Miss-Sold Eircom contract

Eenoog11

Hi All

I have some questions, and I would just love to get some advice or perhaps an answer from a higher power on something that happened to me recently.

This strange little man came knocking on my door, and offered me ...Wait for this .... a €24 /month 8mb Eircom package as a fixed price.... YES!

Of course this shot a nerve in my brain and I immediately questioned this, as a document he had stated in big letters at the top, "9 month promotional offer". I was told that this can be discarded, this is the only piece of paper that they can have my signature on and this is only available to 4 houses in the estate. Seems Eircom had no information in regards to these houses ever being on their system and this is why he had to personally call out.

This was all well and seemed genuine. I decided to go for it as there was a 7 day cooling off period so I could cancel this in that time.

Now, it took 10 days for the router to arrive, so the cooling off period had lapsed. I set it up and the speed was worse than my 5mb Digiweb Metro...
I contacted Eircom support and a nice chap helped me up the speed, now this was better.

The next week, I received a bill for €18 stating it is a connection fee, I rang in to question this as I was also told that there is no connection fee or line rental.. As you would expect, It was like running in to a brick wall trying to explain what I was told, sold and what I actually got if that was the case.

I was advised to contact the complaints department, which is what I did. I clearly stated the problem is that I was miss-sold a contract and I wanted it cancelled, I was willing to pay for what I have used in order to get rid of it.

They did not contact me for weeks and I left 4-6 messages to the person who I was to contact asking for call backs. Eventually she phoned, and spoke to my wife as I was in work, and blatantly told her its tough and whats stated on the contract is what it is. Would it be wrong to assume that there was not a minute of investigation done in to the official complaint?

Now I am stuck with a 12 month contract, which was signed based on "False information" provided by one of their sales reprasentatives and I have no idea how to get rid of it. I received another bill even though the router have been disconnected for over a month and I am still contacting them via email and phone, getting told the same everytime "You signed the contract" so tough...

I know I signed it, I was there. Would anyone have any advice on where to go in order to get this fully invesitaged? as they clearly do not have any interrest in training their staff properly and will go all out to secure signatures based on false information provided to possible consumers.

Any help will be appreciated.

Cheers

eircom: Mark

Eenoog11 wrote: »

Hi All

I have some questions, and I would just love to get some advice or perhaps an answer from a higher power on something that happened to me recently.

This strange little man came knocking on my door, and offered me ...Wait for this .... a €24 /month 8mb Eircom package as a fixed price.... YES!

Of course this shot a nerve in my brain and I immediately questioned this, as a document he had stated in big letters at the top, "9 month promotional offer". I was told that this can be discarded, this is the only piece of paper that they can have my signature on and this is only available to 4 houses in the estate. Seems Eircom had no information in regards to these houses ever being on their system and this is why he had to personally call out.

This was all well and seemed genuine. I decided to go for it as there was a 7 day cooling off period so I could cancel this in that time.

Now, it took 10 days for the router to arrive, so the cooling off period had lapsed. I set it up and the speed was worse than my 5mb Digiweb Metro...
I contacted Eircom support and a nice chap helped me up the speed, now this was better.

The next week, I received a bill for €18 stating it is a connection fee, I rang in to question this as I was also told that there is no connection fee or line rental.. As you would expect, It was like running in to a brick wall trying to explain what I was told, sold and what I actually got if that was the case.

I was advised to contact the complaints department, which is what I did. I clearly stated the problem is that I was miss-sold a contract and I wanted it cancelled, I was willing to pay for what I have used in order to get rid of it.

They did not contact me for weeks and I left 4-6 messages to the person who I was to contact asking for call backs. Eventually she phoned, and spoke to my wife as I was in work, and blatantly told her its tough and whats stated on the contract is what it is. Would it be wrong to assume that there was not a minute of investigation done in to the official complaint?

Now I am stuck with a 12 month contract, which was signed based on "False information" provided by one of their sales reprasentatives and I have no idea how to get rid of it. I received another bill even though the router have been disconnected for over a month and I am still contacting them via email and phone, getting told the same everytime "You signed the contract" so tough...

I know I signed it, I was there. Would anyone have any advice on where to go in order to get this fully invesitaged? as they clearly do not have any interrest in training their staff properly and will go all out to secure signatures based on false information provided to possible consumers.

Any help will be appreciated.


Cheers

Hi Eenoog11,

Can you private message me with your telephone number or account number and I will look into that for you.

Thanks, Mark

Eenoog11

Hi Mark

Thanks for your reply, message sent.

Much appreciated!

Kind regards

eircom: Mark

Eenoog11 wrote: »

Hi Mark

Thanks for your reply, message sent.

Much appreciated!

Kind regards

Hi Eenoog11,

No problem, I should be back to you by the end of the week.

Thanks, Mark

Solair

Well, if you deliberately mislead someone and dupe them into signing a contract, the contract simply does not exist as it was not agreed to.

eircom have two options:

1) Agree that the contract is nul and void and both parties walk away.
2) Modify the terms of the written contract to those agreed to with the salesperson who was representing them.

Trying to enforce a contract that you did not agree to has absolutely no basis in law.

eircom: Tony

Solair wrote: »

Well, if you deliberately mislead someone and dupe them into signing a contract, the contract simply does not exist as it was not agreed to.

eircom have two options:

1) Agree that the contract is nul and void and both parties walk away.
2) Modify the terms of the written contract to those agreed to with the salesperson who was representing them.

Trying to enforce a contract that you did not agree to has absolutely no basis in law.

Hi Solair
absolutely, if it has been established that a customer was mis-led or did not agree to the terms then we can certainly look at voiding a contract. We are looking at this case now.
Unfortunately modifying contracts is a different matter, like most industrial / business standard contracts it is difficult to do this.
Tony

Eenoog11

Hi Tony,

I appreciate you looking into this.

I was completely misled by the sales representative who called to my door, and he blatantly told me to disregard the top of the contract which said "9 months promotional offer" and told me to sign it as it was "the only piece of paper that we have for you to sign". He also outlined that this is an exclusive offer and was only going to be offerred to 4 houses in the estate.

I placed my trust in your representative that he was honest and acting in good faith. I would like to emphasise that I ****did not go seeking your service*** or initiate the contact with Eircom to sign up.

Your representative called to my door and offered me a package he said I couldn't refuse. I felt pressured by him, but wanted to give it a go as it sounded like a good offer the way he described it.

However I was misinformed, misled and have since been fobbed off repeatedly by your billing and complaints department.

Regards,

Eenoog11

eircom: Tony

Eenoog11 wrote: »

Hi Tony,

I appreciate you looking into this.

I was completely misled by the sales representative who called to my door, and he blatantly told me to disregard the top of the contract which said "9 months promotional offer" and told me to sign it as it was "the only piece of paper that we have for you to sign". He also outlined that this is an exclusive offer and was only going to be offerred to 4 houses in the estate.

I placed my trust in your representative that he was honest and acting in good faith. I would like to emphasise that I ****did not go seeking your service*** or initiate the contact with Eircom to sign up.

Your representative called to my door and offered me a package he said I couldn't refuse. I felt pressured by him, but wanted to give it a go as it sounded like a good offer the way he described it.

However I was misinformed, misled and have since been fobbed off repeatedly by your billing and complaints department.

Regards,

Eenoog11

Hi Eenoog11
will be back to you by tomorrow with update on this.
Tony

genegenie

Just want to weigh in here. Consumer law is totally on your side here Eenoog11. Under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 the goods/ service provided to you by Eircom "must be as described - the buyer must not be mislead into buying something by the description of goods or services given orally by a salesperson or an advertisement."

You are also protected by the Consumer Protection Act 2007. "Under the act it is an offence for any retailer or professional to make a false or misleading claim about goods, services and prices."

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/consumers_and_the_law_in_ireland.html


You can take them to the small claims court if they try to hold you to this contract.

Best of luck getting it sorted

Eenoog11

Hi Mark

In regards to your message below:

"I have checked our systems and I see an offical complaint was logged regarding this issue on the 09/06/11.
The complaints manager for the feet on the street agents, checked our systems and, the copy of the contract that you signed that the agent left with you. Clearly states that the free line rental is a "9 month promotional offer" on the top of the sheet.
The complaints manager stated based on this infromation eircom will hold to the contract and any early cease charges if you decide to cancel or move providers.
I apologise but can not negate an offical complaint resolution and as such I have to just confirm the findings as above."

The "Consumer Protection Act 2007" states:

• Goods must be of merchantable quality – goods should be of reasonable quality taking into account what they are meant to do, their durability and their price
• Goods must be fit for their purpose – they must do what they are reasonably expected to do
• Goods must be as described - the buyer must not be mislead into buying something by the description of goods or services given orally by a salesperson or an advertisement.

Please read the above, the last point REALLY explains what the complaint was all about.
I strongly doubt the complaint was even investigated as I provided the details of what the sales person told me to the person who took the details.
Instead I only got the reply "the contract states bla bla bla"

The contract was signed due to FALSE information provided by EIRCOM's representative.

genegenie

Eenoog11 wrote: »

"I have checked our systems and I see an offical complaint was logged regarding this issue on the 09/06/11.
The complaints manager for the feet on the street agents, checked our systems and, the copy of the contract that you signed that the agent left with you. Clearly states that the free line rental is a "9 month promotional offer" on the top of the sheet.
The complaints manager stated based on this infromation eircom will hold to the contract and any early cease charges if you decide to cancel or move providers.
I apologise but can not negate an offical complaint resolution and as such I have to just confirm the findings as above."

@Mark - Are you aware of consumer law? Eenoog11 clearly stated that your salesperson mislead him about the contract terms and told him to disregard what was written on the contract as it was "the only piece of paper" he had for him to sign. As I stated in my previous reply, this is clearly in breach of two consumer laws:

genegenie wrote: »

Under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 the goods/ service provided to you by Eircom "must be as described - the buyer must not be mislead into buying something by the description of goods or services given orally by a salesperson or an advertisement."

You are also protected by the Consumer Protection Act 2007. "Under the act it is an offence for any retailer or professional to make a false or misleading claim about goods, services and prices."

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/consumers_and_the_law_in_ireland.html

@Eenoog11 The small claims court may be your only recourse if Eircom continue to push this (indefensible IMO) position. Given the clear breach of consumer law I'm sure the small claims court will find in your favour.

killerfm

Hi Guys,


I just saw this thread on @RoxyOBrien 's twitter feed. I have had problems like this with Eircom in the past. Eircom's customer support doesn't listen to it's customers. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Use them in that ratio!


@Eenoog11 was misled when signing the contract and it looks like they haven't even looked into it. The Sale of Good and the Supply of Services Act 1980 clearly states that the goods have to be as described. This clearly wasn't the case in this situation. I would advise you not to pay any bills. When they want payment, they will contact you then! They are only looking for money and don't care how they get it and don't put any effort into their services.


@genegenie highlights the two breaches in the consumer law, that are there to protect people such as @Eenoog11. I would think you have a good case against them if they are trying to force you to pay for the fees and charges. The small claims court could be another option if they are sending you bills.


Please keep us up to date with the case.


Hope you get it sorted out!!

eircom: Tony

killerfm wrote: »

Hi Guys,


I just saw this thread on @RoxyOBrien 's twitter feed. I have had problems like this with Eircom in the past. Eircom's customer support doesn't listen to it's customers. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Use them in that ratio!


@Eenoog11 was misled when signing the contract and it looks like they haven't even looked into it. The Sale of Good and the Supply of Services Act 1980 clearly states that the goods have to be as described. This clearly wasn't the case in this situation. I would advise you not to pay any bills. When they want payment, they will contact you then! They are only looking for money and don't care how they get it and don't put any effort into their services.


@genegenie highlights the two breaches in the consumer law, that are there to protect people such as @Eenoog11. I would think you have a good case against them if they are trying to force you to pay for the fees and charges. The small claims court could be another option if they are sending you bills.


Please keep us up to date with the case.


Hope you get it sorted out!!

Hi killerfm
read your post and am sorry you feel this was not investigated for you. If you would like me to have a look into your case and PM me the details I will do my best to clarify the situation.
Tony

Eenoog11

killerfm wrote: »

Hi Guys,


I just saw this thread on @RoxyOBrien 's twitter feed. I have had problems like this with Eircom in the past. Eircom's customer support doesn't listen to it's customers. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Use them in that ratio!


@Eenoog11 was misled when signing the contract and it looks like they haven't even looked into it. The Sale of Good and the Supply of Services Act 1980 clearly states that the goods have to be as described. This clearly wasn't the case in this situation. I would advise you not to pay any bills. When they want payment, they will contact you then! They are only looking for money and don't care how they get it and don't put any effort into their services.


@genegenie highlights the two breaches in the consumer law, that are there to protect people such as @Eenoog11. I would think you have a good case against them if they are trying to force you to pay for the fees and charges. The small claims court could be another option if they are sending you bills.


Please keep us up to date with the case.


Hope you get it sorted out!!

Hi Killerfm

Thanks for the input, totally aggree.

@Tony/Mark
Any movement on this? was Mark's reply the "official" end of discussion?
Or is there any chance this is being looked in to properly?

eircom: Mark

Eenoog11 wrote: »

Hi Killerfm

Thanks for the input, totally aggree.

@Tony/Mark
Any movement on this? was Mark's reply the "official" end of discussion?
Or is there any chance this is being looked in to properly?

Hi Eenoog11,

I have spoken to the head of the Feet On The Street complaints and as I outlined previously the contract has your signature on it. A copy was left behind for you to read.

There is always a cooling of period for the customer to go through the contract change their mind within that time-frame. If we have not received a request to cancel the contract / service within the cooling off period. The order is processed under assumption the customer has read all terms and conditions (which they are obliged to do).

I am sorry if any misinformation may have occurred , however everything that that was ticked on the form with the agent has been provided.

As per the resolution on the official complaint you logged with eircom, for the above reasons eircom will be holding you to the contract and any penalties that may be incurred if you decide to cancel the service or move providers.

Thanks, Mark

genegenie

eircom: Mark wrote: »

Hi Eenoog11,

I have spoken to the head of the Feet On The Street complaints and as I outlined previously the contract has your signature on it. A copy was left behind for you to read.

There is always a cooling of period for the customer to go through the contract change their mind within that time-frame. If we have not received a request to cancel the contract / service within the cooling off period. The order is processed under assumption the customer has read all terms and conditions (which they are obliged to do).

I am sorry if any misinformation may have occurred , however everything that that was ticked on the form with the agent has been provided.

As per the resolution on the official complaint you logged with eircom, for the above reasons eircom will be holding you to the contract and any penalties that may be incurred if you decide to cancel the service or move providers.

Thanks, Mark

So you're going to completely disregard the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services act which states "the buyer must not be mislead into buying something by the description of goods or services given orally by a salesperson "?

Good luck in your day out in the small claims court.

I have worked as a CSR for telecoms operators and as a customer consultant for a large communications retailer for a number of years. I have dealt with customer complaints for all the major mobile and fixed ISPs in Ireland.

This isn't the first horror story I've heard about Eircom. Your complete disregard for consumer law and customer care means I will never be an Eircom customer, and I'm sorry to say I will be actively discouraging people from signing up with Eircom.

Given Eircom's current financial predicament, focusing on customer care would be a wise choice. The customer is your bread and butter after all.

Eenoog11

Right so IM back

I have been fighting with Eircom for another while and had to wrap my head in tin foil to ensure I block out their stupidity, as from dealing with them it seems to be contageuos...

So, I went to ComREG and this got sorted.
They confirmed on the 19th of July that "Eircom have accepted that they misled you during the sales process, and that they have investigated the issue thoroughly. By offering to release you from your contract without penalty, they are offering you a resolution to your issue"

They advised me I will need to pay for the calls wich is fine.

Up to date I still have not received an updated bill, and when I rang Eircom (took a lot of mental preperation) I was once told "your in contract so tough"

Just though everyone should know and use this as a friendly reminder "NEVER TO EVEN CONSIDER EIRCOM"

They are fraudulent and unlawfull scavangers.

Regards

eircom: Mark

Eenoog11 wrote: »

Right so IM back

I have been fighting with Eircom for another while and had to wrap my head in tin foil to ensure I block out their stupidity, as from dealing with them it seems to be contageuos...

So, I went to ComREG and this got sorted.
They confirmed on the 19th of July that "Eircom have accepted that they misled you during the sales process, and that they have investigated the issue thoroughly. By offering to release you from your contract without penalty, they are offering you a resolution to your issue"

They advised me I will need to pay for the calls wich is fine.

Up to date I still have not received an updated bill, and when I rang Eircom (took a lot of mental preperation) I was once told "your in contract so tough"

Just though everyone should know and use this as a friendly reminder "NEVER TO EVEN CONSIDER EIRCOM"

They are fraudulent and unlawfull scavangers.

Regards

Hi Eenoog11,

Can you send on the communication you received from the 19/07/11 and I will follow this up for you.

Thanks, Mark

Eenoog11

Thanks,

Sent via private message

regards

eircom: Mark

Eenoog11 wrote: »

Thanks,

Sent via private message

regards

Hi Eenoog11,

I got the PM, thanks for sending it on. I amin contact with the Comreg complaints handler from eircom and I should have an update for you by tomorrow.

Thanks, Mark

neiphin

@ Eenoog11

what did you really expect from these guys,
"come over here and talk in private
well pretend to be doing something for you,"
why would you think that they would be any better than the person in costumer service that takes your call ?

Eenoog11

Hi Nephin

To be honest, I was at least expecting from them to comunicate with each other, and not just keep blowing out the same old standardised replies.

This is not going away until they correct their wrongs, so I still expect some sort of "personal" reply from a person and not a robot...

dublinjackine

how did you get on? because i to just signed up to a offer and it was miss-sold did all the pm's still nothing, so im going down a different route, I completely regret ever signing up with eircom

eircom: Ant

dublinjackine wrote: »

how did you get on? because i to just signed up to a offer and it was miss-sold did all the pm's still nothing, so im going down a different route, I completely regret ever signing up with eircom

Hi dublinjackine,

I see Mark has replied to your last PM, though let me know if I can help you further.

Best wishes,
Ant

dublinjackine

eircom: Ant wrote: »

Hi dublinjackine,

I see Mark has replied to your last PM, though let me know if I can help you further.

Best wishes,
Ant

Hi Ant i got a reply from Mark about my situation, I gave him all the relative information but so far i have nothing back to resolve my issue, I got a bill this morning for 119,34 which is quiet a shock seen as it should be 20 each month, I hope to you can look into it for me, thank you

Eenoog11

Hi dublinjackine

It was a long, really long, issue and went on for 2 months.....

I ended up paying them for the 2 months, even tho I only had it plugged in for 5 days, and probably used it for an hour in total...Gangsters

It took them 2 months to agree to void the contract, thanks to Comreg looking in to it...

I still would not reccoemnd them to anyone with half a brain...

Hope you get sorted buddy, and Ant, you may get on to your peeps to train your reps propperly...


Peace!

eircom: Mark

dublinjackine wrote: »

Hi Ant i got a reply from Mark about my situation, I gave him all the relative information but so far i have nothing back to resolve my issue, I got a bill this morning for 119,34 which is quiet a shock seen as it should be 20 each month, I hope to you can look into it for me, thank you

Hi dublinjackine,

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I sent of a request to see if there is a recording of the call when the order was set up originally.

I am still waiting to see if we have a record of the call and have it listened to.

I have confirmed that you were advised your were eligible for the trial line promotion which would match the prices you outlined initially.

I hope to have an update soon.

Thanks, Mark

dublinjackine

any update yet Mark,

eircom: Mark

dublinjackine wrote: »

any update yet Mark,

Hi dublinjackine,

Apologies for the delay, they have have not been able to locate the call on the 05/05/12 as yet.

However they are still look into into it.

Can you PM me with then package details you were quoted ( I have the prices you were told in your PMs)

Can you outline the free calls (local. national, mobile exc.. & broadband package details quoted to you please.

Thanks, Mark

dublinjackine

pm sent thanks Mark

eircom: Tony

dublinjackine wrote: »

pm sent thanks Mark

Thanks dublinjackline
Mark off today but I will follow up on this for you.
Tony