Eircom Price Increase - Leave or Stay?

Saruman · 27-01-2015 1:40pm #1

I've had eircom for less than 12 months.
They have now now announced a price increase. I can leave them without penalty as a result.
The only reason I went with eircom was that they were auto upgrading customers to e-fibre. They made a shambles of my order (done online) where they Got my name completely wrong, messed up which plan I was on, didn't sign me up to DD to get a discount and then went ahead and sent me a router, even though I asked them not to. I got all that sorted out after a number of phonecalls but it just made me suspicious of them. I had hoped they had sorted out their customer service issues after all this time.

Anyway, since I can leave if I want, I could move to another ADSL provider like Sky. The only thing is, my area is now on the upgrade map and set for June-December. As far as I know, Sky will be charging users to upgrade to e-fibre, but I would be saving €15 or so per month for the first 6 months if I went with them.

Does anyone have any experience with Sky and being upgraded, how much it costs? Should people just stick with eircom?

By the way, normal Eircom (or resold) line up to 24mb is the only option where I live, apart from a very crap wireless provider.

ED E · 27-01-2015 2:07pm

Go to vodafone. Cheaper ADSL now, free upgrade to VDSL same as eircom.

Only caveat is the 300GB/Mo FUP.

Saruman · 27-01-2015 2:35pm

I was with Vodafone a few years ago. One to look at again.

odckdo · 27-01-2015 3:49pm

ED E wrote: »

Go to vodafone. Cheaper ADSL now, free upgrade to VDSL same as eircom.

Only caveat is the 300GB/Mo FUP.

Does that mean Vodafone are using the same fibre setup as Eircom?

If so does that mean if I switched from Eircom unlimited to Vodafone I should get the same speed? (The Eircom cabinet is only a 100 yards from my house.)

How do people find Vodafone broadband in general? Is it reliable and are the download speeds good? What is there customer service like?

Cheers,
odckdo

ED E · 27-01-2015 3:53pm

Its exactly the same last mile. Only difference you'll see is their international connections.

Eircom, Sky, Vodafone and Magnet(mostly) use the same cabinets. Same speeds.

dalta5billion · 27-01-2015 5:14pm

ED E wrote: »

Its exactly the same last mile. Only difference you'll see is their international connections.

And also in how they manage their domestic peerings...

Anyone having trouble with Vodafone at peak times? Thinking of switching from Eircom as well.

willycat · 28-01-2015 1:26am

Switching to Eircom for bad peak times? Well, if you like them, then go, they have the BEST worse peak times in whole Ireland

You can check their own forums (not on Boards.ie) for example: http:// community.eircom.net/t5/Broadband/Slow-speeds-at-peak-times/td-p/60996 and see how they deal with people moaning because their broadband has been a nightmare for more than a year.

I am leaving Eircom and won't ever come back, thanks to this price increase that gives me the chance to leave without paying cancellation fees. Stay away!!!

odckdo · 28-01-2015 1:50am

willycat wrote: »

Switching to Eircom for bad peak times? Well, if you like them, then go, they have the BEST worse peak times in whole Ireland

You can check their own forums (not on Boards.ie) for example: http:// community.eircom.net/t5/Broadband/Slow-speeds-at-peak-times/td-p/60996 and see how they deal with people moaning because their broadband has been a nightmare for more than a year.

I am leaving Eircom and won't ever come back, thanks to this price increase that gives me the chance to leave without paying cancellation fees. Stay away!!!

That link you posted is an interesting read.

Don't mean to put the boot in but I have eFibre with Eircom and can get 85MB/Sec download. I am 100 yards from the cabinet and very close to the exchange in town.

Most of the problems with Eircom in that link seem to be people with regular broadband.

I was hoping to switch to Vodafone if the service was the same but only to save a few quid. Not sure what to do now as it seems Vodafone's Simply Broadband has only been launched and there are not many reviews. Don't want to switch and tie myself to a 18 month contract if their service is not good enough.

halkar · 28-01-2015 11:30am

I was with Vodafone before fibre enabled in my area. Switching to fibre was painless and free with no loss of service other than few minutes. Haven't had problem since last year with fibre. Their packages are cheaper also.

willycat · 28-01-2015 12:58pm

odckdo wrote: »

That link you posted is an interesting read.

Don't mean to put the boot in but I have eFibre with Eircom and can get 85MB/Sec download. I am 100 yards from the cabinet and very close to the exchange in town.

Most of the problems with Eircom in that link seem to be people with regular broadband.

I was hoping to switch to Vodafone if the service was the same but only to save a few quid. Not sure what to do now as it seems Vodafone's Simply Broadband has only been launched and there are not many reviews. Don't want to switch and tie myself to a 18 month contract if their service is not good enough.

Just so you to know, give a general check to that Eircom forum. You can be lucky but Customer Server is TERRIBLE, no one takes notes of what you say when you call them or what's the actual problem you have, and everyone will give you a different answer, they will schedule engineers to go to your house and nobody will show up and won't be any reference to this arrangement.

If you have a single problem you're messed up, nobody will solve it and nobody will care. You could also purchase a package and be left behind 4 months without even a working line (but being charged). Check on that forum some atrocious stories about people purchasing broadband in August 2014 and still dealing with this nightmare without even having a working line.

That being said, I also know people who got a good connection. But it's superrisky. You could be overcharged, you could be without line ... their Customer Service is not totally useless, it's a big mess and they can and WILL mess your account/order at any time with no reason. The guys who answer the phone don't have a single clue about what's going on and how things work, they will tell you that it's your fault because you use Wifi, or tell you to reboot your router or similar useless solutions when you really have a serious problem with your connection.

bk · 28-01-2015 1:35pm

odckdo wrote: »

I was hoping to switch to Vodafone if the service was the same but only to save a few quid. Not sure what to do now as it seems Vodafone's Simply Broadband has only been launched and there are not many reviews. Don't want to switch and tie myself to a 18 month contract if their service is not good enough.

Vodafone Broadband is very good, however there is one catch. They have a 300GB cap. Go over the cap and they charge you €10 per 100GB. That could get very expensive very fast

dalta5billion · 28-01-2015 1:55pm

bk wrote: »

Vodafone Broadband is very good, however there is one catch. They have a 300GB cap. Go over the cap and they charge you €10 per 100GB. That could get very expensive very fast

Thanks, I've been monitoring our usage on Eircom eFibre and 300GB would be more than enough. 10€ for 100GB isn't exactly bad either...

bk · 28-01-2015 2:24pm

dalta5billion wrote: »

Thanks, I've been monitoring our usage on Eircom eFibre and 300GB would be more than enough. 10€ for 100GB isn't exactly bad either...

Depends, if your computer got infected with a virus and was used as part of a botnet, you could end up with a bill of hundreds if not thousands of Euro!

ED E · 28-01-2015 2:27pm

bk wrote: »

Depends, if your computer got infected with a virus and was used as part of a botnet, you could end up with a bill of hundreds if not thousands of Euro!

Thats pretty edge case now BK, and if you were to have that happen you could likely get CS to waive one bill if your usage was 5x or 10x normal (They'll have at least 4 months of history).

bk · 28-01-2015 3:03pm

ED E wrote: »

Thats pretty edge case now BK, and if you were to have that happen you could likely get CS to waive one bill if your usage was 5x or 10x normal (They'll have at least 4 months of history).

To be honest, ever since I got a €950 bill from Vodafone Mobile! I've been pretty weary of them and any plan that isn't truly unlimited. Just not worth the risk IMO.

Maybe if they implemented some sort of controls. For instance when you hit 300GB, your internet stops working and any webpage request redirects you to a page that explains you have hit your limit and asking you to opt to pay the extra €10 for the next 100GB.

Have that happen each time you hit the next 100GB. At least that way people have control and know what their bill is.

I'm finding it hard to recommend them to people now because of this cap. Which is a real pity!

captain_boycott · 28-01-2015 4:00pm

willycat wrote: »

Switching to Eircom for bad peak times? Well, if you like them, then go, they have the BEST worse peak times in whole Ireland

You can check their own forums (not on Boards.ie) for example: http:// community.eircom.net/t5/Broadband/Slow-speeds-at-peak-times/td-p/60996 and see how they deal with people moaning because their broadband has been a nightmare for more than a year.

I am leaving Eircom and won't ever come back, thanks to this price increase that gives me the chance to leave without paying cancellation fees. Stay away!!!

My experience echos that. i do a lot of streaming and since Christmas, certain stream locations are always buffering in the evenings on Eircom. The fact that other sites are fine suggests to me its down to peering. People on other ISPs report no issues.

odckdo · 28-01-2015 6:41pm

Just rang Vodafone to enquire about switching from Eircom efibre to Vodafone Simply Broadband.

* Customer service agent said that in order to switch, Eircom are insisting that eFibre customers downgrade to Eircom's normal broadband first before you can switch over to Vodafone.

* Vodafone line is the exact same as Eircom so will get same speed.

* Will send me new router which I simply swap with the Eircom one.

* No real grace period. Have only 7 days to change my mind.

It is a bit of a pain to have to downgrade first - I mean what happens if there is a delay/problem in installation? Also I don't like the idea of signing a 18 month contract based on a 7 day trial.

dalta5billion · 28-01-2015 6:45pm

odckdo wrote: »

Just rang Vodafone to enquire about switching from Eircom efibre to Vodafone Simply Broadband.

* Customer service agent said that in order to switch, Eircom are insisting that eFibre customers downgrade to Eircom's normal broadband first before you can switch over to Vodafone.

ED E/ bk any ideas on why this would be the case? Unless it's to ensure a smoother switchover...

odckdo · 28-01-2015 7:29pm

dalta5billion wrote: »

ED E/ bk any ideas on why this would be the case? Unless it's to ensure a smoother switchover...

The Vodafone customer agent said that Eircom were deliberately making it difficult for them - maybe Eircom are worried with the price increase people are going to move in numbers to Vodafone. (Using the same line, the speed should be the same and if people can live with the 300GB limit.)

btw, what happens if you downgrade with Eircom first? Assume there is no change in contract but do you then have to give a 30 day notice or something?

Hank Scorpio · 28-01-2015 8:41pm

I switched from Eircom to Vodafone 2 weeks ago. I'm on ADSL2+ NGB and sync around 22/675. They've still got some routing problems like Eircom do, however I always get full speed of what I'm paying for, youtube, twitch, websites never lag on this connection. The only letdown is routing to some gaming servers for a few hours at night, but it was much worse with Eircom and I'd be more confident Vodafone will fix it. Eircom have been straight ignoring the problems for years

dalta5billion · 28-01-2015 9:29pm

Thanks Hank.

Think I'll switch when I get the price increase letter.

ED E · 28-01-2015 11:56pm

dalta5billion wrote: »

ED E/ bk any ideas on why this would be the case? Unless it's to ensure a smoother switchover...

Are you talking about moving Eircom eFibre(VDSL) to Vodafone ADSL? I know the migration from VDSL to VDSL is the push of a few buttons. But downgrading like that, dunno, means dejumpering VDSL at the cab and rejumpering ADSL at the exchange. I doubt its a common occurrence but technically I dont see why itd be that difficult.

odckdo wrote: »

The Vodafone customer agent said that Eircom were deliberately making it difficult for them - maybe Eircom are worried with the price increase people are going to move in numbers to Vodafone

Two different eircoms. If Vodafone have to do it X way its because of Eircom Wholesale.

odckdo · 29-01-2015 3:36pm

odckdo wrote: »

Just rang Vodafone to enquire about switching from Eircom efibre to Vodafone Simply Broadband.

* Customer service agent said that in order to switch, Eircom are insisting that eFibre customers downgrade to Eircom's normal broadband first before you can switch over to Vodafone.

Getting conflicting info. on this.

Vodafone say first I should downgrade from Eircom's eFibre to regular broadband first. Then ring vodafone and they will handle the cancellation/transition to their fibre system.

Rang Eircom and they told me if I downgrade from efibre I would have to enter a new contract. Which means a cancellation fee to switch to vodafone.

Rang vodafone back. When I get letter of price increase from Eircom, cancel contract and then get in touch with vodafone. (Going back on their downgrade comment earlier.)

Has anyone yet switched from Eircom's efibre to vodafone's simply broadband? How did it go and what was the procedure?

Looks like I am going to have a make more calls to both Eircom and Vodafone on this to make sure I have everything covered.

Saruman · 29-01-2015 4:18pm

I don't see why it would make a difference if you are efibre going to regular broadband.

odckdo · 29-01-2015 5:34pm

Saruman wrote: »

I don't see why it would make a difference if you are efibre going to regular broadband.

Not sure either.

Last year I disconnected my Eircom telephone line/number but kept my eFibre. In doing that Eircom said that because it was a significant change I had to start a new 18 month contract.

So maybe they see a downgrade from efibre to regular broadband along those lines?

Eircom Price Increase - Leave or Stay?

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