Digiweb trying to get people of 30 euro a month deal

jelly&icecream

I've been with Digiweb from the days when they used to be smart telecom and pay 29.95 a month for broadband. Cap is approx 350GB/month.

I just got a call from a Digiweb call centre saying they're "shutting down" their LLU service and as such have to move me over to one of their new "fibre" offerings instead. These of course cost a lot more. Cheapest one is 43 euro a month with an introductory offer for the first few months.

She said that a lot of users were having issues with the LLU service and its quality, which was prompting this change over. She then looked into my download volume for the past month and said that I'd downloaded approx 200MB and went through the 2 fibre packages they offer.

I queried that there was clearly no issues with my line and the download amount testified to that. She then went on saying other people were having issues blah blah blah.

So its a pretty clear ploy to shift people off the 30 euro a month old deal which I will admit is excellent value. I don't think there's anything to be done here other than to shift to another provider or pay the more expensive price but just thought I'd share my experience and give people a heads up. Apparently they're going to do it exchange by exchange (I'm in Dublin 7 area) so if you're a customer on the same offer be prepared to get a letter in the post and a phone call.

Schorpio

You're paying €29.95 for 350 MB/month?

....surely you mean GB not MB? Otherwise the deal you're currently on is terrible.

jelly&icecream

Schorpio wrote: »

You're paying €29.95 for 350 MB/month?

....surely you mean GB not MB? Otherwise the deal you're currently on is terrible.

Sorry thats a typo I'll edit it now. 350GB

ED E

This was always gonna happen tbh. Doesn't make sense for 3rd parties to run their own DSLAMs when VDSL has cannibalised the entire subscriber base.

HeidiHeidi

I'm on the same deal from yonks ago.

The other day my broadband sat down and refused to get up again. Had to reset the whole thing with the assistance of the helpline and it was clear yer man hadn't a clue about the modem I have. When we eventually got it going again he said that's an old modem that's no longer supported and arranged for a new one to be sent out, saying it would tie me into a new 12 month contract.

No mention of fibre or other offerings, or any end to the legacy Smart deal......

jelly&icecream

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I'm on the same deal from yonks ago.

The other day my broadband sat down and refused to get up again. Had to reset the whole thing with the assistance of the helpline and it was clear yer man hadn't a clue about the modem I have. When we eventually got it going again he said that's an old modem that's no longer supported and arranged for a new one to be sent out, saying it would tie me into a new 12 month contract.

No mention of fibre or other offerings, or any end to the legacy Smart deal......

I'd watch your bills carefully for the next while. You may well find after 3 months it jumps up to 42.95. On the other hand if the guy inadvertently tied you into a contract at 30 euro for 12 months then happy days!!

HeidiHeidi

jelly&icecream wrote: »

I'd watch your bills carefully for the next while. You may well find after 3 months it jumps up to 42.95. On the other hand if the guy inadvertently tied you into a contract at 30 euro for 12 months then happy days!!

If it does jump, surely they'd have to notify me and that would constitute a get-out for me?

Obviously staying as I am is far preferable!

Marlow

OpenEIR hiked their base pricing for most of their services end August 2016 and as a result of that providers would make either nothing or a loss at 30 EUR/month, if there isn't any other income from the likes of phone calls or extra services. (That applies to LLU, Bitstream, FTTC, FTTH and more)

As a result, the only ones that can keep offering that sort of pricing are providers that own their own infrastructure and last mile (connection to the customer premises).

The reason for moving customers off is most likely that it's now costing them money to keep on maintaining the gear and they certainly won't have any funds to replace gear, if hardware fails.

/M

the_syco

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

When we eventually got it going again he said that's an old modem that's no longer supported and arranged for a new one to be sent out, saying it would tie me into a new 12 month contract.

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

surely they'd have to notify me and that would constitute a get-out for me?

They asked for your permission to sign a new 12 month contract, and you accepted. I'm unsure if they have to inform you again?

HeidiHeidi

the_syco wrote: »

They asked for your permission to sign a new 12 month contract, and you accepted. I'm unsure if they have to inform you again?

1. This has just made me realise that the promised modem never arrived!

2. I asked specifically if the new contract would involve a change in price and he said no, it was just tying me to Digiweb for another 12 months.

Hmmmmm!

Wonder where I stand now? Should I call and see where the new modem got to, or not rock the boat???

dub45

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

1. This has just made me realise that the promised modem never arrived!

2. I asked specifically if the new contract would involve a change in price and he said no, it was just tying me to Digiweb for another 12 months.

Hmmmmm!

Wonder where I stand now? Should I call and see where the new modem got to, or not rock the boat???

Under the Consumer Directive if you enter a new contract online or over the phone the company concerned is legally obliged to provide you with a considerable amount of information in relation to the new agreement in a durable format - i.e. email or letter. There should be no doubt about whether or not you have entered a new agreement - full information here.

HeidiHeidi

Just to update on this....

I got a letter in the post today, saying basically what the OP reported - LLU technology old and decrepit and being phased out, give us a call to "get you moved over to new technology ASAP".

When I called, the guy said there was no point in moving me to fibre as it wouldn't improve things and may well make things worse/slower, as the Eircom infrastructure serving my house is ancient and limited in capacity.... looked around and said the best he could offer me (as I need a phone line for the alarm - and no, I don't want to change that right now, before anyone suggests it!) was another old legacy deal for €40.61 per month. Quite the price hike then.

It does involve a new 12-month contract.

The modem previously promised never arrived, so a(nother) new one is to be dispatched.

I sincerely hope I'm not getting royally done here, as all of this is kind of Double Dutch to me! But it's only 12 months, and I've had years and years and years of a VERY good deal from them.....

ED E

If your alarm sends text messages you're going to lose service whether you like it or not.

HeidiHeidi

ED E wrote: »

If your alarm sends text messages you're going to lose service whether you like it or not.

It doesn't.

But can you tell me why this would be? In case it's of any use in future decisions I might have to make.

ED E

OpenEir took away the SMS over PSTN(Home phone) service. Third party equipment may still provide it but as that is all about to be shut down lines will move to OE kit killing the option.

Marlow

ED E wrote: »

OpenEir took away the SMS over PSTN(Home phone) service. Third party equipment may still provide it but as that is all about to be shut down lines will move to OE kit killing the option.

Third party can still provide their own dial-in gateway to offload the sms. But it is old tech.

/M

HeidiHeidi

So a further update.....

Got the new modem/router in the post. Plugged the old one out and the new one in, and long story short, it doesn't work (don't ask me why, all the configurations were tried and tested with the help of a lovely guy in Digiweb). In the 15 minutes it took to establish this, the old line/system was disabled.

So now I've no internet while Eircom investigates :mad: Up to 5 working days to be allowed, by which time I'll be gone away for 10 days. Grrrrrrrr!!!