eircom landline

Sam Vimes

i'm renting a house and was trying to get a landline put in, which i want to switch to bt immediately. i wanted to avoid talking to eircom altogether but i was told that it'd be faster that way.

anyway, i was told that there's 500 euro owed from a previous tenant. the guy at eircom told me her name even though he wasn't supposed to and i rang the landlord. she said no one by that name ever lived in the house.

eircom won't put in a landline until this is sorted out and won't talk to me about it because i'm only a tenant. is there anything i can do about this? what a previous tenant owes is not my problem and i need a landline in the house

Sizzler

Who's name was the bill in? You arent responsible for their lack of credit worthyness, tell them under no circumstances will you accept any responsibility for the previous tenants debt.

Thats eircoms lack of collection practices, not your fault.

They have a universal service obligation so they HAVE to provide YOU with service.

As soon as they tell you the line is live then get the eircom account number from them and get onto BT or whoever and get the ball rolling for them to switch you over, and if eircom try and charge you for service in advance only pay them for the time you actually were on their network, dont entertain 2 months in advance etc.

Cabaal

You could go off the rails stating they've broken the data protection act by giving you out somebody else's details and just go through their esculation procedure till you get to someone that has the cop on to realise that somebody else's debt is not your problem.

Has worked for me loads of times (going through companys esculation procedures that is with BT, Three etc)

Sleipnir

Sizzler wrote:

They have a universal service obligation so they HAVE to provide YOU with service.

Really? They have to give you a phone line if you ask for one? They're a private company and can do business with whomever they like.

OP, it's not your house so they don't have to give you a phone line. As the original line was installed in the landlord's property, they can't really install a phone line there without his permission. Nor do they have to put one in if 500 euro is owed by the previous tenant. Have you asked the landlord who the previous tenant was?

Sizzler

Sleipnir wrote:

Really? They have to give you a phone line if you ask for one? They're a private company and can do business with whomever they like.

50% of your statement was right

They are the incumbent, they own the residual telecoms network hence they have to provide new punters with service. Jesus, don't pass comment on something if you dont understand it. Its quite plain someone elses debt is not the OP's problem, its eircoms.

Sleipnir

They're a private company and if they don't want to provide a phone line because there is an unpaid bill at that address, then they don't have to.
I agree that someone elses debt is not the OP's problem but that doesn't mean Eircom HAVE to give this guy a phone line.

"They have a universal service obligation so they HAVE to provide YOU with service."

What is a "universal" service obligation? I've never heard of it.

EDIT

Oh wait, I found some stuff on it, mostly at Ofcom relating to being about to provide some sort of internet connection regardless of geographic location but that doesn't mean that HAVE to give you a phone line even if they have outstanding bills at that address.
So I can get a phone line, never pay my bills but they can't cut me off? That's ridiculous.

Rebeller

Sleipnir wrote:

They're a private company and if they don't want to provide a phone line because there is an unpaid bill at that address, then they don't have to.
I agree that someone elses debt is not the OP's problem but that doesn't mean Eircom HAVE to give this guy a phone line.

"They have a universal service obligation so they HAVE to provide YOU with service."

What is a "universal" service obligation? I've never heard of it.

EDIT

Oh wait, I found some stuff on it, mostly at Ofcom relating to being about to provide some sort of internet connection regardless of geographic location but that doesn't mean that HAVE to give you a phone line even if they have outstanding bills at that address.
So I can get a phone line, never pay my bills but they can't cut me off? That's ridiculous.

One person cannot be held liable for another's debt (except for husband's being responsible for their wife's tax arrears and other specific exceptions, but that's off topic)

Since eircom was a state owned public utility owning all telephone line infrastructure in the state it would not have been reasonable after privitisation for the new eircom private monopoly to be able to pick and choose who they would provide telephone service to.

It would seem unlikely that eircom can legally refuse to honour their universal service obligation to provide you with a phone line because a third party's unpaid debt.

I would recommend getting in touch with the toothless bureaucracy that is Comreg and maybe contacting a national radio station to highlight the issue (I'm sure you're not the first to suffer eircom's bullying incompetence).

As Sizzler has said, unpaid debt is the fault of lax collection practices on the part of eircom. It would seem that eircom are using denial of service as a cheap means of getting new subscribers to collect their debts. Don't back down. The company should never have been privitised. Make sure the b*stard5 get your line installed and up and running

cast_iron

I think some people are jumping the gun a bit here.

I doubt Eircom have an obligation to provide everyone with a working phone. If that was the case, I could demand them to provide a line at a B&B I'm staying at for a few months. Absolute nonsense. Clearly the landlord comes into play.

He is the key here also. He should provide you with the previous tenant details, dates, etc. Cross reference them with Eircom's dates. Speak to someone in authority in Eircom.

What is stopping 3 or 4 tenants running up a big bill, then changing it into the others name and run up another big bill, etc. etc. Clearly Eircom have to protect themselves somehow...

mcaul

Eircom's Universal service obligation is to be able to provide a landline to every home in the state. So if you live in the back of beyonds with your nearest neighbour 3 miles away, eircom must provide a line to the house. Eircom have done this in this case but have rightly disconnected it due to non-payment. It is the landlords problem as its his house and he should provide eircom with a forwarding address for the previous client.

Eircom will probably want a deposit or want the bills paid by Direct debit to set it up again. - Alternative is to go for wireless broadband and get an 076 internet phone number - more & more people are doing this!

Sam Vimes

Sleipnir wrote:

Have you asked the landlord who the previous tenant was?

the guy at eircom gave us the previous tenant's name. no one by that name ever lived in the house

mcaul wrote:

Eircom will probably want a deposit or want the bills paid by Direct debit to set it up again. - Alternative is to go for wireless broadband and get an 076 internet phone number - more & more people are doing this!

in the meantime i got ripwave because its literally the only option open to me. my god is it sh*te

bardcom

mcaul wrote:

Eircom's Universal service obligation is to be able to provide a landline to every home in the state. So if you live in the back of beyonds with your nearest neighbour 3 miles away, eircom must provide a line to the house.

Of course, this doesn't mean that they have to do it for free though. Won't they just charge you for the cost?

Sam Vimes

bardcom wrote:

Of course, this doesn't mean that they have to do it for free though. Won't they just charge you for the cost?

well they can't charge me and i don't see how they can charge the landlord either. neither of our names are on the bill.

i don't want a landline from eircom. my plan was to switch it to bt as soon as i got an account number. do you think this'll make a difference?

Nody

Commander Vimes wrote:

i don't want a landline from eircom. my plan was to switch it to bt as soon as i got an account number. do you think this'll make a difference?

Telling a company you're switching to a competitor (and hence not even make said company money) and want to get them to waive their debt because of it, well what do you think?

Sam Vimes

rang eircom there. turns out the last woman was completely wrong and all i have to do is provide a tenancy agreement and the landline can be connected that day

Colonel Sanders

that kind of rubbish sounds about right. Eircom are without a shadow of a doubt the biggest comedy show of a company i have ever dealt with.

mcaul

in the meantime i got ripwave because its literally the only option open to me. my god is it sh*te[/QUOTE]


I see you have had problems with THREE Mobile - Maybe be nice to them cos their launching their 3.6mb wireless broadband service nationwide at the end of Feb. 39.99 per month for 3000mb service!

http://www.three.ie/ihandsets/datacards.html

Beats the heel out of vodafone's 49.99 / month for a 240kbs service!

I know one user in Dublin and he thinks it better than any BB service out there. - I just hope I can get coverage in the bog of Kildare.

cast_iron

Commander Vimes wrote:

rang eircom there. turns out the last woman was completely wrong and all i have to do is provide a tenancy agreement and the landline can be connected that day

So a big fuss over nothing.

Next time try ringing Eircom back instead of asking a group of strangers.