Has anyone been able to get refund after cancelling a mobile contract during cooling

Tryingtobefair

Hello,


This is a bit long so apologies in advance.

I’ve been trying to get a refund for a mobile phone for the last 7 weeks and feel I’ve hit a brick wall with Eir and am looking for help.

On March 10 I (a current broadband customer with Eir) decided to add a mobile plan to my broadband plan. I ordered the package online, paying €349 for an iPhone 7. The phone could not have been sent if they had not received the money (as they told me) and the money did go off of my visa.

I received the handset on March 15. On the 20th I received notification that my usage was high and my service had been suspended. I called Eir using my mobile to be told that as I didn’t pay for the handset my bill had gone over €400 (€349 for the handset, €50 for my broadband and €2 for an entry to the competition on the Ray D’Arcy show, which put the bill over €400 which was my limit, which was news to me). When I told them I had paid for the handset online, they told me it could take up to 5 days for the money to transfer from their online system to my account. When I told that man I had paid 10 days earlier, he was able to see that I had paid the €349 and he put a request to correct my bill amount. (This is important later). 

My service returned the following morning only to be suspended that afternoon, citing the same reason. I couldn’t event call Eir on my handset as they had completely suspended all service this time, previously I could call Eir but do nothing else. Same thing, called their 1901 line and was told I hadn’t paid for the handset, when I said it was paid for on March 10 and as per their policy they wouldn’t have sent it unless I paid for it anyway, they saw it was paid for and put a second request to correct my bill amount and told me service would be resumed.

When my service was cancelled a third time on March 22 I decided to cancel the mobile contract. I called to notify them of this and asked if I was in my ‘cooling off’ period. I was told I had until April 1 to cancel without penalty, which was later than I thought but I cancelled immediately. They sent me an envelope to post it back in which i received on March 29 and I sent the handset (which was in perfect condition) on March 30.

Since then I have spoken to over 20 of Eir’s employees in pursuit of my refund. They confirmed that the handset was received but as according to them I never paid for the handset (which I did!) that I would not get a refund. Upon their request after a conversation on April 12 I provided the transaction number from my bank on April 13. I have been told that my case has been escalated to a woman named Lisa and that the refund would be in my account on April 17 but still no joy. I was on holidays and called Eir every day last week and was on with them over an hour each time. They transferred me to meteor repeatedly as they were confused with my broadband account number used for a mobile account and they cut me off even more. The last person I spoke with, a Ross, told me that as my account had been credited €349 already (when the corrected my billing error) that was my refund as far as they are concerned.

Oh - and as I cancelled my account my bill went up to €1249, another billing error. It was done during my cooling off period but they obviously didn’t realise that. That has been corrected to €849, which is still wrong.

When I ask to speak to a supervisor I’m told they can do no more than they person I am speaking with. I’ve asked to speak with the Lisa that is handling my escalated complaint but as she works in a different department I can’t be transferred to her. Two people have emailed her apparently and have promised to call me when she gets back to them, which they expect the following day, and I still haven’t heard anything.

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I feel my hands are tied and I am entitled to and need that money back. I don't know what else to do, they are so incompetent and nobody can give me any real answers.

PAKNET

Time to go to ComReg. 

Eir have been fined repeatedly in the past for cases exactly like yours. 

Tryingtobefair

PAKNET wrote: »

Time to go to ComReg. 

Eir have been fined repeatedly in the past for cases exactly like yours. 

That is a fantastic suggestion, I hadn't thought of it. Thank you very much for your reply, I really appreciate it.

eir: Anna

Tryingtobefair wrote: »

Hello,


This is a bit long so apologies in advance.

I’ve been trying to get a refund for a mobile phone for the last 7 weeks and feel I’ve hit a brick wall with Eir and am looking for help.

On March 10 I (a current broadband customer with Eir) decided to add a mobile plan to my broadband plan. I ordered the package online, paying €349 for an iPhone 7. The phone could not have been sent if they had not received the money (as they told me) and the money did go off of my visa.

I received the handset on March 15. On the 20th I received notification that my usage was high and my service had been suspended. I called Eir using my mobile to be told that as I didn’t pay for the handset my bill had gone over €400 (€349 for the handset, €50 for my broadband and €2 for an entry to the competition on the Ray D’Arcy show, which put the bill over €400 which was my limit, which was news to me). When I told them I had paid for the handset online, they told me it could take up to 5 days for the money to transfer from their online system to my account. When I told that man I had paid 10 days earlier, he was able to see that I had paid the €349 and he put a request to correct my bill amount. (This is important later). 

My service returned the following morning only to be suspended that afternoon, citing the same reason. I couldn’t event call Eir on my handset as they had completely suspended all service this time, previously I could call Eir but do nothing else. Same thing, called their 1901 line and was told I hadn’t paid for the handset, when I said it was paid for on March 10 and as per their policy they wouldn’t have sent it unless I paid for it anyway, they saw it was paid for and put a second request to correct my bill amount and told me service would be resumed.

When my service was cancelled a third time on March 22 I decided to cancel the mobile contract. I called to notify them of this and asked if I was in my ‘cooling off’ period. I was told I had until April 1 to cancel without penalty, which was later than I thought but I cancelled immediately. They sent me an envelope to post it back in which i received on March 29 and I sent the handset (which was in perfect condition) on March 30.

Since then I have spoken to over 20 of Eir’s employees in pursuit of my refund. They confirmed that the handset was received but as according to them I never paid for the handset (which I did!) that I would not get a refund. Upon their request after a conversation on April 12 I provided the transaction number from my bank on April 13. I have been told that my case has been escalated to a woman named Lisa and that the refund would be in my account on April 17 but still no joy. I was on holidays and called Eir every day last week and was on with them over an hour each time. They transferred me to meteor repeatedly as they were confused with my broadband account number used for a mobile account and they cut me off even more. The last person I spoke with, a Ross, told me that as my account had been credited €349 already (when the corrected my billing error) that was my refund as far as they are concerned.

Oh - and as I cancelled my account my bill went up to €1249, another billing error. It was done during my cooling off period but they obviously didn’t realise that. That has been corrected to €849, which is still wrong.

When I ask to speak to a supervisor I’m told they can do no more than they person I am speaking with. I’ve asked to speak with the Lisa that is handling my escalated complaint but as she works in a different department I can’t be transferred to her. Two people have emailed her apparently and have promised to call me when she gets back to them, which they expect the following day, and I still haven’t heard anything.

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I feel my hands are tied and I am entitled to and need that money back. I don't know what else to do, they are so incompetent and nobody can give me any real answers.

Hi Tryingtobefair,


Thanks for getting in touch and I'm very sorry to hear of your experiences to date.


Can you please PM me your account number and full name and I will look into this for you?


I do apologise for all inconvenience caused.


Thanks,
Anna