Trying to add UPC broadband without direct debit

Sir Orfeo

Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone can help me with this UPC scenario. We already have a UPC television subscription which we pay through the Post Office. We've been having terrible problems with our current broadband so we're hoping to move that to UPC too. I can register fine with MyUPC but when I try and sign up for broadband online the only option it gives is payment by direct debit. Now I know UPC are eager to get everyone to sign up to DD but my father is against DD and I'm moving out in a few months and don't want to have it taken from my account. I presume I'm going to have to ring them up to order but that's going to mean I get hit by an extra charge for not ordering online as well as an additional charge for not using DD per month.

I was hoping originally to get them the 15mb €32 package as it has the free router and is less than what we're currently paying for broadband. Are we going to get hit by the standalone €7.75 charge too because of some hidden T&C thing about it not being DD too? I thought it'd be so simple to add in broadband to our existing bill but it's turning out to be a right pain so I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice before they try and sell me on DD when I ring them up next week.

probe

Sir Orfeo wrote: »

Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone can help me with this UPC scenario. We already have a UPC television subscription which we pay through the Post Office. We've been having terrible problems with our current broadband so we're hoping to move that to UPC too. I can register fine with MyUPC but when I try and sign up for broadband online the only option it gives is payment by direct debit. Now I know UPC are eager to get everyone to sign up to DD but my father is against DD and I'm moving out in a few months and don't want to have it taken from my account. I presume I'm going to have to ring them up to order but that's going to mean I get hit by an extra charge for not ordering online as well as an additional charge for not using DD per month.

I was hoping originally to get them the 15mb €32 package as it has the free router and is less than what we're currently paying for broadband. Are we going to get hit by the standalone €7.75 charge too because of some hidden T&C thing about it not being DD too? I thought it'd be so simple to add in broadband to our existing bill but it's turning out to be a right pain so I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice before they try and sell me on DD when I ring them up next week.

Your father is spot on.... don't trust UPC with DD - it is a blank cheque on your account. Don't trust anyone with DD. Don't give anyone a blank cheque. Ever. UPC is exploiting its cable TV monopoly with their demand for DD and surcharging anyone who doesn't comply by €2 to €12 per month.

A racket that the ESB or eircom wouldn't get away with.

Dozy comreg.ie is asleep. Comreg is a waste of money.

Yet another reason for open fibre to the home FTTP - giving one the choice to shop around between cable and internet providers - rather than being stuck with UPC's monopolistic no choice but UPC nasty terms of business. Limited channel selection. Unreliable broadband. Awful sound quality on radio and TV channels. And one suspects snooping on people's traffic with little or no respect for their privacy given their history of bans on VPN use by customers.

skywalker

I was actually in an almost identical situation as the OP recently & upc didnt want my business without me signing up for a direct debit.

Sir Orfeo

Thanks for the replies. I agree with my father and probe about DD but we've also had bad experiences with our current provider's mail billing - bills not being sent out, bills lacking the giro, bills containing the wrong account information. In the end we had to pay several months of arrears over the phone by credit card. Considering it took us 2 months to settle our account when we were trying to give THEM money with our current provider I can't imagine how long it would take if they took more than they were meant to by DD.

I notice on the UPC website there's a facility to pay bills by credit card, does that cost the same as DD or post? It seems like the best halfway house considering the above and is a method my father is happy with. UPC have received strong reviews in my area and when I look at the people complaining about speeds in one of the threads here they are getting connections twice as fast as us with half the pings. Connection dropping does seem to be an issue with UPC but that's happening all the time at the moment anyway.

dub45

UPC will charge you 3 euros per billing period if you do not wish to sign up for direct debit.

A €3 charge applies to all bills for non-direct debit customers

http://www.upc.ie/television/digitalplus/

Customers and potential customers should note carefully (very carefully) that if you fail to meet a direct debit payment UPC will charge you 11 euros ´penalty´. In true UPC fashion they do not inform customers or potential customers anywhere on the site (as far as I can see) of this potential charge which is an absolute disgrace. ( I have asked them several times to show me where this charge is communicated on the site - needless to say I am still waiting!)

Taken with the charge administered seperately by the bank (my bank charges 12.50 for a missed direct debit ) it can cost 23.50 if you miss a direct debit payment to UPC!

I suspect UPC are making a considerable amount of money each billing period from this charge given that my bank for example only charges them 97 cents when a customer misses a direct debit and given that my informal information is that 10% of dds are missed each month,

By the way if you miss a direct debit to the ESB they charge you 6 euros - again a charge they do not inform you of in advance.

These sort of charges are an absolute disgrace!.

hightower1

probe wrote: »

UPC is exploiting its cable TV monopoly

AGAIN.... people here need to learn the meaning of the word monopoly....


It means (in economic terms) when a company stops any others selling a similar good or service as to themselves with the intent of eliminating or blocking any form of competition.

UPC do not stop anyone from selling broadband, telephone or digital tv. Using words incorrectly like this is outright sensationalism.

dub45

hightower1 wrote: »

AGAIN.... people here need to learn the meaning of the word monopoly....

Indeed and perhaps you would consider yourself amongst them?

What you describe is according to wikipedia a ´coercive monopoly´.

A monopoly is said to be coercive when the monopoly firm actively prohibits competitors from entering the field.

Monopolies are thus characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods.[2] The verb "monopolize" refers to the process by which a firm gains persistently greater market share than what is expected under perfect competition.

Again the above is from wikipedia. As no one else has access the to the cable system which is entering customers premises and as no one else is offering a ´three in one product´ there is clearly a lack of competition for the products that UPC are offering and this no doubt influenced their decision to purchase NTL and Chorus. (In fact if I recall correctly it was pointed out elsewhere recently in a post by Sponge Bob perhaps that it was their policy in Europe to purchase exactl this type of company). In addition the barriers to entry makes it most unlikely that there will be in the future any real competition for UPC in their chosen market.

So of course UPC may not activelystop others selling bb but no one is going to compete with them in their chosen field.

It is unfortunately that so many people refuse to see the dangers inherent in the power that UCP is gathering not just through its own activities but through other ´fortunate´external circumstances such as the impotence of Eircom, the growth in the use of mobile phones which means even if the line rental was considerably cheaper people no longer need a phone line in their home.

UPC do not stop anyone from selling broadband, telephone or digital tv. Using words incorrectly like this is outright sensationalism.

Using definitions narrowly is surely self serving to say the least?

And speaking of using words incorrectly surely you should be more concerned with UPC´s use of the word ´unlimited´and indeed ´total´?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055878325

hightower1

dub45 wrote: »

Indeed and perhaps you would consider yourself amongst them?

Hello? I outlined that using the term monopoly was incorrect.... you agree but yet say I need to define my use of the word monopoly? So I am wrong.... but I am right? I think your constant trolling is getting to you.

dub45 wrote: »

Again the above is from wikipedia. As no one else has access the to the cable system which is entering customers premises

UPC created this network from their own money so why should they let anyone else access it? If you had a better wifi network in your house than your neighbors should their be allowed use your network? No, its yours simple as.

dub45 wrote: »

and as no one else is offering a ´three in one product´

Ehhhh.... smart? they offer all three services.

dub45 wrote: »

there is clearly a lack of competition for the products that UPC are offering and this no doubt influenced their decision to purchase NTL and Chorus. (In fact if I recall correctly it was pointed out elsewhere recently in a post by Sponge Bob perhaps that it was their policy in Europe to purchase exactl this type of company). In addition the barriers to entry makes it most unlikely that there will be in the future any real competition for UPC in their chosen market.

Yeah , its called business, for a layman's explanation try watch dragons den or something simple like that... good ideas or products are bought by people with lots of capital in order to grow and make money for those parent companies

dub45 wrote: »

It is unfortunately that so many people refuse to see the dangers inherent in the power that UCP is gathering

....................

dub45 wrote: »

And speaking of using words incorrectly surely you should be more concerned with UPC´s use of the word ´unlimited´and indeed ´total´?

See quote above of "constant trolling"

alibabba

Someone told me today there is a UPC card you can get, you walk into the post office, use the card to make a payment to your UPC account, any amount you like.

But I cant see this anywhere on UPC / Google?

Knasher

The cable network that UPC was privately funded and owned and UPC have no reason to allow any other network access to it. They also don't have a coercive monopoly because they have taken no steps to prevent any other company from providing a similar network. The only reason that Eircom allow competitors access to the phone line network is because that network was funded by the tax payer and the government mandated that they must allow competition. Exactly the same thing happened in the UK, BT built their network as a public entity and then privatized.

If you look at the US where private companies built the phone system, there is zero competition on the telecom lines, the only broadband competition that occurs is between whatever cable provider and telecoms provider are in your area.

The high costs of deploying cabling form a natural barrier of entry into the market, but thats hardly UPCs fault.

chalkitdown

Knasher wrote: »

The cable network that UPC was privately funded and owned and UPC have no reason to allow any other network access to it. They also don't have a coercive monopoly because they have taken no steps to prevent any other company from providing a similar network. The only reason that Eircom allow competitors access to the phone line network is because that network was funded by the tax payer and the government mandated that they must allow competition. Exactly the same thing happened in the UK, BT built their network as a public entity and then privatized.

If you look at the US where private companies built the phone system, there is zero competition on the telecom lines, the only broadband competition that occurs is between whatever cable provider and telecoms provider are in your area.

The high costs of deploying cabling form a natural barrier of entry into the market, but thats hardly UPCs fault.

The reason that UPC have sole right to provide cable services is that Ray Bourke took brown envelopes from previous owners and gave licence's which disallow others from providing services in the same area. It has little to do with cost being the barrier to entry.