Beware if Switching from Eircom to Sky

avud wrote: »

Hi

I'm out of contract with eircom and thinking of switching to sky broadband does anyone know if I would have to give one months notice/or even notify eircom.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Hi avud,
Yes, I agree with domeld & fatherted1969, to avoid a fine you will need to follow Eircom's procedures, available on their website. As far as I can tell, you need to phone & write to Eircom to cancel (it is probably better to register your letter).
I would not trust any advice from Sky now, check it out yourself (see other posts, ComReg etc). Sky said they would manage my switch which resulted in a €51 fine and they promised me 15Mbps which dropped steadily since I got it and is now between 1.2 and 7Mbps, depending on the day/time etc.
Best of luck,
HKS

UPDATE: Eircom have now sent me a solicitors letter demanding immediate payment of the fines, or else!!!

I had ask them to wait for the outcome of ComRegs investigation (this is looking into if the fine is correct, Sky assured me it was incorrect, ComReg couldn't say immediately), which is still underway, I also asked ComReg if they could stop Eircom pursuing the matter until their investigations had concluded, obviously without success.

Any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated, does anyone know where I stand legally on this (not too keen on big bills and ruined financial status).

After being fined I informed Eircom immediately that I was disputing this fine. I contacted their Complaints on numerous occasions & have sent a letter outlining why I dispute the fines. Eircom just didn't bother engaging with me and didn't answer my letter.

I also complained to ComReg on the matter. After the initial bill I heard nothing further from Eircom (I assumed they were waiting the outcome of ComRegs investigation) until recent letter from Eircom Accounts demanding payment, I responded to this by letter seeking clarification on aspects of the fines and reminding them of the ongoing ComReg investigation, there was no response just followed quickly by solicitors letter demanding immediate payment.

Is VAT payable on a fine (I presume this charge in lieu of 30 days is classed as a fine?)

Am I liable to a fine for stopping my direct debit? I had informed Eircom (before the payment was due) that I was disputing the bill and not to request payment from my bank but they went ahead anyway. I did pay the non-fine element by cheque.
Any advice would be appreciated.
HKS

iPhone. wrote: »

Would it be possible to pay the 'Fine' by post dated cheque? Much as I hate the idea of you having to pay them it may be a way of at least getting them off your back and stopping the solicitors letters arriving.

If it was post dated for say a month or so it would give you time for the Comreg process to hopefully find in your favour, also it might give you the option of cancelling the cheque before it's cashed too if you catch it in time. Not sure if it's a flier, but it would buy you some time if it is.

Hi iPhone, going on ComReg's speed to date I won't be holding my breath but thanks for the suggestion.

For anyone looking to move from Eircom while avoiding a fine the following thread by Drift should be of assistance:-
http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2056959818/1

HKS

fatherted1969 wrote: »

Came home from work to find my broadband disconnected. I rang Eircom to see what the problem as id given them a months notice to finish with them only a couple of days before. They said sky contacted them to say they were taking over so they cut me off straight away. Sky say they'll credit my account with whatever Eircom charge me. Must be desperate for new customers

Hi fatherted1969, must be a bit of a pain being disconnected, if it was a business broadband it could be costly. The switching 'procedures' that Eircom currently have in place seem to be almost impossible to comply with, even if you are aware of them. Chances are that you will be fined for not giving enough notice or you will be cut off (or both) and possibly also hit with a reconnection fee. ComReg are supposed to regulate this market, see their website http://www.comreg.ie/about_us/roles_what_we_do.523.html where that claim to Protect & Inform Customers and Promote Competition. I am not too sure what planet they are on if they think that allowing Eircom to introduce an additional 30 days rolling cancellation requirement is promoting competition or protecting customers. If you have infinite patience you might try complaining to Eircom and when you get nowhere with them you could try complaining to ComReg, their invaluable advice to me over the last few months included, 'nothing to do with us pay up' to ' we are investigating but pay what is owed' to 'complain to the National Consumer Agency' to 'employ a solicitor'. I particularly liked the one advising that I get a solicitor, this for someone who simply wanted to move from one provider to another. Earlier in this post I linked to another Boards post which gave another members experience with switching, unfortunately it looks like there are plenty of other examples out there. Best of luck, HKS

CASEsensitive wrote: »

I complained about the charge in lieu of one months notice to eircom when I switched to sky as I was out of contract and couldn't find reference to any mention of the 30 days notice on my T&Cs or on any of my bills. I heard back from eircom that the money was not taken after my complaint.

Thanks caseSENSITIVE, there may be some hope so. Could I ask you when you changed (I changed in April 2013, like you was out of contract and unaware of the 30 day notice - which I did point out to them) or if there was anything else you had to do. Possibly with the numbers leaving Eircom they decided to play hardball on this for a while to take the sting out of Sky's launch, the regulator takes so long to decide on issues that they seem to get away with anything for a few years. If a decision is finally being reached they can just impose some alternative which will be effective for another few years.

I complained on several occasions but Eircom did not have any complaint from me on record (they also seem to mislay letters), hopefully my latest complaint is now on record.
HKS

Kristopherus wrote: »

I cannot for the life of me understand how Comreg allows Eircom to make up the rules as they go along:mad:. I was with Vodafone when I got an offer from Sky that Voda could'nt/would'nt match. When I Moved to Sky, the whole process worked in a similar way to porting a mobile number. Why Comreg cannot devise a similar scheme for Landline operators defies logic. But then they(Comreg) were given the runaround by Eircom for the past 15 yrs, so its doubtful if anything will change anytime soon.:rolleyes:

Hi Kristopherus, to be fair to the regulator, they are probably operating under legislation which effectively ties one or both hands behind their back and puts a blindfold on them, the best they can do is stumble around between the goalposts and hope to get in the way of the odd ball every now and again, the advantage is with the providers who can, if they so wish, act the maggot most of the time with impunity. Can't really blame them if they get away with it, they are private commercial companies trying to maximise profits. Our track record with regulators isn't exactly awe inspiring, our Financial one was a bit of a disaster in the not too distant past, I doubt if any other countries will be coming here to copy our regulator models. I do agree with your points, it should be possible to put some simple procedure in place, the switching procedure in place now is a shambles.
HKS

pointywalnut wrote: »

I moved from eircom, with a contract waiver and I am still waiting for eircom to refund me. See my thread

http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057084037

Hi pointywalnut, while the regulator did respond to my complaint reasonably quickly, I found them far from satisfactory and am still waiting for their ruling so I would not rely on them too much. Hopefully Eircom can just sort out your refund, best of luck, HKS

Thanks pebbles21, I contacted Sky several times, they refused to accept any responsibility at all (even though they had knowingly caused this, their own reps admitted knowing about it and their website is completely misleading), but they claimed the charge should not have been made and that ComReg would sort it out (ComReg initially said it was nothing to do with them but now are 'investigating'). Sky did give a refund in relation to a number of issues after I switched, I experienced very slow speeds and had problems with the phone, but they told me this charge was my problem.

The main issue I had was the Eircom charge, I could live with other teething problems, they did say if I was unhappy I was free to cancel my contract within the first month, however the Eircom charge only came to light after a month so it was too late to do anything. I had Sky tv for years and was happy with them, after this experience it is unlikely that I will have anything to do with their tv, broadband or phone, once my contract expires. Skys ongoing broadband speed has been declining, sometimes it drops to a fraction of what I was getting with Eircom and normally it seems to be around what I had been getting with Eircom.
HKS

UPDATE:- Eircom refunded this charge to customers who had complained to them or ComReg (if you have not received your refund, you might consider contacting Eircom or ComReg).

Why Eircom were not required to automatically refund everybody they imposed this charge on is strange to say the least, as is not being required to pay interest on this money or not being fined for imposing this anti-competitive practice for years, even after ComReg had ruled against it back in 2012.
HKS