IOL Nutters On A Rampage - Have You Got The Letter Yet?

RopeDrink

If any of you are on IOL NoLimts you’ll know what this is about…

For those who aren’t sure what IOL NoLimits is, it’s an ISP offering internet time between 6pm and 8pm (And all weekend) for the flat rate of £20 a month. Calling it a “No Limit” package is hardly fair, considering that after they took on “Too many customers” they wanted to introduce a three hour disconnect i.e. once you had been connected for three hours, you are automatically disconnected from the ISP and have to re-connect (If you are lucky – at the time, so many people were connected at once that there were no open ports, and lots of people had to wait hours on end to get a chance to get back on-line). One could say that this is a very limited “NoLimit” package eh? And now, people are receiving these letters… My friend in college told me he had received a letter that pretty much rejected him from using the service anymore… I wasn’t surprised when I got this in yesterday…

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
26th April 2001-05-01
Important News For IOL NoLimit Customers

Dear Mr Duffy

Having analysed our customer usage pattern of our IOL NoLimits service, it has come to our attention that some of our customers are using this service excessively. This over-usage puts considerable pressure on service capacity and affects the overall quality of the service for all of our IOL NoLimit customers.

Esat Fusion will no longer continue to support this high level of usage of IOL NoLimits as it is not in keeping with the spirit of the service and it is affecting the overall quality of the service for all IOL NoLimits customers. It is with regret that I am informing you of this decision and that your usage level falls into this “over-usage” category. Consequently, your IOL NoLimits service will be disconnected on May 31st, 2001.

However, based on your internet usage pattern, we feel that our other subscription based internet package, IOL Gold, will be of interest to you. IOL Gold is our premium internet service and offers you low cost internet access using an 1891 dial up number. As a high volume user, you stand to save up to 20% per month on your internet call tariffs by using IOL Gold as opposed to free internet access products*.

We are delighted to give you a special offer of one year’s IOL Gold subscription for only £90, which normally costs £120, if you register for IOL Gold before June 15th.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this change.
</font>

Right, first off – I, and almost all other users (I wager) have never used this service at any time that doesn’t coincide with the 6pm to 8am package deal, so how can they ***** about individuals “Over-Using”. The fact is, they stated the allowed times, and are now kicking us despite using the package only at those times. They could have lowered the times rather than making excuses and removing customers from the service.

Second, despite being regarded as an “Over-User” they have the goddamn cheek to “OFFER” me a chance to use IOL Gold, which is a premium based service and, to be honest, a load of cack. The IOL NoLimit service was mostly used for it’s cheap rate which was reflected in how crud the service is early on in the day. Because so many people were online with the service at once, you are reduced to snail paced browsing at any time below 10pm. Still, people put up with it, because they were getting the chance to use the internet for a measly £20 quid a month.

All my *****ing might make my point quite foggy. What im trying to say is, they released a “NoLimit” package and offered it to all – they then attempt to “Limit” it, and once that had no effect, they rake up some lame excuse and then decide to boot all their customers from that service, and advertise a premium based one…

Gah I don’t know – Im just a little mad at it all.

My arguement is a bit muffled at the moment but what are your views!?

Ronan|Raven

Itd be interesting to see how many did get the letters that use these boards.

LoBo

I'm guessing said letter is waiting for me at home.

We used use IOL pay-per-month before nolimits came out. This is what is now known as IOL gold. You pay £120 for the year, and then have to pay Eircom local call costs (these were Very expensive because we used internet so much in our house).

When No Limits came out (offered by Esat at the time) I swapped us over as the price was £20 a month, and you didn't have to pay local call prices. It was great, much much cheaper, and worth it despite it being slow.

Basically, I agree with Ropedrink's statements about a "No Limits" package, and their approach to phasing it out. They _could_ have just said sorry No Limits is no longer available to anyone.Instead they have tried to justify kicking people off it... and as Rope says they sold us this No Limits service... they never mentioned No Limits For Some People

I hope everyone who receives this letter and is (rightly) annoyed by it, writes back to inform them of their annoyance, and how you think its a terrible way to deal with it, and how you would certainly think of any new Esat deals negatively in the future (ie. never give em business again).

If you can't write, ring em.. but you'll have to wait on hold.. I think i'll write AND email

LoBo

nesf

It's sickening, what did they expect? That users would only go online for the same lenghts of time as when they had to pay for the call?

Then, the spirit of the service?? Ok the spirit of the service was, give us £20 a month and use it whenever you want for as long as you want between times that we choose.

Next my phone company is going to disconnect me for using the internet to sent free SMS messages rather than me paying them for the same service.

Oh well, at least I got access to the college PC's for another week.

K!LL!@N

I too got the letter.
I was pretty ticked off about it yesterday, but now i'm not so bothered. The service has been sh!te for a very long time now. So in that respect i'm glad to be rid of it.
I've been cutting back a bit on my internet usage and this is going to guarantee that now. I'll only be using the net for a specific purpose for the time being.
I have heard news of UTV internet planning to offer a new flat rate service and today i heard that eircom may be offering a 24/7 service soon. We'll just have to wait and see.
Don't despair too much, i'm sure something better will come along.

Lenny

pffft
I feel sorry for you ropedrink, after typing all that out
when people hvae just scanned it
lol

Ry

ROFL!! Im mighty peeved alright I think its total hypocracy No limits with limits?? Its a joke. Im gonna write to someone BIG!

---

Citer le Cordeau "JennyRooba"

RopeDrink

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by OJ:
pffft
I feel sorry for you ropedrink, after typing all that out
when people hvae just scanned it
lol</font>

I know... What can you do

I needed to pass some time while I cooled off, and I can type at a max of 65wpm so it wasn't too hard

Anyway, I like to get the message across... The fact is they are just bumping everyone off, and are trying to justify it... They basically dug us a hole and said "Jump" and then once they get a little pressured, they said, "Ooops, wrong bog"

[This message has been edited by RopeDrink (edited 01-05-2001).]

m1RV

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by RopeDrink:
I know... What can you do

I needed to pass some time while I cooled off, and I can type at a max of 65wpm so it wasn't too hard

Anyway, I like to get the message across... The fact is they are just bumping everyone off, and are trying to justify it... They basically dug us a hole and said "Jump" and then once they get a little pressured, they said, "Ooops, wrong bog"

[This message has been edited by RopeDrink (edited 01-05-2001).]</font>

65wpm, pfft :E

harVee

there was loads of ppl on prat kenny show this morning on about it.
I think it shows the attitude a lot of companies in this country have to their customers. Instead of fighting for them, they want us to have to beg for service. I hope those d!ckheads and all those morons in eircom go down the toilet.
banna republic i tell you...

androphobic

got that letter thingy..

75 hrs a month or something..

Stephen

I too got the letter. In a fit of rage I rang them up and abused whoever the poor sod on the end of the line was about the letter. She just prattled on about how its all eircom's fault, blah de blah, I really don't care, blah blah, IOL Gold would be suitable for your needs (!) blah blah - At this point I cut her off and pointed out that IOL gold is bull$hit and would cost me a hell of a lot more than "nolimits" did.

She went all silent when I ranted about "bull$hit"

Then I explained to her how I was angry, sorry about that and hung up

SantaHoe

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">In a fit of rage I rang them up and abused whoever the poor sod on the end of the line was</font>

Oh you utter *******!
Phone work is bad enough... having to <<shudder>> help people is bad enough... but listening to people scream and moan at you is no way to make a living.
Go easy on them, the odds are that they had no part in the decision to kick people from the service, and that nobody who matters in the company will [a] hear your complaints give a shìt.

When I used to work in support I'd have so many b!tching customers telling me that they're very angry and they're going to sell their shares (etc)... like I could honestly give a sh!t, it only served to make my job that bit more annoying.
Target your abuse at the people who deserve it.

Sliotar

this whole thing is a little rediculous though. its true that you have been wronged by being cut off from the service, but ppl are goin on about it as if its a case of neglect. i mean look at all the ppl in the 3rd world countries starving..... aww forget it, couldnt be bothered makin a big speech.

all i knows is i didnt get the letter, yay for me, and im definitly on more than 75 hours a month (hope no-one from iol is reading this...). and im sure something better will come along soon. this is all down the iol having to pay eircom our phone bills, so all eircom need to do is bring out a flat rate service. seeing as they control the phone lines they should make almost nothing but profit, and it should be of a higher quality so everybody will sign up for it and they'll be on to a gold mine.

sutty

I didn't get the letter!

But I have been with SNL since it started, back then when you went to join them you had to give your last phone bill so they could see if you used the net a lot (if you where with in their Idea of alot then they made your account active) What there doing now is a real load of crap, if they didn't tell you about the 75 hour limit, then they cant kick you off for passing that time. As for the 3 hour cut off. Did they ever bring that in? I'v never been cut off. As for the 75 hours on line, I have a "Hi-speed" (ISDN) line so....unless I have a clan game the new second line is on SNL at all times after 6pm and it is an ALL weekend. (I reach their 75 hour with in one week)

---

Ciaran Sutcliffe
aka: sutty
[HIV]sutty
For a good time goto:
http://www.hotinternetvirgins.com

bonkey

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by androphobic:
got that letter thingy..

75 hrs a month or something..</font>

Yup - apparently any average of over 2.5 hours per night is considered excessive.

Apparently the background is that Eircom are overcharging Esat for the line rental, and at the same time, the bottom is falling out of the on-line advertising market. both of these combined make the NoLimits approach financially unfeasible at the moment.

I'd be interested if anyone actually has a contract and/or terms of use from when they signed up. Because either Esat cant change the rules, or would have had to have notified you (or posted on the web) if they were changing the rules. If they havent done this, then they cant kick you.

Course, I'm not a lawyer....

bonkey

Take it

just wondering does anyone have a copy of the contract signed when joining up to esat i know this tread was dead but im just curious.

RopeDrink

I specifically remember ripping and chucking that form... Goes to show what a dunce I was to do it... You never know when supposed rubbish can be vital in specific situations...

IOL are seriously going OTT though, and being quite unfair...

Im refusing to pay any bills they give me... Not much of a rebellion, but I dont see why i should have to after the treatement they are dishing out now...

---

[VAR]-RopeDrink***** was killed by IOL NoLimits with Headshot from Disconnect

Celt

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">IOL are seriously going OTT though, and being quite unfair...
</font>

IMHO it's the users going OTT, you dont expect a non state subsidised company to take losses just so people can leave the internet on dl/ing warez and pr0n?

RopeDrink

They limited a NoLimit service - They should have guessed they wouldn't have been capable of maintaining the business - When people are offered Flat Rate charges for 6pm - 8am Internet access, the majority will be using it for late night browsing... This should have been estimated... Now they are kicking customers despite the fact they complied with the deal, and have only just stated "Over 75 hours a week is overuse" rubbish, and im pretty sure it was NOT printed on the original contract... Who's being OTT here!? Even if the 6pm-8am wasn't being excersised, they still charge the customer 3p per minute...

They should have known what to expect, and because they didn't, they are banishing customers...

---

[VAR]-RopeDrink***** was killed by IOL NoLimits with Headshot from Disconnect

Celt

Is there any reason for them not to kick customers?
You still havent said why they should make a loss so people can leave it on all night downloading ****e - as many of these boards do (strat0r)

bugler

Whitelancer grasp the basci problem people have with being kicked off the service.

1)You sign up to a service that entitles you to unlimited time online at off-peak times.

2)You are then kicked from this service,the reason given is : "You are overusing and abusing the service" Despite the fact that no-one ever told you there was a limit.How could you abuse it?!

There are a few prats on these boards waffling about how everyone who got kicked was a huge overuser and was slowing the service down immensely for all you decent folk,which I personally know to be bull****.

So in reply to your question Whitelancer,if they want to kick customers they can(as its their service) but to try and blame the customers for it is idiotic.As idiotic as you for failing to see that the reason people are feeling hard done by is not really because they are being kicked off, its because of the manner in which it was done,and the fact no-one got a chance to change their ways.

RopeDrink

Thanks for that Bugler

Saved me a few sentances of text...

Basically Whitelancer, have you noticed the fact that nearly all registered customers (About to be kicked off at least) are looking for their contracts / original sign up information? This is mainly due to the fact that IOL Never stated anything about the risk of "Over Use" and it can be proved by producing your contract to them - What excuse have they then to kick the customers?

I fully acknowledge the fact that they have the right to refuse service, but when they do it is this fashion (Blame the CUSTOMER rather then their own ignorance) they are at fault...

It is not funny, it is not fair, and it's down right sickening...

Celt

So you want them to lie to everyone and say "We're randomly kicking people and limiting it to 75 hours, there's no real reason"
I acknowledge it was a unlimited service, but did they expect people to leave the internet on downloading stuff even when they were asleep/out?
I think they didnt, and they didnt expect the amount of people who did.
And bugler, what was the reason i retired to connect over 100 times some times, hmmm?
Yes IOL were wrong, but look at the amount of posts on the tech boards and elsewhere about them. You should be thinking of the fact that you got to use this great service for so long rather than paying £200 a month phone bills.
What it boils down to is, yes your right, but i still see people going OTT on the subject which is what i said in my first reply.

Trojan

WL,

I don't agree, I think people have every right to be extremely annoyed about this. It's NO LIMITS, what part of that did IOL not understand? It's only two words (in fact, it was so simple, they even made it into one)!

If I had signed up for a service that said NO LIMITS and then gotten a letter saying that I was being kicked off due to "overuse", I'd probably first laugh, then get annoyed, then probably see what legal recourse I could make to get the bast@rds to stick to the contract.

How is this being OTT?

Al.

Winning Hand

Sorry but my dsl owns you all
I can boot it up, scan for a while, leave it on, go out for a couple of hours and when I come back I'm saved the inconveniance waiting a few mins to reconnect. Plus the phone line isnt touched.

That is all

---

Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this....
bull****

androphobic

don't mean to be condescending at all but I presume you guys realise that you won't get kicked off iol withlimits if you agree to the 75hr limit?

JustHalf

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Winning Hand:
Sorry but my dsl owns you all </font>

hAha47627q!!!!

Arrgh!

JustHalf

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Winning Hand:
Sorry but my dsl owns you all </font>

hAha47627q!!!!

Arrgh!

Dun

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by androphobic:

don't mean to be condescending at all but I presume you guys realise that you won't get kicked off iol withlimits if you agree to the 75hr limit?

</font>

and how do you go about informing them that you'd agree to stay withing the 75hr limit?

androphobic

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by dun_do_bheal:
and how do you go about informing them that you'd agree to stay withing the 75hr limit?</font>

ring them up.. the number's on the letter