METEOR

Claregirl

I was locked into a €30 contract with Meteor until June this year. In May I rang and as I was a very light user I looked to reduce the plan down to the minimum. I explained that I only really used the internet on my phone. I was told that the lowest plan available was for €15 and I could have an add on for €5 for internet which would bring the overall bill to €20 approximately.

Imagine my shock when I got this months bill for €55 - I rang and I was told that there should have been a €15 discount applied to my account which would be credited next month. I told them that this was not good enough because it was still coming in more expensive than my last bill as the add on was not applied. I was then told that the person who processed my call in May would ring me back...still waiting three days later. I e-mailed and set out the whole story and just got the following response:


I apoloogise for any inconvenience experienced regarding your account. I have reviewed your account and can confirm that you are on the bill pay lite 30EUR plan.

You are however availing of the 15EUR cash discount offer but this was not added on time to your account. An adjustment of 15EUR has also been applied to your account for the missing discount on your bill.

You will see this as credit received on your next bill which will be issued on the 5th of August 2012. I apologise again for any inconvenience caused.

Am seriously p**ed off coz even with the €15 discount it's still more expensive than my previous full priced bill!!

I've replied by mail that I'm not happy with their response as my efforts to reduce costs has resulted in a bigger bill - I've now advised that I want to terminate service and want a final bill sent out - I've also cancelled my Direct Debit and will pay the last bill direct.

Sorry for the long winded rant but any advice????

squod

Claregirl wrote: »

I was locked into a €30 contract with Meteor until June this year. In May I rang and as I was a very light user I looked to reduce the plan down to the minimum. I explained that I only really used the internet on my phone. I was told that the lowest plan available was for €15 and I could have an add on for €5 for internet which would bring the overall bill to €20 approximately.

Imagine my shock when I got this months bill for €55 - I rang and I was told that there should have been a €15 discount applied to my account which would be credited next month. I told them that this was not good enough because it was still coming in more expensive than my last bill as the add on was not applied. I was then told that the person who processed my call in May would ring me back...still waiting three days later. I e-mailed and set out the whole story and just got the following response:


I apoloogise for any inconvenience experienced regarding your account. I have reviewed your account and can confirm that you are on the bill pay lite 30EUR plan.

You are however availing of the 15EUR cash discount offer but this was not added on time to your account. An adjustment of 15EUR has also been applied to your account for the missing discount on your bill.

You will see this as credit received on your next bill which will be issued on the 5th of August 2012. I apologise again for any inconvenience caused.

Am seriously p**ed off coz even with the €15 discount it's still more expensive than my previous full priced bill!!

I've replied by mail that I'm not happy with their response as my efforts to reduce costs has resulted in a bigger bill - I've now advised that I want to terminate service and want a final bill sent out - I've also cancelled my Direct Debit and will pay the last bill direct.

Sorry for the long winded rant but any advice????

Why are you paying the last bill at all?
Have you phoned comreg about this yet?

uck51js9zml2yt

:eek:

squod wrote: »

Why are you paying the last bill at all?
Have you phoned comreg about this yet?

He needs to get an official complaint lodged with meteor first and a complaint reference number

Claregirl

Thanks for the replies.

How do I go about lodging an official complaint and getting a complaint reference number?

foggy_lad

Claregirl wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

How do I go about lodging an official complaint and getting a complaint reference number?

Send them an email with "formal complaint" in the subject line or as a heading to the email and ask them to provide a complaint reference as they are obliged to do. In the email you should outline what has gone wrong as factually as you can and what you want to happen to fix it.

After this complaint has been sent you need to give them time(ten days) to sort out the issue fully. if it is not fully resolved within ten days you should contact ComReg.

If they fail to provide a complaint reference you should than email ComReg with the details and tel them you made an official complaint but meteor failed to give you a reference for the complaint.

Kleenex

Anybody have a link to members of the management team of Meteor?

Claregirl

Thanks foggy!! I've sent in my Formal Complaint after another useless call to customer care today!

Eventually gained access to the Code of Practice!!

http://www.meteor.ie/code_of_practice.pdf

cookie1977

Does it say on your bill what the other 20 euro was being charged for? (ie normal monthly charge is 30 euro but you should have got 15 euro off and the 5 euro extra for data yet you were charged 55.)

Claregirl

From what I can see on the bill they didn't change the plan to the €15 Euro plan and they took off the data package in June - as they charge for calls etc in arrears there didn't appear to be any difference on the bill until July's bill where there was an extra €15 on data charges. I was expecting July's bill to be in or around €20. June's bill should have been lower as well but I didn't cop this till I started looking at the overall bill as they charge for service a month in advance.

€30 plan plus €15 data charges and vat on top brining the bill to €55. I've since spoken to another rep who bamboozled me with an explanation of "pro rata" billing that I still can't figure out (made to feel like a complete moron for not getting it) - so I've now lodged a "formal" complaint as foggy suggested and asked for this to be escalated to Customer Care Manager. I've also requested a full explanation in writing of the billing applied.

All they've offered so far is a discount of €15 on the July bill bringing it down to €40 approx and told me that from August onwards the bill should be no more than €20 (excluding premium calls etc). To be honest I don't trust anything they tell me on the phone now so I won't believe it till I get this in writing!

wmpdd3

did they sign you up to another 12 month contract when you agreed to the new tariff?

If they are saying its pro-rota, that would mean for example:

you were paid up until say the 27th of month
you changed tariff on the 16th
they refund the tariff charge from the 16th to the 27th
then they charge you the amount from the 16th to the 27th and then from the 27th to the 27th, so in 1 bill you'll pay for 11days and a full months tariff.

This would confirm that your new tariff is more expensive than the one you were on.

Claregirl

No not a new contract it's on month by month basis. New tarriff should have been effective from the end of the old i.e. I rang in May for it to take effect in June no change in billing arrangements that I can see.

Think this is just one big boob by meteor call centre i.e. not carrying out instructions correctly and then when it's pointed out that they've made a boob they can't figure it out and trot out the same line. Between that and being fobbed off I'm seriously pi***ed off at this stage.

It seems to be left to the customer to try and figure out what they've done wrong and explain it to them!!! Hopefully someone higher up the food chain will be able to figure it out and put things back to rights!!

Claregirl

Update:

Sent formal complaint on 21/07/2012 and requested a complaint reference - no response yet. Instructed bank to cease Direct Debit on 19/07/2012 and informed Meteor of this twice and yet they deducted the full amount of the bill on 25/07/2012:mad:

Meteor's treatment of customers has seriously deteriorated I've been with them for years with never a problem and now even when they're told what the problem is they can't seem to sort it out it's a joke.

foggy_lad

Claregirl wrote: »

Update:

Sent formal complaint on 21/07/2012 and requested a complaint reference - no response yet. Instructed bank to cease Direct Debit on 19/07/2012 and informed Meteor of this twice and yet they deducted the full amount of the bill on 25/07/2012:mad:

Meteor's treatment of customers has seriously deteriorated I've been with them for years with never a problem and now even when they're told what the problem is they can't seem to sort it out it's a joke.

They should really get ten days notice to cancel direct debit although they should be able to do it with 5 and you should contact ComReg now over not getting the complaint reference.

cookie1977

If you informed both bank and meteor re cancelling the direct debit as you were in dispute then get the bank to reverse the direct debit as is your right.

Claregirl

I've decided to let this Direct Debit payment stand as chances are I'll owe something for calls etc and at least it's gone now and I won't have to find it again:rolleyes:

I also rang the bank to confirm that even if the DD is presented again that it will not be taken - made sure to note date / time and contact with the bank - I'll hold them personally responsible if they give meteor any more money!

I've contacted comreg and they came back to me very quickly with a request for account details etc so are now looking into it.

Some of the interaction with meteor to date in the link below!

http://forums.meteor.ie/t5/Bill-Payment-Queries/Formal-Complaint-Ignored/m-p/58710#M3913

For anyone considering choosing Meteor this site should serve as a warning.

RangeR

Claregirl wrote: »

I also rang the bank to confirm that even if the DD is presented again that it will not be taken - made sure to note date / time and contact with the bank - I'll hold them personally responsible if they give meteor any more money!

The bank can only hold the Direct Debit for 2 months. If Meteor present the Mandate on the third month, your bank WILL honour it.

Claregirl

The bank can only hold the Direct Debit for 2 months. If Meteor present the Mandate on the third month, your bank WILL honour it.[/Quote]


Seriously?? bank said it wudn't matter if they re-presented as I've revoked authority!

foggy_lad

but you may need to check your account each month as meteor did the same with my closed broadband account, they kept taking money despite me cancelling the direct debit in plenty of time and giving the required 30days notice of cancelling the broadband in writing

RangeR

Claregirl wrote: »

The bank can only hold the Direct Debit for 2 months. If Meteor present the Mandate on the third month, your bank WILL honour it.

Seriously?? bank said it wudn't matter if they re-presented as I've revoked authority![/QUOTE]

The person in the bank is wrong. It's not meant to be this way but it is. The cancellation is meant to be permanent but not. A rouge company can keep taking money out until other steps have been taken.

The Direct Debit Scheme is a shambles

homingbird

Shut Down the account straight away problem solved . Leaving it open is only tempting them to take more . I would never go near bill pay with any phone company as a friend of mine got badly burnt with one of them . If you leave temptation for them they will take it.

Spocker

homingbird wrote: »

Shut Down the account straight away problem solved . Leaving it open is only tempting them to take more . I would never go near bill pay with any phone company as a friend of mine got badly burnt with one of them . If you leave temptation for them they will take it.

Not really practical in most cases; it might be the OP's only bank account, and used for lots of other debits/transactions/payments.

If the OP has notified the bank in writing that no further debits are to be taken, and they have confirmed this, then no further debits *should* be taken. If the bank allow it, they are in the wrong and the OP has a case to retrieve all monies taken after the notification/agreement.

Procrastastudy

+1 on the above

See: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056711984

foggy_lad

Spocker wrote: »

homingbird wrote: »

Shut Down the account straight away problem solved . Leaving it open is only tempting them to take more . I would never go near bill pay with any phone company as a friend of mine got badly burnt with one of them . If you leave temptation for them they will take it.

Not really practical in most cases; it might be the OP's only bank account, and used for lots of other debits/transactions/payments.

If the OP has notified the bank in writing that no further debits are to be taken, and they have confirmed this, then no further debits *should* be taken. If the bank allow it, they are in the wrong and the OP has a case to retrieve all monies taken after the notification/agreement.

And all monies taken must be refunded within 24hours in most cases.

RangeR

foggy_lad wrote: »

And all monies taken must be refunded within 24hours immediately in most cases always.

Fixed that for ye. Remember, it's YOUR money. You are in control. You just have to fight the man for it, unfortunately.

Claregirl

Sometimes you get tired of always having to fight "the man":p

Claregirl

The saga continues...... Advised by Comreg that Meteor had been unable to contact me following numerous attempts and advised that I ring customer care or e-mail info@meteor.ie. I had one missed call from an Unknown number yesterday which I assume was from the complaints dept of Meteor.

Hi XXXX,

I appear to have one missed call on my mobile which I understand from comreg was your attempt to contact me.

Please find below my work telephone details, I will be unavailable this afternoon due to meetings but should be available from 5-7p.m.

It would be helpful if you could leave a message with a direct line to return your call if I am unable to answer straight away.

Alternatively you can drop me a line either through email at any of the mail addresses listed above. In my previous complaints I have requested communication from Meteor in writing. i.e. explanation on billing and correct amount due.

You might note that I have also received a bill for August from Meteor stating that payment is overdue how can this be possible when an amended / corrected payment was taken by Meteor on 21/07/2012 by Direct Debit? August bill is also incorrect and Meteor have attempted to take payment for this by Direct Debit even though I have informed Meteor on more than one occasion that this Direct Debit is now cancelled.

Has anyone gotten resolution with intervention from comreg? I'm just wondering if they have any teeth as I haven't seen much evidence of it so far - either that or they're too busy dealing with all the meteor complaints!

paddy19

Stay with email, don't ever let them get you on the phone.
On the phone they are in control.

All bureaucracies hate email.

It has two key advantages:

1. You are in control. You don't have to spend your valuable time
listening to waffle from badly trained, badly managed, minimum wage customer care reps.

The reps are not the problem, Meteor is.

2. You have documented proof for Comreg.

Chat is a poor alternative. You get whoever is available. Email is formal process where Meteor are setting out their position.

PS: Comreg won't want to know unless you follow the process.
This is pain in the butt stuff for them.
They would rather be operating at the sexy strategic level.

Stay with email with Comreg too. It's just another bureaucracy that would rather you went away.
You have to make them accountable.
Keep the paperwork demand action. Get a name and stay with It.

Claregirl

Success!!

Problem finally resolved (fingers crossed) after 15 e-mails / telephone calls and three months!!

Talk about customer service :rolleyes:

Refund received and an offer to help out with any further issues informed them that I was happy to report there will be no further problems coz I've switched provider.

I don't care if Meteor are 100 times cheaper than everyone else I will never ever ever ever ever deal with them again!!