What is the story with Smart customers now?

Vunderground

I was searching around and I'm just wondering if the Smart people have access to phones, broadband etc at the moment and what does the future hold?

I'm posting this 'cos the info here is always good. Thanks.

paulm17781

Broadband customers are fine.

gordonnet

smart are appealing the 3g license case tomorrow ... smart setting up a mobile phone network ?

fulhamc

Not all broadband customers are OK. My line was pulled by Eircom on 4th Oct and despite many hours of phone calls to Smart still have no BB, nearly 4 weeks off-line

Cabaal

gordonnet wrote:

smart are appealing the 3g license case tomorrow ... smart setting up a mobile phone network ?

That case is almost ongoing a year now, the outcome is coming this week not the start of the case.

pro_gnostic_8

And tomorrow Brendan Murtagh's proposal to buy the company for a nominal 1 euro and assume all debts will be put before the shareholders. If the shareholders reject this, then Smart will surely go under. The shareholders are getting a raw deal on this one, but Murtaghs offer is the only realistic one on the table so the offer will probably be accepted.

What I would like to know and would greatly appreciate some advice on is: what would you advise those of us in limbo with Smart? I.E., if you have signed up for Smart should we wait some time longer for connection? I've signed contractuals back in May and am still waiting, but my patience is really, really, really being tested right now! What is the legal position on this ...... can I just cancel my debit and walk away from the situation? Because Smart certainly haven't fulfilled their side of the agreement (connection within 25 days etc). And I have the gut feeling that Smart (if it survives tomorrow) is going to concentrate and consolidate their core and already-existing customer base to the detriment of new subscribers.

Sponge Bob

there is no reason they should not be progressing new signups like you.

Liam Byrne

Personally, I can't recommend Smart enough, and I'm really, really hoping that everything works out well for them tomorrow.

I've had my broadband, outgoing and incoming calls back for the last few weeks; in fact, the only thing eircom managed to do was kill my incoming calls, and since very few people have that number (since I had to change it during the year because of eircom) that wasn't a huge issue.

Even if things don't go well tomorrow, though, I'm sticking with Smart for as long as they are in business......the price and package beats the pants off everyone else, and if I do have to switch at some stage in the future then fine - I'll have saved a fortune and had the best package in the meantime....

JNive

3g decision is tomorrow
EGM to decide on Murtagh bid is also tomorrow
Apparently Murtagh already has 51% to back the main 3 proposals ( transfer of assets, liabilities and customers )
he requires 75% for the remaining two ( delisting from AIM and change of company title, required as Murtagh intends to transfer and use the Smart Telecom Brand himself, which means the exisitng smart shareholders cant use that name, obviously ).

Tomorrow is going to be very interesting

opinionated

Can I be the first one to smugly say - it's not magic, it's ****e.

JNive

how is it may i please know, who else is able to offer THE best dsl service in this country?, who else provides 6mbps/512mbps uncontended, unlimited for EUR35 per month in this country, who else is actually trying to offer customers a good service for a good price.

Now tell me whats ****e

Liam Byrne

Can I be the first one to smugly say - it's not magic, it's ****e

You can, but instead of "smugly", I'd suggest the word "incorrectly", and instead of writing such posts here, I'd suggest you write to eircom, ComReg, and the Government departments asking why eircom weren't forced to implement number portability so that EVERYONE could have line rental + 6MB uncontended broadband + calls for just €35 per month.

But hey, if you'd prefer to post remarks like that while paying the extra cost, work away......

simp

Smart have lost their 3G case...
http://www.rte.ie/business/2006/1031/smart.html

JNive

unfortunate but i giess not surprising, at least the takeover was approved though, meaning service will continue uninterrupted [fingers crossed]

Dellas

This is a very bad day for Smart , from what I heard they were counting on this to get them out of the current crisis. I wonder what the future holds!! It sounds to me like a slippery slope to shut down !!!

Hornet

Liam Byrne wrote:

You can, but instead of "smugly", I'd suggest the word "incorrectly", and instead of writing such posts here, I'd suggest you write to eircom, ComReg, and the Government departments asking why eircom weren't forced to implement number portability so that EVERYONE could have line rental + 6MB uncontended broadband + calls for just €35 per month.

But hey, if you'd prefer to post remarks like that while paying the extra cost, work away......

I admire your loyalty, but you have to admit that they screwed up! If you run a company then you are only smart until your company goes belly-up!

YOu are right in saying that there were lots of outside forces that didn't make life easy for Smart, but if you want to run a successful business you have to react to the challenges in such a way that you don't fizzle away heaps of money for nothing.

Smart screwed up when they invested in just everything and the acting CEO even admitted that today. They screwed up when they put all their money on the mobile phone licence. They screwed up when they employed more and more and more people despite the fact that the business was NOT going well.

So it COULD have been smart in an ideal world, but it wasn't. The outcome of today's EGM is clear proof of that!

The coming months will show if they have a chance to survive and in order to survive they need loyal customers like Liam Byrne, but I expect that they will be hard to find after today.

--Hornet

Liam Byrne

Hindsight is great, and yes, if anyone could have foreseen how awkward LLU and GLUMP would be in practice, they would have eased off on the advertising spend until they were certain that the rug couldn't be pulled from under them. As you said yourself, "in an ideal world"......

So Smart are guilty as charged of naieveté (sp?) and over-enthusiasm, but (and this is a big but) the loyalty coming from me toward a business that you said you admire does not come easily from me - they need to earn it, and Smart are one of the very few companies that have impressed me over the past while.

Maybe that is for the same reason that they have failed their investors, in that they put the customer, services and competitive pricing ahead of investors (if so, fair play) and that is now why investors don't like them.

As for Smart having other other loyal customers - eircom's tactics and subsequent lies in adverts backfired in that regard; anyone who stayed with Smart is sticking with them.....hopefully that will be enough.

If not, I'm a realist, and I'll gladly look through the other available options if and when the need arises, but until then I'll stick with the broadband package that is both the cheapest and the best.

Foxwood

Dellas wrote:

This is a very bad day for Smart , from what I heard they were counting on this to get them out of the current crisis.

Brendan Murtagh wouldn't have been able to buy the company for €1 if the shareholders had a strong expectation of winning the 3G license. That possibility had not been a major factor in the reconfiguration of the company in recent weeks. It would have been gravy if it had come through, but it wasn't seen as necessary for moving forward successfully.

Tanja

I have been offline since Oct 2nd and it does not seem as if we would be reconnected...have the impression Smart tries to cheat on us..for weeks they r telling us "u will be reconnected tomorrow.."..what has happened so far? NOTHING! The question is - is it eircom's fault or smart's? What to do? Continue waiting or changing to another provider? (e.g. irishbroadband)..and: how long would this take?? Advice needed :-)

MOH

Liam Byrne wrote:

Hindsight is great, and yes, if anyone could have foreseen how awkward LLU and GLUMP would be in practice, they would have eased off on the advertising spend until they were certain that the rug couldn't be pulled from under them. As you said yourself, "in an ideal world"......

So Smart are guilty as charged of naieveté (sp?) and over-enthusiasm, but (and this is a big but) the loyalty coming from me toward a business that you said you admire does not come easily from me - they need to earn it, and Smart are one of the very few companies that have impressed me over the past while.

Maybe that is for the same reason that they have failed their investors, in that they put the customer, services and competitive pricing ahead of investors (if so, fair play) and that is now why investors don't like them.

As for Smart having other other loyal customers - eircom's tactics and subsequent lies in adverts backfired in that regard; anyone who stayed with Smart is sticking with them.....hopefully that will be enough.

If not, I'm a realist, and I'll gladly look through the other available options if and when the need arises, but until then I'll stick with the broadband package that is both the cheapest and the best.

Ditto to that.

I gave Eircom a chance first, and they ripped me off and ignored my complaints.

I chose Smart because they've given me great value for money, and decent technical service. The only billing issues I had with them were quickly resolved.

I'm sick of monopolies in this country treating their customers like dirt, giving appalling service, and getting away with it because people have no choice.

I'll stick with Smart broadband as long as it survives.

Xterminator

I echo that.

Smart's service is rock solid. Great product, and eircoms not getting my €€€'s. Cant speak highly enough of them.

X

steve-o

Xterminator wrote:

eircoms not getting my €€€'s

They're still getting your line rental from Smart!

Despite the recent disruption I'm willing to stick with them as long as they keep delivering a great product. Customer service sucks (don't they all), but tech support is top notch.

Vunderground

This page: http://www.smarttelecom.ie/

Seems to say that Smart are dropping their residential phone service and that those who have a phone/broadband service will still keep the phone. A bit confusing. So will people who decide to go with their broadband still have to change telephone numbers? Seems like it.

Shame things aren't working out for them.

JNive

correct. if you get broadband package, you still are able to get the phone service also, like always. its a different voice platform to their 'Voice-Only' packages

opinionated

Liam Byrne wrote:

But hey, if you'd prefer to post remarks like that while paying the extra cost, work away......

Calm down...you are lucky to have even smelt broadband...here's my problem - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=52296789

Liam Byrne

So let me get this straight.....you have been waiting for a year for DIGIWEB to process your order, and you use that as the basis to call SMART (a completely different company) "****e" ?

Liam Byrne

opinionated wrote:

Precisely

That's a level of logic that's only previously been seen on "Just Jade" or "Bush's war on terror"......