Explanation of '75 Hour Issue'

LegacyUser

This has been explained before, but there still seems to be some confusion on it so I think it would be useful to give some clarification.

75 hours was the figure used by Esat to identify the 10% heaviest users of the system. They then informed those users that they would be disconnected.

There was a major breakdown in communications within Esat. As a result of this, Customer Care told a number of users who rang in that there was an option to go onto a list of users who would agree to keep their usage under 75 hours per month. This was not Esat's intentions but at their meeting with us they undertook not to disconnect people who were given that promise by Customer Care.

There is no 75 hour rule now in existence. Surf No Limits operates exactly as it always has - if you go over 75 hours, you will not be disconnected or charged a per minute rate.

HOWEVER...

Esat have made it very clear to us that this 'cull' of heavy users was intended to cut costs and that they will be monitoring the situation closely. If the savings they need are not achieved then they will have to take further action which could be another 'cull' of heavy users (not necessarily 75 hours, it could be a higher or lower figure) or even a complete withdrawal of the Surf No Limits Service.

This means that whilst in theory you can stay connected as much as you want, the more you hours you use, the higher a risk you run of having your account cancelled.

FWIW, my advice is to use the system sparingly. I have to 'put my hand up' here. Up until the famous letter came out, I would typically connect at 6:00 p.m. weekdays and stay connected to bedtime and at weekend from 6:00 p.m. Friday to late Sunday night - as ACT described it, 'treating the service like an always on connection'. Now I disconnect when I'm not actually using the net, even if I'm only taking a 10 min coffee break. OK, it's a pain in the ass having to reconnect maybe 3 or 4 times in an evening but I don't want to lose this service.

Martin Harran

LegacyUser

Well, we got the letter and we were only connecting for around 30 hours a month. This by a family with 4 youthful users and one old guy who uses it (me). I think our problem was that we were on and off so often that we made more than 300 connections a month. Towards the end we seemed to get kicked-off if we were connected and, say, writing an email and not actually sending or receiving info. Then we'd have to redial to send the email. Maybe all these connections are the reason we got dumped if 30 hours a month isn't excessive use.

I signed up for IOL Gold yesterday and should be on again today. The salesman said the speed with the 1891-121-121 number is much faster than with the IOL NoLimits number. We'll see.

LegacyUser

I know I might sound like I need a shrink but can anyone explain this....

1.I received the infamous "Spirit of the Service" letter
2.I was told that I am not on the 75hr listand was being disconnected
3.My billing cycle ended on the 8th June

but I'm still dialing up w/ SNL & getting connected to the pink page-"You're connected to SNL..."

80p. (with some aprhension)

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80project.com

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by 80project.com:
I know I might sound like I need a shrink but can anyone explain this....

</font>

No you don't need a shrink - Esat needs someone to sort out their communications procedures and other internal systems

Like everything else in regard to how they handled this whole issue, they have made a complete b*llocks of the disconnections, cutting off some people who were on the list and not cutting off some who weren't on it.

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by 80project.com:
1.I received the infamous "Spirit of the Service" letter
2.I was told that I am not on the 75hr listand was being disconnected
3.My billing cycle ended on the 8th June

but I'm still dialing up w/ SNL & getting connected to the pink page-"You're connected to SNL..."
</font>

Well then you haven't been disconnected.

They disconnected me last Friday even though I was on their "75 hour list" and although they did reconnect me it wasn't until Monday afternoon.

Maybe they've forgotten about you.. the guys (and girls) in Customer Care seemed a bit confused themselves..