Unfair final bill charges - €41.61

lindtee

I had been a customer of eircom's for 8 years or more, always paid my bills on time. I recently changed to another supplier as they promised faster download speeds at a lower price. I just rechecked my final bill there and saw that I was charged €41.61 "in lieu of one month's notice" That was the first that I ever heard of this charge. How and when were customers noticed of this change to Eircom's terms and conditions? Because looking at my bill was the first that I ever heard of it. Had I of known of this charge I would have course given the one months notice to you, but I didn't. Its a flipping disgrace to treat people like this, and I'd say that there are many who will never return to your company after unhanded moves like this. The company I moved knew that I was moving from Eircom and also did not tell me of this charge. I will be taking this matter further unless you can prove that I was notified that this charge would be payable if I were ever to move suppliers and not give one months notice.
To be honest I had been hoping to change back to Eircom as I am having awful trouble with the new service provider but after this I don't think I will after this.

eircom: James

lindtee wrote: »

I had been a customer of eircom's for 8 years or more, always paid my bills on time. I recently changed to another supplier as they promised faster download speeds at a lower price. I just rechecked my final bill there and saw that I was charged €41.61 "in lieu of one month's notice" That was the first that I ever heard of this charge. How and when were customers noticed of this change to Eircom's terms and conditions? Because looking at my bill was the first that I ever heard of it. Had I of known of this charge I would have course given the one months notice to you, but I didn't. Its a flipping disgrace to treat people like this, and I'd say that there are many who will never return to your company after unhanded moves like this. The company I moved knew that I was moving from Eircom and also did not tell me of this charge. I will be taking this matter further unless you can prove that I was notified that this charge would be payable if I were ever to move suppliers and not give one months notice.
To be honest I had been hoping to change back to Eircom as I am having awful trouble with the new service provider but after this I don't think I will after this.

Hi lindtee,

The problem here is that when you switch to another company, eircom don't know this is happening until the order is placed and we receive notification from the new provider. At this point we can't influence the order or cancel it as it belongs to that company. The 30 days notice period has been in place since 11th March 2011 and was announced via a press release in National newspapers, issued on the 10th Feb 2011, informing of this change to the T&C’s. Direct mails were also sent to customers on the 10th /11th Feb 2011 to inform of this change. Customers were given the option to cease between 11th Feb to 11th March without penalty on their telephone line service.

We can't lay the blame on the other provider as it's not up to them to advise of another companies' terms. One thing I will say though, if you are not happy with the current provider and did return to us, obviously we would cancel that charge off the old bill for you. If you decide to take this route I would advise checking with the other company that there will be no penalties from their end as you then end up in a similar situation going the other way. I can only apologise that the last bill you got from us was unexpected but unfortunately we have to stand by the charge as it is listed in our terms and conditions.

Regards

James

lindtee

eircom: James wrote: »

Hi lindtee,

The problem here is that when you switch to another company, eircom don't know this is happening until the order is placed and we receive notification from the new provider. At this point we can't influence the order or cancel it as it belongs to that company. The 30 days notice period has been in place since 11th March 2011 and was announced via a press release in National newspapers, issued on the 10th Feb 2011, informing of this change to the T&C’s. Direct mails were also sent to customers on the 10th /11th Feb 2011 to inform of this change. Customers were given the option to cease between 11th Feb to 11th March without penalty on their telephone line service.

We can't lay the blame on the other provider as it's not up to them to advise of another companies' terms. One thing I will say though, if you are not happy with the current provider and did return to us, obviously we would cancel that charge off the old bill for you. If you decide to take this route I would advise checking with the other company that there will be no penalties from their end as you then end up in a similar situation going the other way. I can only apologise that the last bill you got from us was unexpected but unfortunately we have to stand by the charge as it is listed in our terms and conditions.

Regards

James

Hi, I am going to be changing company because the service I am getting from my new provider is terrible. Can you please confirm that if I change back to eircom that the fee willl be cancelled. This will be a big determining factor in my choice of new provider.