Eircom threat to charge for exceeding download limit

gs39t

I got a letter from eircom today which basically threatens to charge for exceeding the download limit if i dont upgrade to a better package. The stats link (which ive never used, and am highly suspicious of) says im using 40-60GB a month with a 20GB limit (home plus).

Anyone else get one of these letters? Think its just a scare tactic or will they actually start to charge?

Firetrap

Have you checked out your stats on the Eircom website? You'd be surprised how easy it is to go over your limit, especially if you start downloading stuff off P2P or streaming YouTube. You might not trust it but I assume the stats on this page are the same as what they're going by.

gs39t

Firetrap wrote:

Have you checked out your stats on the Eircom website? You'd be surprised how easy it is to go over your limit, especially if you start downloading stuff off P2P or streaming YouTube. You might not trust it but I assume the stats on this page are the same as what they're going by.

I KNOW im using that much, but for example right now it says July 2nd with 1.5 GB downloaded, but ive downloaded 8GB or so.

Thats not really the issue though; ive had eircom BB for several years now and all of a sudden they say they are going to charge? Im wondering how serious they are, or if they just want to scare people to upgrade

dub45

gs39t wrote:

I KNOW im using that much, but for example right now it says July 2nd with 1.5 GB downloaded, but ive downloaded 8GB or so.

Thats not really the issue though; ive had eircom BB for several years now and all of a sudden they say they are going to charge? Im wondering how serious they are, or if they just want to scare people to upgrade

A mind reader has yet to appear on boards. The Chief Executive of Eircom is unlikely to signal their intentions regarding charges for exceeding the cap on boards of all places. When you signed up for Eircoms product you accepted terms and conditions regarding a cap and regarding their right to charge. If you have a 20G cap and you are using twice to three times that then you can have no complaints if and when they do charge.

Given that they took the time, trouble and expense to write to you I would take the strong hint that they are watching you!

Sponge Bob

The excess charge is €36 a Gb .

T and C

http://www.eircom.ie/bveircom/pdf/bb_tcs.pdf

Now my reading is that they can make you upgrade and THEN hit you with the excess charges for about 6 months back as well , Item 2.3

They can also cut you off for failing to accept their suggestion that you upgrade and THEN hit you with the excess charges for about 6 months back .

The Customer agrees to be bound
by the Monthly Upload and Monthly Download Limits
attaching to its selected level of the Facility. In the event
that Customer usage exceeds the download/ upload
limits attaching to its selected level of the Facility, eircom
may, without prejudice to its right to charge the
Customer for the excess usage in accordance with the
Regulations, request the Customer to select a level more
appropriate to its usage. In the event of the Customer
refusing or neglecting to select an alternative level of
the Facility, eircom may, upon due notice, terminate the
provision of the Facility to the Customer.

Do you feel lucky ???

I have had home plus with a 20gb limit for six months now but have never gone over limit. However its more by luck than judgment..Why? Because they hardly ever update the usage stats page for me. Right now its still stuck on July 1st.

I've posted here a couple of times about it and been told they never charge for going over...

If I do go over my defence will be they failed to keep the usage stats page updated and I simply had no way of knowing how much I used.

dub45

Deleted User wrote:

I have had home plus with a 20gb limit for six months now but have never gone over limit.

However its more by luck than judgment..Why? Because they hardly ever update the usage stats page for me. Right now its still stuck on July 1st.

I've posted here a couple of times about it and been told they never charge for going over...

If I do go over my defence will be they failed to keep the usage stats page updated and I simply had no way of knowing how much I used.

Given that you are a good boy (or girl) as the case may be they are likely to take that into account if you did err. It appears that gs39t is a persistent offender and has thus attracted their attention.

There have been many posts on here recommending downloadable programs for measuring your usage.

Cabaal

Interesting,
I'm curious is this a sign of Eircom getting strict in relation to their caps as a way of making more money by forcing people onto higher priced packages.

Certainly might be the start of things to come,

Sponge Bob

They may have a few exchanges where they do not have enough backhaul too. The hogs would stand out there.

dub45

dub45 wrote:

There have been many posts on here recommending downloadable programs for measuring your usage.

I have NetMeter but when the eircom usage stats page were working the two would differ. It's fair enough to charge me if I go over the limit but not if they can't be bothered to keep the official usage page updated.

event

about time they started this too

dub45

Cabaal wrote:

Interesting,
I'm curious is this a sign of Eircom getting strict in relation to their caps as a way of making more money by forcing people onto higher priced packages.

Certainly might be the start of things to come,

A warning letter to someone on their own admission using up to three times the montly allowance is hardly draconian to say the least!

Liam Byrne

Cabaal wrote:

Interesting,
I'm curious is this a sign of Eircom getting strict in relation to their caps as a way of making more money by forcing people onto higher priced packages.

Certainly might be the start of things to come,

...or a way of getting them to switch to the companies that don't have caps

errm I'm in Limerick. Are there any companies offering bb without caps available in my neck of the woods?

Cabaal

dub45 wrote:

A warning letter to someone on their own admission using up to three times the montly allowance is hardly draconian to say the least!

I fully agree, its simple Eircom enforcing their Terms & Conditions they people signed up to when they signed up to Eircom Broadband, eircom are certainly not in the wrong in this situation in anyway

Its just interesting to see them finally enforcing their own T&C's, and yes I'd agree if people are not happy they will vote with their feet and move elsewhere

Cabaal

Deleted User wrote:

errm I'm in Limerick. Are there any companies offering bb without caps available in my neck of the woods?

UTV Internet offer a "unlimited" option, take a look at their website

Also check if Smart is in your area, again check your their website

dub45

#Elites wrote:

so the OP went over the limit by 40gb.. so 40x36 = 1440€ he would have to pay? :eek:

--

Ive gone over my 20gb limit a few times, by like 1-5gb, never got any hassle.

Its because your abusing the system, i mean what did you expect, if they say their limit is 20gb and you go and download 60gb worth of stuff (which i think is a bit..hard to do in a month!?)

Sometimes I get the feeling that certain people on here are almost wishing that Eircom would start to charge for exceeding the cap - that it would give them a sort of perverse pleasure to be able to bash Eircom over something else. Eircom are amongst the most flexible of isps when it comes to downloading and that is rarely acknowledged on here. It would be interesting to read the actual letter that original poster got from them.

In the meantime I wonder how long the cap has been getting a hammering? http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054850896&referrerid=&highlight=

bloke

Liam Byrne wrote:

...or a way of getting them to switch to the companies that don't have caps

I'm sure eircom, like any ISP, wouldn't be too upset to lose an excessive bandwidth user and get much more revenue per Gb from people downloading a lot less and paying the same subscription.

In fact rounding up a (small minority) of huge bandwidth users and shipping them off to a competitor is probably a dream come true for the bean counters!

dub45

bloke wrote:

I'm sure eircom, like any ISP, wouldn't be too upset to lose an excessive bandwidth user and get much more revenue per Gb from people downloading a lot less and paying the same subscription.

In fact rounding up a (small minority) of huge bandwidth users and shipping them off to a competitor is probably a dream come true for the bean counters!

Not forgetting the beneficial impact too on the 'law abiding' customers who do not download 'linux distros' on a daily basis and whose contention rates are hammered by said miffed huge bandwidth users.

H2G2

Since reading this thread, I have tried to look at my usage on Eircom web site and keep getting error message Error retrieving your dsl stats, please try again later and yes I am using the correct phone & a/c nos. Makes me think, if they want to charge for excess usage, they should have a better monitoring system.

jor el

gs39t wrote:

I got a letter from eircom today which basically threatens to charge for exceeding the download limit if i dont upgrade to a better package. The stats link (which ive never used, and am highly suspicious of) says im using 40-60GB a month with a 20GB limit (home plus).

Anyone else get one of these letters? Think its just a scare tactic or will they actually start to charge?

To me this actually looks like a pretty reasonable letter. They don't say they will charge you and they don't say they're cutting you off, unlike other ISPs have (NTL). They're asking you to pay for the highest package since you are a heavy user, this is reasonable enough.

If you don't upgrade, and since you've been warned, I'd imagine they'd either cut you off or charge you some sort of fee, maybe not the 3c per MB in the T&Cs, but I'd be almost certain they will do something.

From eircom's point of view, if you're using more allowance on a low package than is given on the higher package, then you should be using the higher one.

I can't believe I'm actually writing in favour of eircom!

shinzon

I have to say i dont see anything wrong with what eircom are saying either, plain and simple there asking you to stop exceeding your download limit and if the download limit is to low for you then the alternative is to upgrade

Sounds reasonable enough to me, and dear god ive just defended eircom

:eek:

wanty

flodis79

OP: Any chance you could post up the letter here?

How many months have you gone over the limit by 2-300 % (40-60 GB)?

dub45

Surely anyone downloading 40-60 G a month does not need a download meter to tell them they are exceeding the cap? If you are downloading an average of up to 2G a day its not youtube or streaming radio that's doing it is it?