Eircom customers face massive backdated bills

bumper234

30,000 Eircom customers face bloated backdated bills in payments blunder


http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/30000-eircom-customers-face-bloated-backdated-bills-in-payments-blunder-626893.html

Pretty messed up and going to ask people to pay up in one go!

housands of Eircom customers are to be hit with significantly higher bills after a payments blunder at the company.

The telecoms giant failed to collect direct debits at the start of the year, with some subscribers now being charged for several months at a cost of up to €500.

Eircom admits the failure is the company's fault, but will still be asking customers to pay for several months in one go.

Some of those customers are up to five months in arrears, with no payments taken since October.

mickydoomsux

Gasp! Paying for something you owe them for anyway.

The horror.

They've already come out and said it won't be all at one time as well.

counterlock

Have you an opinion on it OP?

meathenterpr

Was with Eircom years ago but left because of their incompetence. See nothing has changed
Just say tell them you are willing to pay but not in one single payment and stand your ground.
Furthermore demand some sort of recompense for the stress they caused.
Remember they have admitted they are at fault.

whiskeyman

System and business processes must be in shyte if there's no checks to confirm DDs taken!
Bet there was some fun meetings in there as it came to light.

bumper234

mickydoomsux wrote: »

Gasp! Paying for something you owe them for anyway.

The horror.

They've already come out and said it won't be all at one time as well.

Am not an Eircom customer myself so not affected by this, Obviously they have to pay their bills and it's obvious to most if the money has not gone out of their account. There will of course be people who have since spent the money that they should have used to pay their bills and will be lamenting how it's all Eircoms fault for not spotting this but surely SOMEONE has mentioned this to Eircom over the last couple of months that cash was not leaving accounts?

Don't know myself, On one hand it's obviously Eircom's fault for not spotting this sooner and if someone is having difficulty with a now large bill they should maybe spread the payments over the space of a few months. On the other hand if my phone bill comes in and is not taken by my provider i would ring asking why it hasn't gone out.

Mr. Incognito

People can cancel the dd mandate at the bank and go to decent providers?

bumper234

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

People can cancel the dd mandate at the bank and go to decent providers?

But if they are under contract and now in arrears of €xxx.xx they will still have to pay. What about someone saving for a mortgage? Wonder will this come back as a negative for them now with banks re: credit ratings.

Lisha

A friend of mine realised direct debits had not been taken and rang eircom and they said dd had been taken that her bank was wrong. She had a few phone calls with eircom but eircom could not see the problem and insisted she must be wrong.
So I'm not surprised by this

bumper234

Lisha wrote: »

A friend of mine realised direct debits had not been taken and rang eircom and they said dd had been taken that her bank was wrong. She had a few phone calls with eircom but eircom could not see the problem and insisted she must be wrong.
So I'm not surprised by this

Yes apparently they even sent letters to some saying/confirming that DD had been taken and their accounts were up to date.

Lisha

bumper234 wrote: »

Yes apparently they even sent letters to some saying/confirming that DD had been taken and their accounts were up to date.

But surely they have to allow people time to pay if needed so!
Bizarre

whiskeyman

bumper234 wrote: »

Yes apparently they even sent letters to some saying/confirming that DD had been taken and their accounts were up to date.

Jaysus! The customer is always right wrong!

Flippyfloppy

Ew I'm glad I left eircom, I hated being with them.

PizzamanIRL

counterlock wrote: »

Have you an opinion on it OP?

Do you care?

allthedoyles

bumper234 wrote: »

Yes apparently they even sent letters to some saying/confirming that DD had been taken and their accounts were up to date.

Eircom told me that my bill showed I had paid in full, but in fact the money was not taken from bank account.

Then I got a letter from Eircom to say that there was an error , and they told me that the letter was sent to me in error .

Then Eircom told me they received no money from me , when in fact I h=had been paying them small amounts through mybills.ie , and they backtracked again and said they received these amounts .

I pay 35e a month , and next Eircom confirmed my account balance was minus 33 , but now I get a bill which shows I owe 120.

Its a mess for Eircom customers

NormanNicetouch

How could their finance department not notice there was a big and ever-increasing hole in their expected income every month?

jester77

Why is this even a story

You would obviously see that they had not taken the money when you go over your accounts at the end of the week/month. No one would be stupid enough to think they got the service for free. Just leave the money that was already set aside for the bill in the account. Very sensationalist headline, you would think they were ripping people off. They are only taking the money that they previously would have taken.

bucketybuck

jester77 wrote: »

Why is this even a story

You would obviously see that they had not taken the money when you go over your accounts at the end of the week/month. No one would be stupid enough to think they got the service for free. Just leave the money that was already set aside for the bill in the account. Very sensationalist headline, you would think they were ripping people off. They are only taking the money that they previously would have taken.

This post is laughably naive.

mickydoomsux

jester77 wrote: »

Why is this even a story

You would obviously see that they had not taken the money when you go over your accounts at the end of the week/month. No one would be stupid enough to think they got the service for free. Just leave the money that was already set aside for the bill in the account. Very sensationalist headline, you would think they were ripping people off. They are only taking the money that they previously would have taken.

Previously state owned company and as we well know they are all bastards as far as the public are concerned.

jester77

bucketybuck wrote: »

This post is laughably naive.

In what way Do you think Eircom did this on purpose or are going to take more money than is owed to them? Eircom are the losers here, they have lost the interest on the money they should have collected.

everdead.ie

jester77 wrote: »

Why is this even a story

You would obviously see that they had not taken the money when you go over your accounts at the end of the week/month. No one would be stupid enough to think they got the service for free. Just leave the money that was already set aside for the bill in the account. Very sensationalist headline, you would think they were ripping people off. They are only taking the money that they previously would have taken.

My main issue is people who called up saying they hadn't been DD and told they were paid in full. They go spend the money after receiving conformation and now told they have to pay beck the money.

It reminds me of the time I moved to a new apartment and changed from airticity to ESB and then three months later airtricity threatened to cut me off and charge me a disconnection fee. I was livid took three weeks before they admitted they were wrong.

If the customer brings up the issue and told they are fine they should receive a discount in my opinion.

force eleven

Another SEPA balls up. Whenever you hear the EU want to harmonize stuff, you know it will be bad news for the ordinary joe soap.

The Backwards Man

jester77 wrote: »

In what way Do you think Eircom did this on purpose or are going to take more money than is owed to them? Eircom are the losers here, they have lost the interest on the money they should have collected.

I think he means naive about the way people manage their finances. It's criminal the amount of people wouldn't have a clue what comes in and out of their account every month, where iy came from and where it went.

Balance = spending money.

DeanAustin

meathenterpr wrote: »

Was with Eircom years ago but left because of their incompetence. See nothing has changed
Just say tell them you are willing to pay but not in one single payment and stand your ground.
Furthermore demand some sort of recompense for the stress they caused.
Remember they have admitted they are at fault.

Good to see the compo culture is alive and well.

Eircom should work with their customers here. There complete and utter balls up. The should allow time for people to pay the bills. As someone else said, their finance people should be kicked in the hole as well.

Mr Simpson

jester77 wrote: »

Why is this even a story

You would obviously see that they had not taken the money when you go over your accounts at the end of the week/month. No one would be stupid enough to think they got the service for free. Just leave the money that was already set aside for the bill in the account. Very sensationalist headline, you would think they were ripping people off. They are only taking the money that they previously would have taken.

I'd say a very large chunk of people will only ever check their bank accounts once their card has been declined in a shop. The amount of people I talk to on a daily basis who have no clue whats going out of their bank account is unbelievable.

Uriel.

meathenterpr wrote: »

Was with Eircom years ago but left because of their incompetence. See nothing has changed
Just say tell them you are willing to pay but not in one single payment and stand your ground.
Furthermore demand some sort of recompense for the stress they caused.
Remember they have admitted they are at fault.

:rolleyes:

Feckin hell.

jester77

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I think he means naive about the way people manage their finances. It's criminal the amount of people wouldn't have a clue what comes in and out of their account every month, where iy came from and where it went.

Balance = spending money.

Mr Simpson wrote: »

I'd say a very large chunk of people will only ever check their bank accounts once their card has been declined in a shop. The amount of people I talk to on a daily basis who have no clue whats going out of their bank account is unbelievable.

You can't blame Eircom for that.

Mr Simpson

jester77 wrote: »

You can't blame Eircom for that.

I didn't....

DeanAustin

jester77 wrote: »

You can't blame Eircom for that.

No but they should be reasonable about this. It's their cock up. To punish their customers for their mistake is very poor. Eircom are entitled to their money but their customers should be entitled to not take the hit in one go.

keeponhurling

NormanNicetouch wrote: »

How could their finance department not notice there was a big and ever-increasing hole in their expected income every month?

I suspect there are some pretty awkward conversations in the Eircom Finance Dept. alright.
that does seem incredible that they wouldn't notice

murpho999

force eleven wrote: »

Another SEPA balls up. Whenever you hear the EU want to harmonize stuff, you know it will be bad news for the ordinary joe soap.

This not a SEPA balls up. It's Eircom's.

SEPA has been coming down the line for years and companies had to prepare for it.

Eircom have clearly failed to do this.

Having had issues myself with their billing that led to me leaving them I am not surprised.

anncoates

counterlock wrote: »

Have you an opinion on it OP?

Have you?

Plazaman

force eleven wrote: »

Another SEPA balls up. Whenever you hear the EU want to harmonize stuff, you know it will be bad news for the ordinary joe soap.

Plans for switching all EU countries started back as early as 2008 but the Feb 2014 deadline was mainly advertised in Ireland from early 2012. Eircom had 2 years to get prepared and run their tests but still failed. PS they are not the only company and even one or two of the Banks themselves have made a few FU's.

Anyway in the heel of the hunt they have said anyone who can't afford to repay in a lump some and set up a payment plan with them so they're not monsters.

Eircom has blamed a ‘systems error’ and said it will be talking to customers in a bid to make out payment plans for those who have difficulty paying.

mickydoomsux

DeanAustin wrote: »

No but they should be reasonable about this. It's their cock up. To punish their customers for their mistake is very poor. Eircom are entitled to their money but their customers should be entitled to not take the hit in one go.

Their rep was just on the radio and said it was a problem with the bank processing a particular batch of payments due to a SEPA glitch.

How are they punishing their customers by expecting them to pay their bills?

They've stated from the get go that they'll work on payment plans for people who can't sort it out all at once.

This is more rabble-rabble nonsense against a business being a business and victimising the poor little innocent consumer. It's getting tiresome at this stage. Everyone in this country wants to be a victim of some perceived sleight so they can have a good uninformed whinge.

DeanAustin

mickydoomsux wrote: »

Their rep was just on the radio and said it was a problem with the bank processing a particular batch of payments due to a SEPA glitch.

How are they punishing their customers by expecting them to pay their bills?

They've stated from the get go that they'll work on payment plans for people who can't sort it out all at once.

This is more rabble-rabble nonsense against a business being a business and victimising the poor little innocent consumer. It's getting tiresome at this stage. Everyone in this country wants to be a victim of some perceived sleight so they can have a good uninformed whinge.

Alright Sunshine, down off your high horse. We're in agreement. Look at my post, I've said they are entitled to their money. They just shouldn't expect it in one go. They aren't. They're being reasonable. Fair enough.

Femme_Fatale

People should contact them to organise an instalment plan, which they'd have to provide.
Also, if your bill is really delayed, you're better off checking why instead of leaving it pile up. You're using the service continously and you know you'll be getting billed anyway.

But I suppose bitching and moaning about them and giving abuse to a telephone agent is so much more productive and fun.

This was the main story on Today FM news this morning. Quiet for news at the moment obviously.

the immortals

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

People can cancel the dd mandate at the bank and go to decent providers?

i went into aib in ranelagh yesterday to cancel a dd debit with eircom, this was before i knew of the hullabaloo going on now, i had other issues with them, i was told by the bank that they will cancel their end of dd but eircom could still take out money if they wanted as i had contract with them, bank said they were just facilitating my contract with eircom

foggy_lad

the immortals wrote: »

i went into aib in ranelagh yesterday to cancel a dd debit with eircom, this was before i knew of the hullabaloo going on now, i had other issues with them, i was told by the bank that they will cancel their end of dd but eircom could still take out money if they wanted as i had contract with them, bank said they were just facilitating my contract with eircom

This is wrong but as long as the bank refund immediately any future debits taken by eircon they are doing their bit and meeting their obligations.

What customers must remember is they must tell eircon that they have cancelled the direct debit.

stoneill

You can pay over the phone - ironic.

shruikan2553

the immortals wrote: »

i went into aib in ranelagh yesterday to cancel a dd debit with eircom, this was before i knew of the hullabaloo going on now, i had other issues with them, i was told by the bank that they will cancel their end of dd but eircom could still take out money if they wanted as i had contract with them, bank said they were just facilitating my contract with eircom

Once a DD has been cancled with AIB (can't comment on other banks but assume it is similar) eircom can't get money from you, they can request but the bank won't give it. They ask you to cancel the contract because it saves them having to deal with eircom

the immortals

shruikan2553 wrote: »

Once a DD has been cancled with AIB (can't comment on other banks but assume it is similar) eircom can't get money from you, they can request but the bank won't give it. They ask you to cancel the contract because it saves them having to deal with eircom

yes i thought this too until i was told in aib in ranalagh that they can still take money out, i was amazed at this information, spoke to 2 customer service women

cuilteanna

The money is still in my account waiting as I'm well aware that I owed it and had already deducted it. I rang Eircom after each bill when I saw my DD hadn't left my bank account and they assured me it was paid and they would look into it. Apparently they didn't bother to look very hard since it's taken this long - 5 months - for them to figure it out.

The wording of the letter is basically saying "We will take all of the money at your next bill". Only down at the bottom is there any reference to payment options.

But why do I have to be charged two Failed Direct Debit fees when it's THEIR fault?! Yes it is being reimbursed, but I am very unhappy that I'll have late payments in my credit history when I've been proactive in following it up.

bumper234

cuilteanna wrote: »

The money is still in my account waiting as I'm well aware that I owed it and had already deducted it. I rang Eircom after each bill when I saw my DD hadn't left my bank account and they assured me it was paid and they would look into it. Apparently they didn't bother to look very hard since it's taken this long - 5 months - for them to figure it out.

The wording of the letter is basically saying "We will take all of the money at your next bill". Only down at the bottom is there any reference to payment options.

But why do I have to be charged two Failed Direct Debit fees when it's THEIR fault?! Yes it is being reimbursed, but I am very unhappy that I'll have late payments in my credit history when I've been proactive in following it up.

This could possibly be the difference between someone being granted a mortgage and someone being refused.

No Pants

meathenterpr wrote: »

Furthermore demand some sort of recompense for the stress they caused.

What stress?

MS.ing

Lisha wrote: »

A friend of mine realised direct debits had not been taken and rang eircom and they said dd had been taken that her bank was wrong. She had a few phone calls with eircom but eircom could not see the problem and insisted she must be wrong.
So I'm not surprised by this

bumper234 wrote: »

Yes apparently they even sent letters to some saying/confirming that DD had been taken and their accounts were up to date.

well if you have it in writing that it was them who insisted you paid then thats that. T hey would have had a leg to stand on if they didnt send the letter and it was just a phone conversation (unless you recorðed it) but they did so tough s*** really for them.

Its not up to the person to keep track on DDs leaving their account its up to the business who said theyd take it, but then again a look through terms and conditions you signed might tell you otherwise but judging by the fact they have made this announcement in national media? then they are probably sure the customer has no out except maybe to split up the payment into smaller amounts more often.

mickydoomsux

MS.ing wrote: »

well if you have it in writing that it was them who insisted you paid then thats that. T hey would have had a leg to stand on if they didnt send the letter and it was just a phone conversation (unless you recorðed it) but they did so tough s*** really for them.

Its not up to the person to keep track on DDs leaving their account its up to the business who said theyd take it, but then again a look through terms and conditions you signed might tell you otherwise but judging by the fact they have made this announcement in national media? then they are probably sure the customer has no out except maybe to split up the payment into smaller amounts more often.

It's not up to you to keep track of your Direct Debits?

Jesus wept.

questionmark?

the immortals wrote: »

yes i thought this too until i was told in aib in ranalagh that they can still take money out, i was amazed at this information, spoke to 2 customer service women

This is incorrect. Under the Direct Debit Indemity scheme funds can only be realised if the customer has giving permission for payments to be made. By telling your bank to stop the DD you have withdrawn that permission. If your bank pays out, tell them to recall it straight away and lodge a formal complaint against the bank. In the same way as If you agreed for a DD to be in place for a set monthly figure and a change was made you must be provided with a minimum of 10 working days notice if you didnt get that the scheme states the funds must be refunded to your account.

If a direct debit to a company bounces, it us normal practice for them to charge an admin fee for chasing it up.

Customers should counter charge eircom for the time spent advising eircom of this error.

Fair's fair.

questionmark?

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

If a direct debit to a company bounces, it us normal practice for them to charge an admin fee for chasing it up.

Customers should counter charge eircom for the time spent advising eircom of this error.

Fair's fair.

Depends on the T&C but most companies will have some sort of admin charge.

ScumLord

Mr Simpson wrote: »

I'd say a very large chunk of people will only ever check their bank accounts once their card has been declined in a shop. The amount of people I talk to on a daily basis who have no clue whats going out of their bank account is unbelievable.

I've had some sort of funny DR euros in my account for the past few days.

the immortals

questionmark? wrote: »

This is incorrect. Under the Direct Debit Indemity scheme funds can only be realised if the customer has giving permission for payments to be made. By telling your bank to stop the DD you have withdrawn that permission. If your bank pays out, tell them to recall it straight away and lodge a formal complaint against the bank. In the same way as If you agreed for a DD to be in place for a set monthly figure and a change was made you must be provided with a minimum of 10 working days notice if you didnt get that the scheme states the funds must be refunded to your account.

I hope you are right! The customer service girls in aib ranelagh were quite adamant about it,