Ooophs! We didn't take your payment ...

BrianD

If you're like me you could be facing a double bill from Eircom this festive season. Due to the late billing by Eircom last cycle they also were unable to take the direct debit corresponding to the bill. This means that DD customers will be facing a double whammy first thing in the new year when your bank account is usually at an all time low. Customer service weren't overly concerned but did reassure me that the fact that they didn't take the money wouldn't affect my credit rating.

When I first saw the bill I thought I had fallen victim to a dialler scam. Now that would be ironic.

jor el

I don't pay Ericom by DD so I don't know if this'll work, but could you just make a payment now and then when the DD comes along in January it'll only take the remainder. Or will the DD take the full amount regardless, so that you'd end up having overpaid the bill?

I pay the bill on online banking and just put €20 or so onto it every two weeks or whenever I have some cash. Then when the bill arrives there's usually nothing on it, or normally I've overpaid a little.

BrianD

I intend to split the payment myself anyway. However, a bit of explaination from Eircom on the matter should have been forthcoming to keep their DD customers in the loop. Being hit with a double bill in the early days of Jan will certainly be unwelcome by most.

Slutmonkey57b

Same thing happened to me a few years ago - only in that case they took the money, then gave it back - after I had cancelled the DD instruction with the bank. Needless to say they then disconnected me the next month.
First time I rang they weren't interested, the second time I rang I did get to talk to someone who was prepared to tell me what went wrong and help. My advice - cancel any DD arrangemets with eircom. If something goes wrong it's a nightmare to get fixed. Phone banking is the way to go. Pay it by phone, ATM, internet - anything but DD.

BrianD

I have had generally had no problem with DD where I have had with phone backing. I moved out of a house once and I looked after the bills. Paid off everything that was outstanding by phone banking and headed off around the world. Three weeks later I get a call from my former housemates that the phone has been cut off. Apparently, the phone money went into the gas account. Bank denied it was there fault but I had a similar experience with them before and was careful about transferring money. Took ages to get the money back from the gas people.

Eircom should have engaged in a little bit of public notification to inform their customers of the glitch. I just got my paper bill and there is no mention or insert detailing the problem.

jesus_thats_gre

Just pay the current bill by Giro/CC and the balance will only be deducted by DD in the new year. No big deal to be honest..

BrianD

It is no big deal for me, I can manage my own household budget many thanks. What I am pointing out is that Eircom have not informed their customers of the glitch and what way they can settle their account before a double bill is debited in January - a time of the year that may not suit everybody.

luckat

Happened to me too. Sure, I can manage my household budget - but if I pay by direct debit, I consider that payment made and off my conscience. It's a nasty surprise to have it come back to haunt me just at the most expensive time of the year. And Eircom's ho-hum attitude when I rang up to enquire infuriated me. "Oh yes, most customers are asking to split the payment over four bills, since it's our fault, but our payment system can't do that." Yeah, right.

I've written to ComReg, and suggest that others do the same. Meanwhile, this is the last straw for me, and I'm looking for another phone company.

It's not the fact that they did it, it's the fact of their arrogance in dealing with it. No notice, no note on my bill, no offer of anything other than "oh, you can pay it on the next bill instead of this one" (gee, thanks!) and nothing other than I'm-saying-what-I've-been-told-to-say-sounding apologies.

BrianD

I think asking for it to be spit over 4 bills is a bit unrealistic and not really justified. You can pay now by various means. Having said that, an information insert with the bill could have diffused the situation for many people instead of infuriating customers who pay by DD. These type of customers are gold for any telco as they pay on time electronically.