Smart telecom advert on Boards!

kelle

I thought they were gone!

AlmightyCushion

Nope and according to the lads on the broadband they'd be the best broadband provider in the country by a mile.

tallus

Pity their customer care is absolutely ****e.
They were charging me, or trying to charge me for someone elses phone calls over a 6 month period.
Took me many phone calls and shouting down the phone and a call to comreg to finally get it sorted out.
Absolutely piss poor people to deal with, they even had debt collectors knocking on my door. Luckily I wasn't home at the time.

BuffyBot

Not gone, just slightly less ambitious than they used to be..

The_Hustler

They were only gone for like 3 days in most cases, for me it was 3 months! I'm still with them though, very cheap!

Boston

Never went anywhere, and I never had my service stopped. Minor increase in price due to an increase in line rental charges.

spurious

Best provider in the country by a mile.

AlmightyCushion

spurious wrote:

Best provider in the country by a mile.

What did I tell ya OP?

smellslikeshoes

kelle wrote:

I thought they were gone!

Nope they are still providing the best broadband in Ireland. Its a pity that so many people believed eircoms rubbish at the time and believed they closed down.

Sid71

If I change to smart can I still keep my phone number?

barrett1965

Sid71 wrote:

If I change to smart can I still keep my phone number?

AFAIK, no.

Boston

Its more a case of yes and no last i heard. Yes theres apparently a system in place but it takes something like 6 months to work though so afaik smart don't use it.

Marlow

Boston wrote:

Its more a case of yes and no last i heard. Yes theres apparently a system in place but it takes something like 6 months to work though so afaik smart don't use it.

Eircom will make it as difficult as possible, down to the dot in the spelling of the customer address. If you spell your name, address etc. exactly (to the dot !!!) as on the eircom invoice it might go swiftly enuff ...

If you don't (like using "Road", instead of "Rd." --> actual case), they'll just refuse the transfer AND delay your bill, disconnect you for non payment of bill as soon as they can, to make it impossible to move the number.

/Marlow

kelle

I'm glad they're not gone down the swannee! Don't know if I'd risk transferring over to them, though, Eircom made my life hell when I transferred to BT that I ended up having no choice but to return to Eircom!

spurious

kelle wrote:

I'm glad they're not gone down the swannee! Don't know if I'd risk transferring over to them, though, Eircom made my life hell when I transferred to BT that I ended up having no choice but to return to Eircom!

That's what eircom count on - make it as difficult as possible to move and no-one will bother - hell of a way to hang on to your customers, eh?

No-one I have recommended Smart to has regretted it, they've all saved a whack of dosh and I get to ring them for free.

Liam Byrne

Sid71 wrote:

If I change to smart can I still keep my phone number?

Apparently this situation will be clarified over the next few weeks....that's what - only about 2 years after ComReg said everything was just fine and dandy and number portability was available and working :rolleyes:

As for Smart being "gone" - thankfully not......I reckon I've been saving at least €60 per month compared to an equivalent service* from eircom.

Personally eircom's stunt last year didn't interrupt bb or outgoing calls, but it was very sneaky that I was completely unaware that I had no incoming calls.....I just thought I'd suddenly gotten very unpopular Seriously, though, because of the imposed change of number, very few people had the land-line number so it was almost a non-event.

I can't really fault Smart's customer service the couple of times I've had to deal with them, either.....if I was pushed and had to split hairs, I'd say I could come up with one hiccup in the relationship, but nothing really bad or inforgiveable.

Highly recommended, and great to see them advertising again!

*assuming there was one, which there isn't

byte

Another thumbs up here for Smart!

chrislad

Will be getting SMART once I get my own house. Renting for the next 3 months or so and SMART require a 12 month contract, which is non transferrable between addresses.

Gerard_Smith

Smart does look inviting but unfortunately seems to be completely unavailable in large portions of the country (including where I am!).

Is this Eircom making life difficult for them?

Marlow

Gerard_Smith wrote:

Smart does look inviting but unfortunately seems to be completely unavailable in large portions of the country (including where I am!).

Is this Eircom making life difficult for them?

It's down to the cost of getting equipment and bandwidth into the exchanges.

10% of the irish exchanges cover somewhat like 90% of the population and eircom requires a 6 digit amount to get established in an exchange. That's before you've put kit in there.

The next step is then to get bandwidth in there. Smart uses ESB and the MANs for connectivity back to Dublin, so if they can't get that, they probably opt for not enabling an exchange. Eircom's fiber would be too expensive and again, we know the business relationship there.

The nice thing now, if you are a business that has fiber from them is, that they can provide you PRI truncs (30 lines ISDN or split of that) "eircom free" directly over the fiber. No chance of Eircom pulling the plug on that, at least not on the last mile.

/Marlow

ircoha

kelle wrote:

I thought they were gone!

back doing BB and corporate fone only: no residential fone
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/06/smart_telecom_takeover/

spurious

You get the phone with the BB and calls to other Smart people are free.

Rather_b_diving

Marlow wrote:

The nice thing now, if you are a business that has fiber from them is, that they can provide you PRI truncs (30 lines ISDN or split of that) "eircom free" directly over the fiber. No chance of Eircom pulling the plug on that, at least not on the last mile.

/Marlow

Yeah but there's still the issue of no one being able to call you if you're on Smart and they can't pay their bill yet again. That happened to all their business customers last time.

I heard they got kicked out of Parkwest recently for poor performance on their IPTV service anyone got an update?

spurious

Smart get that a lot.
People 'heard', people 'thought', some old biddy in eircom 'told' them.

Meanwhile those of us who are their customers just laugh wiht our high speeds, no cap and our low costs.

According to the Smart forums, there was an issue with some hardware in Parkwest which has been fixed. If that is being 'kicked out' I guess they were.

AlmightyCushion

spurious wrote:

Smart get that a lot.
People 'heard', people 'thought', some old biddy in eircom 'told' them.

Meanwhile those of us who are their customers just laugh wiht our high speeds, no cap and our low costs.

According to the Smart forums, there was an issue with some hardware in Parkwest which has been fixed. If that is being 'kicked out' I guess they were.

It's uncontended as well.

Rather_b_diving

I don't live in Parkwest but I hear they're offically gone!

Their broadband wasn't the issue it was their TV service that caused the issue - still a bit of work to do on their IPTV platform

chalkitdown

I have had no problems with Smart since installation over a year ago. My only regret is that Eircom are still making money from me.

Liam Byrne

Rather_b_diving wrote:

Yeah but there's still the issue of no one being able to call you if you're on Smart and they can't pay their bill yet again. That happened to all their business customers last time.

Firstly, that was an eircom action, not a Smart one.....and like I've said before, while eircom are entitled to get paid I can also see how eircom's dragging their heels on the LLU stuff that they were legally obliged to do meant that Smart could not be viable - Smart had been promised that this would all be sorted, and it wasn't.

Secondly, the loss of incoming calls for 2 days is nothing compared with saving a fortune every month!

Ardent

Almost 3 years with Smart now. The best move I ever made, their BB offering is peerless.

dub45

Liam Byrne wrote:

Firstly, that was an eircom action, not a Smart one.....and like I've said before, while eircom are entitled to get paid I can also see how eircom's dragging their heels on the LLU stuff that they were legally obliged to do meant that Smart could not be viable - Smart had been promised that this would all be sorted, and it wasn't.

Secondly, the loss of incoming calls for 2 days is nothing compared with saving a fortune every month!

Comreg should have a scheme in place that will ensure that even if Telco goes bang its customers will be able to make and receive calls for a certain period to allow new arrangements to be put in place - otherwise Eircom will always have the upper hand and people will opt for the old reliable.

Rather_b_diving

Ardent wrote:

Almost 3 years with Smart now. The best move I ever made, their BB offering is peerless.

Hmmmm first customer on Smart network - March 2005 now August 2007 - yes thats almost 3 years - say hi to O'Riordan (Smart CEO) when you see him in the corridor

Ardent

Rather_b_diving wrote:

Hmmmm first customer on Smart network - March 2005 now August 2007 - yes thats almost 3 years - say hi to O'Riordan (Smart CEO) when you see him in the corridor

Come again?

Rather_b_diving

I was wrong about Parkwest apparently they got a reprive at the 11th hour - but they're on their final warning...

And for all the Smart fans out there I know their broadband is great -if you can get it.

I predict they'll start hitting the press very soon and relaunch to the market as a new and improved company and then of course we'll get the whole eircom trick of - "lipstick on the pig" relaunch to the stock market and Mr O'Riordan and Mr Murtagh and sons will walk off into the sunset with a pile of cash leaving a company behind that is not viable somethings in telecoms don't change - but mark this age and come back in 6-12 months time......

Liam Byrne

So hang on - you mention that Smart were kicked out of Parkwest and then admit that wasn't true, then you cynically indicate that O'Riordan and Murtagh are in it solely for "a pile of cash" ?

Are you working for eircom or something ? Or with the "if you can get it" comment, were you unable to get it and have a chip on your shoulder ?

Yes, every company is in it to make cash, but if Smart were not in it for the long haul they would have thrown their hat at it when eircom played dirty last year and ComReg not only refused to acknowledge the obstacles that eircom had placed in their way, but also pulled the 3G licence from Smart because of their perceived viability problem....a licence which then coincidentally went to Meteor, an eircom company....hmmm...impeccable timing there, eircom!

If your "mark this [p]age [sic] and come back in 6-12 months time" comment is some snide attempt to imply that Smart won't be here then, I have 2 points to make:

1) If what you're suggesting does come true, we won't be able to come back in 12 months - not without paying at least twice as much for a much more sub-standard broadband....whoopee doo.....

2) People said similar things last Oct/Nov, and since then we've saved a small fortune thanks to Smart by staying put......even if they did only last another 6 months (which I certainly hope will not be the case) we will have saved a fortune, so we'll then (if we have to) make the call then as to who offers the next-best package.

But in the meantime, for price, speed, lack of contention and lack of limits (all 4 primary criteria) plus damn good service, Smart's broadband package blows everything out of the water, and no amount of propaganda or competitive dirt-throwing would make me switch.

Ardent

Liam Byrne wrote:

So hang on - you mention that Smart were kicked out of Parkwest and then admit that wasn't true, then you cynically indicate that O'Riordan and Murtagh are in it solely for "a pile of cash" ?

Are you working for eircom or something ? Or with the "if you can get it" comment, were you unable to get it and have a chip on your shoulder ?

Yes, every company is in it to make cash, but if Smart were not in it for the long haul they would have thrown their hat at it when eircom played dirty last year and ComReg not only refused to acknowledge the obstacles that eircom had placed in their way, but also pulled the 3G licence from Smart because of their perceived viability problem....a licence which then coincidentally went to Meteor, an eircom company....hmmm...impeccable timing there, eircom!

If your "mark this [p]age [sic] and come back in 6-12 months time" comment is some snide attempt to imply that Smart won't be here then, I have 2 points to make:

1) If what you're suggesting does come true, we won't be able to come back in 12 months - not without paying at least twice as much for a much more sub-standard broadband....whoopee doo.....

2) People said similar things last Oct/Nov, and since then we've saved a small fortune thanks to Smart by staying put......even if they did only last another 6 months (which I certainly hope will not be the case) we will have saved a fortune, so we'll then (if we have to) make the call then as to who offers the next-best package.

But in the meantime, for price, speed, lack of contention and lack of limits (all 4 primary criteria) plus damn good service, Smart's broadband package blows everything out of the water, and no amount of propaganda or competitive dirt-throwing would make me switch.

Amen.

jimbozo

Another satisfied Smart customer here.

dub45

Rather_b_diving wrote:

I was wrong about Parkwest apparently they got a reprive at the 11th hour - but they're on their final warning...

And for all the Smart fans out there I know their broadband is great -if you can get it.

I predict they'll start hitting the press very soon and relaunch to the market as a new and improved company and then of course we'll get the whole eircom trick of - "lipstick on the pig" relaunch to the stock market and Mr O'Riordan and Mr Murtagh and sons will walk off into the sunset with a pile of cash leaving a company behind that is not viable somethings in telecoms don't change - but mark this age and come back in 6-12 months time......

If the Company is as blatantly unviable as you appear to believe or want to believe - how would anyone make a pile of cash out of launching it on the stock market?

tak

What of it if Murtagh and Riordan build it to the point that it is viewed as worthy of floatation or even a lucrative trade sale ?
These scenarios will only happen if the business is profitable - and that can only happen to Smart if it satisfies market needs better than its rivals.
If it does that then we are all better off: Smart customers as they are "getting it" and other b/b users as the competition of Smart is raising the bar for their providers.:D

spurious

You'd have to wonder just what Smart are doing so right that they seem to worry some people so much that they resort to outright lies and sad 'predictions' to try put the mockers on them.

the corpo

smart broadband service is great indeed, but the television is woeful, and it's disheartening that they can get away with it.

i live in earlswood, the entire development is *only* serviced by smartvision, and everyone has trouble with it. channels can take minutes to load, and it's riddled with constant glitching and stuttering.

thing is, since tv was deregulated in 2003, they don't have *anyone* so answer to other than the consumer. seeing as the consumer has no other choice of tv provider they;re screwed.

i was a big fan of smart, had their broadband since the beginning, and thought they were an admirable crowd, but this service is appalling and their lack of commitment to resolve it is disgraceful

steve-o

Regarding Smartvision, it is complete madness that any company should be allowed a monopoly of supply in any area or development. I think some misguided management companies have signed long term exclusive supply deals that restrict residents from having choice. Even if the quality of service was decent, I still think people should be entitled to choice. Comreg, where are you?

the corpo

that's the funny thing
i rang comreg about this and the lady i spoke to lives in such a development and was equally upset.
basically under EU law, television providers don't have to answer to anyone, and Comreg are powerless over them

bk

the corpo wrote:

that's the funny thing
i rang comreg about this and the lady i spoke to lives in such a development and was equally upset.
basically under EU law, television providers don't have to answer to anyone, and Comreg are powerless over them

Of course under EU law, you are also perfectly entitled to put up a small and discreet satellite dish, no matter what the management company claims.

dub45

the corpo wrote:

smart broadband service is great indeed, but the television is woeful, and it's disheartening that they can get away with it.

i live in earlswood, the entire development is *only* serviced by smartvision, and everyone has trouble with it. channels can take minutes to load, and it's riddled with constant glitching and stuttering.

thing is, since tv was deregulated in 2003, they don't have *anyone* so answer to other than the consumer. seeing as the consumer has no other choice of tv provider they;re screwed.

i was a big fan of smart, had their broadband since the beginning, and thought they were an admirable crowd, but this service is appalling and their lack of commitment to resolve it is disgraceful

Has nobody yet tried the Joe Duffy route on this topic? Surely bad publicity is the only way to get Smart to act but also to raise the matter as a general issue as it must be affecting more and more people?