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once more into the land of the SUCKWEASEL TELCO
I just phoned Eircom again. "no sir, we didn't disconnect your old line when you asked despite the fact that you phoned several times to confirm it and the request to cancel is registered right here on our system.". So, I've whined about that some, got further assurances that it's going to be really, really done this time, they're going to send out duplicates of the paperwork for the new phoneline (wait, what's a duplicate of nothing?) too. So I registered a complaint through the website:
This is the second time I have had to register a complaint regarding the almost complete lack of customer service I have received from your company. On November 4 I called Eircom Sales to cancel my existing ISDN line and set up a new phone line. I was told that both tasks had been entered into the system, that I would have the new phone line in about 30 minutes, and that the final bill for the old account would be sent to my new address. One week and two further calls to customer service later I finally had my phoneline activated. In the interim I was told that there was a problem with the line and that someone would call me "in the morning", neither of which occurred (call made on the evening of November 5). I can only thank one of your staff in the Galway call centre named Geraldine who actually seemed to know what she was doing. Two weeks later, having not received either the final bill for the old account or the paperwork for the new account, I again phoned customer support to be told that the final bill "takes up to two weeks to process" and the paperwork "is in the post". Again, both statements turned out to be false, since I have just now (10:45am, December 16) talked to an eircom customer support representative who told me that my old account was NOT closed, and that there was a "three to four week delay" in issuing paperwork for a new account. Without the paperwork for the new account, I have no account number and am thus unable to register for discount services, DSL line testing, etc. On top of which it seems obvious that the representatives who told me on November 3rd, 5th and mid-month that everything was in order were obviously lying to me and making no effort to rectify the problem. I fail to see how this sort of behaviour constitutes any sort of customer service, much less adherence to your much-touted customer charter.The really aggravating part is that much as I'd like to say, "fuck you, and your service, I'm going with one of your competitors", the nature of Irish telecoms is such that I can't actually do that until I have an account number. Which, er, I won't have until the paperwork turns up.
Regards,
Ronan Waide.
no subject
In the State of Washington, where the telco situation was similar -- US Worst was the "real" local phone company, so you still had to deal with them, no matter who you were supposedly getting competitive service from -- there was a state regulatory board which oversaw US Worst's activities. Happily, this board was actually rather feisty, and made US Worst correct a number of serious problems over the years, lest they be refused any future rate increases. Yay.
It is my hope, perhaps misguided, that a similar entity exists in Ireland and that sending a copy of your letter to them might be helpful, or at least cathartic; and I should also note that mentioning such entities in letters to otherwise fearless monopolies, provided one has confirmed their existence, has proven quite helpful to others in the past. With any luck my transatlantic experiences will turn out to be of some relevance, provided that my prolixity does not defy comprehension.
Yours in Guinness,
Tom "I Think It's The Flu Now" Boutell
no subject