loads of customers who switched to vodafone recently & we are waiting for reply from our head office and will update you tomorrow.

wondering is any of boards.ie users here victim of eircom's stupid politics stunt

did anybody sorted with eircom on same issue?

regards
SS

McLoughlin

Phone and Broadband are two seperate contracts you can cancel phone with no cost but if you have a broadband contract you have to pay the fees.

greenhouse1234

McLoughlin wrote: »

Phone and Broadband are two seperate contracts you can cancel phone with no cost but if you have a broadband contract you have to pay the fees.

Thanks for your opinion.

can u tell me pls, if i choose to keep my broadband package with eircom till my contract expires. so thats means eircom should provide me the 'service ' by some how! may be wirelessly! then sircom's responsibility to provide me broadband as I m not cancelling my broadband contract!

can you reply pls? is there no onus on provider to provide the service!

greenhouse1234

I signed up for a product/package/bundle with eircom, which included phone service, broadband, off-peak calls in the evenings etc and also with other conditions and charges such call connection charges etc.

I never signed up for broadband as a separate 'entity'. broadband was an 'integral' part of the 'deal'.
and in feb '11 eircom changed the terms and conditions of that deal. hence eircom themselves said customers with contract/pacakages will not panelized for early termination.

any advice pls?

regards
SS

eircom: Mark

greenhouse1234 wrote: »

I signed up for a product/package/bundle with eircom, which included phone service, broadband, off-peak calls in the evenings etc and also with other conditions and charges such call connection charges etc.

I never signed up for broadband as a separate 'entity'. broadband was an 'integral' part of the 'deal'.
and in feb '11 eircom changed the terms and conditions of that deal. hence eircom themselves said customers with contract/pacakages will not panelized for early termination.

any advice pls?

regards
SS

Hi greenhouse1234,

We posted clarification on this issue on the 21-02-2011, 14:44

Thread: http://bit.ly/fLJqCW

---

Post -

Hi guys,

We apologise for any confusion regarding the price increase cancellation process.

To offer clarification on this issue.

Why certain eircom customers may not be eligible to cancel without incurring the contract early cease charge:

"Customers who are on the talktime talker or talktime chatter (contract) call and broadband bundle packages with eircom, have set call connection rates of 6.97c Inc Vat for all calls made to any number within or outside the package allowance. Which means these customers are not directly affected by the the price increase and therefore are not eligible to cancel the contract without incurring early cease charge".


When an eircom customer is eligible to cancel without incurring an early cease charge:

All other customers who are not in an eircom bundle, or their bundles are directly affected by the price increase were sent notification in writing allowing them to cease 30 days before the price increases take effect allowing them to cancel their existing contract without penalty.


Many thanks,

eircom moderators

---

I hope that clarifies the issue for you.

Thanks, Mark

jay93

the price increase was only on the phone charges so customers were only allowed get out of contract for the phone service if their was also a change to the broadband you would have been able to cancel both but since it was only the phone service that had a price hike they won't let broadband customers out of contract any other company would do the same to be honest !:rolleyes::o

greenhouse1234

wondering is it fair from eircom to punish its customers with bundles??

when i got min 12 months contract I checked their call charges that suited me, thus I got bundle, but now they have increased their prices, 'new prices' do not suits me anymore.

eircom thinks people affected by this change is the people who are not on any bundle/package?
if i have a bundle thats mean I should not/not suppose to make phone call outside bundle!
why eircom is pressurizing that new hikes will not affect bundled customers.

in reality, it will affect everyone.

eircom is bullying its customers who having bundle package to pay higher call charges made outside bundle? its outrageous. their were prices which were told to customers you will pay for calls made outside the bundle, while contracts were made available to customers.
many people like myself make phone calls outside those off-peak or bundle,
so I should not make any phone call, outside bundle to avoid 'new prices'!

************************************************

its article from independent.ie, dated 11th feb '11

Eircom prices hiked by up to 60pc

By Aideen Sheehan Consumer Correspondent
Friday February 11 2011
EIRCOM is hiking its phone charges and making it harder for customers to leave.

The Consumers Association of Ireland last night accused the company of heaping sneaky new charges and conditions on loyal customers.

Eircom yesterday announced increases of up to 60pc in some of their phone charges.

And customers will now have to give one month's notice if they want to quit the service.


Call set-up fees -- the minimum charge for connecting a call -- will rise by 60pc from 5.95c to 9.5c, although this will not apply to bundled calls included in payment plans.

And the cost of a one-minute call to directory enquiries 11811 will rise from €1.68 to €1.99 -- an increase of 18pc.

Eircom has also introduced a new cancellation policy which means customers may have to give one month's written notice, by email, letter or fax, to cancel their service.

Eircom claimed that the net effect on customers' bills would be an average increase of 3.1pc, and more than 70pc of subscribers would not be affected if they only used the call minutes included with their bundle.

Spokesman Paul Bradley said that customers who wished to avoid these increases could switch to their bundled packages, which would offer them better value.


Shareholders

But Consumers' Association Chief Executive Dermott Jewell accused the company of putting shareholders' interests ahead of its customers.

"They are determined to extract as much money as possible from loyal customers.

"These changes will hugely affect people who have built their lifestyles around making cheaper calls after 6pm. They're also making it harder for those who wish to leave," he said.

Debt-ridden Eircom remains the country's largest fixed-line phone operator, with around 800,000 residential and 150,000 business customers, although this has fallen from 1.1 million customers a few years ago.

The regulator ComReg said that while Eircom was entitled to increase its call charges, consumers who had the terms and conditions of their contracts changed had the option to leave the service without any penalty or minimum waiting period.

For a customer making 100 minutes a month each of local calls and calls to mobiles, and 30 minutes of national calls, Eircom plans came in at 19th and 20th place at over €46 per month, while the cheapest provider was Pure Zeus at €39.99, followed by Hive Telecom at €40.01 and Pure Vesta at €40.44

.




below is article from www.joe.ie

Eircom will hit their customer's pockets hard from next month after the company announced increases of 60pc in some of their phone charges.


Kellett says: "The 3.1 per cent average increase figure used by Eircom is an outrageous piece of spin and is being used to hide much more severe price hikes. Dig a little deeper and the real costs are laid bare."

"Call connection fees will increase by 60 per cent. A one-minute local call made during peak times will increase 30 per cent and off-peak the increase is 43 per cent. These rises are exorbitant to say the least and not something that can be glossed over. Where the 3.1 per cent figure came from is a mystery."

Peak time

Regarding the changes to its peak time hours Kellett says: "Eircom also fails to mention in its media announcement that bank holidays are now charged at peak time rates for new and non-bundle customers. This subtle change will be introduced six days before St. Patrick's Day - a time when people are more likely to call friends and family."

"As well as bank holidays, peak time charges will now apply from 7am to 7pm versus the normal 8am to 6pm. Again, because of the subtlety of this change, many will be caught out."

Speaking of the numbers affected Kellett adds: "As confirmed by Eircom approximately 330,000 customers are not part of a bundled offering and thus will be affected by the increased charges. That's a lot of people and businesses."

Since establishing in 2004, Magnet has never increased its telecoms prices and also states that it will not be raising them for the foreseeable future. Rather than increasing charges, Magnet is currently and actively seeking ways to reduce its call costs for both residential and business customers.

Caught out

"We felt it important to clarify our position so that customers didn't feel they could potentially be caught out again on moving. Eircom is now more than 59%, or nearly 28 cent, more expensive for an average length national call when compared to Magnet standard residential rates.* Furthermore, off-peak call times for Magnet customers cover 6pm in the evening until 8am the next morning, with bank holidays are included in off-peak times."

Speaking of the options available to customers wishing to switch Kellett adds: "Thankfully customers are willing to shop around these days and people are now very quick to investigate alternatives and walk away from a provider if they're unhappy."

Residential consumers who want to get out of their Eircom contract without penalty will have to give the company written notification within a month of being notified of the changes, as of February 11.

greenhouse1234

Hi

contacted eircom last time and was told charges will stand as is.
regarding complaint cus rep told it will not be investigated but its just formality, that ll stay on our records. advised me to go to comreg.

contacted me new ISP provider i.e. vodaf they claimed their sales agent gave the right advice to me while switching that because eircom breached their terms and conditions of contract, hence you are free to leave eircom contract etc.
vodaf advised me to cotacting comreg will be the best option.

did any bordies here, have to go through this process vis comreg?

who to complain - comreg, national consumer agency or someone else?

I ll be doing it, wondering if anybody here is in same boat and would like to hear their experience.

any help/suggestions will be very much welcomed.
regards

eircom: Mark

greenhouse1234 wrote: »

Hi

contacted eircom last time and was told charges will stand as is.
regarding complaint cus rep told it will not be investigated but its just formality, that ll stay on our records. advised me to go to comreg.

contacted me new ISP provider i.e. vodaf they claimed their sales agent gave the right advice to me while switching that because eircom breached their terms and conditions of contract, hence you are free to leave eircom contract etc.
vodaf advised me to cotacting comreg will be the best option.

did any bordies here, have to go through this process vis comreg?

who to complain - comreg, national consumer agency or someone else?

I ll be doing it, wondering if anybody here is in same boat and would like to hear their experience.

any help/suggestions will be very much welcomed.
regards

Hi greenhouse1234,

As per the previous post:

When an eircom customer is eligible to cancel without incurring an early cease charge:

All other customers who are not in an eircom bundle, or their bundles are directly affected by the price increase were sent notification in writing allowing them to cease 30 days before the price increases take effect allowing them to cancel their existing contract without penalty.


Many thanks,

---

So as these packages has set connection charges they were not affected by the price increase as such the contract had to stand.

If you PM me your telephone number and previous eircom account number I can look into your contact history with eircom regarding this issue.

Thanks, Mark

irishjig69b

a a eircom worker i stwitched to vodafone,,,,,eircom price's are way over the top my bills were over 100e every month without fail, for over 3 years solid....past 4 bills from vodafone 45e every month.....due the maths....EIRCOM RIP OFF.....

seanoc2011

greenhouse1234 wrote: »

Hi guys

I moved my phone & broadband service to vodafone, due to recent price hikes by eircom increases.

it was published customer having contracts will be allowed to cancel their contracts without panlity.

I switched over and now eircom esnt me the "early cease charges".

I called today and was told that you were free to cancel your phone service but not broadband! hence you are liable for early cease charges for broadband!!

I asked can ok I will not cancel my broadband package.. so can you provide me the service without landline? the lady said "No", BUT still you can not cancel broadband"

GGRRRRR!!!
can anybody here explain me please. when eircom saying "you can cancel your 12 months contract BUT but you CAN NOT cancel "

I spoked to vodafone and guy told me that this is happening to loads of customers who switched to vodafone recently & we are waiting for reply from our head office and will update you tomorrow.

wondering is any of boards.ie users here victim of eircom's stupid politics stunt

did anybody sorted with eircom on same issue?

regards
SS

I work for an alternative telecom provider and have seen cases like this. Eircom are trying to persuade customers that their recent price increases only affect 30% of customers... which is utter bull. price increases and change of terms and conditions affect everyone... their definition of day time has also been changed... so according to comreg and eircom, you were well within your right to cancel a 12 month contract after notifying eircom your intention to leave cause of price increases... however... eircom have even persuaded comreg that they are within their rights to charge cancellation fees'. i suggest not paying these fees and also contacting the consumer association of ireland and any radio station you can get in contact with... newspapers as well

seanoc2011

eircom: Mark wrote: »

Hi greenhouse1234,

As per the previous post:

When an eircom customer is eligible to cancel without incurring an early cease charge:

All other customers who are not in an eircom bundle, or their bundles are directly affected by the price increase were sent notification in writing allowing them to cease 30 days before the price increases take effect allowing them to cancel their existing contract without penalty.


Many thanks,

---

So as these packages has set connection charges they were not affected by the price increase as such the contract had to stand.

If you PM me your telephone number and previous eircom account number I can look into your contact history with eircom regarding this issue.

Thanks, Mark

wish that was true mark

seanoc2011

seanoc2011 wrote: »

wish that was true mark

Mark,

You might wanna explain to people then why a customer of mine, rang up eircom in february making it known his intention to leave due to the recent price increases and wanting to join our company. This person was handed a bill from eircom for early broadband charges and early residential line cease charges. he has contacted eircom and comreg and was told by comreg that the rate increases dont affect him and the cancellation fees stand. comreg have advised he lodge a complaint about my company.


eircom have been accused of heaping hidden price increases on customers and making it harder for their customers to leave... they are bullying people to staying with eircom


i suggest that if anyone getting these cancellation fees... contact radio stations, newspapers, consumer association of ireland and do not allow eircom bully them back into going back to them.

seanoc2011

greenhouse1234 wrote: »

I signed up for a product/package/bundle with eircom, which included phone service, broadband, off-peak calls in the evenings etc and also with other conditions and charges such call connection charges etc.

I never signed up for broadband as a separate 'entity'. broadband was an 'integral' part of the 'deal'.
and in feb '11 eircom changed the terms and conditions of that deal. hence eircom themselves said customers with contract/pacakages will not panelized for early termination.

any advice pls?

regards
SS

According to ComReg and eircom, you are entitled to give eircom a months notice that you wish to cancel cause of pricing and that you are moving to another provider.

Thats what they say... however eircom are trying to pull the wool over their customers eyes and tell their customers that the price increases do not affect your package.


I can assure you... if you are on a off peak package.. your package has been hugely affected by the price increases.


also bare in mind the NEW eircom adverts for unlimited local and national calls and 30 mins to mob and 8mb for €39.99 per month... is a total farce. its off peak calls and its also a 6 month promo on a 12 year contract. with the price increases brought on... this promo will not be effective.... you also have 2 hours less of off peak as they changed their hours on peak time... its now 7am to 7pm.

java

seanoc2011 wrote: »

most companies would not make increases on their rates as frequent as eircom would.

Actually thats not true. Eircom are heavily regulated by Comreg so their prices don't change that frequently.

In the interest of fairness you should state who you work for.

ninjasurfer1

seanoc2011 wrote: »

Mark,

You might wanna explain to people then why a customer of mine, rang up eircom in february making it known his intention to leave due to the recent price increases and wanting to join our company. This person was handed a bill from eircom for early broadband charges and early residential line cease charges. he has contacted eircom and comreg and was told by comreg that the rate increases dont affect him and the cancellation fees stand. comreg have advised he lodge a complaint about my company.
eircom have been accused of heaping hidden price increases on customers and making it harder for their customers to leave... they are bullying people to staying with eircom
i suggest that if anyone getting these cancellation fees... contact radio stations, newspapers, consumer association of ireland and do not allow eircom bully them back into going back to them.

Given that you are speaking on behalf of a competitors customers, can you state the company that you are working for?

Given that Comreg have advised your customers to log a complaint against your company, I would suggest that they (Comreg) are in receipt of more accurate information regarding the terms of the price changes than your company (or its sales people) are.

seanoc2011

ninjasurfer1 wrote: »

Given that you are speaking on behalf of a competitors customers, can you state the company that you are working for?

Given that Comreg have advised your customers to log a complaint against your company, I would suggest that they (Comreg) are in receipt of more accurate information regarding the terms of the price changes than your company (or its sales people) are.

you would think but i am telling you, we have gone by the guidelines set by comreg and I think you will find that others are having this problem too. according to the customer, eircom told comreg that the price increases do not affect his package therefore eircom are within their right to charge cancellation fees. We have had to release the customer in fear that the customer would go through a lot more hassle, without heaping any cancellation fee on him from leaving our company and advised him to contact eircom and tell them he would go back if they waived their cancellation fee's. they thankfully did and the customer is back with eircom.
we were told by comreg that cause of the change in terms and conditions that people could leave within a certain period of time and with giving eircom a months notice. eircom reps on this are welcome to correct me on this.

seanoc2011

ninjasurfer1 wrote: »

Given that you are speaking on behalf of a competitors customers, can you state the company that you are working for?

Given that Comreg have advised your customers to log a complaint against your company, I would suggest that they (Comreg) are in receipt of more accurate information regarding the terms of the price changes than your company (or its sales people) are.

as i have reiterated before on this thread and I am doing anymore reiterating for people like yourself ninjasurfer or java. the company i have worked for or work for, are not represented by me on boards.ie. I represent no one but myself, my opinions are my own and I think I am entitled to them. I am looking for answers on this as many people are as well as try help people out.
I am not on this to berate any company or promote any company and i have taken on board (excuse the pun) what boards.ie have said in relation to their policy here. I have removed any posts that could be considered as defaming anyone.
I am not divulging my personal information over the internet to complete strangers and its not on a need to know basis. It is irrelevant to the conversation and I am again, not representing my company or any company that I have worked for or work for, past, present or future.
My opinions may differ from yours and if anyone takes offense to them, well sorry... but your entitled to your opinion as much as I am and I am not asking for your details.

Now if what I have said is not to your liking, you can always PM me.

The purpose of me replying to this thread was to find out what a customers rights are and what customers should be advised and I have also tried helping people on this. I havent found any answers on the thread. I tried helping people on this, some got offended.

mobyfitz20

been having a problem with my landline for the past 2 weeks and when i contact eircom they keep saying we'll look into it and get back to me soon, it's been 2 weeks now and haven't herd from them.

i wish to cancel my contract since this kind of service is not acceptable.

eircom: Tony

mobyfitz20 wrote: »

been having a problem with my landline for the past 2 weeks and when i contact eircom they keep saying we'll look into it and get back to me soon, it's been 2 weeks now and haven't herd from them.

i wish to cancel my contract since this kind of service is not acceptable.

Apologies for delay in resolving this issue for you. I can see this has been logged to technician and hope to be resolved soon. There were some delays in your area but your own fault has gone well over fix date. Am escalating this for you again.
Tony

webmanie

Hi All

I moved to Vodafone one month ago, phone and BB why? Eircom is price mad! And impossible to contact them and when you do a "supervisor" will call back ............... yea in a month!

Anyway got my final bill today a nice 335.089 ! Because of early cease charges on phone line and BB and I like to know where in writing is my so-called contract ? Because I do believe a contract should be in writing, if not im going to fight this. I have been with them for years, and was always in CR with them, and this is the way they treat customers? i do think Joe Duffy is worth a call on Monday ! Any of you come across this before?

irishjig69b

webmanie wrote: »

Hi All

I moved to Vodafone one month ago, phone and BB why? Eircom is price mad! And impossible to contact them and when you do a "supervisor" will call back ............... yea in a month!

Anyway got my final bill today a nice 335.089 ! Because of early cease charges on phone line and BB and I like to know where in writing is my so-called contract ? Because I do believe a contract should be in writing, if not im going to fight this. I have been with them for years, and was always in CR with them, and this is the way they treat customers? i do think Joe Duffy is worth a call on Monday ! Any of you come across this before?

eircom mite b dearer, but vodafone customer service in the worst service i have eber come across

eircom: Mark

webmanie wrote: »

Hi All

I moved to Vodafone one month ago, phone and BB why? Eircom is price mad! And impossible to contact them and when you do a "supervisor" will call back ............... yea in a month!

Anyway got my final bill today a nice 335.089 ! Because of early cease charges on phone line and BB and I like to know where in writing is my so-called contract ? Because I do believe a contract should be in writing, if not im going to fight this. I have been with them for years, and was always in CR with them, and this is the way they treat customers? i do think Joe Duffy is worth a call on Monday ! Any of you come across this before?

Hi webmanie,

Can you PM me with your name & eircom account number and I will look into the final bill you received.

Did you call eircom at any stage to advise you were moving providers?

Thanks, Mark

JoannaZ81

Hi guys!
My problem is a bit similar...but it's not the prices I want to question here. It's a bill issue.
Moved in to the new house recently so rang up eircom to get the internet and all that.Was told all be done within 10 working days.
Well,line was connected within that time alright,but nobody ever came back to connect the internet! Waited nearly 3 weeks and nothing. Even after speaking to them again, so simply decided to go for vodafone.Happy days...
Until few days ago...got a bill from eircom for early cease of contract.
LINE WAS NEVER USED before switching to vodafone!!!
Can they still charge me???

eircom: Alan

Hi JoannaZ81

If you would like to PM me your account details i will be happy to look into this.

Regards

Al

marian1977

Hi lads!
My problem is a bit similar. But only bill issue.
I moved in May to new house so rang up eircom to get the internet and phone line moved. That was my only contact with them. Recently I decided to move to vodafone.
Anyway got my ericom bill in last week -415,88 ! Because of early cease charges on phone line and BB. Rang them and what I've heard? That because there was changes in my plan, they will charge me for early cease! Except change of address I haven't change anything! Customer service agent said that I changed my plan a month after my change of address! Can they do that? I have been with them for nearly 3 years and this is the way they treat customers?
Can you tell me what to do?

eircom: Linda

marian1977 wrote: »

Hi lads!
My problem is a bit similar. But only bill issue.
I moved in May to new house so rang up eircom to get the internet and phone line moved. That was my only contact with them. Recently I decided to move to vodafone.
Anyway got my ericom bill in last week -415,88 ! Because of early cease charges on phone line and BB. Rang them and what I've heard? That because there was changes in my plan, they will charge me for early cease! Except change of address I haven't change anything! Customer service agent said that I changed my plan a month after my change of address! Can they do that? I have been with them for nearly 3 years and this is the way they treat customers?
Can you tell me what to do?

Hi marian1977

If you could PM your account number I will look further into this for you?

Regards
Linda

fARLO9

We changed from Eircom last month, and have received BB Early Cease & Residential Line Cease charges. We've been with them for over 3 years, so we confused as to why we are getting these charges? Is it because we are in a bundle? I cant find anything to suggest cancellation charges? I can understand if its within 12 months etc. If we are not in a contract, how could we have changed provider without these charges?

Sponge Bob

I believe that eircom are entitled to levy a cancellation charge ( separate from an EARLY cancellation charge) IE after your 12 month contract has expired. It would be in the order of around €50-60 from memory. I think it relates only to the Broadband component not the line but there may be a separate cancellation charge there too.

The interesting question is whether they charged you VAT on that/these cancellation charge(s). See > http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79989473

eircom: Linda

fARLO9 wrote: »

We changed from Eircom last month, and have received BB Early Cease & Residential Line Cease charges. We've been with them for over 3 years, so we confused as to why we are getting these charges? Is it because we are in a bundle? I cant find anything to suggest cancellation charges? I can understand if its within 12 months etc. If we are not in a contract, how could we have changed provider without these charges?

Hi fARLO9

If you would like to PM me your account details I will investigate this for you?

Regards
Linda