Downgrading Eircom ISDN, Installing Esat RADSL

^pt^

Sorry if this is the wrong forum... and if it's incredibly long and boring.

I have had an ISDN line from eircom for probably two years or more at this stage. Broadband is finally to the point where it's cheaper than phone calls and flatrate for the amount of time I use. So, I decide to order IOLBB...

At first I presumed I would have to organise eircom to remove the ISDN line, then organise Esat to install the ADSL and would be left without two phone lines in between. I imagined it would be a nightmare of organising not one but two ISPs.

I was surprised therefore, when I rang Esat to enquire about the ISDN situation and was told that Esat could handle everything. Esat would contact eircom and have the line downgraded, and the Esat engineer would take care of everything, meaning it would all be done on one day. So I signed up, waited my 12-15 working days for IOLBB to be activated and was then informed that "the service was live" and an engineer would ring me.

After a small chase, the engineer did ring me, and one of his questions was if the ISDN line was downgraded yet. I told him it was still working, he said Esat told him it was downgraded. He said he couldn't installed the ADSL until the line was downgraded, and that he'd ring back in three days when he was next free to install it.

Today I rang Esat to enquire about the ISDN line and why it wasn't downgraded. I naively thought they could just turn it off and that it would then be ready for the engineer tomorrow. They told me they had instructed eircom to downgrade the line and didn't know why it wasn't done. They then suggested I ring eircom and ask them to have it done by tomorrow in time for the engineer.

So... I then ring eircom, listen to their various messages while on hold for quite some time, and get connected to a fairly rude man. I explain the situation and he finally asks for my account number. He says that there is an order for the line to be downgraded, but that orders take 15-20 working days to be processed. An eircom engineer will have to ring and make an appointment and call to the house to remove the box. He also informs me that Esat shouldn't tell me what eircom are going to do, since they are different companies.

I then ring Esat to ask why I was told the opposite, and why they are expecting an engineer to be able to install it as early as last Thursday, when it will be the 8th-13th September before eircom even begin to arrange an appointment. They put me on hold for a minute to check, and then shrug and say that's the way it is. Eircom will have to remove the line, and then Esat will be able to install it. I get no answer as to why I was told the opposite.

So now apparently I just have to wait. I first got confirmation from Esat that they received my application on the 14th August. It seems it'll be the 14th September before I can even hope to have it actually working.

Repli

Seems like a lack of effective communication between eircom and esat.. I had eircom ISDN before I got iolBB and I rang eircom themselves to downgrade the line.. took almost 3 weeks for an engineer to come and downgrade it but eventually he did.. then rang iol to order BB and they told me it could take up to 15 working days before I go live.. and it did!! Took the best part of 3 weeks.. I downgrading to pstn/installing iolbb is a lengthy procedure but when you have it up and running it's worth the wait..

De Rebel

Have to say among all the reasons for not going to eircom's radsl, this is probably one spot where they have the advantage. I switched from ISDN to eircom RADSL and the same engineer did both the ISDN downgrade and the RADSL install at the same time. Took less than 2 hours in total.

I'm beginning to feel like i'm pimping for eircom today............

^pt^

I meant to ask, does anyone know if Esat will try to charge for the service from when it "went live" or from when it was actually installed? Will they do prorate, so that I only have to pay half a month?

Repli

Originally posted by ^pt^
I meant to ask, does anyone know if Esat will try to charge for the service from when it "went live" or from when it was actually installed? Will they do prorate, so that I only have to pay half a month?

I surely hope that's not the case! As I only got 3 days from the month of August (went live on 28th) Although not a penny has been taken out of my account.. come on Iol take the €190 before I spend it..

aaasecurity

i went for the same option of an eircom isdn downgrade and the esat adsl. checked with both the eircom and esat sites if adsl would work on my line. both came back o.k. filled in and returned the forms to esat. was given a user name and password by esat 2 weeks later. they were to set up the isdn downgrade. nothing happened for weeks and i rang esat to enquire. yeah, yeah everything is in hand. service will be sorted soon. 4 more weeks go by. ring esat again. Ah you will have to contact eircom to sort the isdn!!!. Contacted eircom. OK we will sort downgrade tomorrow for 19 euro. You will have to remove and keep our isdn t/a and we will collect same later. Back to esat. Ok will get back to you in 48 hrs. 3 more weeks vanish, then out of the blue i get the following mail from esat. "Sorry but your line is NOT suitable for adsl" Thank you for your interest. Time wasting ****!!

ken90

Did it strike you nthat this ie Eircom at their good old tricks.

I find that they are using every advantage to make the playing field unlevel, most of these inconvenience the customer and try to push him#her into buying Eircom's dearer product.

I am getting that pi##@d off at them at this stage that I am starting to take some of my other business away from "Tony O Reilly Productions"

:mad:

spongebob

Originally posted by aaasecurity
2 weeks later. they were to set up the isdn downgrade. nothing happened for weeks and i rang esat to enquire. yeah, yeah everything is in hand. service will be sorted soon. 4 more weeks go by. ring esat again. Ah you will have to contact eircom to sort the isdn!!!. Contacted eircom. OK we will sort downgrade tomorrow for 19 euro. You will have to remove and keep our isdn t/a and we will collect same later. Back to esat. Ok will get back to you in 48 hrs. 3 more weeks vanish, then out of the blue i get the following mail from esat. "Sorry but your line is NOT suitable for adsl" Thank you for your interest. Time wasting ****!!

Mail angela.keegan@esat.com about this. She is their customer service manager AFAIR . I suspect that Eircom carefully lost a form and that ESAT never realised.

M

De Rebel

A previous thread here indicates that this is not just an ESAT issue.

Looks like the basic problem is poor co-ordination, either because the providers in general (ESAT/BT, Netsource etc.) are incompetent or because of deliberate blocking tactics by eircom. Or a combination of both. These fees for downgrading also resurface on a regular basis.

Whichever of the above is the cause of the probelm, this is the sort of anti-competitive behaviour that ComReg continually profess to be concerned about. ComReg respond well to specific cases. Could the posters above take their specific cases to ComReg, for their own benefit and for the common good. And post the outcome here.

/edit See also here

ZENER

IOLBB have a month start date on the 8th of each month. Therefore if you go live after this date your bill will include the following:

Installation Charge/Modem cost.
2 FULL months advance payment.
A charge from your live date to the following bill start date (8th of the following month.

In my case I went live on the 14th of July My invoice was for €230 this included:

€90 self install/modem
€100 for 2 FULL months rental in advance.
€40 to take me to the 8th of August.

This means I have fully paid up until the 8th of October.

This might explain situation for /\pt/\

Regards

Tinky

^pt^

Thanks for all the replies and encouragement.

After about a month or more of ringing eircom regularly (I tried 9 different people one day) I eventually came down one morning to find that my isdn line had just been switched off. I had to ring them up to check this and it took them several hours just to agree that it had been downgraded.

I then rang Esat and told them I was still waiting for an engineer (might have skipped the part about it being eircoms fault). Was told they'd get back to me and heard nothing for 48 hours until an engineer rang and said he'd be there in an hour. He left the isdn box as is and just plugged in the modem, had it working in 15 minutes or less. (Made me wonder why isdn requires an engineer install, he did nothing I couldn't have done)

So, 10 days later and no problems so far. Hooray for broadband!