Disappointed with Eir

Lou1978

We are moving to a new property (that had a fixed phone line until 2 years ago). I had rang and ordered phone & broadband services with Eir and I had told them that the cable was broken outside the house, so it would need to be fixed. A few days later, engineers came out to assess the poles on the lane leading to the house and told me that as the poles were over 60 years old, they weren't safe to climb to put up new cabling. They were to send in the paperwork to have 3 new poles erected, and then they'd come back and put up the cables. A few days later, I got a phonecall to say that the job had a completion date of 15th June. Today, I got a registered letter from Eir to say that I wasn't within their network infrastructure as there were no cables to connect us to their services. We are 2 weeks from moving to the new house and I work from home so reliable broadband is essential. They have offered 4G mobile broadband, however I can't even get 4G on my mobile phone at the property so I know that this won't be sufficient. Adequate satellite broadband is so expensive that it's going to cost twice as much as the Eir equivalent. I am so disappointed as the connection is available at the end of the lane, but the problem seems to be that they won't replace the poles or cable. Not sure what to do next!

eir: Anna

Hi Lou1978,

I'm very sorry to hear this.

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

Thanks,
Anna

my3cents

OP you need to check out the Eir's universal service obligation.  Start looking here relevant bit quoted below.

Eir may deliver the service wirelessly via Fixed Cellular Solution (FCS) when the cost of installing a physical line is prohibitive. Normally, there will be a set charge for any connection.  Aside from this charge, installation should be free as long as the cost of the installation is below €7000. When the cost exceeds this amount, eircom will bear the first 7000Eur and the customer must pay for anything in excess of this.
If eir determine that the installation cost will exceed €7000, the customer is entitled to receive a written reply, detailing how the costs were calculated.

eir: Leanne

Lou1978 wrote: »

We are moving to a new property (that had a fixed phone line until 2 years ago). I had rang and ordered phone & broadband services with Eir and I had told them that the cable was broken outside the house, so it would need to be fixed. A few days later, engineers came out to assess the poles on the lane leading to the house and told me that as the poles were over 60 years old, they weren't safe to climb to put up new cabling. They were to send in the paperwork to have 3 new poles erected, and then they'd come back and put up the cables. A few days later, I got a phonecall to say that the job had a completion date of 15th June. Today, I got a registered letter from Eir to say that I wasn't within their network infrastructure as there were no cables to connect us to their services. We are 2 weeks from moving to the new house and I work from home so reliable broadband is essential. They have offered 4G mobile broadband, however I can't even get 4G on my mobile phone at the property so I know that this won't be sufficient. Adequate satellite broadband is so expensive that it's going to cost twice as much as the Eir equivalent. I am so disappointed as the connection is available at the end of the lane, but the problem seems to be that they won't replace the poles or cable. Not sure what to do next!

Hi Lou1978,

Please feel free to PM your details to myself or Anna and we will be more then happy to look into this for you. 

Thanks,
Leanne.

my3cents

Let us all know how you get on with this Lou1978. Its very hard to know how Eir will deal with it so good to know what happens. 

MichaelR

Did you check if Imagine LTE broadband might be in the area? If they are and if they have a slot for you, they will be much faster than what Eir would be able to give you.

Redfence74

Biggest mistake I made was switching to eir broadband......keeps dropping out its shockingly bad

Lou1978

Thanks Guys. The reason given after i made a formal complaint - its too expensive to replace the poles and put up the new cabling. They've offered satellite phone (I had only really needed a phone as I was hoping to get Phonewatch) and 4G Mobile Broadband (I can't even get 4G on my mobile phone and need unlimited broadband as my job is based from my home).

So I've decided to cut my losses and possibly look at satellite broadband. Anyone familiar with Europasat?

my3cents

Lou1978 wrote: »

Thanks Guys. The reason given after i made a formal complaint - its too expensive to replace the poles and put up the new cabling. They've offered satellite phone (I had only really needed a phone as I was hoping to get Phonewatch) and 4G Mobile Broadband  (I can't even get 4G on my mobile phone and need unlimited broadband as my job is based from my home).

So I've decided to cut my losses and possibly look at satellite broadband. Anyone familiar with Europasat?

I'd still chase Eir, get back to them an ask for the detailed breakdown of the costs to prove the costs are more than €7000.

Satellite is rubbish tbh, its expensive, has very low usage caps and lags.