Broadband legality...

kjt

Hello all,
I'm just after signing up with Perlico phone and broadband.
After a pathetic 2/3weeks of waiting for a router to arrive at my door (which it says in their letter should take between 44days, even that's too much) I finally got one yesterday. I tried to set it all up, I did it three times to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong... I even read the instruction the last time. So now I try my BT router I've had for the last few years and that works. Pathetic I had to wait for 2/3weeks to find out their router doesnt work and that all I needed was the username and password.

Anyways their broadband is called "Perlico Broadband-Unlimited Broadband for €19.99 per month."Linky"

Now is it legal for them to say this within their contract?

The download allowance is 6GB per month. If you go over this generous limit then we reserve the right to charge you for any additional data (at 3cent inc VAT per megabit up to a maximum charge of €35 or 1166 megabit excess usage)."

Hypothetically, If I go over my limit and they go and charge me, can I come back in court saying it's branded UNLIMITED?


Thanks

subway

might be a matter for the ASAI,
send them an email.

did you read the tems and conditions before signing them?
im not sure, but maybe you can use it as a break to your contract as you have the right to asume that the product is unlimited and not search the t&c's for that info.

kjt

I actually don't have this service, I have the 2mg one that isn't called unlimited but 'plus'. It's still only 12gb per month which is usually what I go through in a week. So, I'm a bit screwed if I was to go over.
I'm just wondering if it is legal for them to call a service legal when clearly it isn't.

Thanks for the reply

ircoha

I would go to COMREG with this one as the details about the down load limits is in the technical paragraph which is not really the right place

Technical Information
Perlico Home Broadband is a DSL service that operates at up to 2 MB download speed and 256K upload.

There is no fixed IP address option. The download allowance is 12GB per month. If you go over this generous limit then we reserve the right to charge you for any additional data (at 3cent inc VAT per megabit up to a maximum charge of €35 or 1166 megabit excess usage).

This data allowance is calculated on a daily basis and if you are consistently above this amount we reserve the right to suspend or permanently disconnect your account in the first month that you are over. You can check how much monthly data usage statistics at any time simply by logging onto our websites customer area.


Also see
Is there a Contract Duration?
No, there is no minimum contract with Perlico Broadband Plus. However, there is a cancellation fee of €59.99 if you cancel before 6 months or €29.99 thereafter.

Sam Vimes

most operators have this limit. i have a 24GB limit on BT broadband

but only utv chrages for going over the limit as far as i know. i go over my limit every month and never get charged. i don't know much about perlico though to be honest

kjt

Commander Vimes wrote:

most operators have this limit. i have a 24GB limit on BT broadband

but only utv chrages for going over the limit as far as i know. i go over my limit every month and never get charged. i don't know much about perlico though to be honest

Hey Commander,
I was with bt and always went over the cap without getting charged. My issue here isn't exactly the cap but the fact they try and advertise it as "unlimited"

Sam Vimes

kjt wrote:

Hey Commander,
I was with bt and always went over the cap without getting charged. My issue here isn't exactly the cap but the fact they try and advertise it as "unlimited"

the unlimited they're talking about is about the time. they have a 20 hour a month package too. but i see your point

rondjon

subway wrote:

might be a matter for the ASAI,
send them an email.

ASAI won't help you out here. Whatever a company says on their website isn't regulated or monitored. They can say what they like here. It's not really classified as advertising, and is definitely not within the scope of the ASAI.

bmaxi

Have to agree, the ad is ambiguous to say the least, most companies will put an* and explain it in small print. I would go the Comreg route, but it would be in the form of a complaint because as Rondjon says you can make just about any claim on the net. Having had personal experience of Perlico I now avoid them like the plague. I enquired about broadband myself it went something like this.

Me; Is there a contract?
Per; No
Me; What's the €60 disconnection fee?
Per; That's only if you disconnect within 6 months
Me; But I thought you said there was no contract?
Per; There is no contract
Me; That sounds like a contract
Per; (pause) Eh, I don't know I'll get someone to call back
Me; OK then whats the €50 installation fee?
Per; That's for the Router
Me; But you're not supplying me with a router, just allowing me to use it, and anyway I have a router.
Per; OK
Me; So there's no installation fee then?
Per; Hold on (long pause, obviously being prompted) It's for the engineer to call to your house
Me; For what?
Per; To instal it
Me; But I thought it was self- instal
Per; (pause) He has to connect a line
Me; What line?
Per; To your 'phone
Me; From where?
Per; (long pause) I'll get someone to call you back.

Still waiting.

Sorry to be so long winded but this is typical of my dealings with Perlico, if anybody has a year or so to spare I'll recount some more.

Gilgamesh

they could even call the line 'super duper uber mega sexy line with nobs on' ,at the end of the day it is only the name of the product. the name of it should be related in some way to the product itself, but it doesn't have to explain it, that is what the T&C and also the product description are there for.

Man I was planning on opening a Strip club in Shannon, (used to live there and thought it would bring life into the place) and was planning to call it 'the Black Spoon' do you really think someone would have sued me because they would have come in expecting the sale of Black Spoons?
I think not

btw imho, I would never sign a broadband contract where I only get 6 GB a month, hell I would use that up in one day at home

kjt

bmaxi wrote:

Me; Is there a contract?
Per; No
Me; What's the €60 disconnection fee?
Per; That's only if you disconnect within 6 months
Me; But I thought you said there was no contract?
Per; There is no contract
Me; That sounds like a contract
Per; (pause) Eh, I don't know I'll get someone to call back
Me; OK then whats the €50 installation fee?
Per; That's for the Router
Me; But you're not supplying me with a router, just allowing me to use it, and anyway I have a router.
Per; OK
Me; So there's no installation fee then?
Per; Hold on (long pause, obviously being prompted) It's for the engineer to call to your house
Me; For what?
Per; To instal it
Me; But I thought it was self- instal
Per; (pause) He has to connect a line
Me; What line?
Per; To your 'phone
Me; From where?
Per; (long pause) I'll get someone to call you back.

Still waiting.

Sorry to be so long winded but this is typical of my dealings with Perlico, if anybody has a year or so to spare I'll recount some more.

Haha I was laughing throughout that, that's exactly how it goes when your on the phone to them. When I phoned up their 'technical support' wondering about various different thing I ended up helping the three people I was put through to. By next week I'll be signed back up with BT, why oh why did I change. Stupid expensive broadband in Ireland!!!

jackofalltrades

Hypothetically, If I go over my limit and they go and charge me, can I come back in court saying it's branded UNLIMITED?

The "unlimited" on their webpage relates to the amount of time you can use their service for, its in the same colour as 25 and 180 hours, so I don't think you'd get that past a judge, but you could always try.

It's also legal to impose a cap on the amount users download, otherwise a few people would slow the whole service down.