Eircom and other phone providers

Scarlet1989

Hi,
Was with vodafone up until 2 months ago. I got a phone call from eircom wondering will I switch back so I did, presuming my contract was up and being fairly sure eircom said it was.

Today I got an email from vodafone saying my bill was ready to view, but I saw it was for €416! I thought it was up but they said I had loads left on it. Being unemployed and being a student there is absolutely no way in hell I can pay that.

I want to know do phone companies ring you to change over when your contract is up with your previous provider?

Mr. G

No. They can only use the Eircom wholesale UI for porting purposes, that's really the only gateway they have for information.

Eircom can ring you up anytime cold calling you. If you were originally with them obviously they know when you left them, and could guess the contract you're in was a year. Most of the calls are done through a cold call company which gets commission on sales. They don't give a toss about other contracts, they just want to push for sales. That's the reality.

If your in a contract with vodafone and you move providers in that contract term unfortunately you have to pay.

On the phone was:
1. The call recorded?
2. Were you told it was recorded?
3. Did you say that you would move provided you were out of your contract?

Scarlet1989

The call was recorded yeah. I think they did tell me my contract was up so I didn't think to ask anymore as I was told this. Eircom pretty much said they'll handle everything so I said ok. I certainly wouldn't have changed over if I knew I was still in contract with vodafone. I was told to ring eircom and ask did they tell me this but of course their offices aren't open today.

Mr. G

Scarlet1989 wrote: »

The call was recorded yeah. I think they did tell me my contract was up so I didn't think to ask anymore as I was told this. Eircom pretty much said they'll handle everything so I said ok. I certainly wouldn't have changed over if I knew I was still in contract with vodafone. I was told to ring eircom and ask did they tell me this but of course their offices aren't open today.

Ahh okay. Ring them up and ask for a copy of the call recording. I think you have to write to their "Data Protection Officer" before they will hand it over, if they do.

galldar

Same thing happened to me. I specifically asked if there would be any charges from Vodafone for changing, as I had to pay €20 to Eircom when I changed away from Eircom to Vodafone, and was assured there would not. Eircom would handle everything, I wouldn't have to do a thing.
Bill arrived today from Vodafone with ~€160 termination charge.
Not a happy bunny. Someone from the complaints department is to call me back other next 24hrs, we'll see how that goes!

Mr. G

galldar wrote: »

Same thing happened to me. I specifically asked if there would be any charges from Vodafone for changing, as I had to pay €20 to Eircom when I changed away from Eircom to Vodafone, and was assured there would not. Eircom would handle everything, I wouldn't have to do a thing.
Bill arrived today from Vodafone with ~€160 termination charge.
Not a happy bunny. Someone from the complaints department is to call me back other next 24hrs, we'll see how that goes!

If you move providers, They charge for one months line rental, or you can give 30 days written notice. This is in the terms and conditions and was implemented a few years ago now. At the time you had the option to switch providers.

This is very misleading from eircom. Log a complaint with Comreg and see what they have to say.

The provider you moving away from has the right to charge you a cancellation fee as outlined in your contract.

galldar

No word from Eircom complaints department, unsurprisingly! I'll have to call them myself I suppose, at least I have a case reference.

Where do I find a copy of my contract, I was going to check the terms, but I never received a contract via post or email?

I was also told (by the Eircom phone salesperson) that anyone could cancel their Vodafone contract without penalty because Vodafone had changed their charges without properly notifying customers (for directory enquiries I think), anyone know if this is correct?

straaachan

galldar wrote: »

I was also told (by the Eircom phone salesperson) that anyone could cancel their Vodafone contract without penalty because Vodafone had changed their charges without properly notifying customers (for directory enquiries I think), anyone know if this is correct?

I was offered the same, and was just hit with a €400 plus termination fee from Vodafone.
I called the Eircom complaints line and was told that they had made a mistake;
while you could cancel the Vodafone contract without charge due to the change in prices, it could only be done by the customer themselves, (i.e. not by eircom as mine was)
So I'm told that Eircom are in the process of trying to sort out the situation on my a/c.

galldar

straaachan wrote: »

I was offered the same, and was just hit with a €400 plus termination fee from Vodafone.
I called the Eircom complaints line and was told that they had made a mistake;
while you could cancel the Vodafone contract without charge due to the change in prices, it could only be done by the customer themselves, (i.e. not by eircom as mine was)
So I'm told that Eircom are in the process of trying to sort out the situation on my a/c.

Hopefully their mistake = they pay the termination charge!

galldar

After numerous phone calls to Eircom (they never called me back), the last 'agent' told me basically, that their sales people should never have told me that I didn't need to contact Vodafone (to cancel contract), but tough, you should know your own contract!
Logged a complaint with Comreg, after another couple of weeks was contacted by Eircoms customer care department, and they have agreed to credit my account or write a cheque for the termination charge from Vodafone.

At long last a result! Perseverance pays off.

carjam

I am just going through the same scenario with Eircom
Rep told me I could leave Vodafone without incurring early termination fees which I did and now have outstanding bill of €300+ !!

Eircom have no record of the call I received !!

Have written to them so waiting for response before I contact comreg

PoolBall

Eircom or any other provider do not give a toss about your contracts with previous/current providers. What they mean when they say they will take care of everything is that will take care of the technical side of transferring providers. Contracts you have with other provider are your own responsibility. It is your responsibility to make sure you are out of contract otherwise you will incur the cost for the remaining duration of the contract. I am not saying that it is right, and word play by sales people may makes it sound different, but that's just how it is. Always, always verify contracts for yourself.

Scarlet1989

Eircom are saying they'll credit my account with €400 if I can prove vodafone are after it. I got a letter off vodafone today giving me 7 days but clearly eircom are admitting fault here and going the roundabout way about it? I don't care about my eircom account its vodafone I'm worried about! Everytime I ring vodafone they just tell me they can't help me. All I want is for the credit management to ring me which they said they would but never have.

Scarlet1989

Eircom are saying they'll credit my account with €400 if I can prove vodafone are after it. I got a letter off vodafone today giving me 7 days but clearly eircom are admitting fault here and going the roundabout way about it? I don't care about my eircom account its vodafone I'm worried about! Everytime I ring vodafone they just tell me they can't help me. All I want is for the credit management to ring me which they said they would but never have.