Changing from Eircom?

For the same price as I'm paying for a Eircom 7mb bundle I could get UPC 15mb with an unlimited (FUP) download limit. Am I crazy to be staying with Eircom? Is it as simple as that? I must say besides the easily fixed DNS problems Eircom BB has been great for me. Just looking for some advice really...I could change and UPC might be crap!

kamin99

Deleted User wrote: »

For the same price as I'm paying for a Eircom 7mb bundle I could get UPC 15mb with an unlimited (FUP) download limit. Am I crazy to be staying with Eircom? Is it as simple as that? I must say besides the easily fixed DNS problems Eircom BB has been great for me. Just looking for some advice really...I could change and UPC might be crap!

I'm in the same boat, changed last week to UPC 30mb and only getting 15 upload and 1.5 DL ,still have my eircom as I'm afraid that UPC wont be stable, I had no issues with eircom for 7 years now
UPC did not disconnect once in the last week since I signed up so fingers crossed .If they correct their speed with me I should be happy with it even more

dub45

I cannot resist the opportunity to remind prospective customers of UPC's appallingly fascist terms and condtions of which there are 22 pages not to mention their usage policy which has to be added in. Dont forget that under their terms and conditions UPC have apparently no obligation at all to customers:

2.2 In supplying the Services we will always use our reasonable skill and care but are
unable to guarantee fault free performance. The Services are provided on a best efforts
basis and we do not warrant that any connection to, transmission over, or results of the
Equipment or the Services will meet your requirements or will provide uninterrupted use
or will operate as required or at any minimum speed, or error free. We can not
guarantee minimum bandwidth delivered to you and we can not guarantee that all data
traffic can be transported complete and without delay. If a fault occurs you should notify
us by contacting our customer management centre. If you are unable to access the
Services, you remain liable to pay all Charges that would otherwise apply.

They also penalise you if you do not pay by direct debit. If you miss a direct debit payment they impose a charge on you of €11 which they do not advise customers of in advance (meaning that to miss a direct debit can cost you almost 25 euros when bank charges are added in).

the_law

I read that too - I'd be very interested to see how far that held up in court. Not very would be my guess... think Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1995).

Basically if a term in a contract is 'unfair' on the consumer, it shall not be binding in law. Schedule 3 to the Regulations specifies certain terms that are considered unfair, here are a few:

( b ) inappropriately excluding or limiting the legal rights of the consumer vis-a-vis the seller or supplier or another party in the event of total or partial non-performance or inadequate performance by the seller or supplier of any of the contractual obligations

( c ) making an agreement binding on the consumer whereas provision of services by the seller or supplier is subject to a condition whose realization depends on his own will alone

( d ) permitting the seller or supplier to retain sums paid by the consumer where the latter decides not to conclude or perform the contract, without providing for the consumer to receive compensation of an equivalent amount from the seller or supplier where the latter is the party cancelling the contract

dub45

They know they are on safe ground because the average customer is never going to bring them to court. It baffles me who Comreg can allow clauses like that to be incorporated into Terms and Condtions.

It also speaks volumes on the integrity of any company that inserts a clause like that into terms and condtions. Not to mention all the times they use the words 'We are entitled'. Why should any consumer who wants broadband or a tv service or a phone service have to wade through 22 pages of terms and condtions? Its ridiculous.