Problems getting Eircom in.

fonzy1

Hi all,

Long story short(ish), i've been with Westnet for the past year, i'm fed up with their poor excuse for a broadband connection.

Now, i've rang Eircom a few times enquiring about getting them in, but i've always got the "your phone line is'nt enabled" line.

I don't live in a cave or 30 miles from the nearest house, i live about a mile from a town slap bang in the centre of Mayo, now the exchange there has been enabled for some time, in fact a neighbour has a fixed BB line installed.

So my question is, are Eircom under any obligation to provide a service?
And/or how in the hell can i get a connection installed when all they come back with is " your line is'nt BB ready"?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

jor el

fonzy1 wrote: »

So my question is, are Eircom under any obligation to provide a service?

No.

fonzy1 wrote: »

And/or how in the hell can i get a connection installed when all they come back with is " your line is'nt BB ready"?

You don't. If the line isn't capable, either because it's of poor quality, distance from the exchange, or exchange not enabled, then you can't do anything about it. Your neighbour may be on a different exchange than you, may be just close enough, or you could be on a line splitter.

Basically, when eircom say no, that's the end of it. I'm not aware of any way you can change their minds.

dub45

You could try posting in the Eircom forum and you might get more information as to why exactly you cannot get bb.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1293

Mr. G

Note also, Eircom cannot give priority to their customers if your with another Landline provider.

HTH

dianehyde

Over my years of dealings with eircom I have discovered the following:

• we are only entitled to a phone line - not broadband
• they will sign you up to broadband 8mb but you may only be able to recieve 1 or 2 mb
• you do not have any comeback if you are paying for the 8mb and getting 1or2mb
• you have to be with eircom before they will even talk to you about getting broadband
• my phone is an "amber"line which means it is split with a neighbours
• they dont have to nor are willing to fix/repair/upgrade the line
• after several hours one day it was suggested to me to order a new line from eircom and then I "may or "may not" be able to receive bb. I asked if they could guarantee a bb connection if I got a new line and they said "no".

So you are screwed like me, at the mercy of eircom.
Best of luck

lucernarian

Jor el, there is a recent thread on the talk to: eircom forum where a customer who was told for years that he couldn't get broadband, was subsequently sorted out by some of the eircom reps on boards. There's other stories like this and more anecdotal evidence here on boards for some customer service staff being more helpful than others or where a linesman directly sorted out a problem or to go further back, an email ranting to Pat Kenny when he would interview that damned CEO Phil Nolan. It seems that posting in the talk to: eircom forum can get eircom to sort out a line for broadband at least in some cases.

If a phone line is split, the line won't work for broadband whatsoever but it's usually just a case of needing a linesman to do work. It seems that eircom now generally classify pairgained lines as amber but this varies from exchange to exchange I think! What they do there is put you on a dedicated pair if available. If you were near the exchange you could go from "amber" to getting the full 8!

It's a good idea to check how far you are from an exchange as if it's amber but you are less than 2 or 3 miles from the exchange then you may actually get higher than 1 mbit if you get DSL.

fonzy1

Thanks for the reply's thus far.

I think having a gander over on the Eircom site could'nt hurt, i'll do a bit of posting and see how far i get over there.

If i do have any success i'll update this post, maybe it might turn out to be helpfull for others stuck in the same situation as myself.

thefinalstage

dianehyde wrote: »

• my phone is an "amber"line which means it is split with a neighbours

Amber means you are beyond a certain distance from the exchange. You could have the best line in the world but if its too far from the exchange physics takes over I am afraid

lucernarian

poisonedstream wrote: »

Amber means you are beyond a certain distance from the exchange. You could have the best line in the world but if its too far from the exchange physics takes over I am afraid

That's not quite true anymore, I know of where a line was pairgained but still only a couple of km from the exchange and was classed as "amber". Certainly, it used to be the case that it was a classification based purely on distance.

There's a couple of threads around boards actually where some amber lines which could otherwise handle say 2 mbps are not being offered anything more than 1 mbit because eircom wholesale/comreg won't allow more than 1 mbit to be offered. Sure it was only a few years ago when perfectly good lines failed because they were over 4.5km long! Silly eircom.

thefinalstage

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

That's not quite true anymore, I know of where a line was pairgained but still only a couple of km from the exchange and was classed as "amber". Certainly, it used to be the case that it was a classification based purely on distance.

There's a couple of threads around boards actually where some amber lines which could otherwise handle say 2 mbps are not being offered anything more than 1 mbit because eircom wholesale/comreg won't allow more than 1 mbit to be offered. Sure it was only a few years ago when perfectly good lines failed because they were over 4.5km long! Silly eircom.

Really? Hmmmm, must read up a little more.

dianehyde

poisonedstream wrote: »

Amber means you are beyond a certain distance from the exchange. You could have the best line in the world but if its too far from the exchange physics takes over I am afraid

But all my neighbours- (6 houses) have proper lines, and just myself and 1 neighbour have a split/shared line. When her phone goes out of action so does mine and vice versa. I think it was because we were the last house to be built on the road.

MajorMax

dianehyde wrote: »

Over my years of dealings with eircom I have discovered the following:

• we are only entitled to a phone line - not broadband True under Eircom's service obligation agreement, they have to honour every Reasonable request for a phone line
• they will sign you up to broadband 8mb but you may only be able to recieve 1 or 2 mb Eircom BB is always quoted as "up to 8 mb" even if you're only capable of 1 or 3
• you do not have any comeback if you are paying for the 8mb and getting 1or2mb see above
• you have to be with eircom before they will even talk to you about getting broadband Eircom will supply BB to you if you are with an OLO
• my phone is an "amber"line which means it is split with a neighbours An amber line doesn't mean you have a split line, it means that the line is too old or you're too far from the exchange to support a higher speed and usually 1 mb is all you can get
• they dont have to nor are willing to fix/repair/upgrade the line The only option is to get a new line
• after several hours one day it was suggested to me to order a new line from eircom and then I "may or "may not" be able to receive bb. I asked if they could guarantee a bb connection if I got a new line and they said "no".No BB provider can guarantee broadband
  So you are screwed like me, at the mercy of eircom. I can never understand this attitude. People seem to think that eircom are just being spiteful in denying them their god given RIGHT to fast broadband. You can always sign up to satellite broadband on offer from a partnership between Digiweb & Eircom. The installation charge is a mere €750
  Best of luck

You'll need it

dianehyde

MajorMax wrote: »

You'll need it

"A mere €750" is far to expensive for me.
Also you suggested to order a new line, if you read back on my post you will see that that was also suggested by eircom but they still could not say if I would be able to get broadband on the new line so I asked what was the point of ordering it to which they replied "you may or may not be able to get it"
I dont beileve that its my "god given right" it is however frustrating not to be able to get broadband when all neighbours/most of the country are able to. I paid eircom full price for a line 7 years ago but seem to only have half a line. I cannot get any of the wireless ones either as my house is surrounded by trees I have had the engineers out and they were unable to receive a signal and as mentioned cannot afford the expensive satellite options.

Sponge Bob

Ordering a completely new line costs you nothing ( bar line rental) unless the line costs eircom €7000 or more.

Make sure you order a BUNDLE of completely new line and Broadband together. Do not give eircom a contact number for you, tell them to write instead. If eircom do not send you an order receipt confirming the order within a week raise a formal complaint with eircom and if no receipt is forthcoming 10 days later again you can go to Comreg. Once an order is in the system and you have a receipt/order number you can get somewhere with Comreg.

As the engineer must enter your house to complete the job...installing a socket that is, you simply do not let the engineer in unless the line is unsplit. They cannot bill you for an incomplete install. Generally engineers are sound and will find a pair for you ...once they come out that is. The difficulty is getting them out.

Then cease your useless split line once the BB is installed.

gazzer

For a year I tried with Eircom to get broaband but because my line was a split one I was having no joy. I live in a remote enough area but am 3 kms from the nearest exchange (Kilnaleck in Cavan).

So I decided to apply for a brand new line. I made sure I applied for a bundle package instead of just the phone.

After about 2 weeks an engineer came out to the house and I told him I definately wanted the line for broadband as I will be working from home (little white lie). Line was installed and after about a 4 days I got onto Eircom and who told me that I couldnt get broadband but that I would still have to pay a 12 month contract etc etc.

Anyway I told them I knew my rights and that I had a cooling off period and that they were not getting a cent out of me unless I could get broadband.

Lo and behold 2 days later I get a call to say that I can get up to 2MB. I told them I wanted to check the speed to be sure. They sent me out a modem and over 2 days I did regular speed tests and I was always getting 2mb. I signed up for the year contract, cancelled my original phone line (the split line one) and then transfered the old phone number to my new line.

dianehyde

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Ordering a completely new line costs you nothing ( bar line rental) unless the line costs eircom €7000 or more.
Hi Spongebob,
Some very interesting suggestions there. I will have to look into it next week. I was told that a new line would cost me €120 - I wouldnt mind paying that (again) if it got me broadband.
Thanks again

Sponge Bob

A new line is free ( normally €120 like you said) since wednesday. Make sure you apply for a bundle of say 1mbit BB and a Line together ( upgrading BB afterwards is free too) . Then eircom KNOW that the line is for broadband coz you ordered a bundle.

eircom PSTN Standard Connection Promotion
(promotional period: 8th June to 31st December 2011)

a reconnection ( existing line) is also free

eircom In‐Situ and Pre‐Cabled Connection Promotion
(promotional period: 29th September 2010 to 31st December 2011)

Solair

I love how eircom say "I'm sorry *your line* has failed"

When in reality they should be saying "We're sorry, our network has failed"

Since when has the customer had responsibility for supplying their own line?

They go on as if it's something that's in the end user's control.

If they are incapable of supplying DSL to certain locations, they should accept responsibility for it and stop talking about "your line" since they bloody well own it, maintain it and install it.

MajorMax

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Ordering a completely new line costs you nothing ( bar line rental) unless the line costs eircom €7000 or more.

Make sure you order a BUNDLE of completely new line and Broadband together. Do not give eircom a contact number for you, tell them to write instead. If eircom do not send you an order receipt confirming the order within a week raise a formal complaint with eircom and if no receipt is forthcoming 10 days later again you can go to Comreg. Once an order is in the system and you have a receipt/order number you can get somewhere with Comreg.

As the engineer must enter your house to complete the job...installing a socket that is, you simply do not let the engineer in unless the line is unsplit. They cannot bill you for an incomplete install. Generally engineers are sound and will find a pair for you ...once they come out that is. The difficulty is getting them out.

Then cease your useless split line once the BB is installed.

This is the funniest thing I've read in ages, I'd love to hear where you got your information, almost everything you said here is wrong:rolleyes:

lucernarian

MajorMax wrote: »

This is the funniest thing I've read in ages, I'd love to hear where you got your information, almost everything you said here is wrong:rolleyes:

The overall thrust behind SB's post is correct even if I've had no experience in getting written receipts etc from eircom. I also assume he wouldn't be lying over the free line install offer.

Eircom are supposed to give an acknowledgement of an order (or give an ETA for installation) within 10 working days I believe, under the PSO and I think that's what SB is referring to. Of course, eircom don't always take their license requirements very seriously given the times some people have had to wait for a line install (I remember one housing estate in Drogheda about 4/5 years ago waiting over a year for functional phone lines) so this is where contacting ComReg would come in.

For a new line install, an eircom linesman mustenter the property purely to ensure that the NTU and the cable to it is in working order etc. The NTU (master socket) is eircom's responsibility.

I highly doubt eircom can bill you for an incomplete install but I have no experience with that specific issue. I would envisage problems when a linesman marks the line as installed after an unhappy customer told them to feck off with their pairgained line.

So, could MajorMax back up his claim or am I going to be just told I'm wrong too?! The humour in all this is lost on me...

bealtine

MajorMax wrote: »

almost everything you said here is wrong:rolleyes:

Please explain...

AntiRip

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

Jor el, there is a recent thread on the talk to: eircom forum where a customer who was told for years that he couldn't get broadband, was subsequently sorted out by some of the eircom reps on boards.

Yep. I think you may be talking about me :-)

I couldn't get it for years and one of the reps over on the eircom forum had me sorted out in a couple of weeks. Absolute gentleman. Couldn't do enough.

I went from 'my line is not capable' to up to 3mb. I then replaced some wiring in the house and am not getting 6.4mb on an 8mb package so there is hope

All the best

funnyname

AntiRip wrote: »

Yep. I think you may be talking about me :-)

I couldn't get it for years and one of the reps over on the eircom forum had me sorted out in a couple of weeks. Absolute gentleman. Couldn't do enough.

I went from 'my line is not capable' to up to 3mb. I then replaced some wiring in the house and am not getting 6.4mb on an 8mb package so there is hope

All the best

You did well, I had a chat with them as well however the exchange is full and I have to wait until someone decides to give up their service and move up the list.

MichealKenny

chances are you can get broadband, its just a matter of eircom switching you off a digibox onto a dedicated line, thats what happened to me, my grandmother was on a dedicated line, i got eircom to switch her onto a digibox and i got broadband, if you know your neighbours phone numbers, call eircom and check if their lines are able to get it, if they are and they dont have broadband, eircom could give you their dedicated line, this is what my local linesman told me anyway.