Credit Vetting vs. E-fibre

patsymc14

Today was to be a very special day for the fastest speed EVER 100mb in my house.....unfortunately it wasn't meant to be......the process was halted abruptly due to Eircom Credit Vetting department's issue which in turn will further delay any chance of fully appreciating the e-fibre experience. I'm vey dismayed with Eircom especially when I have several years of loyalty(15years) more or less. At the end of the phone call this afternoon, I was given an address and told to write a letter explaining my grievence. Has anyone else been through this inquiry? Also can I get any quicker reponses?

eircom: Alan

patsymc14 wrote: »

Today was to be a very special day for the fastest speed EVER 100mb in my house.....unfortunately it wasn't meant to be......the process was halted abruptly due to Eircom Credit Vetting department's issue which in turn will further delay any chance of fully appreciating the e-fibre experience. I'm vey dismayed with Eircom especially when I have several years of loyalty(15years) more or less. At the end of the phone call this afternoon, I was given an address and told to write a letter explaining my grievence. Has anyone else been through this inquiry? Also can I get any quicker reponses?

Hi patsymc14

If you would like to PM me your eircom account details and a contact number for you I will be happy o look in to this further for you.

Thanks
Al

cathalm05

Just had a similar experience with Eircom.  efibre broadband has come to our area.
I called up eventually to see about upgrading for my mother as they have been ringing the house and sending letters for a while now asking us to upgrade.
I spoke to a very nice lady on the phone and she went through all the details and even arranged a time for engineer to call out to change the phone line. After all that she said she would call back in a few minutes just to confirm all was ok. however she called me back to refuse me the broadband . she gave no reason and said to write to the credit vetting place.
I could not believe this..my mother has been an Eircom customer all her life. She has always paid the bills too.
I Cant believe they won't give reason over the phone or upgrade her setup..The price is practically the same as what she is paying already. She is getting to old to write letters or wait for responses at this stage of her life as they seem to take forever to get back to customers.
There must be a better way of communicating at this stage with Eircom. They are a technology company right! would not expect to be communicating with snail mail at this point with them.
Surprised and very annoyed.

eircom: Alan

cathalm05 wrote: »

Just had a similar experience with Eircom.  efibre broadband has come to our area.
I called up eventually to see about upgrading for my mother as they have been ringing the house and sending letters for a while now asking us to upgrade.
I spoke to a very nice lady on the phone and she went through all the details and even arranged a time for engineer to call out to change the phone line. After all that she said she would call back in a few minutes just to confirm all was ok. however she called me back to refuse me the broadband . she gave no reason and said to write to the credit vetting place.
I could not believe this..my mother has been an Eircom customer all her life. She has always paid the bills too.
I Cant believe they won't give reason over the phone or upgrade her setup..The price is practically the same as what she is paying already. She is getting to old to write letters or wait for responses at this stage of her life as they seem to take forever to get back to customers.
There must be a better way of communicating at this stage with Eircom. They are a technology company right! would not expect to be communicating with snail mail at this point with them.
Surprised and very annoyed.

Hi cathalm05

I'm very sorry to hear this and I can fully understand the disappointment. while the only route to seek clarification on credit vetting is by letter please feel free to PM me the account number and I will see if it is definitely the case that your mother has failed the vetting process.

Thanks
AL

cathalm05

Just wondering is anyone else have any luck hearing back from the Eircom representatives on this website or
are they just simply a PR exercise.
I have not heard back from them despite several attempts at contacting them.
How hard is it to look into a persons account  at this stage in age.
should only take a few minutes on any computer. 
Their customer care approach needs a lot to be desired .
still shocked and amazed.

eircom: Alan

cathalm05 wrote: »

Just wondering is anyone else have any luck hearing back from the Eircom representatives on this website or
are they just simply a PR exercise.
I have not heard back from them despite several attempts at contacting them.
How hard is it to look into a persons account at this stage in age.
should only take a few minutes on any computer.
Their customer care approach needs a lot to be desired .
still shocked and amazed.

Hi cathalm05

I am genuinely sorry for the delays, I have had an update on this and I'm wondering if you could PM me a mobile number I can contact you on?

Ultimately the reason for the failure is because direct debit payment was refused.

Thanks
Al

cathalm05

still waiting for you to call me Alan. how many days do you need to get back to somebody????
losing the will to live dealing with this for so long!

kkapp

Don't expect a call back.. I lodged a complaint girl told me I would receive a call back within 10 days which is the time frame for a complaint still nothing. 

dub45

eircom: Alan wrote: »

cathalm05 wrote: »

Just wondering is anyone else have any luck hearing back from the Eircom representatives on this website or
are they just simply a PR exercise.
I have not heard back from them despite several attempts at contacting them.
How hard is it to look into a persons account  at this stage in age.
should only take a few minutes on any computer.
Their customer care approach needs a lot to be desired .
still shocked and amazed.

Hi cathalm05

I am genuinely sorry for the delays, I have had an update on this and I'm wondering if you could PM me a mobile number I can contact you on?

Ultimately the reason for the failure is because direct debit payment was refused.

Thanks
Al

What has payment by direct debit got to do with credit vetting? Surely customers deserver far better communication from Eircom than this?

The direct debit system is an appalling mess and one has to look no further than this thread to see why no sensible person should use it.

in short there is no upfront protection for your bank account when a dd mandate is in existence and there are no consequences for companies no matter what they do or how they may mess up a person's life by deducting money they are not entitled to.

1hnr79jr65

dub45 wrote: »

eircom: Alan wrote: »

cathalm05 wrote: »

Just wondering is anyone else have any luck hearing back from the Eircom representatives on this website or
are they just simply a PR exercise.
I have not heard back from them despite several attempts at contacting them.
How hard is it to look into a persons account  at this stage in age.
should only take a few minutes on any computer.
Their customer care approach needs a lot to be desired .
still shocked and amazed.

Hi cathalm05

I am genuinely sorry for the delays, I have had an update on this and I'm wondering if you could PM me a mobile number I can contact you on?

Ultimately the reason for the failure is because direct debit payment was refused.

Thanks
Al

What has payment by direct debit got to do with credit vetting? Surely customers deserver far better communication from Eircom than this?

The direct debit system is an appalling mess and one has to look no further than this thread to see why no sensible person should use it.

in short there is no upfront protection for your bank account when a dd mandate is in existence and there are no consequences for companies no matter what they do or how they may mess up a person's life by deducting money they are not entitled to.

Some companies like eircom will only supply services on grounds that a direct debit is setup.

I had fibre and landline and later upgraded to evision but to get this service i had to add direct debit to the account. alot of mobile operators and tv providers provide service based on the same sort of setup these days, i guess it is to avoid certain customers availing of service and not paying for it.

dub45

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

dub45 wrote: »

eircom: Alan wrote: »

cathalm05 wrote: »

Just wondering is anyone else have any luck hearing back from the Eircom representatives on this website or
are they just simply a PR exercise.
I have not heard back from them despite several attempts at contacting them.
How hard is it to look into a persons account  at this stage in age.
should only take a few minutes on any computer.
Their customer care approach needs a lot to be desired .
still shocked and amazed.

Hi cathalm05

I am genuinely sorry for the delays, I have had an update on this and I'm wondering if you could PM me a mobile number I can contact you on?

Ultimately the reason for the failure is because direct debit payment was refused.

Thanks
Al

What has payment by direct debit got to do with credit vetting? Surely customers deserver far better communication from Eircom than this?

The direct debit system is an appalling mess and one has to look no further than this thread to see why no sensible person should use it.

in short there is no upfront protection for your bank account when a dd mandate is in existence and there are no consequences for companies no matter what they do or how they may mess up a person's life by deducting money they are not entitled to.

Some companies like eircom will only supply services on grounds that a direct debit is setup.

I had fibre and landline and later upgraded to evision but to get this service i had to add direct debit to the account. alot of mobile operators and tv providers provide service based on the same sort of setup these days, i guess it is to avoid certain customers availing of service and not paying for it.

If the person has no money in their account they can't pay for it can they? People need to stand up to companies and simply refuse to pay by direct debit.

Companies want customers to pay by direct debit because it presents huge savings for them and is great for their cash flow. You would think that companies would respect the minimal requirements of them under the dd scheme rules but they don't.

Customers are basically screwed once they sign the dd mandate.  For example Eircom have stated here recently that they send the dd information to the banks 14 days in advance - there is absolutely no reason for this other than to frustrate customers' efforts to have  wrong bill corrected.

Companies like Eircom also charge customers fees for missing a dd which are not specified to them when signing up for dd - with bank fees added in it can cost up to 30 euros to miss a dd payment whereas Eircom or any company can debit wrong amounts to customers accounts without any accountability whatsoever.  There is no complaints system under the dd scheme so there is no incentive for companies to obey the rules of the scheme.

Even when you cancel a dd mandate you are not safe as a cancelled dd mandate can be reinstated quite easily by companies. Again no action is taken against companies who do this.

1hnr79jr65

dub45 wrote: »

If the person has no money in their account they can't pay for it can they? People need to stand up to companies and simply refuse to pay by direct debit.

Companies want customers to pay by direct debit because it presents huge savings for them and is great for their cash flow. You would think that companies would respect the minimal requirements of them under the dd scheme rules but they don't.

Customers are basically screwed once they sign the dd mandate.  For example Eircom have stated here recently that they send the dd information to the banks 14 days in advance - there is absolutely no reason for this other than to frustrate customers' efforts to have  wrong bill corrected.

Companies like Eircom also charge customers fees for missing a dd which are not specified to them when signing up for dd - with bank fees added in it can cost up to 30 euros to miss a dd payment whereas Eircom or any company can debit wrong amounts to customers accounts without any accountability whatsoever.  There is no complaints system under the dd scheme so there is no incentive for companies to obey the rules of the scheme.

Even when you cancel a dd mandate you are not safe as a cancelled dd mandate can be reinstated quite easily by companies.  Again no action is taken against companies who do this.

I can see your frustration with this but so far it seems all financial institutions and comreg appear to side with companies who have DD schemes setup. Barring some drastic legislation being passed more than likely this payment system will remain and alot of folks like myself find it convenient for payments due to working hours not being able to attend post office or taking time to do payments online.

dub45

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

dub45 wrote: »

If the person has no money in their account they can't pay for it can they? People need to stand up to companies and simply refuse to pay by direct debit.

Companies want customers to pay by direct debit because it presents huge savings for them and is great for their cash flow. You would think that companies would respect the minimal requirements of them under the dd scheme rules but they don't.

Customers are basically screwed once they sign the dd mandate.  For example Eircom have stated here recently that they send the dd information to the banks 14 days in advance - there is absolutely no reason for this other than to frustrate customers' efforts to have  wrong bill corrected.

Companies like Eircom also charge customers fees for missing a dd which are not specified to them when signing up for dd - with bank fees added in it can cost up to 30 euros to miss a dd payment whereas Eircom or any company can debit wrong amounts to customers accounts without any accountability whatsoever.  There is no complaints system under the dd scheme so there is no incentive for companies to obey the rules of the scheme.

Even when you cancel a dd mandate you are not safe as a cancelled dd mandate can be reinstated quite easily by companies.  Again no action is taken against companies who do this.

I can see your frustration with this but so far it seems all financial institutions and comreg appear to side with companies who have DD schemes setup. Barring some drastic legislation being passed more than likely this payment system will remain and alot of folks like myself find it convenient for payments due to working hours not being able to attend post office or taking time to do payments online.

Comreg have nothing at all to do with the dd system. You must lead a busy life indeed if you haven't got time to make a payment on line!

There is no convenience when your account is wrongly debited by the likes of Eircom with no consequences for them whatsoever.

It is important that people should realise what they are opening themselves to when they agree to pay by dd. This is disgracefully not pointed out to them by the banks or the companies.

1hnr79jr65

dub45 wrote: »

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

dub45 wrote: »

If the person has no money in their account they can't pay for it can they? People need to stand up to companies and simply refuse to pay by direct debit.

Companies want customers to pay by direct debit because it presents huge savings for them and is great for their cash flow. You would think that companies would respect the minimal requirements of them under the dd scheme rules but they don't.

Customers are basically screwed once they sign the dd mandate.  For example Eircom have stated here recently that they send the dd information to the banks 14 days in advance - there is absolutely no reason for this other than to frustrate customers' efforts to have  wrong bill corrected.

Companies like Eircom also charge customers fees for missing a dd which are not specified to them when signing up for dd - with bank fees added in it can cost up to 30 euros to miss a dd payment whereas Eircom or any company can debit wrong amounts to customers accounts without any accountability whatsoever.  There is no complaints system under the dd scheme so there is no incentive for companies to obey the rules of the scheme.

Even when you cancel a dd mandate you are not safe as a cancelled dd mandate can be reinstated quite easily by companies.  Again no action is taken against companies who do this.

I can see your frustration with this but so far it seems all financial institutions and comreg appear to side with companies who have DD schemes setup. Barring some drastic legislation being passed more than likely this payment system will remain and alot of folks like myself find it convenient for payments due to working hours not being able to attend post office or taking time to do payments online.

Comreg have nothing at all to do with the dd system. You must lead a busy life indeed if you haven't got time to make a payment on line!

There is no convenience when your account is wrongly debited by the likes of Eircom with no consequences for them whatsoever.

It is important that people should realise what they are opening themselves to when they agree to pay by dd.  This is disgracefully not pointed out to them by the banks or the companies.

As a mod i would expect you would take less of a personal shot against me for "You must lead a busy life indeed if you haven't got time to make a payment on line!" quote and focus on what we discussing.

I agree some things could be made clearer however regulators and banking industry laid down the rules for DD schemes to be used. It is those groups who should complained to to set out parameters for what companies are required to disclose at point of sale/account setup and not the company itself. After all companies are allowed to do what they like within current legal guidelines.

dub45

Well you have to ask yourself what sort of company does not tell its customers upfront what the charges are if they miss a direct debit payment or that they send the debit details to the bank 14 days in advance so that the customer cannot contest a bill amount and that the only option is to go to the bank and ask that the debit be stopped?  

Companies know very well that if they were honest upfront about the woes of the dd scheme bill payers would refuse to participate.

No regulator lays down the rules for the dd scheme.

cathalm05

Folks thanks for replying to my message. I have been enlightened on the negative and positive aspects of direct debit from some of ye.
I feel I was mislaid by Eircom as the consequences of refusing DD was never mentioned or explained.

To blame my mother's credit standing as the reason she could not have fibre is low, very low indeed. It had nothing to do with it.
Upgrading to fibre Broadband is fairly standard in a lot of places now.

Were it not for the constant phone calls and letters explained how we would be doing a lot better we might have ignored them.
Do this mean that anyone who wishes to upgrade to fibre needs to commit to DD. That can't be the case surely.
It's not that I'm totally against DD but I can see the bad points of it too!
They might be using the efibre as a carrot to move all their customers onto DD I believe. What else could be the reason for refusal?

Do companies take loyalty into account anymore. My mother is in her 80s , she has been with eircom since the beginning.
Does eircom take older customers into account at all?

Paying her bills in the local post office is one of her few outings in the month. NO wonder the post offices are all closing down.
It is not just the social part of paying bills in the local post office

she is not up to date on computers so paying online is out for her.
she pays all her bills in the post office....is she to be catered for by these big companies?

I feel upset for her as she was looking forward to calling her grown up children and grand children that are spread around the world as eircom were offering a very good world wide call package on efibre......she does not skype either by the way. she cant afford normal rates.

all in all,we were both very surprised by Eircom's original response but more so by their complete lack of response since original posting here.
It might be time to look into alternative service providers. anyone got any suggestions?

regards
Cathal

eircom: Alan

cathalm05 wrote: »

Folks thanks for replying to my message. I have been enlightened on the negative and positive aspects of direct debit from some of ye.
I feel I was mislaid by Eircom as the consequences of refusing DD was never mentioned or explained.

To blame my mother's credit standing as the reason she could not have fibre is low, very low indeed. It had nothing to do with it.
Upgrading to fibre Broadband is fairly standard in a lot of places now.

Were it not for the constant phone calls and letters explained how we would be doing a lot better we might have ignored them.
Do this mean that anyone who wishes to upgrade to fibre needs to commit to DD. That can't be the case surely.
It's not that I'm totally against DD but I can see the bad points of it too!
They might be using the efibre as a carrot to move all their customers onto DD I believe. What else could be the reason for refusal?

Do companies take loyalty into account anymore. My mother is in her 80s , she has been with eircom since the beginning.
Does eircom take older customers into account at all?

Paying her bills in the local post office is one of her few outings in the month. NO wonder the post offices are all closing down.
It is not just the social part of paying bills in the local post office

she is not up to date on computers so paying online is out for her.
she pays all her bills in the post office....is she to be catered for by these big companies?

I feel upset for her as she was looking forward to calling her grown up children and grand children that are spread around the world as eircom were offering a very good world wide call package on efibre......she does not skype either by the way. she cant afford normal rates.

all in all,we were both very surprised by Eircom's original response but more so by their complete lack of response since original posting here.
It might be time to look into alternative service providers. anyone got any suggestions?

regards
Cathal

Hi cathalm05

I'm very sorry for the delays with this - I had been awaiting full confirmation of why the service was not provided and it is indeed because the option for direct debit was not chosen. Direct Debit is a specific condition for provision of efibre broadband.

I have read your latest post and I see that your mother was not advised of this initially and for this I also sincerely apologies. I understand this has created a lot of unnecessary inconvenience however If you decide to go with direct debit you can cancel payment by direct debit after three months and then arrange payment by alternative method if that helps.

Thanks
Al

dub45

eircom: Alan wrote: »

cathalm05 wrote: »

Folks thanks for replying to my message. I have been enlightened on the negative and positive aspects of direct debit from some of ye.
I feel I was mislaid by Eircom as the consequences of refusing DD was never mentioned or explained.

To blame my mother's credit standing as the reason she could not have fibre is low, very low indeed. It had nothing to do with it.
Upgrading to fibre Broadband is fairly standard in a lot of places now.

Were it not for the constant phone calls and letters explained how we would be doing a lot better we might have ignored them.
Do this mean that anyone who wishes to upgrade to fibre needs to commit to DD. That can't be the case surely.
It's not that I'm totally against DD but I can see the bad points of it too!
They might be using the efibre as a carrot to move all their customers onto DD I believe. What else could be the reason for refusal?

Do companies take loyalty into account anymore. My mother is in her 80s , she has been with eircom since the beginning.
Does eircom take older customers into account at all?

Paying her bills in the local post office is one of her few outings in the month. NO wonder the post offices are all closing down.
It is not just the social part of paying bills in the local post office

she is not up to date on computers so paying online is out for her.
she pays all her bills in the post office....is she to be catered for by these big companies?

I feel upset for her as she was looking forward to calling her grown up children and grand children that are spread around the world as eircom were offering a very good world wide call package on efibre......she does not skype either by the way. she cant afford normal rates.

all in all,we were both very surprised by Eircom's original response but more so by their complete lack of response since original posting here.
It might be time to look into alternative service providers. anyone got any suggestions?

regards
Cathal

Hi cathalm05

I'm very sorry for the delays with this - I had been awaiting full confirmation of why the service was not provided and it is indeed because the option for direct debit was not chosen. Direct Debit is a specific condition for provision of efibre broadband.

I have read your latest post and I see that your mother was not advised of this initially and for this I also sincerely apologies. I understand this has created a lot of unnecessary inconvenience however If you decide to go with direct debit you can cancel payment by direct debit after three months and then arrange payment by alternative method if that helps.

Thanks
Al

Why was this person not given the correct reason at the time?  What has credit vetting got to do with a very sensible decision not to pay by direct debit.

The mention of credit issues wrongly is really careless and shoddy and bound to be a cause of distress to this person.

If a person can cancel a direct debit mandate after three months what is the point then of this ridiculous stipulation? 

cathalm05

Alan,
 I feel I have to agree some what with Dub45 on this one. If Eircom is to be a transparent company it should mention DD in it's terms and conditions for offering Efiber. Efiber should not be used  as a sneaky carrot to transfer customers onto DD.
It may be convenient for Eircom but not necessarily for their customers.

The girl on the phone I don't blame. She did not even know the reason why my mother was refused. I did however feel embarrassed  for herself and myself. That information should have been available to herself and myself straight away.

Going the route of writing to an office in Clonakilty is a bit incredible at this stage. Eircom needs to improve this sector of their customer service.
I also don't feel like I should have to join boards(not that there is anything wrong with boards might I say) to get some kinda clarification at this stage. The customer service response is extremely slow. Dealing with it is also very time consuming.
None of us are getting any younger
!
A simple mention of the necessity of DD on the phone would have avoided this issue.
However I don't believe customers should have to be railroaded into DD to avail of such a service at this stage.
Eircom has to take into account a customers loyalty and records. They should be a criteria if necessary.
Not a blanket ban on those who refuse it!.
regards
cathal

eircom: Alan

cathalm05 wrote: »

Alan,
 I feel I have to agree some what with Dub45 on this one. If Eircom is to be a transparent company it should mention DD in it's terms and conditions for offering Efiber. Efiber should not be used  as a sneaky carrot to transfer customers onto DD.
It may be convenient for Eircom but not necessarily for their customers.

The girl on the phone I don't blame. She did not even know the reason why my mother was refused. I did however feel embarrassed  for herself and myself. That information should have been available to herself and myself straight away.

Going the route of writing to an office in Clonakilty is a bit incredible at this stage. Eircom needs to improve this sector of their customer service.
I also don't feel like I should have to join boards(not that there is anything wrong with boards might I say) to get some kinda clarification at this stage. The customer service response is extremely slow. Dealing with it is also very time consuming.
None of us are getting any younger
!
A simple mention of the necessity of DD on the phone would have avoided this issue.
However I don't believe customers should have to be railroaded into DD to avail of such a service at this stage.
Eircom has to take into account a customers loyalty and records. They should be a criteria if necessary.
Not a blanket ban on those who refuse it!.
regards
cathal

Hi cathalm05

I completely understand your views on this and I do agree with you, the whole situation where you were asked to post a letter requesting info on the credit vetting should not have happened in this case - you really should have been advised that the direct debit was what caused the issues.

The issues you have raised here shows an example and a requirement for an improvement in process and I will certainly ensure this reaches the relevant operational management.

I'm afraid I can't offer you better news in regards to signing up to efibre without Direct debit - I am fully aware that this is not the most convenient option for some people however Direct debit will need to be agreed to avail of eFibre broadband. If would like me to proceed with this please let me know and I will ensure that an agent contacts you to complete the order.

Thanks
Al

Grab All Association

dub45 wrote: »

eircom: Alan wrote: »

cathalm05 wrote: »

Folks thanks for replying to my message. I have been enlightened on the negative and positive aspects of direct debit from some of ye.
I feel I was mislaid by Eircom as the consequences of refusing DD was never mentioned or explained.

To blame my mother's credit standing as the reason she could not have fibre is low, very low indeed. It had nothing to do with it.
Upgrading to fibre Broadband is fairly standard in a lot of places now.

Were it not for the constant phone calls and letters explained how we would be doing a lot better we might have ignored them.
Do this mean that anyone who wishes to upgrade to fibre needs to commit to DD. That can't be the case surely.
It's not that I'm totally against DD but I can see the bad points of it too!
They might be using the efibre as a carrot to move all their customers onto DD I believe. What else could be the reason for refusal?

Do companies take loyalty into account anymore. My mother is in her 80s , she has been with eircom since the beginning.
Does eircom take older customers into account at all?

Paying her bills in the local post office is one of her few outings in the month. NO wonder the post offices are all closing down.
It is not just the social part of paying bills in the local post office

she is not up to date on computers so paying online is out for her.
she pays all her bills in the post office....is she to be catered for by these big companies?

I feel upset for her as she was looking forward to calling her grown up children and grand children that are spread around the world as eircom were offering a very good world wide call package on efibre......she does not skype either by the way. she cant afford normal rates.

all in all,we were both very surprised by Eircom's original response but more so by their complete lack of response since original posting here.
It might be time to look into alternative service providers. anyone got any suggestions?

regards
Cathal

Hi cathalm05

I'm very sorry for the delays with this - I had been awaiting full confirmation of why the service was not provided and it is indeed because the option for direct debit was not chosen. Direct Debit is a specific condition for provision of efibre broadband.

I have read your latest post and I see that your mother was not advised of this initially and for this I also sincerely apologies. I understand this has created a lot of unnecessary inconvenience however If you decide to go with direct debit you can cancel payment by direct debit after three months and then arrange payment by alternative method if that helps.

Thanks
Al

Why was this person not given the correct reason at the time?  What has credit vetting got to do with a very sensible decision not to pay by direct debit.

The mention of credit issues wrongly is really careless and shoddy and bound to be a cause of distress to this person.

If a person can cancel a direct debit mandate after three months what is the point then of this ridiculous stipulation? 

My dad is 71 years old. A pensioner and he pays his ESB bill through the An Post Household Budget scheme. A fixed amount of €30pw. His bills are always half of that and the ESB refund him by cheque every two months. His usage is unpredictable so always having more than enough in his account to cover it comes in handy in case its a big bill but because of mandatory direct debits he can't switch providers and is on the the most expensive ESB package. 

There's less chance of a default with the household budget scheme than there is with direct debit. The money is deducted from your pension before you can collect it. 
He always has his bills paid before they're due and I think he's more deserving of a discount than their direct debit customers. 

Basing someone's ability to pay on having direct debit or not is stupid. As you said earlier in the thread you either have the money or you don't. 

I think it just a way for them to still get your even if your disputing something. Take now ask questions later. 

As for unauthorised/incorrect DD's I think the rules of the DD scheme should be changed that companies who abuse it should have to pay a penalty and interest on the amount taken as punishment.  

eircom: Alan

Chris___ wrote: »

dub45 wrote: »

eircom: Alan wrote: »

cathalm05 wrote: »

Folks thanks for replying to my message. I have been enlightened on the negative and positive aspects of direct debit from some of ye.
I feel I was mislaid by Eircom as the consequences of refusing DD was never mentioned or explained.

To blame my mother's credit standing as the reason she could not have fibre is low, very low indeed. It had nothing to do with it.
Upgrading to fibre Broadband is fairly standard in a lot of places now.

Were it not for the constant phone calls and letters explained how we would be doing a lot better we might have ignored them.
Do this mean that anyone who wishes to upgrade to fibre needs to commit to DD. That can't be the case surely.
It's not that I'm totally against DD but I can see the bad points of it too!
They might be using the efibre as a carrot to move all their customers onto DD I believe. What else could be the reason for refusal?

Do companies take loyalty into account anymore. My mother is in her 80s , she has been with eircom since the beginning.
Does eircom take older customers into account at all?

Paying her bills in the local post office is one of her few outings in the month. NO wonder the post offices are all closing down.
It is not just the social part of paying bills in the local post office

she is not up to date on computers so paying online is out for her.
she pays all her bills in the post office....is she to be catered for by these big companies?

I feel upset for her as she was looking forward to calling her grown up children and grand children that are spread around the world as eircom were offering a very good world wide call package on efibre......she does not skype either by the way. she cant afford normal rates.

all in all,we were both very surprised by Eircom's original response but more so by their complete lack of response since original posting here.
It might be time to look into alternative service providers. anyone got any suggestions?

regards
Cathal

Hi cathalm05

I'm very sorry for the delays with this - I had been awaiting full confirmation of why the service was not provided and it is indeed because the option for direct debit was not chosen. Direct Debit is a specific condition for provision of efibre broadband.

I have read your latest post and I see that your mother was not advised of this initially and for this I also sincerely apologies. I understand this has created a lot of unnecessary inconvenience however If you decide to go with direct debit you can cancel payment by direct debit after three months and then arrange payment by alternative method if that helps.

Thanks
Al

Why was this person not given the correct reason at the time?  What has credit vetting got to do with a very sensible decision not to pay by direct debit.

The mention of credit issues wrongly is really careless and shoddy and bound to be a cause of distress to this person.

If a person can cancel a direct debit mandate after three months what is the point then of this ridiculous stipulation? 

My dad is 71 years old. A pensioner and he pays his ESB bill through the An Post Household Budget scheme. A fixed amount of €30pw. His bills are always half of that and the ESB refund him by cheque every two months. His usage is unpredictable so always having more than enough in his account to cover it comes in handy in case its a big bill but because of mandatory direct debits he can't switch providers and is on the the most expensive ESB package. 

There's less chance of a default with the household budget scheme than there is with direct debit. The money is deducted from your pension before you can collect it. 
He always has his bills paid before they're due and I think he's more deserving of a discount than their direct debit customers. 

Basing someone's ability to pay on having direct debit or not is stupid. As you said earlier in the thread you either have the money or you don't. 

I think it just a way for them to still get your even if your disputing something. Take now ask questions later. 

As for unauthorised/incorrect DD's I think the rules of the DD scheme should be changed that companies who abuse it should have to pay a penalty and interest on the amount taken as punishment.  

Hi Chris___

Your views on this are warranted and I have forwarded opinions on this to our operational departments.

Thanks
Al

crisco10

Just came across this today. Have to say it's a ridiculous system, I signed up online and somewhat arbitrarily gave card details as opposed to direct debit. Then got the rather intimidating mail about how my "application has been upheld by our Credit Control team" and to reply via snail mail with further queries. The whole reason I signed up online was to do it quickly!


Anyways, rather than spend ages trying to figure out how to give Eircom my money; I'm looking at alternative suppliers. You HAD my business, even if someone had just rung/emailed me and explained to me about DD, I would have signed up for it. 

dub45

For anyone not familiar with the ins and outs of "direct type" payments it is important to remember that there is a difference between giving your debit or credit card number for regular payments and the direct debit system.  

They are two completely different systems with different rights etc for the bill payer and everyone should familiarise themselves with their rights in respect of each type of payment.

Either ways always check your balances carefully as there are no consequences whatsoever for companies who take wrong amounts.

davindub

Can you explain what is a credit vetting to me? What qualifications have the persons carrying out the review, what information is used? 

I apparently failed one and I think it would be helpful to publish the same to prevent further embrassement to customers and losses to potential shareholders (not being funny here I actually previously held shares, you know what happened there)



Also I was informed it was policy not to inform people that fail this vetting. I had to ring 5 times before finding this out including being transferred to the wholesale department at one point. Although i'd imagine this was a lie rather than a policy someone would implement. But feel free to enlighten me.

Eir: Pamela

davindub wrote: »

Can you explain what is a credit vetting to me? What qualifications have the persons carrying out the review, what information is used? 

I apparently failed one and I think it would be helpful to publish the same to prevent further embrassement to customers and losses to potential shareholders (not being funny here I actually previously held shares, you know what happened there)



Also I was informed it was policy not to inform people that fail this vetting. I had to ring 5 times before finding this out including being transferred to the wholesale department at one point. Although i'd imagine this was a lie rather than a policy someone would implement. But feel free to enlighten me.

Hi davindub,


Thanks for getting in touch. 


I would be unable to advise on the credit vetting process from here however you can contact the credit vetting team on the below address. They will be able to advise on the reason why we were unable to proceed with your order. All customers wishing to place an order with us will be subject to credit vetting and this is stated in the eir terms and conditions. 


Credit Vetting Department
Unit B
Westcork Technology Park
Clonakilty

Cork

Thanks,
Pamela 

davindub

Pamela I do not think you should be calling the process credit vetting. Eir is not authorised to use the ICB nor can they legally check data with any other entity. Neither was the proposed contract actually a credit agreement.

Also you stated that credit checks are in the terms and conditions of eir, these would only apply if the person agreed to them. I can confirm that no mention of credit checks is present in your sign up process, also your presentation of direct debit terms does not comply with the national consumer agencies guidelines, the light grey on white is not clear, nearly invisible at some viewing angles.

Anyway not that it matters, once you adhering to what data you are legally allowed to access permission is not required. All I can do is say your processes are far below your competitors, there really is no excuse for not contacting a customer who was waiting for the service to be installed, no reason for me to have failed any credit checks with anyone. No reason not to be able to get an reason or to provide clarification of a point quickly. No reason for a company department be uncontactable by customer care by email or phone or failing that by the customer. No reason to purposely transfer customers to wrong departments.

Even worse is a company who cannot be upfront about their processes, I have read a lot of negative comments about this credit vetting and lack of regard for existing and potential customers.

Anyway its doubtful whether any senior managers will bother reading this but there you have it my experience of Eir.

Eir: Pamela

davindub wrote: »

Pamela I do not think you should be calling the process credit vetting. Eir is not authorised to use the ICB nor can they legally check data with any other entity. Neither was the proposed contract actually a credit agreement.

Also you stated that credit checks are in the terms and conditions of eir, these would only apply if the person agreed to them. I can confirm that no mention of credit checks is present in your sign up process, also your presentation of direct debit terms does not comply with the national consumer agencies guidelines, the light grey on white is not clear, nearly invisible at some viewing angles.

Anyway not that it matters, once you adhering to what data you are legally allowed to access permission is not required. All I can do is say your processes are far below your competitors, there really is no excuse for not contacting a customer who was waiting for the service to be installed, no reason for me to have failed any credit checks with anyone. No reason not to be able to get an reason or to provide  clarification of a point quickly. No reason for a company department be uncontactable by customer care by email or phone or failing that by the customer. No reason to purposely transfer customers to wrong departments.

Even worse is a company who cannot be upfront about their processes, I have read a lot of negative comments about this credit vetting and lack of regard for existing and potential customers.

Anyway its doubtful whether any senior managers will bother reading this but there you have it my experience of Eir.

I can assure you an authorised team will carry out the credit vetting process. All of our terms and conditions online are available to read online here and I would recommend reading these should you have any concerns. 


I can assure you eir are fully compliant with industry regulations approved by ComReg. We appreciate your feedback and I will pass this onto the relevant department. 


Thanks,
Pamela