Eircom want 129 euro from me

molinaalexis

Today I called Eircom to open a new account in a house I am moving to.
I have noticed that in the house there are 2 eircom boxes to plug in the phone jack, one of them near the main door as usual and the other in the main bedroom. This is not a new house, it was previously occupied.

They have told me that I have to pay 129 euros becouse it is a new connection, I told them that in the house I have seen the 2 boxes belonging to eircom and the response was that the previous owner never had a connection with them.

So what do you think about it, Are they screwing me or not?

PiE

Seeing as it's eircom, they probably are yea.

Urban Weigl

So let me get this straight... Even though there are Eircom boxes in the house, they claim that there was no previous connection? All this head-stuck-in-sand business must be getting addictive.

If they just don't back down, at least rip out their equipment (seeing as it is not theirs, according to them), and have them actually install what you are paying for. :rolleyes:

Gordon

wow, is that gear worth much, maybe you could sell it seeing as it isn't theirs!

But in fairness maybe the previous occupant didnt have a line - the previous previous occupant did. ?

acid

i had a similar problem about a year ago, until i called them from the new house (i think its 1901) so they had to agree that a line was already present then.

plug a phone in and see if you hear something like "please dial 1901 to be connected"


from the eircom website :

A once-off connection charge of €24.99 applies where there has been previous service on the line and all line work remains in place. A once-off charge of €129.99 applies for premises that have never had previous service or line work needs to be completed

eth0_

Originally posted by Urban Weigl
So let me get this straight... Even though there are Eircom boxes in the house, they claim that there was no previous connection? All this head-stuck-in-sand business must be getting addictive.

Just because there's a connection box in the house doesn't mean there was a connected line there before. Most new houses will have a box inside the house.

Can't the previous owner be contacted?

RicardoSmith

I've a white boxes in my new house but they are not eircom boxes. I'd say contact the prevous owner too.

MarkR

They tried the same thing in my old apartment, which was several years old, and had definately had a telephone installed. €ircon had spelled the name of the place wrong, and consequently couldn't find it on their systems. (How difficult is it to spell town court? )

Anyway, double check all the details with them, send them an email to complain (they can be quite poor on the phone) and let us know how you get on.

Just remembered I have to fork out that for my new house. It's all money money money!

LFCFan

All new houses are fitted with €ircon boxes by the builders. The thing is though, all the wiring to the house is already done for the phone line and all €ircon do is set up a new account and activate your line. It costs feck to them and then they screw €129.99 out of you. I hate them with a passion.

spongebob

find out the previous number....it may have been moved

Scruff

have you tried esatbt?
would it be possible to get them to set up the line for cheaper?

i have no idea if they would have to get on to €ircon to set up the line or anything, just wondering out loud.

MarkR

And the kick in the teeth is we have to have the eircom line to use utv...

bricks

Just to really piss you off.

OHP

Most people that have new houses built withen the last 4 to 6 years will have their eircom line connected to several points withen their new house. Maby they have seen some sence and not actually used them.

OHP

omni

Originally posted by LFCFan
The thing is though, all the wiring to the house is already done for the phone line and all €ircon do is set up a new account and activate your line. It costs feck to them and then they screw €129.99 out of you. I hate them with a passion.

And who do you think comlpeted this "already done" wiring? The tooth fairy?

You seem to think that just because eircom have pre-wired an estate that they don't have the right to charge a full connection fee just cos they don't have to come out again to wire your individual house.

Remember there's a lot more to providing a new line than just setting up an account and activating a line - that's why you're charged more for it.

Makes sense to me...

LFCFan

I still Hate them!

monument

Originally posted by omni
And who do you think comlpeted this "already done" wiring? The tooth fairy?

You seem to think that just because eircom have pre-wired an estate that they don't have the right to charge a full connection fee just cos they don't have to come out again to wire your individual house.

Remember there's a lot more to providing a new line than just setting up an account and activating a line - that's why you're charged more for it.

Makes sense to me...

But not IF some one used the line before, did they?

omni

Originally posted by monument
But not IF some one used the line before, did they?

That's the crux of the matter here.

If someone has already paid the first time connection fee, then the lower connection fee should be charged as the investment in wiring the house and providing a line card at the exchange has already been recouped.

But as someone else said, just cos there's an eircom box on the wall doesn't mean that it's ever been connected...

molinaalexis

Thanks to all for your concern and your advice, finally today I brought to the person who lived here before some letters belonging to her and I asked her if she had a eircom phone line, to which she reply YES and gave me her old phone number.
So after that I call to our comom enemy and they dropped the charges.

Sorry I couldn't explain this before because I didn't have access to the net.

Thanks to all of you again

cgarvey

Well if that's the case, eircom truely act in a wankerish way. We'll charge you full whack until you take the time to go and prove why we shouldn't

Slutmonkey57b

Originally posted by omni
And who do you think comlpeted this "already done" wiring? The tooth fairy?

You seem to think that just because eircom have pre-wired an estate that they don't have the right to charge a full connection fee just cos they don't have to come out again to wire your individual house.

Remember there's a lot more to providing a new line than just setting up an account and activating a line - that's why you're charged more for it.

Makes sense to me...

If there are phone jacks in the wall then the wires are already there. Unless some vandal actually went out and ripped out all the wires in the house and all down the road for as long as it took to get to the exchange and ripped them out of the exchange. (this rarely happens btw) And "reconnecting" or connecting a "new" account consists of pressing a button in a software application and filling in a few text fields - has done for years. This does not cost 130 smackers. It costs... nothing because all the software is part of the network management system and the person doing it is a customer service rep who would be getting paid to listen to complaints if they weren't switching on your line.

You're charged more for it because they think they can get away with it (see my homeowner thread above). Emphatically not because it costs them anything. Why do you think the gas company "waives" the connection fee on a replacement account for an existing location? Because it costs them nothing and makes the customer like them. Compare and contrast....

omni

Originally posted by Slutmonkey57b
connecting a "new" account consists of pressing a button in a software application and filling in a few text fields - has done for years.

I'd love to see the piece of software that automagically lays the cables and installs cards!

I'll re-iterate my point, which you seemed to miss somehow:

If you're the first person to use a line then you're charged a higher connection fee in order to recoup some of the investment that went in to providing the line. It doesn't matter if eircom have already provided copper to your house - they still are entitled to recoup that original investment.

Subsequent users are charged less, because yes, it is just a matter of going clickety click at a keyboard (assuming in the mean time the copper hasn't been nicked for someone else's new line!).

Perhaps people would be under the illusion that they're getting value for money if no new estates were pre-wired, and eircom had to send out two vans and a crack tea brewing team every time someone wanted a new phone line!