Eir Unlimited Broadband - Billed 142€ for too much downloading...

dankazlauskas

I will post this here to warn others and in hope other people who had this same problem will share their experiences and outcomes.


When I ordered the unlimited broadband package over the phone in February I was told it was unlimited, nobody ever mentioned fair usage policy. I think I even asked if there is one and was told no. Now I have 142 outstanding instead of usual 45. I have changed cloud storage providers recently and re-syncing all data pushed my download allowance over the limit I was never told existed. There is no mention of it on my Eir account dashboard either. Usage limits instead say unlimited. Everything is designed to trap you into paying extra it seems.


Tried to sort this out over the phone today twice, tried talking to them on facebook, nothing seems to help. They have requested for the original phone call to be reviewed by someone in their company (apparently he needs 20 days for that) and are in the meanwhile threatening to withdraw services unless I pay up... I can the pay the usual 45 but I refuse to be bullied into paying the exta 100, their text messages demand 72.

Have you guys any experience with similar issues with this company, what's the best way forward?

dankazlauskas

Update, the bill is not even due yet, was to be debited around 25th, but it seems they switched off my internet already as it is not working.

Data_Quest

dankazlauskas wrote: »

I will post this here to warn others and in hope other people who had this same problem will share their experiences and outcomes.


When I ordered the unlimited broadband package over the phone in February I was told it was unlimited, nobody ever mentioned fair usage policy. I think I even asked if there is one and was told no. Now I have 142 outstanding instead of usual 45. I have changed cloud storage providers recently and re-syncing all data pushed my download allowance over the limit I was never told existed. There is no mention of it on my Eir account dashboard either. Usage limits instead say unlimited. Everything is designed to trap you into paying extra it seems.


Tried to sort this out over the phone today twice, tried talking to them on facebook, nothing seems to help. They have requested for the original phone call to be reviewed by someone in their company (apparently he needs 20 days for that) and are in the meanwhile threatening to withdraw services unless I pay up... I can the pay the usual 45 but I refuse to be bullied into paying the exta 100, their text messages demand 72.

Have you guys any experience with similar issues with this company, what's the best way forward?

This is the official statement from the eir Community site on fair usage policy. 

https://community.eir.ie/broadband-25/eir-fair-usage-policy-for-broadband-264855

dankazlauskas

Ok, but how does it help me after the bill... I ordered services over the phone, asked if there was a limit and was told no. I have repeated this now at least 50 times today to various people.142 eu outstanding for a months use...

Data_Quest

dankazlauskas wrote: »

Ok, but how does it help me after the bill... I ordered services over the phone, asked if there was a limit and was told no. I have repeated this now at least 50 times today to various people.142 eu outstanding for a months use...

Yeah I am afraid I cannot help your situation and was only trying to highlight to others what the fair usage policy is and also let people know that they can monitor their usage from my eir e.g. historic usage monitor is very useful

Chromosphere

I would suggestion you make a complaint to the www. asa i.ie Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland.

Also, contact ComReg.

I hate this nonsense of burying things in small print. If there's a limit, even if it's a very high one, telecoms companies need to be clear about that.

Attempting to redefine the word unlimited is ridiicuous.

dankazlauskas

Chromosphere, good advice and I will definitely use it.  I have filed a complaint to have the matter raised with a eir care team Leader as per eir's own  Code of Practice, which you have to do before you go to ComReg, I will go there next and also Advertising Standards Authority. I have told eir advisor on the phone today I do not give my consent for my contact details to be passed on to third parties i.e. debt collection agencies in the future,  I was told by him they have the right to do so and they will. I offered to pay 45 that will be due by 29th and continue paying 45 every month to follow till my contract is over, but they refuse to switch the service back on until they get at least 72, which I can't pay out of principle as it is an unfair charge. As a customer I feel tricked, cheated and bullied. This is so much stress I can see most people paying up, and that is what they count on. What I cannot understand is why would they loose the possibility of future business from me, my family members and any person ever to ask me about a decent internet provider I'd recommend in the future.

joseph brand

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of figure are we talking when it comes to your download amount, monthly? I'm interested in case I too should fall foul of my ISP's 'fair usage' policy.

Chromosphere

I just had a look on the eir.ie site and I can't see any reference to anything other than "Unlimited".

I'm not sure that ComReg being the regulator precludes you from taking a Small Claims Court case either.

Data_Quest

joseph brand wrote: »

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of figure are we talking when it comes to your download amount, monthly? I'm interested in case I too should fall foul of my ISP's 'fair usage' policy.

Yes I posted the link above but will post again: 1 Tera Bytes (combined upload and download) per month is the fair usage limit that is summarised in the link below and is detailed in the broadband T&Cs which everyone signs up to (but very few read in total). As the tax man often says ignorance of the revenue laws is not a defence 

https://community.eir....for-broadband-264855

Data_Quest

Data_Quest wrote: »

joseph brand wrote: »

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of figure are we talking when it comes to your download amount, monthly? I'm interested in case I too should fall foul of my ISP's 'fair usage' policy.

Yes I posted the link above but will post again: 1 Tera Bytes (combined upload and download) per month is the fair usage limit that is summarised in the link below and is detailed in the broadband T&Cs which everyone signs up to (but very few read in total). As the tax man often says ignorance of the revenue laws is not a defence 

https://community.eir....for-broadband-264855

And the link to the T&Cs that we have all signed up to in order to become an eir broadband customer:

eir reserves the right to impose limits without notice on a customer’s service, up to and including suspension, if eir believes, in its reasonably based opinion, that a customer is using the service, including but not limited to excessive downloading unfairly impinges on the ability of other customers to avail of eir’s services

Where customer usage exceeds the specified monthly download/upload limit appropriate to the customer's chosen level, the company reserves the right to charge the customer for the excess use or to request the customer to select a more appropriate level. ....... eir Fibre packages with unlimited usage are subject to a Fair Usage policy of 1TB per month. Usage is excess of 1TB will be charged at €2.50(inc. VAT) for every 10 GB up to maximum of €100(Inc.VAT) per month

https://www.eir.ie/opencms/export/.content/pdf/terms/Part3.1.pdf

Chromosphere

So it's not an unlimited package at all. It's a 1TB per month package.

Please stop trying to redefine the English language. Unlimited means unlimited!!!

Data_Quest

Chromosphere wrote: »

So it's not an unlimited package at all. It's a 1TB per month package.

Please stop trying to redefine the English language. Unlimited means unlimited!!!

Yes I am from a technical background and I am not a big fan of the language used and I am just trying to help everyone understand what they are signing up to when they agree to the T&Cs for "Unlimited" eir Fibre broadband.

I would add that 1 TB is a very large amount of data and roughly equates to 200 HD movies downloaded every month which for most people would be quite adequete for most people.

Chromosphere

The issue is that there are plenty of circumstances where you could now run up 1TB of data without difficulty - especially with cloud storage migrations or anything of that nature.

It's being advertised as 'unlimited' not as '1TB'. That's not very transparent.

As speeds go up and dependence on cloud services, IPTV and other bandwidth hungry services increases, so does data use.

If you want to have a fair usage policy where you've a bandwidth hog e.g. running a web server or something on a domestic line, you can always throttle the speeds, leaving it unlimited but slow when it runs over its fair usage cap.

If there's a 1TB limit though, the product should be sold as a 1TB product.

beercr8te

Data_Quest wrote: »

Chromosphere wrote: »

So it's not an unlimited package at all. It's a 1TB per month package.

Please stop trying to redefine the English language. Unlimited means unlimited!!!

Yes I am from a technical background and I am not a big fan of the language used and I am just trying to help everyone understand what they are signing up to when they agree to the T&Cs for "Unlimited" eir Fibre broadband.

I would add that 1 TB is a very large amount of data and roughly equates to 200 HD movies downloaded every month which for most people would be quite adequete for most people.

You're coming across as somebody that is defending Eir, the OP states he was told there was no limit to how much he could upload or download when ordering on the phone, also unless you have access to all households usage data you cannot make a statement about how adequate a 1TB allowance is, which to be honest is not as big sounding as it was a year or 2 ago, with the introduction of Ultra HD media streaming and Ultra HD on demand downloads where a UHD film/programmes can be 10's of GB's in size, in the case of boxsets 100's GB's

It does not take much time to exceed 1TB over a month, it can be done in under 12 days on an 8Mb/s connection under ideal conditions, my household exceeds 1TB usage every month on a 7Mb connection, so you can imagine how fast it can be done on a fast fibre connection. 

I'd like to read Eir's answer for the OP, particularly since Sky supply truly unlimited usage using Eir's network.

The_Valeyard

Make the complaint OP as stated above by other posters. Keep a log if everything that Eir says to you with time and dates.

If possible switch to VM, service is shocking, TV is bad, but broadband is excellent. Not sure if you are in a complete package with them or not.

dankazlauskas

Data_Quest wrote: »

Chromosphere wrote: »

So it's not an unlimited package at all. It's a 1TB per month package.

Please stop trying to redefine the English language. Unlimited means unlimited!!!

Yes I am from a technical background and I am not a big fan of the language used and I am just trying to help everyone understand what they are signing up to when they agree to the T&Cs for "Unlimited" eir Fibre broadband.

I would add that 1 TB is a very large amount of data and roughly equates to 200 HD movies downloaded every month which for most people would be quite adequete for most people.

Since you are from technical background here is how I went over the allowance I did not know existed without downloading 200 movies. I reinstalled operating system on my laptop, software I use for work had to be re-downloaded. I am not from Ireland originally, I watch iptv from my home country, some channels are in HD. My son has cartoons on IPTV on for most of a day when I'm busy working too. I have ditched my google drive subscription where I stored close to 800gbs of photos and other files. I synced all to OneDrive instead, it's cheaper per month. Also synced most important photos 250gb approx to my moms PC abroad for safe keeping. This was enough to get hit with this insane bill. My scenario is not unique, there are thousands of guys that would download/upload more than I did.

What I cannot understand is Eir's attitude towards me as a customer (and I hope they are reading this). Why not warn first? Why not let me of the hook with a warning after the first phone call to customer care, when you know I will be watching my usage going forward even if I don't agree to it? Do they not need customers? Yes they can probably get that extra 97 out of me some way, I won't make it easy for them, they have me for another 10 months or so, but will I ever come back? Will I say a good word about them any time I am asked what's the best internet provider to get? People come to me looking for such advice at least a few times a month. Does this thread help their reputation? Very upset, annoyed, feel tricked and bullied. They had plenty chances to turn this wrong into a right for me.

They see this thread but they don't intervene, we have some guy posting links to terms and conditions - don't expect Eir to do it, it's not in their interest to keep customers informed, they much more prefer to keep quiet and then hit you with a massive bill and bully you into paying it. I am a father of one and barely make ends meet on basic income every month, give me a f... break, I will never forgive or forget this. A 100 to them is nothing but it's weeks food for me and my family.

Chromosphere

I don't know how telcos are getting away with the abuse of the term "unlimited" for so long.

Either something's unlimited or it's not. 

You wouldn't get away with this in the food/drink sector. If I said sugar-free and the product actually contained just a small amount of sugar, I'd wind up in serious trouble. You can't say windows are triple glazed when they're actually only double glazed. 

If you're heading towards 1Gbit/s fibre connections that have caps like this you'll go over your limit very fast! 1TB is very feasible to overshoot, especially with UHD streaming products, cloud drives and so on. As speed goes up, content fills the bandwidth.

As for Sky and Vodafone, they use the OpenEir access network (i.e. the cabinets and some aspects of the local network). The traffic is very quickly passed over to their own backhaul networks and international connectivity (which in Sky's case are actually BT Ireland). It's not just resold Eir broadband under someone else's name. It is however the OpenEir local network equipment that's connecting it to your house.