Eircon hunting again...

c0y0te

Its been a few weeks since eircon sent around their blonde bimbo trying to flog me ISDN, and last night I got the phone call instead trying to flog 'ADSL Broadband' to me.

Now - there is no way I would ever give them the business under any circumstances at this point, however I had a quick conversation with the poor sod stating my reasons why, which included:-

1) Cost Effectiveness
2) Anti-competition Stance / Monopolistic Practices
3) False Advertising
4) Implementation (distance over performance)
5) Contention

... at the end of which he said "you know, a lot of people are telling me that tonight!, I'll pass it on to the higher ups!"

So - if you get the call, give em hell!

c0y0te

GUI

not so bad ;-)

Krusty_Clown

I got the same call last night from a Biddie'...

Biddy: So, do you have 'the internet'?
Me: Yes, I have access to the internet.
B: How much does it cost you monthly?
M: My company pays for it
B: Aren't you the lucky one! how do you find it?
M: Slow - it's 56k access
B: <grasps opportunity - reams off a long list of blurb, most of which I wasn't too bothered to listen to, except for:
'It's unlimited, with a download of up to 4 Gigabytes"
B: So what do you think?
M: Not bad, a definite improvement, but it's not quite as cheap as Esat's product
B: What product is that?
M: €50pm / 6 GB cap
B: So, will I sign you up?
M: Not just yet...

She also confirmed that because I had an Eircon Phonewatch burglar alarm system, I would have to pay for a technician to come out to the house to install DSL (yes, you heard me - because two of Eircom's products don't work with each other out of the box - I have to pay for a technician. Don't these people realise that I pay a monthly sub to Eircom for the alarm system, so the easiest solution for me is to stop paying Eircon a monthly sub for the alarm system?!

Oh and yes, I have seen the post on how to DIY this.. I just don't see why I should have to..

Paulw

I also got a call from Eircom.

C: I'm calling from Eircom to inquire about your internet usage. Do you use it much ?
Me: Yes I do.
C: Have you heard of the new Eircom broadband *blurb blurb*
Me: Yes indeed
C: Would you be interested ?
Me: No thanks, I already have ADSL with Esat
C: Oh. How do you find it ?
Me: Works well and is cheaper than Eircom.
C: Oh right. Well, thanks for your time.
*click*

Páid

Also just got a call from €ircom.


Eircom: Hi, I ringing from €ircom about a new internet serv...
Me: <Click>

NeoSlicerZ

Eircom rang my dad about ADSL, who wisely passed it onto me.
They were trying to fl0g me broadband, in an area where the exchange wasn't upgraded! idiots.......

nahdoic

Originally posted by NeoSlicers
Eircom rang my dad about ADSL, who wisely passed it onto me.
They were trying to fl0g me broadband, in an area where the exchange wasn't upgraded! idiots.......

lol!

Dear sir would you like to try out our brand new super duper broadband product?

Oh yes please.

Excellent. Well it isn't available in your area yet. Could we interest you in Hi-speed?

c0y0te

Get this...

After telling them to bugger off on the telephone a couple of nights ago, they then send around another bimbo to the door last night, who goes through the whole thing again.

By the end of the conversation she was backing away from the door like a cornered animal, and she also agreed to mark me down as 'NEVER CONTACT AGAIN' on her notes, because I told her the next eircon muppet to call at my door would get bounced out of my garden, or at the very least I'd set the dogs on 'em!

When will they learn?

c0y0te

gandalf

Yep have one hunting me by phone again, god help her if she actually gets hold of me

I've seen these Eircom door to door muppets driving home from Stillorgan the other night and they looked like dodgy jehovah witnesses with their little clipboards (apologies to all the jehovah witnesses I've just pissed off)

Can't wait to maul another door to door Eircom head

Gandalf.

DSLinAbsentia

They called me, even though I'd alread ordered the bloody thing. Yeah, yeah, I turned to the darkside - not that I care, 'cause someone else is paying.

Anyway, point is, they've obvioulsy not got anyone with any savvy to cross-reference orders with leads - then why would they, they're mostly sh$t#.

shurl

Yeah, got a call off them aswell, bout 2 days after i ordered.

Told her I already ordered it last friday./

She replies (get this) oh thats good.. how are you finding it???


<bang head off wall>

what have I done

</bang head off wall>

Yelnahs

all ppl do now adays is moan, 1.60 a day is chump change, as i said b4 u cud scrape that amount of cash off the floor.

gandalf

Yeah €1.60 a day is good value except with the cap is absolutely ridiculous and you could be paying alot more for your DSL service from Eircom. If they dropped tha Cap or made it something that was actually realistic I would sign up immediately.

As it currently stands I'm waiting to see who else enters the market. Eircoms offering from my point of view is the least competitive of the lot.

You don't work for them perchance Yelnahs ?

Gandalf.

Yelnahs

nah man im a student lamo

ye 6GB aint the may west but there has been no recorded charging for going over the cap, what im doing is testing the waters first and steadily going over the cap.

My main point is people complain at the high prices of Eircom, now that they have been reduced people still complain. Sin é.

Mr. Fancypants

Its a 4GB cap aint it? Hope you havent gone too far over it....

Páid

My main point is people complain at the high prices of Eircom, now that they have been reduced people still complain. Sin é.

What do you expect? €ircom are solely responsible for the high prices of internet usage in Ireland for the last DECADE.

Now that they offer a product (which isn't 100% flat rate e.g. the cap) thats at least double the European average you expect us to be happy? Granted its a step in the right direction but its still daylight robbery.

Cal

What Pis*ed me off besides the unsolicited call trying to sell their overpriced cr*p was that they were using some sort of autodialer.

I had answered the phone a few times over the last couple of days to a dead line or the ringing tone of another phone on the other end. It was registering on caller id as an '800*******' number. When they did speak I took great pleasure in telling them that I had a faster and cheaper dsl connection already.:p

Cal

50Cent

yel have u got 6gb?

I ordered the 4gb one...afaik yel its 4gb

conZ

has anyone here ever gone over the 6/4gig and gotten chargerd for it?
details please...

DSLinAbsentia

It's important to read the text of the note from €ircon regarding charging for over-cap downloading... It says they MAY charge.

So I suspect they'll model themselves on other providers who will penalise constant abusers, but will let the infrequent over users escape.

Then again, it is €ircon! A company whose science lab may announce the successful extraction of an unlimited supply of O+ blood from the granite rocks stones along our coastline.

Redshift

Originally posted by Krusty_Clown

She also confirmed that because I had an Eircon Phonewatch burglar alarm system, I would have to pay for a technician to come out to the house to install DSL (yes, you heard me - because two of Eircom's products don't work with each other out of the box - I have to pay for a technician. Don't these people realise that I pay a monthly sub to Eircom for the alarm system, so the easiest solution for me is to stop paying Eircon a monthly sub for the alarm system?!

Oh and yes, I have seen the post on how to DIY this.. I just don't see why I should have to..

I would just like to point out that this applies to every single monitored alarm system in the country It doesn't matter who installed or monitors your alarm you are going to have this problem if your alarm is connected to your phone. I think it is unfair of people to single out Phonewatch because they happen to be related to Eircom. As regards your out of the box comment this is an issue with ADSl in general it is not confined to Eircom or Phonewatch the technologies are not incompatable it's just that implementation in your case may require technical assistance if you can't DIY, it's the same for everything not just alarms and DSL. BTW if you want any help DIY'ing it give me a shout I will be happy to talk you through the procedure.

DSLinAbsentia

Originally posted by Yelnahs

My main point is people complain at the high prices of Eircom, now that they have been reduced people still complain. Sin é.

<Mode type="preach">
You're right. The price is WAY better. The problems generating the complaints go far beyond this however. I can summarise my grievances as follows...

1. Line rental is comparitively high with the rest of Europe
2. The RADSL connection fee is outrageous for those with
their own modem (the bloody mircofilter/splitters cost
about 10 euro from www.excelsus-tech.com and you know
damn well €ircon have got them in bulk for €2 a pop)
3. Customer service is as useful as a fart in a space suit
4. The cap of 4GB, although okay for most of us who aren't
download junkies, is still quite restrictive compared to
other providers here and oversees.
5. The competition are effectively stunted because of the
unbelievably ridiculous support by our Government for
long standing monopolistic practices (€ircon being one,
ESB, NTL, blah blah blah)

So it's a culmination of things... not just the price. A Lexus is expensive, but it's a damned good car with tremendous backup services - when you get quality, the price is easier to bear..
</mode>

DSLinAbsentia

Originally posted by Redshift
I would just like to point out that this applies to every single monitored alarm system in the country It doesn't matter who installed or monitors your alarm

Holy Subspace Anomaly Redshift - surely it's perfectly reasonable to single out €ircon's Phonewatch with respect to additional services.

If they're already grabbing one of your testicles with their alarm monitornig service AND your prepared to let them grab the other one for their DSL - one could reasonably expect to NOT HAVE TO PAY 199 for the their pleasure.

<note: Substitute breast where gender requires it>

Redshift

Originally posted by DSLinAbsentia
Holy Subspace Anomaly Redshift - surely it's perfectly reasonable to single out €ircon's Phonewatch with respect to additional services.

If they're already grabbing one of your testicles with their alarm monitornig service AND your prepared to let them grab the other one for their DSL - one could reasonably expect to NOT HAVE TO PAY 199 for the their pleasure.

<note: Substitute breast where gender requires it>

Firstly PW don't provide DSL or any telephony services you pay a subscription for the monitoring of your alarm and home + routine maintenance, PW isn't Eircom it's a security company which happens to be owned by Eircom and it wasn't always owned by Eircom it was a 50/50 venture between TE and Nynex (an american telco).

Would you expect ADT if you had an ADT alarm for example to modify your phone line free of charge?, I would expect not. Why then would you expect one company to provide something for free and not another. Why would you think PW should shoulder the cost of sending an alarm technician out when you have no problem with your alarm which infact is working to specification a spec which you would have accepted after the install was complete and a spec which also complies fully with IS199

Eircom are the ones who as you put it will be grabbing your testicles regarding your DSL installation, Your alarm monitoring service is a seperate service provided by a seperate company it is completley unrelated to DSl.

I think the stumbling block here is the eircom part of phonewatch's name and given the perhaps understandable resentment here for eircom I can see why people have a problem with this. Before I finish if Phonewatch were sold off tomorrow and became a subsidiary of TYCO or someone like that would you still expect them to sort out your prolem free of charge?

RED

DSLinAbsentia

If they were different companies, then one would, and quite reasonably so, expect to have to pay. As they're the same company (PhoneWatch is now a wholly owned subsidiary of eircom. The U.S. company sold it's half of the company to Telecom Eireann in 1993 as part of a strategic realignment of their business) I'm sure it's equally reasonable to say that it's taking an absolute liberty with customer loyalty, penalising the customer for layering on additional services.

Adding services from an existing provider bolsters an existing loyalty - and this is something that should be rewarded (In the insurance industry, if you get your car insurance from your home insurers you get a discount), not penalised.

It's merely a continuing catalogue of issues with a company that will ultimately be driven out of the market because it has forgotten what "customer" actually means.

Páid

It's merely a continuing catalogue of issues with a company that will ultimately be driven out of the market because it has forgotten what "customer" actually means.

Forgotton? Did they ever know what having customers meant?

shinzon

Eircom rang my dad about ADSL, who wisely passed it onto me. they were trying to flog me broadband in an area where the exchange wasnt even upgraded

Great so now not only are they offering broadband in areas that are DSL enbled but nobody can get it, now there offering the thing to people who cant even get it in the first place

God the more i learn about Eircom the more I despair of ever getting any type of broadband whatsoever from anyone

Shin