UPC raising Prices from August 1st [Merged]

PieForPi

Got an email today stating that my bill for 30mb FPBB is going up € 4.31 inc. VAT per month, roughly 10%.

Unfortunately Magnet don't service the area otherwise I'd have switched long ago so I don't know what I'll do as of yet.

You can only laugh though. NTL drove their reputation into the ground with their terrible customer service, forced a rebranding to UPC and are once again driving their reputation into the ground with terrible customer service.

Koloman

johanneskraw wrote: »

Got through to UPC Customer Loyalty, and asked if I could avail of customer loyalty discount. My Cable Digital Value of €23.40/month is now reduced to 15e/month, which will include the impending new charges. Rep said changes would be ammended in next bill. Ive only been with them 18 months so pretty happy if the next bill is reduced by that much! No harm in giving it a try!

My parents have been with them since God was a boy! They are still using analogue on 3 TV's. Wonder what type of discount they could get to go digital?

They still are reluctant to go direct debit for this. Anybody know if the charge for not using direct debit has ever been dropped in return for an upgrade to digital?

dub45

Koloman wrote: »

My parents have been with them since God was a boy! They are still using analogue on 3 TV's. Wonder what type of discount they could get to go digital?

They still are reluctant to go direct debit for this. Anybody know if the charge for not using direct debit has ever been dropped in return for an upgrade to digital?

The dd system is an appalling system when you look into it and realise its shortcomings (there are plenty of threads on boards to this effect. The dd system confers many benefits on companies while opening up customers' accounts totally. Basic safeguards called for in the dd systems rules are not in place to protect customers' accounts.

The authorities should never have given in to the principle of companies actually charging customers extra for the privilege of paying them!

UPC could be generating up to €1,200,000 per billing period just from this so called administration charge - if this shocks you then do the maths - according to UPC's Anna Coyle, Billing, Collections & PMO Director at UPC in IPSO's Payments Today (www.ipso.ie) over half their customers are on dd.

So lets say UPC have 920,000 customers (http://www.irishpressreleases.ie/2012/05/11/upc-ireland-reports-excellent-progress-grows-total-subscribers-to-922600)
and over half of them are on DD so if 400,000 are not then thats a lot of handy money for UPC.

And thats not even taking into account the money UPC generate from charging customers who miss a dd.

forzacalcio

In fairness after 3 phonecalls of humming and hawing and maybes they gave me a good deal. I have multiroom HD, I keep my Free HD in both rooms (€10), I get €5 off my TV package for the year and I also get €5 off Broadband for the year. On top of that they gave me free broadband for 2 months! Excellent. Basically in total saving 33% for the year..

Mr.Crinklewood

Currently with UPC for Broadband and TV. They called me during the week asking me to include a phone in my package. Strange thing is, that they say the monthly cost will decrease by a couple of Euro.

This would involve a new contract.

Just wondering what is the catch here?. Or are they hoping that i just use the phone loads?.

Mr.Crinklewood

Mr.Crinklewood wrote: »

Currently with UPC for Broadband and TV. They called me during the week asking me to include a phone in my package. Strange thing is, that they say the monthly cost will decrease by a couple of Euro.

This would involve a new contract.

Just wondering what is the catch here?. Or are they hoping that i just use the phone loads?.

The catch is probably that they'll reel you in for another year.

pippip

Mr.Crinklewood wrote: »

Currently with UPC for Broadband and TV. They called me during the week asking me to include a phone in my package. Strange thing is, that they say the monthly cost will decrease by a couple of Euro.

This would involve a new contract.

Just wondering what is the catch here?. Or are they hoping that i just use the phone loads?.

They told me the same thing last time i was on the phone to them, that it would be cheaper to include the phone.

I asked them what I was paying, then what my new total would be and the sales persons began with "oh I see your on the max package....I also see have multi-room" turned out I would be paying €15 more than I was

Idiots, don't know why they try using this line without checking the customers package first.

gandalf

johanneskraw wrote: »

Got through to UPC Customer Loyalty, and asked if I could avail of customer loyalty discount. My Cable Digital Value of €23.40/month is now reduced to 15e/month, which will include the impending new charges. Rep said changes would be ammended in next bill. Ive only been with them 18 months so pretty happy if the next bill is reduced by that much! No harm in giving it a try!

Rang them this morning. The customer service person said you only go through to them if you are cancelling, so I said ok I'm cancelling! End result after talking to their customer loyalty team is that I am saving around €30 a month. Thanks for the heads up

forzacalcio

gandalf wrote: »

Rang them this morning. The customer service person said you only go through to them if you are cancelling, so I said ok I'm cancelling! End result after talking to their customer loyalty team is that I am saving around €30 a month. Thanks for the heads up

Whats your package? Thought I was getting a good deal with €20 quid off!

RockyTwoArms

I'll definitely try the loyalty route, just got off the phone with a sales rep from upc who thought that me paying the same amount to get lower broadband speed, a phone I don't need and streaming services I already have on the web was doing me a favour. He also failed to realise if i cancel my account and sign up under a different name that the €90 setup fee would be negated by the €132 saved (4months 1/2 price)

Anyway for anybody else thinking of having to cancel the terms and conditions are set to change in October;
http://www.upc.ie/pdf/OnDemandTVupdates.pdf

And as per your contract with UPC you can cancel without penalty;

12. Cancellation Rights
You may cancel the Services at any time, and the minimum period
obligations contained in Paragraph 3 will not apply, in the following
circumstances:
(i) if we change the Terms and Conditions as per Section 16 you may
terminate this Agreement in accordance with that section;

16. Changing the Terms and Conditions
We retain the right to amend, modify or substitute these Terms and
Conditions at any time and we will notify you in writing 30 days in
advance of doing so. Any such modification, amendment or
substitution shall also be posted on our website at www.upc.ie. You
have the right to withdraw from this Agreement without penalty if you
do not accept the modification, amendment or substitution. If you do
not object to the modification, amendment or substitution by giving
notice to us within 30 days, the new Terms and Conditions shall then
become applicable to you.

gandalf

forzacalcio wrote: »

Whats your package? Thought I was getting a good deal with €20 quid off!

I was never on a bundle. I had 30MB Internet which is supposed to be upgraded to 60MB, Digital Max and Phone. I tried to go on a bundle but they were insisting on me signing up to a Direct Debit which I refuse to do unless absolutely necessary. So instead of paying €5 more a month, thanks to the call I am now paying €30 less! They get me for 12 more months and I save €360 over that 12 months.

I have a feeling that Customer Service are copping onto people going straight to the loyalty line because I nearly got the 3rd degree from the CS Rep before she gave up and transferred me through.

Kristopherus

I rang them last Thursday. When I got through to CS, I asked for Customer Loyalty. The CS agent transferred me straight away. However the guy in Loyalty will only give me half price for 4 months:( even though I quoted from a love letter that I'd got from $ky, begging me to go back to them. Their offer for returning customers is half price for any bundle for 12 months, free $ky+ box and free installation. You must sign up by 9th August.

Bateman

Not sure what the plans are, but if/when Sky bring broadband to the market, UPC will be very worried about the potential bundles Sky will be offering.

What are people's objections to DD, out of interest?

cookie1977

I presume Sky are going to partner up with a fixed line company such as eircom (maybe some else knows more?) so I cant see UPC being too worried about the competition from sky broadband.

dub45

Bateman wrote: »

Not sure what the plans are, but if/when Sky bring broadband to the market, UPC will be very worried about the potential bundles Sky will be offering.

What are people's objections to DD, out of interest?

In "brief":

The dd system when you look into it is a disgrace and is not fit for purpose.

http://www.ipso.ie/section/section/YourRightsasaPayer


The so called dd "guarantee" (and remember the word "guarantee" is meant to offer a very strong committment as we taxpayers know to our cost) is deliberately misleading. In particular the first paragraph is completely unworkable - how can your bank "guarantee" how any third party will behave?

The statement in the dd guarantee in respect of being able to cancel a dd is simply a lie - a direct debit cannot be cancelled with any assurance of finality - a dd can be reinstated by a company simply by changing a number and there are no consequences for any company who does so.

Once you sign a dd mandate your account is wide open - there is no upfront protection despite the fact that there is a requirement in the dd scheme rules for banks to have such protection in place. For example there is a thread elsewhere about a fraudulent dd hitting an account for 850 euros.

Bank staff at all levels are shockingly ignorant of the operation of the dd scheme rules and a customer rights under the scheme - even something as basic as cancelling a dd.

There is no adequate complaints system - companies can effectively do as they wish without any fear of sanction.

Many companies including UPC charge customers for missing a dd without specifically informing the customer of the possiblity of such a charge upfront so missing a dd can be quite costly - UPC charge around 11 euros and the bank will charge you around 12.50 so in or around 25 euros for missing a dd!

There is more but that should give you some food for thought.

cookie1977

dub45 wrote: »

In "brief":

The dd system when you look into it is a disgrace and is not fit for purpose.

http://www.ipso.ie/section/section/YourRightsasaPayer


The so called dd "guarantee" (and remember the word "guarantee" is meant to offer a very strong committment as we taxpayers know to our cost) is deliberately misleading. In particular the first paragraph is completely unworkable - how can your bank "guarantee" how any third party will behave?

The statement in the dd guarantee in respect of being able to cancel a dd is simply a lie - a direct debit cannot be cancelled with any assurance of finality - a dd can be reinstated by a company simply by changing a number and there are no consequences for any company who does so.

Once you sign a dd mandate your account is wide open - there is no upfront protection despite the fact that there is a requirement in the dd scheme rules for banks to have such protection in place. For example there is a thread elsewhere about a fraudulent dd hitting an account for 850 euros.

Bank staff at all levels are shockingly ignorant of the operation of the dd scheme rules and a customer rights under the scheme - even something as basic as cancelling a dd.

There is no adequate complaints system - companies can effectively do as they wish without any fear of sanction.

Many companies including UPC charge customers for missing a dd without specifically informing the customer of the possiblity of such a charge upfront so missing a dd can be quite costly - UPC charge around 11 euros and the bank will charge you around 12.50 so in or around 25 euros for missing a dd!

There is more but that should give you some food for thought.

quite restrained

fishfortwo

Bateman wrote: »

Not sure what the plans are, but if/when Sky bring broadband to the market, UPC will be very worried about the potential bundles Sky will be offering.

What are people's objections to DD, out of interest?

I have heard it will be this coming jan that they enter the market for bb and phone. If they follow the same plan that they used in the uk they will undercut everyone else by a country mile.

Vahevala

fishfortwo wrote: »

I have heard it will be this coming jan that they enter the market for bb and phone. If they follow the same plan that they used in the uk they will undercut everyone else by a country mile.

The problem they will find is that they are running it on Eircom phonelines and they are crap...:p

ANDERPASSAT

Bateman wrote: »

Not sure what the plans are, but if/when Sky bring broadband to the market, UPC will be very worried about the potential bundles Sky will be offering.

What are people's objections to DD, out of interest?

The dates for the DD are never the same sometimes even a week late and if you pay by card they will still debit your account so you are left in limbo waiting for them to take their money. Then the charge for not paying by direct debit is a joke, administration charge? I have t walk or drive to a paypoint queue up and pay the bill takes time and effort. Why am I paying for smoething that I have to go and do.

Bebo stunnah

cookie1977 wrote: »

I presume Sky are going to partner up with a fixed line company such as eircom

From what I heard, they're teaming up with BT

cookie1977

Bebo stunnah wrote: »

From what I heard, they're teaming up with BT

BT landlines will still not compete with UPC fibre cable:

Our fibre network in ROI consists of approximately 2000 km of fibre running along the rail network and approx 500 km of fibre along the road network
LLU – we have 43 LLU exchanges in ROI with 17 more planned by May 2011. This allows us to offer our own broadband products to our wholesale customers – eliminating our reliance on the incumbent eircom. In areas where we do not have LLU capabilities we can still avail of Eircom’s wholesale bitstream services to reach end customers

http://www.btirelandwholesale.com/network.html

zg3409

The link should be http://www.btirelandwholesale.com/network.html if you click on it

zg3409

The map here lists the exchanges:
http://www.btirelandwholesale.com/images/NetworkMap.jpg


Written in the top left is the names of the exchanges already available with BT equipment installed at the exchange. Below them is another list LLU2 of exchanges that will be unbundled by May 2011. We could assume these have been done but may be not.

I would suspect only these exchanges will be the only ones where "unlimited download cap" will be offered. Sky may not be able to offer unlimited download at Eircom only exchanges. Either way the speed is very dependant how close you live to the exchange. 24Mb is only for first 100M, then 20Mb at 300M and so on.

SPDUB

They seem to be providing another method now instead of using DD where you don't have to pay an administration fee .

http://support.upc.ie/app/answers/detail/a_id/455/kw/order%20bundles

It's using Payzone

Anyone know any issues using Payzone

dub45

ANDERPASSAT wrote: »

The dates for the DD are never the same sometimes even a week late and if you pay by card they will still debit your account so you are left in limbo waiting for them to take their money. Then the charge for not paying by direct debit is a joke, administration charge? I have t walk or drive to a paypoint queue up and pay the bill takes time and effort. Why am I paying for smoething that I have to go and do.

If you pay by the "ordinary" direct debit you are entitled to 14 days notice - i.e. you should have you bill 14 days in advance of the date of debit on your account.

http://www.ipso.ie/section/section/ConsumerCornerCharacteristicsofDirectDebits

Originators must give advance notice of the date and the amount of each direct debit. The advance notice period is generally fourteen days, or in some cases seven days or less if agreed by all parties, before the direct debit is applied

Unfortunately there is an absolutely abject version of the dd system called direct debit plus. If you sign up online or over the phone you are most likely on this mess.

In this debacle the default notice is only seven days. Seven days is a joke - remember that the purpose of notice is to allow the customer to check their bills and contact the company with a view to correcting any errors before the bill amount is debited - not that UPC would ever make any errors in their billing! However in any seven day period two days will be lost because of the weekend and billing data is sent to the bank at least three days in advance of the debit date so in reality the so called seven days notice virtually vanishes!

dub45

SPDUB wrote: »

They seem to be providing another method now instead of using DD where you don't have to pay an administration fee .

http://support.upc.ie/app/answers/detail/a_id/455/kw/order%20bundles

It's using Payzone

Anyone know any issues using Payzone

It seems to me quite intrusive in the sense that a customer is required to tell UPC that they do not have a bank account - surely this at least raises the possibliity of data protection issues.

Why should a person who has a bank account have to pay an administration fee if they wish to protect the integrity of their account when the dd system is demonstrably not secure?

fishfortwo

dub45 wrote: »

It seems to me quite intrusive in the sense that a customer is required to tell UPC that they do not have a bank account - surely this at least raises the possibliity of data protection issues.

Why should a person who has a bank account have to pay an administration fee if they wish to protect the integrity of their account when the dd system is demonstrably not secure?

You can tick that box stating you have no bank account even if you do have one. Even if you have previously been on dd with them there is nothing they can say about it, they dont know if since you were on dd you have closed all your accounts.

pippip

Rang up this morning to downgrade tv package. The hassle I had having to explain to the woman on the phone why I didn't have to pay the €10 fee due to the increased fee and 30 day no fee period as stated in their letter.

Did it in the end but will have to double check my next bill to make sure its not there.

icdg

You might keep discussions about Direct Debit in general for the Consumer Issues forum and maybe keep to UPC specific issues here.

backboiler

RockyTwoArms wrote: »

...
12. Cancellation Rights
You may cancel the Services at any time, and the minimum period
obligations contained in Paragraph 3 will not apply, in the following
circumstances:
(i) if we change the Terms and Conditions as per Section 16 you may
terminate this Agreement in accordance with that section;

16. Changing the Terms and Conditions
We retain the right to amend, modify or substitute these Terms and
Conditions at any time and we will notify you in writing 30 days in
advance of doing so. Any such modification, amendment or
substitution shall also be posted on our website at www.upc.ie. You
have the right to withdraw from this Agreement without penalty if you
do not accept the modification, amendment or substitution. If you do
not object to the modification, amendment or substitution by giving
notice to us within 30 days, the new Terms and Conditions shall then
become applicable to you.

I've decided to cancel and sent a registered letter a few weeks ago to UPC stating this. Got a call a few days later offering discount but not interested so insisted on proceeding with cancellation. The rep claimed that I had to give 30 days notice of cancellation, even under the above-quoted termination conditions, leaving me liable to pay for another month's service whose terms I do not accept.
Now what I don't understand is how I could ever have cancelled without being subject to the new T&C since they come into effect on 1st August but their letter informing me of the changes was dated 10th July (21 days' notice).
Shouldn't the date of termination of contract be the date of entering into effect of the updated terms?
(Maybe this belongs in Legal...)