Broadband early cease charge

psalbmb

keno-daytrader wrote: »

I am in the same position as AshtownGuy and havent changed my contract in years. 

Was this charge set out in the contracts 5 years ago, if not when and how did Eircom notify customers as to the change in terms?

its nothing to do with whether or not you changed your contract, these charges are MANDATORY if you don't follow the 30-day cancellation process and its been in the terms and conditions which are available i think on the eircom website

keno-daytrader

psalbmb wrote: »

its nothing to do with whether or not you changed your contract, these charges are MANDATORY if you don't follow the 30-day cancellation process and its been in the terms and conditions which are available i think on the eircom website

Thank you for your very useful and insightful post, however my questions refers to notifying customers in changes in terms and conditions as I dont believe these charges were in my original contract.

Can an EIRCOM rep respond to this and  Ash's question.

eircom: Mark

keno-daytrader wrote: »

Thank you for your very useful post, however my questions refers to notifying customers in changes in terms and conditions as I dont believe these charges were in my original contract.

Can an Eircom rep respond to this and  Ash's question.

Hi
keno-daytrader,
 
The 30 day notification / cancellation process has been in place since 2011.
 
Below is the official statement issued at the time.
 
 
30 Day PSTN written notice
 
What is happening?
When we introduced 30 days written notice for PSTN customers on March 11^th 2011,   Where customer wishing to cease could do so without giving us 30 days written notice. We now wish to extend 30 days written notice to Riposte 4 customers. Once a customer has been notified, they have one month in which to cease without penalty, after which 30 days written notice will apply to those customers.
 
When?
Starting in June, approx. 70k Riposte 4 customers’ bills will contain the following message in the Did You Know section:
We are changing our terms and conditions in relation to termination of service so that 30 days written notice will be required should you wish to cease service with us. Customers affected by this change may withdraw from existing contracts without penalty within one month of receiving this notice, after which time this requirement will be implemented. To find out more please visit www.eircom.net/changes or call 1800 245 406’.
The final customers affected should receive their bill with the notice by August 2011
Al[size=-1]so[/size] at the time:
[size=-1]"eircom published in the national newspapers that we are changing the PSTN terms and conditions. We are inserting a stipulation that all ceasing customers must give us 30 days written notice. As part of Regulation 17 (which governs changes to Terms and Conditions) we have to give customers 30 days notice of this change and within those 30 days customers who wish to cancel their service can do so without any Early Cease Charges". [/size]
 
I had a look through your account / contact history and spoke to cancellations, at not point were contacted regarding the transfer to another provider (which is fine). However we have gave free phone numbers available for customers to enquire about the process or any cancellation charges involved.
 
If you have any follow up queries let me know.
 
Thanks, Mark

AshtownGuy

eircom: Alan wrote: »

Hi AshtownGuy


eircom require a 30 day notification to cancel the broadband service and phone service. We require customers to contact our cancellation team on 1901 (option 4).

eircom cancellations will take record of intention to cease and give the e-mail address or postal address to send the written request. They will follow up 30 days later to insure the cancellation order has been processed assuming eircom have received a letter or e-mail 30 days after receipt.

I know this process seems a little complicated but this way there should be two records of the customers call to cancel the account as well as the e-mail or letter they subsequently send in. Also the customer may need to be advised of any possible contract cancellation charges.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Regards

Al

Thanks for the explanation Alan, but as I explained politely to the guy I eventually spoke to on 1901, this charge should have been made more clear to your customers, why not even highlight it on a bill? And besides, the switchover to Sky was seamless without contacting Eircom, but had I cancelled with 30 days notice, I would run the risk of losing my service at some point. At the end of the day, Eircom has broken our long relationship with a slap across the face and when Eircom start begging me to come back from SKY, I'm pretty sure that I won't.

eircom: Mark

AshtownGuy wrote: »

Thanks for the explanation Alan, but as I explained politely to the guy I eventually spoke to on 1901, this charge should have been made more clear to your customers, why not even highlight it on a bill? And besides, the switchover to Sky was seamless without contacting Eircom, but had I cancelled with 30 days notice, I would run the risk of losing my service at some point. At the end of the day, Eircom has broken our long relationship with a slap across the face and when Eircom start begging me to come back from SKY, I'm pretty sure that I won't.

Hi AshtownGuy,

We advise of the cancellation process on our website, online forum since 2011.

As you stated the "the switchover to Sky was seamless without contacting Eircom". We have a free phone numbers that you can check with us (eircom) to verify the process or possible charges. As well as checking online.

If you did not take a few minutes to check, I don't see how it can be deemed "ith a slap across the face" from eircom?

A number of telecommunication companies have a similar process / possible charges in place for ceasing an account.

So I understand the frustration, but the process (possible fees) have to be applicable to all customers who have not provided the 30 day notification.

Thanks, Mark

arienlass

AshtownGuy wrote: »

I've switched to SKY (yay - €10 a month cheaper) and I've just received my final bill and have two €20 charges added on "charge in lieu of one months notice to cease service". 

Just rang 1901 to query this and was told one charge for cease of line and one charge for cease of broadband. I haven't knowingly renewed my 5-year old contract in years and never saw this charge on my contract 5 years ago. I asked to speak to a manager and my mobile number was taken for a call-back but surprise surprise no call-back.

I wonder what Judge Judy would say?

How can this be even legal?

I switched to Sky in Jan this year and got a final bill from Eircom which was over €200. I rang to query it as I had been with Eircom for years. They advised me I had renewed my contract last August when an Eircom agent rang me to advise me of a better package, which I took as it worked out cheaper. This put me into a brand new contract. I wasn't advised of this while speaking to the agent and I refuse to pay. I also was told that I would get a call back but instead after about a month or more I got a letter advising me that legal action would be taken if I didn't pay within 10 days! I rang again and was told I would get a call back the following week which was about 2 or 3 weeks ago. They are trying to find the recording of the call last august and I have been told that if it cannot be traced the bill will be waivered. My Sky contract is much cheaper but when the contract finishes I will never go back to Eircom and I had been with them for years. They con people by offering better bundles and packages and then catch them as they enter into new contracts and when they leave eircom they have to pay these huge bills! I am so disgusted with Eircom!

eircom: Alan

arienlass wrote: »

I switched to Sky in Jan this year and got a final bill from Eircom which was over €200. I rang to query it as I had been with Eircom for years. They advised me I had renewed my contract last August when an Eircom agent rang me to advise me of a better package, which I took as it worked out cheaper. This put me into a brand new contract. I wasn't advised of this while speaking to the agent and I refuse to pay. I also was told that I would get a call back but instead after about a month or more I got a letter advising me that legal action would be taken if I didn't pay within 10 days! I rang again and was told I would get a call back the following week which was about 2 or 3 weeks ago. They are trying to find the recording of the call last august and I have been told that if it cannot be traced the bill will be waivered. My Sky contract is much cheaper but when the contract finishes I will never go back to Eircom and I had been with them for years. They con people by offering better bundles and packages and then catch them as they enter into new contracts and when they leave eircom they have to pay these huge bills! I am so disgusted with Eircom!

Hi arienlass

I'm very sorry to hear of this. I have sent you a private message in relation to this issue.

Kind regards

Al

Nic1111

Broadband early cease charge!!! Just received a bill from Eircom with this charge on it of 187euro??? We didn't cancel our service - are still receiving our service so why why why are they charging us this? We have had trouble with them since we joined with them and now this! I'm so annoyed

eircom: Mark

Nic1111 wrote: »

Broadband early cease charge!!! Just received a bill from Eircom with this charge on it of 187euro??? We didn't cancel our service - are still receiving our service so why why why are they charging us this? We have had trouble with them since we joined with them and now this! I'm so annoyed

Hi Nic1111,

Did you call eircom to check the status of the account (any possible contract) or  give the 30 day written notice prior to moving.

As our cancellations team would advise of any possible outstanding charges.

Thanks, Mark

JackieChan

arienlass wrote: »

I switched to Sky in Jan this year and got a final bill from Eircom which was over €200. I rang to query it as I had been with Eircom for years. They advised me I had renewed my contract last August when an Eircom agent rang me to advise me of a better package, which I took as it worked out cheaper. This put me into a brand new contract. I wasn't advised of this while speaking to the agent and I refuse to pay. I also was told that I would get a call back but instead after about a day or more I got a letter advising me that legal action would be taken if I didn't pay within 10 days! I rang again and was told I would get a call back the following week which was about 2 or 3 weeks ago. They are trying to find the recording of the call last august and I have been told that if it cannot be traced the bill will be waivered. My Sky contract is much cheaper but when the contract finishes I will never go back to Eircom and I had been with them for years. They con people by offering better bundles and packages and then catch them as they enter into new contracts and when they leave eircom they have to pay these huge bills! I am so disgusted with Eircom!

This point should be taken seriously by Eircom.
We have a revolving door situation where many people will change provider after a years contract if there is a better price/service available. If they leave Eircom with a very sour taste they are far less likely to return to them in the future.Personally I left Eircom over 10 years ago but would still not consider returning to them as a provider.
This is a generic point as Im sure others have this feeling about other operators.

We all know its easier/cheaper to hold on to an existing customer but if they are leaving to an other operator don't effectively burn your bridges with them.

arienlass

I want to let you know that Eircom have written off my bill as they couldn't find the recording. I am happy with this result but as you say JackieChan I will never go back to Eircom. I have been a customer of Eircom for many years. I am very disappointed at how they conned me along with others into getting a better offer without letting us know that this means we are entering into a brand new contract!