Eir Customer Service

The Continental Op · 11-11-2020 11:13am

Called Eir yesterday (1901) over 3 minutes of automated messages before I could even get to the option I wanted.

I was then told that I was in a 20 minute long call queue yet the call was answered about 10 seconds later.

You might just get the impression that they would do anything they can not to speak to you.

Acosta · 11-11-2020 11:19am

A year after I switched providers and cancelled my account(they even phoned to acknowledge I switched) they are still trying to charge me and send me bills. The worst company I've ever delt with. And I've never come across so many staff working for the same company who clearly don't give a flying fcuk about whatever it is they're meant to be doing.

SeeMoreBut · 11-11-2020 11:59am

As soon as you account is cancelled you can't get by prompt for phone or account number to question anything.

They charge you a full bill cycle even if account will cancel 1 day into next cycle as only runs once a month.

Sheep Shagger · 12-11-2020 4:29pm

What most people know about eir....really frustrating the regulator has no teeth.

Eir’s two-fingers on customer service (via @IrishTimes) https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/eir-s-two-fingers-on-customer-service-1.4406562

Quazzie · 23-11-2020 12:04pm

I left EIR about 9 months ago, and as usual they took the last month as normal. For months I was getting an email stating my account had a balance of -45.16. So I had 45.16 credit.

Then last month, the usual email came in showing a balance of 0.00. I couldn't get through to customer service (does this exist anymore?) and found a place on their website to reclaim old credit. I filled that out, and they came back saying I wasn't owed anything.

Is it worth going through COMREG to get my money back since there is no way to get in touch with EIR direct?

mickey_dodger · 23-11-2020 1:15pm

Quazzie wrote: »

I left EIR about 9 months ago, and as usual they took the last month as normal. For months I was getting an email stating my account had a balance of -45.16. So I had 45.16 credit.

Then last month, the usual email came in showing a balance of 0.00. I couldn't get through to customer service (does this exist anymore?) and found a place on their website to reclaim old credit. I filled that out, and they came back saying I wasn't owed anything.

Is it worth going through COMREG to get my money back since there is no way to get in touch with EIR direct?

Hi.. I have used Comreg in the past to force Eir to refund illegal charges they had made, which were for broadband usage beyond their 1TB cap (they had failed to remove from this cap from my account, which the were contractually obliged to do, just usual Eir incompetence). It took a bit of time and effort, I would say worth it for €46.15 and more than well worth it for the satisfaction. In addition, the more people who complain legitimately to Comreg (all complaints are logged and each one adds to the statistics), the harder it is for Eir to dodge the conclusion that their treatment of customers is.... (...words fail me...)

mickey_dodger · 23-11-2020 1:19pm

Quazzie wrote: »

I left EIR about 9 months ago, and as usual they took the last month as normal. For months I was getting an email stating my account had a balance of -45.16. So I had 45.16 credit.

Then last month, the usual email came in showing a balance of 0.00. I couldn't get through to customer service (does this exist anymore?) and found a place on their website to reclaim old credit. I filled that out, and they came back saying I wasn't owed anything.

Is it worth going through COMREG to get my money back since there is no way to get in touch with EIR direct?

Hi... forgot to say, first you have to complain to Eir, there is a place on their "support" website where you can enter a complaint and wait for some period of time for Eir not to respond (rather than wasting your time on the phone), then you can go to Comreg. However, they will then escalate your complaint to Eir and have to give them a period of time to respond to you.. so it can all take a l fair amount of time (weeks) but in the end I believe you should be successful...

Degag · 25-11-2020 12:09am

Carolann Lennon on Prime Time earlier regarding Eir's substandard service. As you'd expect really, admitted huge failures but blamed Covid for the most part.

B_ecke_r · 25-11-2020 1:50am

Still blaming HCL after 2 years. Absolute disgrace of a ceo. I worked in hcl and we had our faults for a number of different reasons but it was nowhere near as bad as it is now. Carolan is walking a slippery slope is looks like. Looks like a football manager who's just been given the vote of confidence

Also said Sligo call center is only a year old when it's two

mickey_dodger · 25-11-2020 12:54pm

Degag wrote: »

Carolann Lennon on Prime Time earlier regarding Eir's substandard service. As you'd expect really, admitted huge failures but blamed Covid for the most part.

What stood out most for me was the comparison of Comreg complaints in the July to September period this year; well over 1,000 for Eir whereas Vodafone had about 10% of that number and the other providers with very few. Eir will try to say that they have more customers, but as of September 2019, Vodafone has 26% of broadband subscribers (including 40% of fiber to the premises subscribers), and 43% of mobile phone subscribers and yet 1/10th of the complaints that Eir has.
This all goes to show how important it is to actually make a complaint to Comreg, rather than just complaining in the forums. Every complaint to Comreg counts and adds to the statistics to show unequivocally that Eir's service is really as bad as people say it is and the result is that their CEO has to appear on national TV to try and explain. That's the only way to get real change.

Robxxx7 · 25-11-2020 1:00pm

mickey_dodger wrote: »

Hi.. I have used Comreg in the past to force Eir to refund illegal charges they had made, which were for broadband usage beyond their 1TB cap (they had failed to remove from this cap from my account, which the were contractually obliged to do, just usual Eir incompetence). It took a bit of time and effort, I would say worth it for €46.15 and more than well worth it for the satisfaction. In addition, the more people who complain legitimately to Comreg (all complaints are logged and each one adds to the statistics), the harder it is for Eir to dodge the conclusion that their treatment of customers is.... (...words fail me...)

Have had exactly the same issue, and is hopefully corrected now (taken about 4 months) -- but kept onto Eir, Comreg daily to keep pushing them to resolve .. both are entirely shocking organisations -- Eir need to be fined in the millions for their lack of customer care (only way to hit them is in the pocket) and Comreg need to do alot more to protect the customers .. Poor customer service from Eir has been going on for years now

HBC08 · 25-11-2020 1:02pm

I also thought she didnt come across well on Primetime.
Despite the presenter giving her an easy enough time she appeared annoyed that she had to explain herself and overly combative for somebody supposed to be offering an apology.

Degag · 25-11-2020 1:37pm

Robxxx7 wrote: »

Have had exactly the same issue, and is hopefully corrected now (taken about 4 months) -- but kept onto Eir, Comreg daily to keep pushing them to resolve .. both are entirely shocking organisations -- Eir need to be fined in the millions for their lack of customer care (only way to hit them is in the pocket) and Comreg need to do alot more to protect the customers .. Poor customer service from Eir has been going on for years now

Agree regarding Comreg. Once they had alerted eir to my complaint they didn’t want to engage with me anymore and just tried to fob me off even though i still had some grievances left with eir. Wasn’t happy with them at all but at least it did force eir to deal with me

I am guessing they are overwhelmed with the influx of complaints.

Degag · 25-11-2020 1:39pm

HBC08 wrote: »

I also thought she didnt come across well on Primetime.
Despite the presenter giving her an easy enough time she appeared annoyed that she had to explain herself and overly combative for somebody supposed to be offering an apology.

I thought she came across well enough. Yes there was a slight air of annoyance/combativeness but as CEO she still needs to defend her company and to be fair she unequivocally held her hands up that there were serious issues.

khalessi · 25-11-2020 1:42pm

Degag wrote: »

Carolann Lennon on Prime Time earlier regarding Eir's substandard service. As you'd expect really, admitted huge failures but blamed Covid for the most part.

Blamed Covid :pac::pac::pac:
I had two and half years of trying to get them to fix my phone line which would not work and broadband ****ty, all while I paid for the service. At one stage they suggested I upgrade to the fibre thingy which I pointed Out had been done 18 months earlier.

Trying to cancel was a nightmare too and that was all about 2 years before covid. They are rubbish to deal with.

HBC08 · 25-11-2020 1:46pm

Degag wrote: »

I thought she came across well enough. Yes there was a slight air of annoyance/combativeness but as CEO she still needs to defend her company and to be fair she unequivocally held her hands up that there were serious issues.

Can't agree with that.
She was also badly caught out on the call times,Primetime had tried to call and it took 40 something mins,she defended this by saying that was because they called on a Monday? The presenter should have said "We'll try every day of the week and get you a real average"

whiterebel · 25-11-2020 1:49pm

Degag wrote: »

I thought she came across well enough. Yes there was a slight air of annoyance/combativeness but as CEO she still needs to defend her company and to be fair she unequivocally held her hands up that there were serious issues.

I don't know how she could try and defend that shambles. Once a problem starts with billing in that company it becomes a major issue. Or try to leave. Blaming Covid is a cop out - these issues go back years. Firing people in shops, and replacing them with people who had to go through all the training again.
I had one guy almost ready for a fight as I stepped up to the counter. I gave him my best glare, and told him quietly that if he was going to be like that, be prepared to irritate customers even more. As tensions eased, I suggested he should find another line of work.....he almost broke down in tears, and said he was going to work unpaid for a charity as he couldn't put up with Eir any more.
They treated the call centres abysmally, got rid of social media including Boards. And they insist on people holding on for hours when they try to leave.

If there was even an example of how to run a company badly, Eir is it.

Dempo1 · 25-11-2020 1:56pm

Degag wrote: »

Carolann Lennon on Prime Time earlier regarding Eir's substandard service. As you'd expect really, admitted huge failures but blamed Covid for the most part.

Absolutely outrageous she was permitted to get away with blaming the pandemic, Eir Customer service has been a shambles ever since it was taken over by the French chap, it's basically his business model. It was very very telling Prime time were reluctant to push the issue, particularly anything pandemic related, may have something today with that recent Photo opportunity, Miriam looked sheepish from the outset

crazy 88 · 25-11-2020 2:13pm

I do feel a bit sorry for IT/support in these companies. I imagine the general theme of meetings might go like this:

Sales - "We're aiming for 1 million more customers"
IT - "We can only manage half that"
Sales - "We're doing it anyway"
IT - "Can we have some money to improve?"
CEO - "No"
Marketing - "Can we get more money?"
CEO - "Sure. How much do you want?"

Degag · 25-11-2020 4:00pm

HBC08 wrote: »

Can't agree with that.
She was also badly caught out on the call times,Primetime had tried to call and it took 40 something mins,she defended this by saying that was because they called on a Monday? The presenter should have said "We'll try every day of the week and get you a real average"

Every call centre has spikes. If there are an influx of calls at a certain period and not enough bodies able to answer them at that time then waiting times will increase. What she said was that on average wait times across a week were (i think) 6 mins.

Mondays in general in call centres can be the busiest day but there can be alot of factors.

The Continental Op · 25-11-2020 4:30pm

Degag wrote: »

Every call centre has spikes. If there are an influx of calls at a certain period and not enough bodies able to answer them at that time then waiting times will increase. What she said was that on average wait times across a week were (i think) 6 mins.

Mondays in general in call centres can be the busiest day but there can be alot of factors.

Not every call center has at least 3 minutes of preamble just to get to the department you need and then tells you that there is a massive queue even when they aren't busy.

Degag · 25-11-2020 4:59pm

The Continental Op wrote: »

Not every call center has at least 3 minutes of preamble just to get to the department you need and then tells you that there is a massive queue even when they aren't busy.

Yeah their IVR messaging is uber annoying for sure

HBC08 · 25-11-2020 5:02pm

Degag wrote: »

Every call centre has spikes. If there are an influx of calls at a certain period and not enough bodies able to answer them at that time then waiting times will increase. What she said was that on average wait times across a week were (i think) 6 mins.

Mondays in general in call centres can be the busiest day but there can be alot of factors.

I simply don't believe her when she says the average wait time was 6 or 10 mins or whatever she said,it doesn't tally with any reality of anybody I know trying to contact Eir.
When challenged she was a bit flustered and said it's busier on Mondays.Id wager you could call any day of the week and it would be the same.
This isn't a normal spike in calls in a call centre,that happens all the time but you don't see it so consistently shambolic that the CEO has to go on Primetime to apologise and then go in front of an Oireachtas committee the next day.

Degag · 25-11-2020 5:14pm

HBC08 wrote: »

I simply don't believe her when she says the average wait time was 6 or 10 mins or whatever she said,it doesn't tally with any reality of anybody I know trying to contact Eir.
When challenged she was a bit flustered and said it's busier on Mondays.Id wager you could call any day of the week and it would be the same.
This isn't a normal spike in calls in a call centre,that happens all the time but you don't see it so consistently shambolic that the CEO has to go on Primetime to apologise and then go in front of an Oireachtas committee the next day.

For sure. I’m not sure i believe her either because it doesn’t tally with my experiences similar to the people you know.

All i was saying is that it was a reasonable assertion that someone could be waiting for 30-40 mins at certain periods of a day/week and for the average to be considerably lower.

FGR · 25-11-2020 5:16pm

As mentioned earlier in the thread there should be a provision that if the option to sign up online is available then the company must be mandated to have Customer Support and options to Cancel online as well. Perhaps even go so far as to ensure that CS agents call centres and webchat locations are in regions where English is the primary language.

In college I worked for a now dead multinational ISP and as CS agents we were told under no circumstances to 'escalate' a call - this was in addition to the fact that we had no authority to cancel, refund, amend contracts or even provide credit to people who were genuinely hard done by.

What was the solution? In order to keep your average call time down people had to hang up on those who they knew they couldn't help. I refused to do it and of course got warned on four occasions about my calls being far too long and for me 'pestering' the team leaders.

I left after three months - what a horrible place. Made me appreciate my new number though.

When I had to phone Eir about mess ups with my contract I made sure to let the person know on the other end that I know it's not their fault, as I've been there, and I know there's not much they themselves can do. Fortunately they resolved the problems I had with my BB - but I ensured that comreg were told that I have a problem with the running of the service provider and not the staff who are on such poor salaries as it is.

Moral of the story? Like everything most companies don't care about customer support - it only stands out in particular with service providers. Would people pay €5 per month more to be able to talk to a human who can fix the problem quickly and without difficulty? I don't know..

Muahahaha · 25-11-2020 5:31pm

HBC08 wrote: »

I also thought she didnt come across well on Primetime.
Despite the presenter giving her an easy enough time she appeared annoyed that she had to explain herself and overly combative for somebody supposed to be offering an apology.

I thought she had a car crash last night on Prime Time, she seemed to be blaming Covid and Sligo for not having staff with experience in call centres which is a load of rubbish when training periods are just a few weeks. Theres a TD on Newstalk now calling for her to apologise to the staff in Sligo for what she said. She also didnt come across very CEO-like, moreso a middle manager who has been promoted too high.

In any case the main problem hasnt really been addressed. Aside from the 40 minute to 1 hour waits to get through when you do eventually get through often your problem is not resolved. So if its something like you being overcharged on your bill the CS agent might tell you that it is going to be resolved and your account credited but then a few weeks later you find out that it hasnt happened and round you go again on hold for another hour to get through. Or if you try to close your account you get told it is done and then the next month another bill lands in your postbox. They just cant seem to do anything right, its amazing that they are still the biggest operator.

JTMan · 25-11-2020 5:49pm

I find it unbelievable that the Eir CEO said that they could not hire during the lockdown. WTF? I hired multiple staff during the lockdown. It can be done. Sure hiring people virtually has it's challenges but it is not a showstopper. It is unbelievable that the CEO of Ireland biggest communication company thinks that you can't hire virtually.

Hurrache · 25-11-2020 5:53pm

Degag wrote: »

Every call centre has spikes. If there are an influx of calls at a certain period and not enough bodies able to answer them at that time then waiting times will increase. What she said was that on average wait times across a week were (i think) 6 mins.

Mondays in general in call centres can be the busiest day but there can be alot of factors.

I have a diary, started in the summer, with all the calls I've made and waiting time. 6 minutes average is untrue.

heroics · 25-11-2020 6:09pm

JTMan wrote: »

I find it unbelievable that the Eir CEO said that they could not hire during the lockdown. WTF? I hired multiple staff during the lockdown. It can be done. Sure hiring people virtually has it's challenges but it is not a showstopper. It is unbelievable that the CEO of Ireland biggest communication company thinks that you can't hire virtually.

This is what I couldn’t understand as well. We successfully recruited and trained technical service desk agents during the last 6months. Just took a little bit of process change.

Degag · 25-11-2020 6:42pm

Hurrache wrote: »

I have a diary, started in the summer, with all the calls I've made and waiting time. 6 minutes average is untrue.

She said in the last week i believe.

Dempo1 · 25-11-2020 6:46pm

Jesus wept, just saw this companies CEO at a Dail committee hearing, She's some piece of work, I'll refrain from what I really thought of her other than saying it was a disgusting display of arrogance. It's the staff in Sligo, it's their fault, just extraordinary, how is it remotely possible this T***** got this job, just mind boggling.

MOH · 25-11-2020 7:10pm

So Covid and Sligo are to blame for their atrocious customer service for at least 15 years? Some neck.

Dempo1 · 25-11-2020 7:14pm

MOH wrote: »

So Covid and Sligo are to blame for their atrocious customer service for at least 15 years? Some neck.

Brass neck more like

java · 25-11-2020 7:38pm

You'd swear eir is the only company in Ireland that had to move their customer care agents to working from home over night. How did every other telco do it without such a disaster?

Typical excuses from eir and blaming on the ground staff. Yes, Care Centres generally have a high turnover in staff, but the eir loss of staff is excessive and thats down to poor management. As it always has been. A car crash Prime Time interview and an even worse Oireachtas appearance.

Frankie19 · 25-11-2020 7:57pm

Its no coincidence they were overtaken by a new company 2 years ago and that's when they decided to bring customer care in house. Its no more what she said last night in that they wanted to manage it themselves better.....it was a cost saving measure by the new owners njj. They are notorious for cost cutting and running a lean business. Id say Carolan has no control due to lack of budgets and resource to run Eir effectively as ultimately NJJ are just in it for the short term. They have come in ...cut the high costs such as staff and rents to make a quick profit and then put them back up for sale.

FGR · 25-11-2020 8:31pm

Frankie19 wrote: »

Its no coincidence they were overtaken by a new company 2 years ago and that's when they decided to bring customer care in house. Its no more what she said last night in that they wanted to manage it themselves better.....it was a cost saving measure by the new owners njj. They are notorious for cost cutting and running a lean business. Id say Carolan has no control due to lack of budgets and resource to run Eir effectively as ultimately NJJ are just in it for the short term. They have come in ...cut the high costs such as staff and rents to make a quick profit and then put them back up for sale.

I wonder how little of the original Telecom Eireann is left as regards assets/capability?

How the state made such a monumental mistake selling the actual telephone network has lead us to this point. National Broadband Plan probably wouldn't cost as much either because of this.

Here's hoping there's a positive result for people out of this controversy.

Plumbthedepths · 25-11-2020 8:34pm

Eir is worse than Sky to deal with and that takes effort.
Took me over a week but despite the lies and dropped calls I managed to end my contract.

Frankie19 · 25-11-2020 9:10pm

FGR wrote: »

I wonder how little of the original Telecom Eireann is left as regards assets/capability?

How the state made such a monumental mistake selling the actual telephone network has lead us to this point. National Broadband Plan probably wouldn't cost as much either because of this.

Here's hoping there's a positive result for people out of this controversy.

I'm hoping the end result is that Comreg are finally given the proper powers to end this type of behaviour seen in the industry

whiterebel · 25-11-2020 11:44pm

I think she meant to say that 6 minutes was the average time before the agent hung up.

B_ecke_r · 26-11-2020 2:42am

The call center has been open two years in Sligo. The fact that Carolan thinks it's 1 is very worrying.

fritzelly · 26-11-2020 4:07am

B_ecke_r wrote: »

Still blaming HCL after 2 years. Absolute disgrace of a ceo. I worked in hcl and we had our faults for a number of different reasons but it was nowhere near as bad as it is now. Carolan is walking a slippery slope is looks like. Looks like a football manager who's just been given the vote of confidence

Also said Sligo call center is only a year old when it's two

Same here! And didn't she say no on in Sligo has experience of working in call centers so they are basically useless? Do you not train them. Car crash interview

Was actually on to Eir a few weeks ago after they started charging my friend between 4-6 euro a day for data charges all of a sudden - some 60 euro of credit gone and as soon as he topped up was taken again.
A week of calls over an hour each time, sometimes twice a day, resolved nothing - moved him to Tesco

The software they use (assume they are still using) was a hacked version of software for a different system to that in Ireland. They paid a fortune for it and are still paying a fortune and while in the most part it works ok it has a lot of bugs and barriers to doing stuff like queuing up multiple actions.

Muahahaha · 26-11-2020 8:17am

Frankie19 wrote: »

I'm hoping the end result is that Comreg are finally given the proper powers to end this type of behaviour seen in the industry

Hopefully so, Comreg are basically a regulator without teeth. They need the power to fine companies for under performance, something that would bring results when they are hit in the pockets. As it stands Comreg are little more than an extention of Eirs call centres, you cant get through to Eir so you complain to Comreg who then get through to them on your behalf.

keenanem · 26-11-2020 11:00am

Eir's direction was the blame quality of contact centre staff and covid. Covid and contact centre staff did not cause the underlying issues with people being over charged or for line faults.
The problems start deep within the company and how they actually service their customers.
Stop blaming contact centre staff as it's such an easy way out when they have no power in changing any processes or policies.

corks finest · 26-11-2020 8:04pm

MOH wrote: »

So Covid and Sligo are to blame for their atrocious customer service for at least 15 years? Some neck.

I’m on another forum and eir crap customer care are tops there also, what a joke of a company

SeeMoreBut · 31-12-2020 2:37pm

They really are amazing. Just off the phone with them about money they owed me €45 and they said they can't do refunds without my approval. So person said it is rare it happens but they charge you a full month even if you close you account. The policy is not to refund money unless they have permission from account holder. So person did a refund without my asking my permission. I say that is amazing how you managed to do a refund to my bank without asking my permission so you broken your company policy. Of course the line dropped when I raised that.

Before that she told me I could have done it through customer care but mentioned that you account number no longer works as soon as line is turned off. So you can't get through to them.

You can be sure if you owe them they'd be looking for it. Awful company

Rant over and chest cleared

Sheep Shagger · 31-12-2020 4:04pm

SeeMoreBut wrote: »

They really are amazing. Just off the phone with them about money they owed me €45 and they said they can't do refunds without my approval. So person said it is rare it happens but they charge you a full month even if you close you account. The policy is not to refund money unless they have permission from account holder. So person did a refund without my asking my permission. I say that is amazing how you managed to do a refund to my bank without asking my permission so you broken your company policy. Of course the line dropped when I raised that.

Before that she told me I could have done it through customer care but mentioned that you account number no longer works as soon as line is turned off. So you can't get through to them.

You can be sure if you owe them they'd be looking for it. Awful company

Rant over and chest cleared

I got mucked around too, then found this and got my 30 odd euro back in about 7 days.

https://www.eir.ie/support/online-forms/Refund-Request/

SeeMoreBut · 31-12-2020 7:05pm

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

I got mucked around too, then found this and got my 30 odd euro back in about 7 days.

https://www.eir.ie/support/online-forms/Refund-Request/

It is just bs that you've to go chasing your money even though they sent me emails to say my bill is ready to view online 2 months after account closed.

Nobody should have to go chasing their money but I just felt they try and tell you anything to fob you off

Sheep Shagger · 31-12-2020 8:09pm

SeeMoreBut wrote: »

It is just bs that you've to go chasing your money even though they sent me emails to say my bill is ready to view online 2 months after account closed.

Nobody should have to go chasing their money but I just felt they try and tell you anything to fob you off

100% - they are a **** show.

Fill out and submit the form you should get your money and like me will never ever buy a service from eir ever again.

Ten Pin · 31-12-2020 8:44pm

VM have also been retaining credits after accounts were closed...

Virgin Media Ireland to refund over 100,000 customers after telecoms watchdog ruling
...
Virgin was continuing to charge customers after services were cancelled. It then failed to refund customers.

It has affected 265,000 Virgin Media broadband and television customers over the six-year period.

Virgin has until March 31 to repay the the 107,000 outstanding customers that have not had a credit applied or which have left the service. The average customer refund will be €33.
...
Comreg also said the practice of retaining the credits goes against sections of the Communications Regulation Act 2002.

https://m.independent.ie/business/technology/virgin-media-ireland-to-refund-over-100000-customers-after-telecoms-watchdog-ruling-39874983.html

No doubt they'll just put the cost onto bills with a price increase.

jelem · 31-12-2020 8:56pm

government allows this crap from all the telcos its cartel and monopoly supported by corrupt
government and comreg\advertising authority\competition authority have NO power which was
done purposefully by corrupt liars and thieves FG\FF.
the same mentioned will NOT give power to prosecute to any of the "laughable supposed oversight
bodies".
citizens will continue to suffer and its pathetic that have to try search eu legislation to pursue
to change for citizens protection.

Eir Customer Service

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