12 month contract which lasts 14 months

zagmund

Last year I switched to a 12 month Electric Ireland contract.  The start date of the contract was 1st May.  Due to some weird time warp I'm told that my contract only expires on 30th June - 14 months after it was started.

Can someone from Electric Ireland clarify whether this is correct or I'm mis-understanding this or not?  Presumably, if I supply the account number you can tell me when the contract period expires.

z

EI: Una

Hi Zagmund,

Electric Ireland discount price-plan contracts have a duration of 12 to 15 months, depending on when the customer signs up to one.

So, for example: a price-plan contract that a customer signed up to on any date between 1st April 2013 and 30th June 2013 would expire on 30th June 2014.

If the customer signs up to the price-plan over the phone, the sales agent must advise them of the expiry date. In the case of both telephone and online sign-ups, an email is sent to the customer with details of the expiry date.

Do indeed private message us your Electric Ireland account number and your name, address and telephone number, confirming you are the account-holder.

Regards,
Una

zagmund

Hi Una,

Does this mean that everyone who moved to Electric Ireland in the 3 months to the end of last June has the exact same contract expiry date?

The agent on the phone did mention the expiry date, but I challenged it on the basis that I was signing up to a 12 month contract and this wasn't 12 months.

Your website still refers to "1 year offer" or 2 years for most or all of your deals.  I think it's misleading to advertise something as having a 1 year term when that is only correct for 1 day (30 June 2013) in a ~90 day period.  Anyone opening an account on any other day is being held to a contract for over a year.

EI: Una

Hi again Zagmund,

zagmund wrote: »

Hi Una,

Does this mean that everyone who moved to Electric Ireland in the 3 months to the end of last June has the exact same contract expiry date?

Yes, this is correct - for customers who switched to Electric Ireland and for customers already with Electric Ireland who signed up to a price-plan for existing customers.
The contract end dates apply to customers who signed up to a price-plan during a specific three-month period rather than on one specific date. It is the same for customers who, for example, signed up to an Electric Ireland price-plan on any date between 01.07.2013 and 30.09.2013. Their price-plan will expire on 30th September 2014.

Your website still refers to "1 year offer" or 2 years for most or all of your deals.  I think it's misleading to advertise something as having a 1 year term when that is only correct for 1 day (30 June 2013) in a ~90 day period. Anyone opening an account on any other day is being held to a contract for over a year.

Customers are made aware of the terms and conditions before the price-plan is applied to their account, and the information that the contract is a minimum of 12 months is included. However, we will pass your feedback to the relevant department regarding the "1 year offer" note.
If you would like us to check your account also, we are here until 6pm.

Kind regards,
Una

loopymum

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

Hi again Zagmund,

zagmund wrote: »

Hi Una,

Does this mean that everyone who moved to Electric Ireland in the 3 months to the end of last June has the exact same contract expiry date?

Yes, this is correct - for customers who switched to Electric Ireland and for customers already with Electric Ireland who signed up to a price-plan for existing customers.
The contract end dates apply to customers who signed up to a price-plan during a specific three-month period rather than on one specific date. It is the same for customers who, for example, signed up to an Electric Ireland price-plan on any date between 01.07.2013 and 30.09.2013. Their price-plan will expire on 30th September 2014.

Your website still refers to "1 year offer" or 2 years for most or all of your deals.  I think it's misleading to advertise something as having a 1 year term when that is only correct for 1 day (30 June 2013) in a ~90 day period. Anyone opening an account on any other day is being held to a contract for over a year.

Customers are made aware of the terms and conditions before the price-plan is applied to their account, and the information that the contract is a minimum of 12 months is included. However, we will pass your feedback to the relevant department regarding the "1 year offer" note.
If you would like us to check your account also, we are here until 6pm.

Kind regards,
Una

I am finding this most interesting and informative, I signed up online with Electric Ireland recently and it said 12 months contract?
What's the story now, seems extremely odd.

EI: Aoife O

loopymum wrote: »

I am finding this most interesting and informative, I signed up online with Electric Ireland recently and it said 12 months contract?
What's the story now, seems extremely odd.

Hi loopymum,

Thank you for your post. If you can PM us with your full name, contact number, and address, we can check the end date of your price plan for you. As per the terms and conditions of our price plans, they are fixed-term and specific end dates apply. Sometimes there would be a contract of more than 12 months associated with our plans, depending on when they were applied.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
Aoife

zagmund

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

[snip]
If the customer signs up to the price-plan over the phone, the sales agent must advise them of the expiry date. In the case of both telephone and online sign-ups, an email is sent to the customer with details of the expiry date.
[snip]

Regards,
Una

Hi Una,

Can you clarify the date that the email was sent & the subject line please?  The only email I have from Electric Ireland doesn't give the contract expiry date.  It provides a link to these T&Cs which don't mention a specific fixed expiry date.

I accept that the agent on the phone indicated the 30th of June. I had reason to believe (the whole "1 year deal" thing) that this was an error on the part of the agent and that they were referring to the discount term - as in, if I remained a customer beyond my 12 month contract I would still get the discount until 30th June.

The email (sent some time after I signed up) said "Your price plan discount will be fixed from the date of sign up until 30th June 2014.". The discount term is not the same as the contract term. In addition, the online account details don't (as far as I have seen) give the contract expiry term.

Thanks,

z

EI: Aoife O

zagmund wrote: »

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

[snip]
If the customer signs up to the price-plan over the phone, the sales agent must advise them of the expiry date. In the case of both telephone and online sign-ups, an email is sent to the customer with details of the expiry date.
[snip]

Regards,
Una

Hi Una,

Can you clarify the date that the email was sent & the subject line please?  The only email I have from Electric Ireland doesn't give the contract expiry date.  It provides a link to these T&Cs which don't mention a specific fixed expiry date.

I accept that the agent on the phone indicated the 30th of June.  I had reason to believe (the whole "1 year deal" thing) that this was an error on the part of the agent and that they were referring to the discount term - as in, if I remained a customer beyond my 12 month contract I would still get the discount until 30th June.

The email (sent some time after I signed up) said "Your price plan discount will be fixed from the date of sign up until 30th June 2014.".  The discount term is not the same as the contract term.  In addition, the online account details don't (as far as I have seen) give the contract expiry term.

Thanks,

z

Hi Zagmund,

I can confirm that the contract end date and discount end date are the same, the 30th June 2014 as was detailed on the call when you applied for the price plan. The email you're referring to is the confirmation of your price plan application, which as you've provided above contains a link to the relevant terms and conditions which states "Your discounts will be fixed from the date you sign up for this price plan (or agree on the telephone or online to sign up) for the remainder of that calendar month and will continue for a minimum of 12 months".

Your online account does not detail the end date, but the name of your price plan for reference.

I've responded to your PM, if you've any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Kind regards,
Aoife

Padraig Mor

This whole thing reeks of a scam. All promotional materials refer to a "one year" offer. The website even says "This price plan is valid for 12 months from the date you sign up". How much more evidence is needed that EI is advertising the offer as solely for 12 months, and then trying to sneak in an extra few months?

zagmund

Here's an update for all involved - I lodged complaints with CER & ASAI on this issue and they were both upheld.  Hopefully this will save other Electric Ireland customers from having to spend months exchanging emails trying to assert that a 12 month contract is in fact a 12 month contract.

z