I Love Eircom's Support

lynchie · 30-06-2003 6:49pm #1

Over the past two weeks, my DSL connection has been dropped on numerous occasions. The light inidicating synchronisation with the DSLAM was on, so the link to the exchange was fine but I wasn't receving any data packets from the exchange. On one occasion this happened at bang on midnight and I couldnt get a connection back till about 00:20, so I thought they may have been doing some hardware upgrading/configuration. This happened once or twice after that during the day.

So I decided to send eircom an email to find out if they were doing work on the exchange. I sent them my modem details and OS (Linux). I didnt buy the modem off them (wasn't paying through the roof!). Of course you can all guess what their response was

Thank you for your e-mail.

Unfortunetly we do not support modems that we did not supply, nor do we support any operating systems apart from apple OS and microsoft windows. There could be a problem with either your operating system setup or your modem, which is beyond our control.

Kind regards
eircom net Technical Support

169 yoyos a month for a biddy to press the "Send back polite `we don't give a f**K`automated email" to the customer on their screen

So do I need to get a modem that Eircom support and install M$ to find out if the engineers are doing work on the exchange cause I can bet that my modem/linux box are working perfectly

Btw, has anybody else on the Nangor Rd exchange in Clondalkin had any long disconnections recently?

Creamy Goodness · 30-06-2003 6:56pm

ring them and ask to speak to a man i'm not trying to be smart but it's the only way

FirA_Fascio · 01-07-2003 11:19pm

:ninja: i'd be very surpirsed if you actually do manage to interrogate one of the 1901 Service Drones without them cutting you off. good luck

Supercell · 02-07-2003 12:03am

What adsl adapter are you using?, if its something like dsl-504 router (v popular for board adsl users it seems) , then its totally, utterly BB irrelvant as the connection is dont through it..not the OS. (you set it up via a web browser usually...ieX or mozilla or whatever rocks your boat) ..

Either the adsl adapter connects ..or it doesnt..simple as that, if you are using a usb adapter or ethernet/pci adapter, then not suprised eircom/anyonelse wont support you as that would be a support nightmare.

eth0_ · 02-07-2003 9:40am

Originally posted by Cr3m0
ring them and ask to speak to a man i'm not trying to be smart but it's the only way

Pathetic.

Dustaz · 02-07-2003 10:56am

Call eircoms DSL support on 1890 260 260 NOT 1901.

The people there are some of the best employees eircom have and will help you if they can (altho as longfield says they may not be able to if you have some sort of very non-standard set up).

Any issue ive ever had with my dsl has been sorted painlessly by that dept.

MrPinK · 02-07-2003 1:07pm

Originally posted by Cr3m0
ring them and ask to speak to a man i'm not trying to be smart but it's the only way

Incompetence knows not gender

bkehoe · 02-07-2003 2:25pm

I'm not sure of the day, but my enhanced service was down at around midnight for approx 20mins too; I'd say it was a countrywide outage - I'm on the New-Ross exchange.

On another issue, have you managed to get a reverse dns record on the ip(s) you got? Normal support wont help me no matter how persistant I am, and want me to pay €2 a minute to have the pleasure of speaking to corporate support - I'm looking for a cheaper alternative!

Brendan

p.pete · 02-07-2003 3:12pm

Tech support people have a list of questions that they ask but quite more often as amunition for a reason not to helpful than to actually get to the bottom of the problem.

If you are just trying to find out if there was an outage or updates / work being done then try not to give them so much info. Let them know your OS is fine and your modem is fine and that things were working before and afterwards.

Tell them you have linux and that will be the conversation over usually.

MadsL · 02-07-2003 4:22pm

PM me. I can give you a contact.

lynchie · 02-07-2003 6:10pm

I probably should have called the DSL support number but I coudnt be bothered. All I was looking for was a simple yes or no as to whether they were doing maintenance on the exchange, but from the looks of other posts on this board, it seems to confirm that they are having problems nationwide.

De Rebel · 02-07-2003 8:44pm

Originally posted by Dustaz
Call eircoms DSL support on 1890 260 260

1890 260 260 is only half the story. If the thread starter is on i-stream starter then he will have to phone 1550 555 444 which is a money making scam. Eircom split the support shortly after launching the starter package.

Also its worth noting that the above are both eircom.net support lines which is fine for "isp" type issues - calls relating to connection problems are the business of eircom rather than eircom net and it should be possible to have thiose addressed without spending 80c per minute of whatever 1550 costs.

As an example of the last point, eircom b0llixed up dsl in cork and wicklow on the june weekend. it took them 48 hours to repair the faults. any i-stream starter customer who wanted to report the problem or look for a status report was forced to call the 1550 number - hardly fair.

Serbian · 02-07-2003 9:23pm

Our ADSL I-Stream connection went down at about 4pm last Wednesday in work. We weren't getting the ADSL sync light on the router so there was some problem on the line. Plugging a regular phone into both parts of the splitter yielded a dial tone though. Being a web development company, it was quite critical that we had our DSL connection up and running!! 5 days later and many, many phone calls to the 1890 260 260 number we were getting the, "It'll be up in 48 hours" spiel. It was a fully standard setup (Windows 2000 on all machines, router and firewall supplied by eircom.net) but they did nothing as far as we could tell. Tuesday afternoon, the modem finally managed to get connected.

Basically the point is the support guys wouldn't tell us what was even going on, and when we called after it was working, they could supply no information on the fault, and basically had the attitude, "eh, your DSL is working now, so fúck off."

As for whoever mention the support people having a series questions they ask, I completely agree. We called up, it was: What OS do you run? Who supplied the router? Who supplied the firewall? At each step they were just looking to say, "Aha! We aren't going to help you now because you are using a perfectly good router but it wasn't supplied by us!"

As far as I am concerned, DSL Support in eircom is populated by a bunch of piss artists.

Nuff said.

LFCFan · 02-07-2003 9:25pm

I can't believe they make you pat a rediculous price for ADSL, crappy cap and all and then have the cheek to make you ring a premium rate number for support? My hatred for €ircon knows no bounds!

Cabaal · 03-07-2003 9:50am

Originally posted by p.pete
Tell them you have linux and that will be the conversation over usually.

I've heard of people using Linux and calling tech support, going trough support saying there in windows and there going through the steps just like support want.
But of course they don't actually have windows, just do that :-)

Spud_Gun · 03-07-2003 10:25am

I can't believe that they were so dismissive to you. it sounds to me from her comments that even if you did have the proper modem, that they can then say that they don't support the platform so that they always have a get out of jail card. I am amazed that they were so unsubtle in their "go away" to you.

Cabaal · 03-07-2003 11:04am

Originally posted by Spud_Gun
I can't believe that they were so dismissive to you. it sounds to me from her comments that even if you did have the proper modem, that they can then say that they don't support the platform

Ohh come on, there's a perfectly valid reason for a company not to Linux/Unix
first off they NEVER advertised that they would and second there support staff wouldn't have a friggin clue.

jd · 03-07-2003 11:19am

Originally posted by Cabaal
Ohh come on, there's a perfectly valid reason for a company not to Linux/Unix
first off they NEVER advertised that they would and second there support staff wouldn't have a friggin clue.

I guress some would/most wouldn't.
I'd also guess they are acting under instructions regarding not supporting equipment supplied by eircom..

eth0_ · 03-07-2003 11:23am

I use VAX and eircom won't support my dsl connection! I am *disgusted*, disgusted I say!

po0k · 03-07-2003 12:07pm

Originally posted by Cabaal
Ohh come on, there's a perfectly valid reason for a company not to Linux/Unix
first off they NEVER advertised that they would and second there support staff wouldn't have a friggin clue.

Then, quite simply, what the blue and orange fuck are they doing working the tech support? And there's no reason why they shouldn't answer your questions if you're running Linux. Chances are you know more about what you're asking then they do, all you need them to do is tell you what's going on with the service you're paying for, or be unafraid to give the cusomter a bit of detail.

Cabaal · 03-07-2003 12:11pm

Frankly if there's maintence or a system issue I don't give a monkeys if someone's using Linux/Dos or whatever I'll inform them about it.

Hell I'll give them what settings I have available, but I'll damed if I'm gona try talk someone through anything in anything other then Windows/Mac.
Its not part of my job and I don't need the hastle, if I'm in a good mood I might help but thats it..

Please note I don't work for Eircom/Esat etc

Spud_Gun · 03-07-2003 1:05pm

The best and most secure platform that a home user can use with a view toward securing their always on internet connection is Linux Red Hat. Every broadband provider should have technicians that specialise in different platforms, but to say that we dont support that platform is a cop out. If they don't support certain platforms, then they should say that before connecting their customers and not when they have problems.

MarVeL · 03-07-2003 1:12pm

If they don't support certain platforms, then they should say that before connecting their customers and not when they have problems.

Um they did say that, didn't they? IIRC they want plain Vanilla windows boxes though if you push them they might support Macs. It's still a cop out as the information on whether or not the exchange is working should still be available but they duid leave themselves the out

From

If you are using a PC you will need: Pentium II (or equivalent) 233 or above 32 MB RAM (64MB or more recommended) CD-ROM drive 100 MB available hard disk A supported Operating System: Windows 98SE (Second Edition), Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP

If you are using a MAC you will need: Power PC 601 or equivalent 200 MHZ and 3 MB System Memory (RAM) 100 MB free on Hard Drive MAC OS 8.6 (or Higher) A two speed CD Rom player and an Ethernet por

eircom's site

Spud_Gun · 03-07-2003 1:31pm

Exactly, irrespective of the platform or modem/router, the information that a customer needs should be available. They said that there could be a problem with the modem or the platform which is beyond their control. This is failing in their support as they should confirm thats the case instead of using it as a excuse not to try. Thats just poor support in my opinion. Actually, saying its poor supprt is implying some level of support. Thats no support! You are better off coming to these boards.

dogs · 03-07-2003 1:41pm

Originally posted by Spud_Gun
The best and most secure platform that a home user can use with a view toward securing their always on internet connection is Linux Red Hat.

Either you've just won yourself a shiny gold medal or that's a troll.
RedHat is not the most secure platform a home user can use, infact if it's not setup correctly its far more risky than a WindowsME machine.

Every broadband provider should have technicians that specialise in different platforms

Yes, that makes fantastic sense. Support my RS6000 running AIX. I demand it. There are enough combinations of windows and variations and themes that make them difficult to support as it is. Can you even imagine the call where you're trying to describe your redhat setup "Well, I installed the base packages and the ppp packages, I'm not sure if my kernel has the Cardiff PPP compresion module linked in though, what shiny button do I press to see ?"

Dustaz · 03-07-2003 1:48pm

Originally posted by Spud_Gun
I CLEARLY DO NOT READ POSTS

Spud, Eircom DO NOT SUPPORT certain OS's. They make this very clear before, during and after you sign up and install their software. What part of this do you have trouble understanding?

I suppose someone who thinks than any form of linux is best for normal Joe Soap Home use needs a bit of hand holding in the real world, but this is pushing it

Cabaal · 03-07-2003 1:51pm

Originally posted by Spud_Gun
The best and most secure platform that a home user can use with a view toward securing their always on internet connection is Linux Red Hat. Every broadband provider should have technicians that specialise in different platforms

Don't make me laugh, no ISP is going to do such a thing in the near future, atleast not for a home user Cable/DSL service (maybe a Business service in a few years) it just would not pay a company to do such a thing.

Actually suggest that idea to BT/esat and while your at it suggest to BT that they should dig a nice big hole and dump loads of cash into it and then cover in the hole again.

As for secure, pfft yes and WinXP is the most user friendly OS in the world...

Talliesin · 03-07-2003 1:57pm

Originally posted by dogs
Either you've just won yourself a shiny gold medal or that's a troll.
RedHat is not the most secure platform a home user can use, infact if it's not setup correctly its far more risky than a WindowsME machine.

dogs, surely you're forgetting that every weekend Linus Torvalds first sacrifices a chicken to Madame Brigitte and then sneakily lights a candle to the Holy Virgin. Oh, he's a two-timing one is that Linus. Anyway this is done with a prayer ("Our lady of perpetual up-time, watch and look over us, now and in the hour of a hostile connection, Amen.") which makes Linux totally secure.
RedHat is the most secure flavour, because it's red.

eth0_ · 03-07-2003 2:04pm

I don't know of *any* ISP in Ireland that officially supports anything other than windows and mac.

Why should they? Why should they waste money and working hours training staff on something that they'll probably never get a call on!

I think dogs summed it up real well.

Spud_Gun · 03-07-2003 2:22pm

I am aware that eircom only support Mac OS and Windows, but I do think that support people should read a support request irrespective of the platform that the product in operating on. The issue may not be platform specific, or hardware related.

Cabaal · 03-07-2003 2:24pm

Ok its like this, these people are only trained in Windows/Mac so they only know how to do a whoosh test in Windows/Mac there for they only understand the error codes given in windows and macs

simple as that...

Spud_Gun · 03-07-2003 2:32pm

I suppose it also depends on the luck of the draw in regards to the support person you get. One person may send the mail that was sent, another may say that they don't support that platform but they saw a similar problem in NT and such n' such an action remedied it.

amp · 03-07-2003 2:45pm

Originally posted by lynchie

Btw, has anybody else on the Nangor Rd exchange in Clondalkin had any long disconnections recently?

Dunno about dsl, but I know my companies 128k leased line has been up and down like a whores knickers lately.

Oh and Cr3m0, you're a moron. I've worked in call centres and the unofficial policy when some asshole asks to speak to a man, or "someone english" is to put them on hold. Forever.

Cabaal · 03-07-2003 2:47pm

Originally posted by Spud_Gun
I suppose it also depends on the luck of the draw in regards to the support person you get. One person may send the mail that was sent, another may say that they don't support that platform but they saw a similar problem in NT and such n' such an action remedied it.

True also, company policy would be not to support
But every so often you may get someone who knows his/her stuff and may actually help.

On the other end of the spectrem you'll get the people who are drones and just follow a script, they do there job (don't get me wrong) but they only do what there told to do.

They won't help non-support hardware/software and its as simple as that, but those other people can be a god send if your lucky enough.

But just because you get the person who's willing to help you with a unsupported item does not mean you should take it out on someone who does not help you with the same item, after all there just doing what there paid to do.

eth0_ · 03-07-2003 3:24pm

I work in support and we only support mac and windows, but i'll give the customer the settings they need as they're universal across all platforms really, and i'd tell them if there was an outtage certainly!

I have helped customers with unsupported software in the past but it'll often blow up in your face so it's best to leave well alone IMO.

spongebob · 03-07-2003 3:31pm

you lot still supporting trumpet winsock then?

M

eth0_ · 03-07-2003 4:17pm

Originally posted by Muck
you lot still supporting trumpet winsock then?

M

We support the software we provide.

spongebob · 03-07-2003 4:25pm

it was IOL who provided me with trumpet winsock!

who is the trumpet winsock expert in there does anyone know, I need to reconfigure it for iol anytime?

M

jd · 03-07-2003 4:34pm

Originally posted by Muck
it was IOL who provided me with trumpet winsock!

who is the trumpet winsock expert in there does anyone know, I need to reconfigure it for iol anytime?

M

you are joking aren't you... i hope...

jd

spongebob · 03-07-2003 4:44pm

W3.11FW

De Rebel · 03-07-2003 4:58pm

Originally posted by Muck
W3.11FW

cash converters have Win95 disks for Eur5, treat yourself to he upgrade, you deserve it. you can even get the 48 floppy set if your PC doesn't have a CD drive

lynchie · 03-07-2003 6:50pm

Originally posted by Spud_Gun
I am aware that eircom only support Mac OS and Windows, but I do think that support people should read a support request irrespective of the platform that the product in operating on. The issue may not be platform specific, or hardware related.

Exactly what I thought. My original email to them was basically " Is there some maintenance going on in the exchange that may have caused my router to disconnect and loose copnnectivity - Yes/No" But I got the usual request for "What OS are you running etc..". Even though I knew I was gonna get the "we don't support Linux" reply they still disregarded my original request and immediately blamed the problem on my hardware/OS and closed the support request

An awl email from Eircom stating that essential maintenance needs to be done or sorry for the downtime blah blah... wouldn't go a stray either

Cabaal · 04-07-2003 8:41am

Originally posted by lynchie
An awl email from Eircom stating that essential maintenance needs to be done or sorry for the downtime blah blah... wouldn't go a stray either

Yeah but if they did that then they'd be admitting there wrong
Eircom don't like admitting there wrong...

nellieswellies · 04-07-2003 9:03am

I probably should have called the DSL support number but I coudnt be bothered.

Its no wonder you couldent get a straight answer.

If your DSL lione drops call the DSL team and ask for a line test, it will either pass or fail

If it passes

its not the connection to the exchange thats the problem (could be the ATM cloud in which case they would be well aware of it as it would be a fairly major outage)

Believe it or not it could be your modem (if your using a modem you chose to use your on your own), run modem diagnostics.

it could be your OS or a corruption within the connection its best to recrate the connection just to have eliminated that factor so you can tell support youve allready done that, it will give them one less reaqson to hang up on you.

If it fails
Its a problem on the copper between your connection point and the DSLAM or ATM switch

This will bring the fault to the attention of Eircom ask for a ticket number call back every hour quoting the ticket number. They can not hang up on you until you are happy that they are taking action on getting the issue resolved.

Spud_Gun · 04-07-2003 9:29am

I don't think its too much to ask for Eircom to inform a customer of the state of their connection when they ask, irrespective of their platform. If a Linux user rings up asking about the state of the connection, I think a Jobsworth award must be given if they refuse to tell you because you qualify as an unsupported user. It can be argued in Eircoms defence that extending any support to a user who is using unsupported hardware or software could open a can of worms, and any support person will tell you that it can be a mine field drawing a line to where support will stop. But that cant apply in this particular case.

The only thing I can recommend Lynchie is to tell them you are a Windows user when your query is just about the state of your connection.

harney · 06-07-2003 4:19pm

"cash converters have Win95 disks for Eur5, treat yourself to he upgrade, you deserve it. you can even get the 48 floppy set if your PC doesn't have a CD drive"

Joking aside, perhaps in the days of larger HDD it is worth devoting 500mb or so to a dual boot in order to bypass these techs - maybe even VMware since it has a linux version :ninja:

I realise that one should never have to do this, but.............:mad:

harney · 06-07-2003 4:24pm

"cash converters have Win95 disks for Eur5, treat yourself to he upgrade, you deserve it. you can even get the 48 floppy set if your PC doesn't have a CD drive"

Joking aside, perhaps in the days of larger HDD it is worth devoting 500mb or so to a dual boot in order to bypass these techs - maybe even VMware since it has a linux version :ninja:

I realise that one should never have to do this, but.............:mad:

dub45 · 07-07-2003 9:40pm

I think poor support is a widespread problem and so much can depend on the person that you get. I had to ring Apple support recently and the guy there seemed far more interested in getting my details and giving me a customer no (when I asked why he needed a phone number for mehe said it was in case they needed to collect my machine!) when I finally managed to actually tell him the problem he said thats not me and instantly transferred me to a line playing Enya - I gave up after 20 minutes!

Probably a lot of it is just the call center culture they must be awful places to work in and people who are really into IT are probably not going to stick it. But a few more people with a bit of cop on and life would not go amiss when they are recruiting for the bloody things either.

By the way I have found that NTL in particular are diabolical and even trying to email a query to them )(and they invite that) is no help as they issued the same reply irrespective of what you write in the email!!!

crowbar · 08-07-2003 6:55am

i phoned eircom support about my brand new, non-functional dsl line a month or so back. the support rep suggested that i unplug all other devices on my phone line to see if the dsl modem would train up, and i was about to until i realised i was calling them from the landline that was about to be unplugged! a great way to get rid of a caller i guess.

the guy i got a few days later was more helpful, got their noc to do a line test, though he said it'd take 3 days for an engineer to go to the exchange to check the patching. 3 days!! what on earth do their exchange techs do all day?

i came home one day and, hey presto, the modem trained up. still no call back from them yet to explain why it wasn't installed properly in the first place. i wonder if i'll be charged rental from the day they said they activated the line, or from when it actually started working ...

shinzon · 08-07-2003 9:18am

Originally posted by crowbar
i phoned eircom support about my brand new, non-functional dsl line a month or so back. the support rep suggested that i unplug all other devices on my phone line to see if the dsl modem would train up, and i was about to until i realised i was calling them from the landline that was about to be unplugged! a great way to get rid of a caller i guess.

the guy i got a few days later was more helpful, got their noc to do a line test, though he said it'd take 3 days for an engineer to go to the exchange to check the patching. 3 days!! what on earth do their exchange techs do all day?

i came home one day and, hey presto, the modem trained up. still no call back from them yet to explain why it wasn't installed properly in the first place. i wonder if i'll be charged rental from the day they said they activated the line, or from when it actually started working ...

itll be the day the line was activated, ye dont think theyll wait until the connction was working this is EIRCON not a charity lol

Shin

I Love Eircom's Support

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