Eircom phoned me at home to ask if I was happy with UTV!

mike65 · 08-11-2002 08:01PM #1

I was'nt in but not satisfied with sending me a letter now errorcon
are now harrasing me by phone, was I happy with the UTV serivce etc, I got all this second-hand but I can belive they had the cheek!
Pity I was'nt there to tell em I'd be back if they got thier act together! Okay thats proberly a lie.

Anyone else had such a call?

Mike.

De Rebel · 08-11-2002 08:09PM

Sounds like something that would be worth chatting over with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner if its true.

molinaalexis · 08-11-2002 08:24PM

They call me too, asking me for the cause of the change, if it was customer services or prices, to which I replied BOTH.

When I was geting ready to have a go at them, they hung up

COWARDS THEY ARE.... !!!!:D

Dustaz · 08-11-2002 08:28PM

They did this to the people that swopped to ntl and esat also. Is it in a legal grey area?

sceptre · 08-11-2002 08:48PM

Someone (I assume it was Muck) explained here a while back that they're now only allowed to send a letter to stop the hard sales tactics to get customers back (can't find the thread).

Presumably they could do a BT-style "never been a better time to come back - hey, we're great value" advert but sirens would go off in the ASAI if they did.

flamegrill · 08-11-2002 10:29PM

Originally posted by Dustaz
They did this to the people that swopped to ntl and esat also. Is it in a legal grey area?

Ok, I'm no fan of eircom. But tis is a sales pitch and perfectly legal.
Think if you owned your own company, what do you do to get business? you call people and ask them are they happy with what they have. its simple like, but you cant flog them for it. true they are a bit disgruntaled about lots of people moving over. but fúck it like. no one is going to change back in a hurry

P.

spongebob · 08-11-2002 11:48PM

Originally posted by sceptre
Someone (I assume it was Muck) explained here a while back that they're now only allowed to send a letter to stop the hard sales tactics to get customers back (can't find the thread).

Presumably they could do a BT-style "never been a better time to come back - hey, we're great value" advert but sirens would go off in the ASAI if they did.

I think MDR corrected me , he'll show up.

ISTR they can lobby residential but not business users to win them back.

Their method for winning back customers blew up in their face in the past few weeks when the ODTR found their unpublished 'discount' schemes to be anti-competitive. Had they published them then the ASAI would have had a rollover wednesday no doubt.

M

PiE · 08-11-2002 11:53PM

Bah, why don't they ever ring me?

El_MUERkO · 09-11-2002 12:41AM

Wait till diffrent companies can rent you the line, you'll be rang weekly by diffrent companies who'll wan your business. My aunt in america gets rang often by diffrent companies.

sceptre · 09-11-2002 01:00AM

Originally posted by El_MUERkO
Wait till diffrent companies can rent you the line, you'll be rang weekly by diffrent companies who'll wan your business. My aunt in america gets rang often by diffrent companies.

That's why I keep a whistle that does 95dB next to the phone:D Bank of Ireland will never ring me again after last time.

There's always the Jerry Seinfeld solution

daveirl · 09-11-2002 01:57AM

This post has been deleted.

De Rebel · 09-11-2002 02:34AM

Originally posted by flamegrill
Ok, I'm no fan of eircom. But tis is a sales pitch and perfectly legal.
Think if you owned your own company, what do you do to get business? you call people and ask them are they happy with what they have. its simple like, but you cant flog them for it. true they are a bit disgruntaled about lots of people moving over. but fúck it like. no one is going to change back in a hurry

P.

Under the terms of the data protection act they are allowed to retain personal data and use it for the purpose for which it was obtained. If the rat is using account management data (name, address and the fact that you requested CPS) as the basis for a marketing campaign then I would suggest that there is a reasonable chance that he is out of order. Eircom are also in a nasty position because they never gave older account holders the opportunity to opt out of their marketing campaigns.

mmmchips · 09-11-2002 03:24PM

Rang me aswell, asked was I happy with UTV, said I was very happy, mentioned there new reduced rates and could he send details of it to me, told him not to bother unless eircom introduce a flate rate Internet product as I was saving € 40 a month with utv, and no small reduction in there calls would save me that amount.

b20uvkft6m5xwg · 09-11-2002 03:43PM

Originally posted by sceptre
There's always the Jerry Seinfeld solution

Here's a snippet of something I posted on the Official Seinfeld Sony Forum a few months back. The link to the news item itself is now dead

Jerry Seinfeld...Comic Genius...Legal Reformer

--

The Ohio State Supreme Court referred to Jerry's reaction to the New York Times Subscription service as a part of the prosectutions case as they sought to ammend the Federal Rules regarding the circumstances where comapnies call indivduals at home out of the blue.

quote:

The written ruling went on to describe a scene from the sitcom "Seinfeld" in which the lead character asks a telemarketing rep for a home phone number so he can call back later.

--
I'm not exactly certain of the legal situation on "Cold Calling" but as the above states its now illegal in the US. I'll endevaour to find out though

OHP · 09-11-2002 05:52PM

When they rang me I just asked them:

Q. Which would you prefer €200 internet phone bill (pm) or €30?

A. Ermm

Silly girl still asked me was I happy :rolleyes:

OHP

ozt9vdujny3srf · 09-11-2002 07:44PM

I personally would love to go back to eircom if they offered a competitive flat rate internet package or offerd adsl for about 50 euros a month with no d/l cap

ok eircom?

They also never rang me to ask if i was happy with THEIR services, maybe they were just afraid of the answer they'd get

pork99 · 10-11-2002 11:59AM

Silly girl still asked me was I happy

we all know Eircon is carrying a lot of "deadwood" but thats ridiculous

morgana · 10-11-2002 03:49PM

Yeah they caught me at home too. Again, the girl asked whether I was happy with my new provider and she supposed I would want to give them a few months to see how and if it worked out. I just managed to say I would not even consider Eircon before they had a full flat rate on offer before she hung up. So much for manners. I remained polite all through. After all, the poor sods in the call centre probaliy wish they were working somewhere else.

10-11-2002 04:14PM

Originally posted by OHP

Silly girl still asked me was I happy :rolleyes:

Now, I don't know if any of you are but don't give grief to the people who call you. They're just doing their job, like you or me or anyone.

So, be polite & give proper feedback.

- Kevin

Gordon · 10-11-2002 05:23PM

Sounds like many Eircom representatives are hanging up on people, this true?

Dustaz · 10-11-2002 05:27PM

Its not really anything new. Ive lost count the amount of times ive been hung up on or transferred to nothingness in the persuit of answers at eircon.

daveirl · 10-11-2002 06:44PM

This post has been deleted.

gandalf · 10-11-2002 07:37PM

Originally posted by OHP

Silly girl still asked me was I happy :rolleyes:

Tbh OHP that actually sounds like it was a worker in a call centre contracted by Eircom to follow a script asking you a set number of questions.

Do you actually believe that Eircom employees would actually work after 5.30pm (we could argue do you actually believe Eircom employees work

) and that Eircom would pay them overtime rates to do this kind of work if they did.

There is no point in giving these call centre staff a earfull as they probably don't even work for Eircom. Just be polite and answer their questions or tell them that you would prefer not to.

One thing that has entered my mind here reading all this is what details are Eircom allowed to keep and use ? Can I fire in a Freedom of Information request to Eircom on what information they hold about my account and in general about me ?

Gandalf.

morges · 10-11-2002 08:09PM

Originally posted by gandalf

One thing that has entered my mind here reading all this is what details are Eircom allowed to keep and use ? Can I fire in a Freedom of Information request to Eircom on what information they hold about my account and in general about me ?

Gandalf.

Hard to believe I know but eircon are no longer a state body so no freedom of information act rights.

As a data subject you have a general right to see what data any company keeps in their files about you.

www.dataprivacy.ie

http://www.dataprivacy.ie/3o.htm

morges

10-11-2002 08:15PM

Originally posted by daveirl
Please tell me you're winding me up. Eircom phone people up at home and you want them to give proper feedback. Why should they. They have no obligation whatsoever to do this.

Anyway replying that you are happy with UTV is polite feedback!

Yes, eircom phone people up at home. The call centre person is just doing their job. Giving out to them will solve nothign except making them have a bad day and you getting some false sense of doing something.

Yes, telling them that kind of thing is exactly what I mean. I'm just saying that shouting at some call centre worker will solve nothing, and so you shouldn't do it.

- Kevin

spongebob · 10-11-2002 08:31PM

ISTR that if the call is made by a third party under contract to Eircom then they have to identify themselves on the lines of

Hi, I'm Biddy calling from Fluff Marketing on behalf of Eircom

and NOT not

Hi , I'm Biddy from Eircom.

The €ircon database may have been released to the third party to make the call. There is an Irish Telemarketing code of practice Here (small pdf) and a little extra Here (not that it matters to some telemarketing vermin) that says they must clearly identify themselves. The words 'disclosure' and 'honesty' are mentioned.....yes we are talking about €ircon, I know. The €ircon direct marketing rep on the Direct Marketing association is

lorourke@eircom.ie
Tel: 01 7012207
Lisa 0'Rourke
Eircom
5B Cumberland House
Fenian Street
Dublin 2

Contact her to find out who is making the calls, she is responsible for Direct Marketing and membership of the IDMA which include the code of practice €ircon signed up to ...whoever makes the call.

I had a call from Pembroke (something) recently on behalf of O2. They explained to me that O2 had handed over some of my details for a survey and the reason became clear about 2 sconds later. I had no problem answering her questions coz she was upfront.

Get their supervisors number first, ring them to confirm the details they gave....especially that they ARE Eircom and not a telemarketer. Then answer their questions if so inclined. If a telemarketer find out what you can!

M

morges · 10-11-2002 08:39PM

Originally posted by Muck
ISTR that if the call is made bt a third party under contract to Eircom then they have to identify themselves on the lines of

Hi, I'm Biddy calling from Fluff Marketing on behalf of Eircom

and NOT not

Hi , I'm Biddy from Eircom.

The €ircon database may have been released to the third party to make the call. There is an Irish Telemarketing code of practice Here and Here (not that it matters to some telemarketing vermin) that says they must clearly identify themselves. The feckers have passworded it lest the public can see it but the words 'disclosure' and 'honesty' are mentioned.....yes we are talking about €ircon, I know. The €ircon direct marketing rep on the Direct Marketing association is

lorourke@eircom.ie
Tel: 01 7012207
Lisa 0'Rourke
Eircom
5B Cumberland House
Fenian Street
Dublin 2

Contact her to find out who is making the calls, she is responsible for Direct Marketing.

Surely they are in breach of data privacy regs if they hand over one's data to external agency without data subject's authority?

I seem to recall that Bank of Ireland was merging its customer files from several divisions and felt the need to get the customer's authority to do this. The data was not going outside BoI group.

morges

dahamsta · 10-11-2002 09:02PM

Surely they are in breach of data privacy regs if they hand over one's data to external agency without data subject's authority?

I imagine it's covered in the code of practise mentioned above. In fact, I imagine it's catered for in the Data Privacy Act, since it's such a common practise. Remember folks, gotta check (or not check) them boxes.

I seem to recall that Bank of Ireland was merging its customer files from several divisions and felt the need to get the customer's authority to do this. The data was not going outside BoI group.

Financial (and medical) data is a different kettle of fish. Oversight is probably required.

adam

morges · 10-11-2002 09:22PM

Originally posted by dahamsta
Surely they are in breach of data privacy regs if they hand over one's data to external agency without data subject's authority?

I imagine it's covered in the code of practise mentioned above. In fact, I imagine it's catered for in the Data Privacy Act, since it's such a common practise. Remember folks, gotta check (or not check) them boxes.

I seem to recall that Bank of Ireland was merging its customer files from several divisions and felt the need to get the customer's authority to do this. The data was not going outside BoI group.

Financial (and medical) data is a different kettle of fish. Oversight is probably required.

adam

Just had a look at dataprivacy.ie

Rights include a right to have your name removed from a direct marketing list

"If an organisation holds your information for the purposes of direct marketing (such as direct mailing, or telephone marketing), you have the right to have your details removed from that database. This right is useful if you are receiving unwanted "junk mail" or annoying telephone calls from salespeople. You can exercise this right simply by writing to the organisation concerned. The organisation must write back to you within 40 days confirming that they have dealt with your request.

http://www.dataprivacy.ie/2.htm#Your Rights

morges

sceptre · 11-11-2002 08:10PM

Originally posted by TruckledUncivil
ok eircom?

They also never rang me to ask if i was happy with THEIR services, maybe they were just afraid of the answer they'd get

Esat actually phoned me about 9 months ago to ask me whether I was a happy customer. Obviously I was shocked as hell - I'm not used to companies ringing me to find out if service is satisfactory (notably Eircom and Chorus never bothered). I'm not a big customer - if I manage to stay away from the Net during the day my bill is under €40 every month. It was definitely an Esat rep ringing (or someone well-primed) as when I mentioned that the only gripe I had was the 2p/min cost of calls in the evening, she mentioned the 1c per minute cost for the Net being introduced soon and that evening calls would be dropping in price as well.

byte · 11-11-2002 11:56PM

Originally posted by Gordon
Sounds like many Eircom representatives are hanging up on people, this true?

Probably coz of the call costs! They can't even afford to make fonecalls themselves!

Eircom phoned me at home to ask if I was happy with UTV!

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