Downgrading from BT corporate BB to residential BB - problem!

quaalude

Hi -
Long shot, but worth a try - has anyone here ever tried to downgrade their BT corporate BB to residential? I've been trying to sort this out since the 27th of June, and it just isn't happening - I just keep being shoved from one lousy "account manager" to the next; the latest person told me that there is "no record of any cancellations or requests of that nature" in my file (despite being told 10 days ago that the changeover would happen at the weekend)!

The account woman thinks I'll have to cancel entirely, and request residential. This is a big problem as I don't have an account with Eircom (BT corporate assumed responsibility for paying the line rental), so if she's right, I'll have to have my Eircom line reopened or whatever, wait for that, then apply for residential, and wait for that. We all know how long that can take
I'm at the end of my tether - my partner works freelance from home, and we're both gamers, so downtime isn't an option!

Oh, and I can't just tell them to shove it, and get NTL - it's not available on my street (though it is available very nearby).
Does anyone have any help or advice then can offer?
Sorry for the long post - I'm desperate!
Thanks!!

kaizersoze

You may aswell accept it now, you're going to have downtime and probably alot of it. AFAIK, with BT corporate your line is now unbundled. You'll have to cancel BB with BT and get your line moved back to Eircom. Then, order residential BB from BT.

paulm17781

Can you keep the business one? Get whoever was paying it to transfer the account?

quaalude

kaizersoze wrote:

You may aswell accept it now, you're going to have downtime and probably alot of it. AFAIK, with BT corporate your line is now unbundled. You'll have to cancel BB with BT and get your line moved back to Eircom. Then, order residential BB from BT.

Gah, well, that's what I said I was worried would happen in my original post. They assured me that would *not* happen when I first asked though, then they said it would, then they said it wouldn't, again. I've heard so many conflicting things, from the different people who answer the phones in there.

quaalude

paulm17781 wrote:

Can you keep the business one? Get whoever was paying it to transfer the account?

The reason we want to downgrade is due to the cost, which we now have to bear, but didn't use to have to pay for originally (it's a complicated situation).
Corporate BB is €107 a month, we've had it for years, but, AFAIK, it's actually slower than the residential one that's €40 a month - that's why we want to downgrade.

paulm17781

Someone here may be able to give you more but corporate ones have advantages, don't know about the speed / price but there could be a cheaper option available.

Foxwood

Just order a new phone line, and get BT Residential on that. It's the only way you'll get the change over to happen without downtime (because BT Residential is actually provided by eircom wholesale).

You're going to have to spend some of your anticipated savings to get what you want.

Sponge Bob

Its a partially unbundled line IIRC, he should be able to cancel corporate and order Bitstream off anyone he wants once the dsl is turned off down the exchange.

If it were fully unbundled it would be more longwinded.

quaalude

Sponge Bob wrote:

Its a partially unbundled line IIRC, he should be able to cancel corporate and order Bitstream off anyone he wants once the dsl is turned off down the exchange.

If it were fully unbundled it would be more longwinded.

Thanks for all the help everyone.
I'm not sure of the difference between "partially unbundled" and "fully unbundled" - can someone explain? I don't pay any money to Eircom, nor do I have any phone service (i.e. my line is DSL only).

quaalude

Foxwood wrote:

Just order a new phone line, and get BT Residential on that. It's the only way you'll get the change over to happen without downtime (because BT Residential is actually provided by eircom wholesale).

You're going to have to spend some of your anticipated savings to get what you want.

Right, that's something to consider. Spending some dough now to save in the long run is fine by me.

Sponge Bob

quaalude wrote:

Thanks for all the help everyone.
I'm not sure of the difference between "partially unbundled" and "fully unbundled" - can someone explain? I don't pay any money to Eircom, nor do I have any phone service (i.e. my line is DSL only).

Its fully unbundled then.

BT have to unload their DSL off it and 'patch it' back to Eircom if you only have the one line . You will have no DSL for a month on that line.

A second line, ordered off Eircom for Broadband and tested immediately , would sound like the fastest and cleanest solution. Once the DSL is live on it you may cancel the BT DSL and Line and all .

I thought that BT had passed on Rate Reductions to their existing customers, you are paying 2003 prices for 512k or 1mbit there are you not ???

'Modern' prices are €20 a month for 1Mbit ....albeit the Bitstream variant not teh Unbundled variant.

quaalude

Sponge Bob wrote:

Its fully unbundled then.
...
I thought that BT had passed on Rate Reductions to their existing customers, you are paying 2003 prices for 512k or 1mbit there are you not ???

'Modern' prices are €20 a month for 1Mbit ....albeit the Bitstream variant not teh Unbundled variant.

Thanks for clearing that up, Bob.
Rather embarrassing, we are paying 2003 price, and getting a 2003 speed. No savings, no speed upgrade was ever passed onto us. It was always fast enough for what we wanted to do, and someone else was paying for it, so it wasn't such a concern for us until now.
Someone just phoned my partner (after I wrote a really ratty, really long email to their complaints dept last night ), and it seems they may be able to put us on a way faster speed, for half the money, as that's what the business offer is these days. They could have told us that earlier and saved us this headache. We'll see if this happens - will keep you posted!

Sponge Bob

I was SURE that they had at least doubled the speed to 1Mbit some time back.

I was FAIRLY SURE that they had synchronised(ish) the prices so you would pay about €54 a month for that package since (about) 2005 some time, maybe earlier .

The feckers , you may be owed a speed upgrade AND over a years rebate off their billing

quaalude

Sponge Bob wrote:

I was SURE that they had at least doubled the speed to 1Mbit some time back.

I was FAIRLY SURE that they had synchronised(ish) the prices so you would pay about €54 a month for that package since (about) 2005 some time, maybe earlier .

The feckers , you may be owed a speed upgrade AND over a years rebate off their billing

Well, the email I wrote last night seems to have rattled them - my partner has received 2 phone calls this morning, with a promise of 2 more later today. Naming and shaming individual agents seems to have done the trick. Oh, and I forgot to mention in a previous mail - we are on around 512 (did a speed test last night).
Would I have any case to get a rebate on some money paid?

Sponge Bob

The problem with finding when they announced these cuts is that they were ESAT when you signed up and then ESATBT and now BT or BT Ireland .

I'm not sure which feckin variant "announced" the price cuts and cannot search. posts for hard info

I would not cancel and keep at complaints@btireland.ie

Dublin, Monday October 11th, 2004:

Esat BT today launched EsatBT.com, a new web site that will offer simplified phone and Internet bills, more convenient ordering and payment and improved customer service. Savings made by Esat BT through transacting business online will be passed onto consumers in the form of line rental discounts, lower phone and Internet charges as well as an ongoing discount of €5 on every bill.

about that far back or 8th March 2004 even when they doubled the 512k to 1Mbit ..around then anyway

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-144514.html

Foxwood

quaalude wrote:

Would I have any case to get a rebate on some money paid?

Not if someone else was paying the bill

quaalude

Foxwood wrote:

Not if someone else was paying the bill

Well, some was paying the bill, but then decided to stop - and let us know a year later, 3 weeks ago!

quaalude

Update on this - after my complaint, BT sorted it out, and put me on 1 meg business package, for €45 a month. Also, there was no downtime.
They also credited the account with 3 months of the price we were paying before, so around €300, which is fine by me.
Complaining to BT's complaints depatrment and naming individual clueless agents seems to be the way to go!