A roaming mess in the USA

gebbel

OK so I’ve been in the states this last week on a holiday. Decided to purchase a USA roaming add-on before I left just to have a little data for quick location checks when out and about and not on WiFi. It’s a very paltry 200mb for €20. Zeroed the phones data counter when I arrived. A few days later I had already reached 180mb and was advised of same so purchased a second add-on for another 200mb at €20....by using their chat support and an agent confirmed it. So looking good.....not incurring excess data charges or so I thought. 2 days ago get an SMS saying I’m racking up data charges, but with the 2 addon bundles and my careful monitoring.....plus another chat to support at home confirming all of this (I took screenshots of the chat). The agent said and I quote “do not worry about those messages, you haven’t been charged extra”.

Yesterday I get a message saying my account was locked, today they’re telling me I owe €300. I’ve used a total of 250mb roaming data according to the iPhone counter , no downloads or calls made/received, about 6 SMS which do cost but maybe 40 cents each. Today another agent says yeah you are liable. I’m furious. My phone is now cut off and I’ve no connectivity on my last day in New York. You hear of horror stories and you think not me, never. I will be contesting this, surely I couldn’t mess up like this?

eir: Tracey

gebbel wrote: »

OK so I’ve been in the states this last week on a holiday. Decided to purchase a USA roaming add-on before I left just to have a little data for quick location checks when out and about and not on WiFi. It’s a very paltry 200mb for €20. Zeroed the phones data counter when I arrived. A few days later I had already reached 180mb and was advised of same so purchased a second add-on for another 200mb at €20....by using their chat support and an agent confirmed it. So looking good.....not incurring excess data charges or so I thought. 2 days ago get an SMS saying I’m racking up data charges, but with the 2 addon bundles and my careful monitoring.....plus another chat to support at home confirming all of this (I took screenshots of the chat). The agent said and I quote “do not worry about those messages, you haven’t been charged extra”.

Yesterday I get a message saying my account was locked, today they’re telling me I owe €300. I’ve used a total of 250mb roaming data according to the iPhone counter , no downloads or calls made/received, about 6 SMS which do cost but maybe 40 cents each. Today another agent says yeah you are liable. I’m furious. My phone is now cut off and I’ve no connectivity on my last day in New York. You hear of horror stories and you think not me, never. I will be contesting this, surely I couldn’t mess up like this?

Hi Gebbel,

I'm sorry to hear this. Feel free to PM me your full name and account number. I would be happy to help clear this up for you.

Thanks

Tracey

eir: Tracey

gebbel wrote: »

OK so I’ve been in the states this last week on a holiday. Decided to purchase a USA roaming add-on before I left just to have a little data for quick location checks when out and about and not on WiFi. It’s a very paltry 200mb for €20. Zeroed the phones data counter when I arrived. A few days later I had already reached 180mb and was advised of same so purchased a second add-on for another 200mb at €20....by using their chat support and an agent confirmed it. So looking good.....not incurring excess data charges or so I thought. 2 days ago get an SMS saying I’m racking up data charges, but with the 2 addon bundles and my careful monitoring.....plus another chat to support at home confirming all of this (I took screenshots of the chat). The agent said and I quote “do not worry about those messages, you haven’t been charged extra”.

Yesterday I get a message saying my account was locked, today they’re telling me I owe €300. I’ve used a total of 250mb roaming data according to the iPhone counter , no downloads or calls made/received, about 6 SMS which do cost but maybe 40 cents each. Today another agent says yeah you are liable. I’m furious. My phone is now cut off and I’ve no connectivity on my last day in New York. You hear of horror stories and you think not me, never. I will be contesting this, surely I couldn’t mess up like this?

I have attempted to send you a PM however it has advised me your inbox is full.

Thanks

Tracey

eir: Tracey

gebbel wrote: »

OK so I’ve been in the states this last week on a holiday. Decided to purchase a USA roaming add-on before I left just to have a little data for quick location checks when out and about and not on WiFi. It’s a very paltry 200mb for €20. Zeroed the phones data counter when I arrived. A few days later I had already reached 180mb and was advised of same so purchased a second add-on for another 200mb at €20....by using their chat support and an agent confirmed it. So looking good.....not incurring excess data charges or so I thought. 2 days ago get an SMS saying I’m racking up data charges, but with the 2 addon bundles and my careful monitoring.....plus another chat to support at home confirming all of this (I took screenshots of the chat). The agent said and I quote “do not worry about those messages, you haven’t been charged extra”.

Yesterday I get a message saying my account was locked, today they’re telling me I owe €300. I’ve used a total of 250mb roaming data according to the iPhone counter , no downloads or calls made/received, about 6 SMS which do cost but maybe 40 cents each. Today another agent says yeah you are liable. I’m furious. My phone is now cut off and I’ve no connectivity on my last day in New York. You hear of horror stories and you think not me, never. I will be contesting this, surely I couldn’t mess up like this?

gebbel wrote: »

OK so I’ve been in the states this last week on a holiday. Decided to purchase a USA roaming add-on before I left just to have a little data for quick location checks when out and about and not on WiFi. It’s a very paltry 200mb for €20. Zeroed the phones data counter when I arrived. A few days later I had already reached 180mb and was advised of same so purchased a second add-on for another 200mb at €20....by using their chat support and an agent confirmed it. So looking good.....not incurring excess data charges or so I thought. 2 days ago get an SMS saying I’m racking up data charges, but with the 2 addon bundles and my careful monitoring.....plus another chat to support at home confirming all of this (I took screenshots of the chat). The agent said and I quote “do not worry about those messages, you haven’t been charged extra”.

Yesterday I get a message saying my account was locked, today they’re telling me I owe €300. I’ve used a total of 250mb roaming data according to the iPhone counter , no downloads or calls made/received, about 6 SMS which do cost but maybe 40 cents each. Today another agent says yeah you are liable. I’m furious. My phone is now cut off and I’ve no connectivity on my last day in New York. You hear of horror stories and you think not me, never. I will be contesting this, surely I couldn’t mess up like this?

I've received your PM, however, I'm still getting an error message advising it's full. 

Thanks 

Tracey 

gebbel

eir: Tracey wrote: »

I've received your PM, however, I'm still getting an error message advising it's full. 

Thanks 

Tracey 

Trying to contact eir all day. Not easy when you can’t make or receive calls. 2 weeks now waiting for a resolution. Am I the only one who thinks this is as shocking a customer service experience you can get?

eir: Thomas

gebbel wrote: »

eir: Tracey wrote: »

I've received your PM, however, I'm still getting an error message advising it's full. 

Thanks 

Tracey 

Trying to contact eir all day. Not easy when you can’t make or receive calls. 2 weeks now waiting for a resolution. Am I the only one who thinks this is as shocking a customer service experience you can get?

Hi Gebbel,

I was speaking with Tracey and she advised me that she has attempted to contact you, but your inbox was full.

If you would like to send me your account number and full name in a PM, I can get you a resolution.

Thanks

Thomas

gebbel

eir: Thomas wrote: »

Hi Gebbel,

I was speaking with Tracey and she advised me that she has attempted to contact you, but your inbox was full.

If you would like to send me your account number and full name in a PM, I can get you a resolution.

Thanks

Thomas

Thanks. My inbox is not full. Regards.

eir: Thomas

gebbel wrote: »

eir: Thomas wrote: »

Hi Gebbel,

I was speaking with Tracey and she advised me that she has attempted to contact you, but your inbox was full.

If you would like to send me your account number and full name in a PM, I can get you a resolution.

Thanks

Thomas

Thanks. My inbox is not full. Regards.

Would you like to send me a PM with your full name and account number and I will forward on Tracey's message? 

Thanks

Thomas.

ABC101

I realise this is a thread between customers and eir.   However if I could offer / share a experience which I had in the USA last year with regard to using a iPhone.   I too an am eir customer. 

I had Mobile data switched off in the "Settings" section, and I was careful to use WiFi only when in restaurants / public places.

However I noticed that certain Applications were still using "mobile data" even though I had "mobile data" selected as off in the settings of the phone.

Google maps was still able to show my location on the map, as was Uber.

So to ensure that the application was not using "mobile data" I had to access the application settings itself, i.e.. for a iPhone, go to "settings" and then select Google Maps from the list and under "Allow Location Access" select "never".

I believe Uber has changed / updated the App so as to avoid this using of Mobile data when the phone is not allowed to use Mobile data.   However I am open to correction.

I found this out the hard way, that I was incurring mobile data charges, even though the Mobile data setting was off, some Apps were still using data.   Not any fault of Eir of course.

gebbel

Just to give an update on this. After 1 month of fighting my corner like I've never fought before, Eir finally backed down and accepted my truthful version of events. They wiped the €338 roaming element of my bill for January. However the whole experience was the most frustrating experience imaginable. It took loads of PMs here, 15 emails, about 1 hour of talking to different people in different departments, and me about to lose my cool a dozen times. It should never have come to this.

A word of advice to Eir: before cutting someone's service off abruptly like you did to me in the middle of New York when I needed service more than ever....then telling me to call a number at home after disconnecting me....can you not call an individual first and discuss the issue?

Secondly, the departments within Eir were not communicating with each other. Every time I had to go through the same explanation, re-send emails multiple times, endure a further abrupt disconnection at home and generally tested my patience like honestly it's never been tested before. All of this was unnecessary.

And as a token of their apology they put a €15 credit on my account...didn't even get a month off even though I remained disconnected for most of the month while refusing the pay the charge. This isn't about a payout however, it's about competent customer care and, while I'm grateful to all the individuals who did their job to the best of their ability, the whole customer care process was simply horrible and needs major improvement from within.

eir: Thomas

gebbel wrote: »

Just to give an update on this. After 1 month of fighting my corner like I've never fought before, Eir finally backed down and accepted my truthful version of events. They wiped the €338 roaming element of my bill for January. However the whole experience was the most frustrating experience imaginable. It took loads of PMs here, 15 emails, about 1 hour of talking to different people in different departments, and me about to lose my cool a dozen times. It should never have come to this.

A word of advice to Eir: before cutting someone's service off abruptly like you did to me in the middle of New York when I needed service more than ever....then telling me to call a number at home after disconnecting me....can you not call an individual first and discuss the issue?

Secondly, the departments within Eir were not communicating with each other. Every time I had to go through the same explanation, re-send emails multiple times, endure a further abrupt disconnection at home and generally tested my patience like honestly it's never been tested before. All of this was unnecessary.

And as a token of their apology they put a €15 credit on my account...didn't even get a month off even though I remained disconnected for most of the month while refusing the pay the charge. This isn't about a payout however, it's about competent customer care and, while I'm grateful to all the individuals who did their job to the best of their ability, the whole customer care process was simply horrible and needs major improvement from within.

Hi gebbel,

I'm glad to hear you've had this resolved by our complaints department.

We completely understand your frustration at this time and I will be sure to pass on your feedback.

Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience caused. 

Thanks

Thomas