Slow delivery of IOL Broadband

CubicleDweller · 2003-07-02 00:33:28

I ordered EsatBT's "IOL Broadband" product at the start of June - they called me on June 5th to agree my username and password, and said I'd have the (self-install) service within 12 working days. It's almost a month later now - I don't have the service, and it looks like it will be a while yet - they say they're still…

02-07-2003 01:33AM

#1

CubicleDweller

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I ordered EsatBT's "IOL Broadband" product at the start of June - they called me on June 5th to agree my username and password, and said I'd have the (self-install) service within 12 working days.

It's almost a month later now - I don't have the service, and it looks like it will be a while yet - they say they're still waiting on Eircom.

Is this a suitable subject for a complaint to ComReg, or is it outside their area of responsibility? I would really like to put a rocket up EsatBT about this, in a way that is more effective than just bitching at some poor telesales person on the phone.

Any ideas?

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#2 02-07-2003 02:29AM

bizmark

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i have a good idea!

read the forum called "broadband" in their are my post about iol and the problums which it seem,s are now pritty much fixed

go read "iol problum sorted (nearly)" in broadband forums k

my line is ativted SHOULD (please god) have modem tomorrow

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#3 02-07-2003 02:52AM

CubicleDweller

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Bizmark,

Thanks for that, but I think you miss my point.

I had already read the thread you refer to, and as far as I can tell, it doesn't change anything. All that seems to have happened (forgive me, if I've got this wrong) is that you've been told by Esat that your line is activated, and your modem is on its way. That's well and good, and may even be true - I hope it is. In your situation, I'd probably give them the benefit of the doubt, and wait a few more days.

The point remains - they promised to deliver something in 12 working days, and still haven't delivered it a month later. Whether they deliver it in 30 days, 32 days or 100 days is academic as far as I'm concerned.

If I thought that my case was somehow unusual, I'd be more likely to let it pass - but it seems that *nobody* has actually received the service. Even if everyone who applied gets the service in the next two days, that shouldn't be the end of the matter. Someone should investigate if EsatBT *deliberately* launched the service prematurely, making promises that they *knew* they couldn't keep, in order to grab some order before Eircom had gobbled up all the early adopters. (Note: I'm not saying that EsatBT *did* those things - just that someone should find out if they did.)

It's also possible that Eircom are deliberately doing what they can to delay EsatBT's rollout - again, that's something that should be investigated by someone.

Of course, the most likely cause of the delays is that someone just screwed up royally - "Never put down to conspiracy, that which can be explained by incompetence", or whatever the saying is.

Either way, this whole sorry mess should be looked into by someone in authority. That someone is probably ComReg, or it may be the Advertising Standards people, or someone else... I'm not sure who it is, but I'd like to make a formal complaint to the relevant people - hence this thread.

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#4 02-07-2003 03:44AM

bizmark

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true thier is no real resion why the massive delay ..... but to be honest if tomorrow my modem come,s and the service is good... i wont really care or remmeber the long time it took to ger:cool:

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#5 02-07-2003 10:37AM

MDR

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I would write a letter of complaint to COMREG, and someone at Esat BT .... er .... not sure who .... Muck ? any suggestions ...

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#6 02-07-2003 10:55AM

swoofer

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If u had oredered a washing m/c, tv, etc on 5th June u and promised 12 day delivery u would not still be waiting ie u would have cancelled and gone elsewhere but with BB you choices are limited so we can be given the runround. I would complain politely to their customer care ie the MD and ask for proof that EIRCON are holding things up eg copies of the requestes to EIRCON and then with their reply u can go to COMREG, the least u should get is one month free.

I must admit I am holding back until things are sorted.

Good luck.

GB---

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#7 02-07-2003 11:07AM

flav0rflav

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How about an email/call to "The Last Word" as sponsored by IOL Broadband.

I'm not sure it's something Comreg can deal with, they certainly would get involved if it was eircom holding up the show. But if that was the case EsatBT would already be all over them. The fact that Netsource can do an install in under 10 days would suggest to me an internal matter with EsatBT.

Publicity may be the only option. As suggested, the radio or perhaps the minister for Comms.

[edit]
As highlighted in a parallel thread, TD Tommy Broughan, might be a person to email, as he has already accused eircom of stalling.

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#8 02-07-2003 11:34AM

spongebob

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Originally posted by MDR
I would write a letter of complaint to COMREG, and someone at Esat BT .... er .... not sure who .... Muck ? any suggestions ...

Its IOL for Gods sake, what is the point of complaining.

They lied.....again.

Complain to bill.murphy@esat.com he is ultimately responsible

cc that to una.mcgirr@esat.com

Una announced that the product would be available (as in switched on ) in May , it is now July and nobody on Boards has it. Nor have Esat apologised to anyone ....say by issuing a press release.

cc that to angela.keegan@esat.com

The customer care manager (I won't say anything bitchy as there are no customers as I post this)

M

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#9 02-07-2003 11:40AM

Dustaz

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Originally posted by CubicleDweller
Someone should investigate if EsatBT *deliberately* launched the service prematurely, making promises that they *knew* they couldn't keep, in order to grab some order before Eircom had gobbled up all the early adopters. (Note: I'm not saying that EsatBT *did* those things - just that someone should find out if they did.).
*snip*

Of course, the most likely cause of the delays is that someone just screwed up royally - "Never put down to conspiracy, that which can be explained by incompetence", or whatever the saying is.

I think youve hit the nail on the head there.

Reading current threads here and on the bb forum and looking at esats past behaviour, i don't think that theres any doubt that they deliberatly advertised a product that they were not ready to release.

Netsource are re-selling the same service and have connected many customers, Esat have not. For a change i think eircom are probably not to blame on this one.

It will be interesting to see if they manage to hook anyone up to their FRIACO service considering UTV seem to be on the go already.

Something about lepoards and spots.(i can SENSE adam circling in the water....)

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#10 02-07-2003 12:03PM

spongebob

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They did it the first time they launched Residential DSL in October 2002. First customers to be switched on by Christmas 2002....anyone remember.

I felt compelled to post this Thread Here about the unavailability of the product in early March. It was then discovered that they had connected about 2 people a WEEK to the product between Christmas and February.

By April ...they were at it agin, vapour selling.

M

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#11 02-07-2003 12:18PM

LFCFan

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would UTV Clicksilver not be available in the same areas as IOL Broadband? If it is then I wouldn't even think twice about cancelling my order with ESAT and going with UTV.

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#12 02-07-2003 02:36PM

flav0rflav

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Originally posted by LFCFan
would UTV Clicksilver not be available in the same areas as IOL Broadband? If it is then I wouldn't even think twice about cancelling my order with ESAT and going with UTV.

It should indeed be available in the same locations, which are eircom DSLAM exchanges.

As a consumer in a competitve market you may choose from eircom, IOL, Netsource and UTV.

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#13 02-07-2003 02:43PM

LFCFan

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Originally posted by flav0rflav
It should indeed be available in the same locations, which are eircom DSLAM exchanges.

As a consumer in a competitve market you may choose from eircom, IOL, Netsource and UTV.

I don't understand why people who are regulars in here would choose either €ircon or €shat when they know how useless they are when there's 2 other companies that can offer the same service.

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#14 02-07-2003 03:52PM

CubicleDweller

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Thanks for all the replies, folks.

The reason I chose EsatBT is quite simple: at the time that I made the decision (last week in May, or thereabouts) I believe they were the only provider other than Eircom who claimed that their RADSL service was "available" - i.e., they were accepting orders. (I may have been wrong about that - I find it hard to keep up with what all the smaller providers are doing. UTVip hadn't even announced their plans, though, I'm pretty sure.)

Muck, thanks for the various Esat email addresses. At the moment, it looks like I might just get the service in a few more days, so I think I'll wait a while longer before going on the offensive. But I don't intend to let the matter drop, even if I'm connected soon.

If Esat haven't sorted out my connection inside a week, I'll almost certainly cancel and look elsewhere. Does anyone know of a webpage (or thread) that offers a concise comparison of the various RADSL providers?

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#15 02-07-2003 04:06PM

Tellox

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Cubical, it took me 6+ months to get DSL off IOL,and the only reason I got it is because Muck gave me Una McGirr's email addy, and I made her aware of what I was going through,and how I'd be swiftly cancelling my order if I dont have dsl by the end of the week.

Engineer came out the next morning.

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#16 02-07-2003 04:19PM

CubicleDweller

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Thanks, Tellox - your experience makes a compelling argument in favour of going on the offsensive.

Maybe I need to send an email after all...

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#17 02-07-2003 04:50PM

spongebob

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Esat announced this product on the 10th of APRIL 2003

See the Press Release Here , see their general press release page Here and if you click on the Media Contacts link on the left of the latter link you will get Una's address in there.

Una, in fairness to her, does seem to get more things done than some of the dedicated customer care persons. The customer care department were described most aptly in This post earlier by Ancient1. I woulda been proud of it

M

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#18 02-07-2003 05:01PM

CubicleDweller

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Just now, I was busily composing an email to the aforementioned Una, when I decided to call the customer care number one more time, as I hadn't spoken to them in two days and wanted the information in the email to be completely up-to-date. (Either that, or I'm a masochist and just don't realise it...)

Lo and behold, they told me that they got a reply from Eircom today, and my line has been activated! The modem has been dispatched, and I should have it in "a couple of days". She told me the modems are sent "in the post", not by courier. I guess that means An Post's parcel service - SDS, I think they're called. Hopefully the good folks in An Post are not in league with their former Posts and Telegraphs colleagues in Eircom, and the modem will arrive promptly.

Of course, I saved the half-written email. I intend to update it and send it in a couple of days, modem or no modem. Will keep you posted...

By the way, the timing of my original order was triggered by EsatBT's announcement of a self-install option, which reduced the installation fee considerably. That happened late in May, I think - for what it's worth.

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#19 02-07-2003 05:49PM

flav0rflav

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I'm concerned about the state of our postal system at the mo.

I fear it may be clogged with IOLEsatBT modems.

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#20 02-07-2003 07:12PM

Synkronite

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I recieved my modem today- however [as on the thread in the bb forum] Esat says that none of the username/passwords are working, and wont until tomorrow morning - Everything's set up for me right now, I try to connect and it goes onto Verifying Username/Password and then tells me it's invalid.. Oh well, they told me it might start working tonight.. But Im going out, so here's to broadband tomorrow morning when I wake up

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#21 02-07-2003 07:24PM

LFCFan

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Originally posted by Synkronite
I recieved my modem today- however [as on the thread in the bb forum] Esat says that none of the username/passwords are working, and wont until tomorrow morning - Everything's set up for me right now, I try to connect and it goes onto Verifying Username/Password and then tells me it's invalid.. Oh well, they told me it might start working tonight.. But Im going out, so here's to broadband tomorrow morning when I wake up

It'll be like waking up on Christmas morning all over again!

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#22 02-07-2003 10:15PM

Xian

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Originally posted by Dustaz
(i can SENSE adam circling in the water....)

If this is vapour (and by vapour I mean not only not having a service to offer but also serving a trickle of customers who make enough noise) then they've lost all LA privileges as far as I'm concerned.

Send in the sharks.

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#23 02-07-2003 10:21PM

eth0_

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Originally posted by Synkronite
I recieved my modem today- however [as on the thread in the bb forum] Esat says that none of the username/passwords are working, and wont until tomorrow morning - Everything's set up for me right now, I try to connect and it goes onto Verifying Username/Password and then tells me it's invalid..

even if you put @iolbb after your username?

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#24 02-07-2003 11:36PM

bizmark

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yep as i explaned in my other posts you have to put @iolbb after the username

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