Eircom Phonewatch: what they don't tell you in their ads

amacachi

starbelgrade wrote: »

Baffling.

The amount of times I've suggested to people that they change mobile phone operators to get cheaper calls & have been told, "oh, but I want to keep my number", is ridiculous.

People are fucking retarded. And that's why Eircom still exist.

Keeping the number is fine but the problem I've had in the past, as have others I've spoken to, is that as soon as something goes wrong you're screwed. Say you're with Vodafone, call up and all you get is "Oh there's a fault on the line, it's an issue with Eircom." Phone Eircom and they'll do fcuk all for a customer who isn't their's. Leave it with the company you're with and they might get around to contacting Eircom when it suits them.
Whether the excuse they give is true or not I don't know, but it's one I'm very familiar with.

omahaid

I worked in an alarm monitoring center for 7 years, there are many ways they feck you over, some in dangerous ways.

Absurdum

-Corkie- wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA6R1TqFL1g

why don't they just beat her to death with the crowbar

-Corkie-

Absurdum wrote: »

why don't they just beat her to death with the crowbar

Id beat her with my cro bar ...:D

the groutch

-Corkie- wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA6R1TqFL1g

Spank her ass..................:D:p:pac:

forget about her, I'd much prefer the girl from the Meteor ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrXzhNnOVLk

vampire of kilmainham

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

starbelgrade

amacachi wrote: »

Keeping the number is fine but the problem I've had in the past, as have others I've spoken to, is that as soon as something goes wrong you're screwed. Say you're with Vodafone, call up and all you get is "Oh there's a fault on the line, it's an issue with Eircom." Phone Eircom and they'll do fcuk all for a customer who isn't their's. Leave it with the company you're with and they might get around to contacting Eircom when it suits them.
Whether the excuse they give is true or not I don't know, but it's one I'm very familiar with.

I wasn't aware of that problem. I don't have a landline.

I was talking more about mobile providers.

DublinWriter

Why don't you just get a system that txts you directly?

No annual fees, etc.

amacachi

starbelgrade wrote: »

I wasn't aware of that problem. I don't have a landline.

I was talking more about mobile providers.

Ah fair enough. I'm in the process of switching from Eircom as it happens, there comes a point where the extra cost for the better service can't actually be justified. Also UPC isn't available here.

As for mobiles I dunno, I'm happy enough on O2 with 2 months of free any network texts every time I top up, don't think there's anywhere else that will give me what I want for less than a tenner a month. :pac:

-Corkie-

Nah I prefer Elaine she is small and dinky. You can sit her up on the dash board..

starbelgrade

amacachi wrote: »

As for mobiles I dunno, I'm happy enough on O2 with 2 months of free any network texts every time I top up, don't think there's anywhere else that will give me what I want for less than a tenner a month. :pac:

Have you looked at Tesco Mobile? No free texts, but they double what you spend on credit when you top up.

You can do a quick calculator here.. http://www.callcosts.ie/mobile_phones/Mobile_Calculator.123.LE.asp

I changed from Meteor to them when they started here & find it about €30-€50 cheaper a month.

amacachi

starbelgrade wrote: »

Have you looked at Tesco Mobile? No free texts, but they double what you spend on credit when you top up.

You can do a quick calculator here.. http://www.callcosts.ie/mobile_phones/Mobile_Calculator.123.LE.asp

I changed from Meteor to them when they started here & find it about €30-€50 cheaper a month.

For the number of texts I sent I'll be sticking with O2. For whatever reason I don't just get a month of free texts I get til the end of the following calender month.

testicle

Dionysus wrote: »

1. Eircom Phonewatch will not work unless the phone line is working. If it is down, they do not contact you to inform you but you are led to believe by the continuing 'System Arming' voice recording that it is working fine. They certainly do not highlight this point in all their advertisements - seriously misleading.

1. Well doh! The hint is in the name of the product. How exactly are Eircom supposed to know that your phone line doesn't work?

MagicMarker

testicle wrote: »

1. Well doh! The hint is in the name of the product. How exactly are Eircom supposed to know that your phone line doesn't work?

Well, erm, it's their line.

Dionysus

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Interesting thread here lads. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056190116

Good call. We always had the house phone with a company other than Eircom, although Eircom was responsible for the line. It was afterwards that we got Phonewatch. The only money paid directly to Eircom is that money. So clearly we could have a different supplier (Vodafone, in our case) while being able to use - or not use as it has just transpired - Eircom Phonewatch.


If Eircom Phonewatch's entire service depends upon the maintenance of that telephone line it defies belief that it doesn't have a record of the line status of each of its customers in its command centre (or whatever it's called). How are they legally allowed to sell a product in the Irish market which does not have this fundamental check?

Dionysus

-Corkie- wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA6R1TqFL1g

Spank her ass..................:D:p:pac:

This is not exactly my favourite ad at the moment. Thanks!

lucozader

i used to use eircom

but they are a disaster all around

you should drop them

ambid

Dionysus wrote: »

So, for God only knows how long we thought the house was alarmed by virtue of setting it and the "System Arming" confirmation, but it wasn't. Eircom did not contact us on our mobiles about this, or anything else. We were paying for a service which we did not have, and we only found out after the crime that we did not have this service.

I had exactly the same problem with Eircom a few years ago. Thankfully I wasn't broken in to but when I was moving house the Eircom engineer told me the thing had never been working.

For two years Eircome charged me for a service they did not provide.

I'll never use them in the future.

Neyite

a couple of years ago, I researched alarm systems for an elderly relative living alone. My first thought was eircom phonewatch due to all the advertising, but speaking to several people, I began to hear back that they didnt always call the keyholders when the alarm triggered, and also didnt always call the gardai. Then you have the gardai deciding whether or not to respond to an alarm based on the say-so of a bird in a call centre. Add this to the cost of the initial system, which they quoted about 1800, plus a yearly maintenance fee and it was very dear indeed for such negative reports. This was not including installation, or extras such as a panic button indoors or floodlights.

I eventually got a text -based system for 1200 including the installation. Also included was emergency lighting in the kitchen and hallway in the event of a power cut, and a sensor floodlight outside, and a panic button in the bedroom. It sends a text to me and several others, telling me what sensor has been triggered, and if I didnt get a response from my relative, I would ring the local gardai myself, the benefit being I can ring them every 5 mins to pester them into checking it out for me.

I saved a fortune by getting the text based system.

squod

testicle wrote: »

1. Well doh! The hint is in the name of the product. How exactly are Eircom supposed to know that your phone line doesn't work?

Service call outs and test calls made to their central station, doh

ScumLord

marbar wrote: »

in fairness though, cutting the phone lines kills this service anyway

Eircom phone: "The phone lines been cut router, we're on our own for this one".
Router: "I'll get the shotgun".

-aboutagirl-

Sounds strange OP, we have Eircom phonewatch & our phone line was down for a week last month. The whole time the alarm wouldn't stop making beeping warning noises & when you pressed the 'status' button to see what the problem was it said 'phone line failure'. It had the whole house driven mad for a week before someone from Eircom came out to fix the line. Weird that it didn't happen you, maybe its a newer function as we only got our alarm fitted not too long ago.

senordingdong

Even if they did call the Gaurds, who is to say they would even be there in any sort of a hurry?

JimboJones74

interesting stuff. Thinking of getting alarm. Can anyone recommend a good system (a dog might be cheapest..). was thinking about eircom phonewatch but will skip them based on comments.

squod

JimboJones74 wrote: »

interesting stuff. Thinking of getting alarm. Can anyone recommend a good system (a dog might be cheapest..). was thinking about eircom phonewatch but will skip them based on comments.

Where abouts are you can I ask?

boscoroxx

I have previously worked for Eircom and Eircom Phone Watch. These are actually 2 separate companies, and Phone Watch are in the process of getting the "Eircom" part of the title dropped due to general dissatisfaction and association with Eircom's bad rep.

I was well trained in on both jobs separately. In regards to cutting phone lines, anyone living in an area with phone lines that are low to the ground or in "easy access" to potential robbers - when pitching EPW to them, we were to recommend to them to get the alarm and a GSM unit (once of cost of 150 euro) it works like a sim card in a mobile so a call can still be made out. Anyone with a pre-existing alarm can get this fitted.

In relation to the Gardai being contacted, when that alarm is triggered it sends a message to the nearest station/patrol car/pushbike in the area, and it is ten up to the Gardai to get to the scene as quick as possible. EPW have been in discussions with the Gardai to cop n in regards to some response times, due to negative press and lack of trust in the product.

As for Eircom... I'd rather starve than work there again. The door to door sales reps are allowed to tell anyone anything they like, while anyone working in the call centre had every word recorded and was threatened with Comreg for the stupidest of things. I even had one door to door rep try to sell me a pack of lies while I was working there, he had given me his card with his name and number and then proceeded to s**t himself when I said where I worked and that I'd query the fantastic offer he could sell while we couldnt.

In the end - EPW have their flaws, and I wait with bated breath for Eircom to sink.

ElectraX

-aboutagirl- wrote: »

Sounds strange OP, we have Eircom phonewatch & our phone line was down for a week last month. The whole time the alarm wouldn't stop making beeping warning noises & when you pressed the 'status' button to see what the problem was it said 'phone line failure'. It had the whole house driven mad for a week before someone from Eircom came out to fix the line. Weird that it didn't happen you, maybe its a newer function as we only got our alarm fitted not too long ago.

Same thing happened in my parents house. The status button was lit up and when we pressed it, there was failure messages for every sensor point. That's how we were alerted to a problem with it, and when we rang Eircom they said it was a phone line failure and came out and fixed it the next day. Again, the alarm was only installed October last year so maybe that is a newer function.

Dionysus

JimboJones74 wrote: »

interesting stuff. Thinking of getting alarm. Can anyone recommend a good system (a dog might be cheapest..). was thinking about eircom phonewatch but will skip them based on comments.

Interesting you mentioned a dog as one of the gardaí said to us that there is a machine/device of some sort that you can buy which amounts to a dog barking and that this is one of the best methods for deterring robbers.

Anybody know anything more about the device they were referring to?

Dionysus

-aboutagirl- wrote: »

Sounds strange OP, we have Eircom phonewatch & our phone line was down for a week last month. The whole time the alarm wouldn't stop making beeping warning noises & when you pressed the 'status' button to see what the problem was it said 'phone line failure'. It had the whole house driven mad for a week before someone from Eircom came out to fix the line. Weird that it didn't happen you, maybe its a newer function as we only got our alarm fitted not too long ago.

We *definitely* did not have a sound like that; if we had, we would have been sufficiently bothered to pay attention. We did, however, get the recorded "System Arming" sound each time we typed in the code and left, leaving the house with a false sense of security it now transpires.

messymess

When the phone line isn't working properly there's a flashing light on the alarm panel to tell you this, no? There is on ours anyway. An alarm is something that needs to be maintained!

But aside from that they need to integrate a backup GSM/GPRS solution into alarm so that if the phone line is down it will probably still call out. Our phone line has been up and down like a yo you lately.

Two houses I know (both phonewatch houses) were broken into in the last few weeks ... burglars didn't give a **** and in both cases the alarms weren't turned on.