80eur Usage Charge!!

gazzamc

So i get my bill this month with an extra 80eur for usage charge on top of it, first of all no one made me aware of my usage, and i don't find keeping an eye on it like its mobile data is really appropriate when you advertise it as "Unlimited".

When i signed up i specifically said that i do content creation and will be uploading as well as downloading, i wasn't offered anything higher and was told this would meet my needs, and has until i got this bill this month.

Can someone tell me why i wasn't notified when i apparently hit the fair usage threshold? or was that the plan in order to add as much extra charges as possible to my bill?

Thanks

DonJose

I was also hit for 62.50 euro for excess usage charges. Eir's reply was, "The only thing I would recommend is to monitor the usage closely to determine where it is being used most?"

The Netflix website states, "High (Best video quality, up to 3 GB per hour for HD and 7 GB per hour for Ultra HD)". I've also got Sky and download movies and I listen to TuneIn radio. I view my usage as normal and definitely don't abuse my allowance. I've got a 4K TV so it looks like I'm using 7 GB or more per hour.

I've been a customer since 2006 and pay roughly 1400 euro a year to Eir. They are losing a customer for 62.50 euro. I'm moving provider next week, either Vodafone or Sky Broadband. I know Sky Broadband have no caps and I need to find out about Vodafone.

gazzamc

DonJose wrote: »

I was also hit for 62.50 euro for excess usage charges. Eir's reply was, "The only thing I would recommend is to monitor the usage closely to determine where it is being used most?"

The Netflix website states, "High (Best video quality, up to 3 GB per hour for HD and 7 GB per hour for Ultra HD)". I've also got Sky and download movies and I listen to TuneIn radio. I view my usage as normal and definitely don't abuse my allowance. I've got a 4K TV so it looks like I'm using 7 GB or more per hour.

I've been a customer since 2006 and pay roughly 1400 euro a year to Eir. They are losing a customer for 62.50 euro. I'm moving provider next week, either Vodafone or Sky Broadband. I know Sky Broadband have no caps and I need to find out about Vodafone.

Hi, I know it's the weekend but they don't seem to want to reply to me, I've reached out to them via Twitter here, if you would like to chime in, that would be great. They admit that i should have been notified. I'm unfortunately in a new contract at the moment, so moving provider isn't an option.

What makes this worse is that the terms (usage) are hidden in their website, and took me a good 10 minutes to find, I was never actually told about the cap, i knew there was a limit, but a combined cap of 1TB in this day and age is really poor. Especially with all the streaming services, everything is digital these days.

It's a joke when i can use more data on my mobile package than my "Unlimited" Broadband package.

mkov

While I do think 1TB sometimes might not be enough, you all agreed to T&C when signing up. Nobody forced a gun to your head. The fact that mobile and broadband providers advertise Unlimited and have fair usage policy has been around for years and Eir isn't the first one to abuse it, but as it turns out it is not illegal. Every customer signing up is expected to read T&C and if in doubt, ask Eir for explanation.

I'm new with Eir as I was with Vodafone and my usage on average is 300-500GB so I was happy to agree with 1TB FUP. For 35euro it's great value. After one year and going to 70something euro, I will be switching elsewhere, unless they keep me at 35-40 euro.

Bubbaclaus

When you signed up you would have been provided the terms and conditions and you agreed to them.

gazzamc

mkov wrote: »

While I do think 1TB sometimes might not be enough, you all agreed to T&C when signing up. Nobody forced a gun to your head. The fact that mobile and broadband providers advertise Unlimited and have fair usage policy has been around for years and Eir isn't the first one to abuse it, but as it turns out it is not illegal. Every customer signing up is expected to read T&C and if in doubt, ask Eir for explanation.

I'm new with Eir as I was with Vodafone and my usage on average is 300-500GB so I was happy to agree with 1TB FUP. For 35euro it's great value. After one year and going to 70something euro, I will be switching elsewhere, unless they keep me at 35-40 euro.

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

When you signed up you would have been provided the terms and conditions and you agreed to them.

While it's true that I did agree to the T&C, since it's advertised as "Unlimited", I should have been told about the cap.. I also should have been notified when i was close to the cap and when i passed it. I can't be expected to monitor usage when i had no idea there was a cap so low. I'm not sure about your living arrangements but my household uses a lot of streaming services, which Eir seems to advertise for [check their tv adverts], You really can't expect a family to not use 1TB of data a month in 2018. Not with HD and UHD streaming.

I understand there is fair usage limits, but not notifying me when i approach them is an oversight on them giving that it gets pretty expensive fast. Is it wrong to want to be notified when i hit their cap, when it starts to cost me twice my monthly bill?

Another thing is i availed of the highest possible package available to me and i even mentioned that I was a heavy user, they should have packages with higher caps in order to accommodate power users such as myself. What is the point of getting higher speeds if the cap doesn't reflect it?

kenny111

the rates for excess charges are rising to 50 euro pet 10gb to a maximum of 100euro.  i rang eir and asked for my billing date to be changed to the first of the month and was told it was not possible.  The customer service agents acknowledged that it was difficult to accurately monitor usage.

kenny111

the rates for excess charges are rising to 50 euro pet 10gb to a maximum of 100euro.  i rang eir and asked for my billing date to be changed to the first of the month and was told it was not possible.  The customer service agents acknowledged that it was difficult to accurately monitor usage.

Decoda

Called Eir in October and requested that my bill date be changed from the 13th of the month to the first of the month so that i could monitor my usage, agent said no problem. Maybe they've changed their position on this due to the number of customers requesting this??

D.

eir: Tracey

gazzamc wrote: »

So i get my bill this month with an extra 80eur for usage charge on top of it, first of all no one made me aware of my usage, and i don't find keeping an eye on it like its mobile data is really appropriate when you advertise it as "Unlimited".

When i signed up i specifically said that i do content creation and will be uploading as well as downloading, i wasn't offered anything higher and was told this would meet my needs, and has until i got this bill this month.

Can someone tell me why i wasn't notified when i apparently hit the fair usage threshold? or was that the plan in order to add as much extra charges as possible to my bill?

Thanks

Hi Gazzamc,

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

gazzamc

eir: Tracey wrote: »

Hi Gazzamc,

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

PM'd, I hope you're not just going to look at my account and confirm that I went over the usage like your colleague on twitter, and actually help me.

kenny111

eir: Tracey wrote: »

gazzamc wrote: »

So i get my bill this month with an extra 80eur for usage charge on top of it, first of all no one made me aware of my usage, and i don't find keeping an eye on it like its mobile data is really appropriate when you advertise it as "Unlimited".

When i signed up i specifically said that i do content creation and will be uploading as well as downloading, i wasn't offered anything higher and was told this would meet my needs, and has until i got this bill this month.

Can someone tell me why i wasn't notified when i apparently hit the fair usage threshold? or was that the plan in order to add as much extra charges as possible to my bill?

Thanks

Hi Gazzamc,

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.  how can we monitor our usage if our billing dates does not start on the first of each month?

Atlantic Dawn

You could perhaps understand if a filling station offered unlimited fuel for a set fee and someone was filling their car and driving it 24 hours a day in shifts with their family they would be within their rights to say fair use wouldn't expect a car to be running 24/7 but this "unlimited" 1TB limit can be easily broken with only moderate HD use.

drunkmonkey

See can you get advertising standards to side with you http://www.asai.ie/make-a-complaint/

If it was advertised as unlimited which it was well then you have a strong case, failing that there's always comreg. 

eir: Tracey

kenny111 wrote: »

eir: Tracey wrote: »

gazzamc wrote: »

So i get my bill this month with an extra 80eur for usage charge on top of it, first of all no one made me aware of my usage, and i don't find keeping an eye on it like its mobile data is really appropriate when you advertise it as "Unlimited".

When i signed up i specifically said that i do content creation and will be uploading as well as downloading, i wasn't offered anything higher and was told this would meet my needs, and has until i got this bill this month.

Can someone tell me why i wasn't notified when i apparently hit the fair usage threshold? or was that the plan in order to add as much extra charges as possible to my bill?

Thanks

Hi Gazzamc,

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.  how can we monitor our usage if our billing dates does not start on the first of each month?

Hi Kenny111,

In regards to monitoring your usage, the billing date does not need to start and the beginning of every month. You can monitor your usage on MyEir at any time of the month.

I hope this cleared that up for you.

Thanks 

Tracey 

Decoda

Tracey,

Yes you can monitor your data usage at any time on the Eir website but it it does not tell you how much data you have used since your last bill, it tells you how much data you have used since the start of the month (Unless Eir have recently changed their billing / data usage conditions). I had to ask Eir to change my bill date to the start of each month so that my contract period matched the data usage period. As an example my contract with Eir started on the 13th of each month so my bill and data usage was for the monthly period from the 13th of each month to the 13th of the following month. However the data usage figure on the Eir App used to reset to 0.00GB at the start of each month, hence why i requested the change.

D. 

Twelve Bar Blues

Decoda wrote: »

Tracey,

Yes you can monitor your data usage at any time on the Eir website but it it does not tell you how much data you have used since your last bill, it tells you how much data you have used since the start of the month (Unless Eir have recently changed their billing / data usage conditions). I had to ask Eir to change my bill date to the start of each month so that my contract period matched the data usage period. As an example my contract with Eir started on the 13th of each month so my bill and data usage was for the monthly period from the 13th of each month to the 13th of the following month. However the data usage figure on the Eir App used to reset to 0.00GB at the start of each month, hence why i requested the change.

D. 

Wasn't there a bit of noise made about this terminology recently (in the last year or two)? As I remember it, where a product was described as unlimited it was to be made very clear if there was in fact a FUP attached to the advertised product. Ie., not hidden away in a contract, or in teeny tiny small print.
From Comreg's website - https://www.comreg.ie/consumer-information/internet/

eir: Tracey

Decoda wrote: »

Tracey,

Yes you can monitor your data usage at any time on the Eir website but it it does not tell you how much data you have used since your last bill, it tells you how much data you have used since the start of the month (Unless Eir have recently changed their billing / data usage conditions). I had to ask Eir to change my bill date to the start of each month so that my contract period matched the data usage period. As an example my contract with Eir started on the 13th of each month so my bill and data usage was for the monthly period from the 13th of each month to the 13th of the following month. However the data usage figure on the Eir App used to reset to 0.00GB at the start of each month, hence why i requested the change.

D. 

Hi D,

Feel free to PM me your details and I would be happy to clarify this for you.

Thanks

Tracey

gazzamc

Twelve Bar Blues wrote: »

Wasn't there a bit of noise made about this terminology recently (in the last year or two)? As I remember it, where a product was described as unlimited it was to be made very clear if there was in fact a FUP attached to the advertised product. Ie., not hidden away in a contract, or in teeny tiny small print.
From Comreg's website - https://www.comreg.ie/consumer-information/internet/

A snippet

”Unlimited” broadband and Fair Use Policies

A number of telephone and broadband packages are described as ‘unlimited’. In this context, the word ‘unlimited’ would normally be taken to mean that a consumer, having agreed to pay a set price, may make as many calls or spend as much time online as s/he wishes.  However, some service contracts qualify the meaning of ‘unlimited’ by stating that it is subject to an ‘acceptable’ or ‘fair’ level of use by the consumer. This is sometimes referred to as a “fair usage policy”.

We advise you that any contract which sets usage thresholds, or describes what constitutes ‘fair’ or ‘acceptable’ use, should be clear and unambiguous, particularly where the service is described as being ‘unlimited’. Usage thresholds or limits should be clearly set out, as should the manner in which they are updated or amended.

Giving that you reset on the 1st of every month, you already fail to do this. If I look back at my usage history I really can't get an accurate account of what I used in which month. I've no idea if this month's usage is correct.

You also don't clearly set out usage thresholds, I do not see a red line on the usage graph thats on the eir.ie site. Meaning that the likes of myself who had no prior knowledge of the 1tb cap would not know when we passed it. But that coupled with the issue above really makes it hard to know when you have exceeded said cap.

Its almost like you do this on purpose.