The State of Broadband Services in Ireland...
22/01/07 22:45
The lack of Customer care with Eircom and BT...
Recently we contacted Eircom and BT Ireland about their broadband services. We had to call on behalf of clients and on behalf of ourselves, inquiring about changes to accounts, upgrading services, and to order new services. What has shocked us has been the level of service given by both these suppliers. We knew in advance about the level of the technical service. For instance, glancing at BT in the UK shows you that their broadband offers speeds up to 8Mbps. The best you can get in Dublin as an average home user is 3mbps We knew this in advance, and accepted that this was the best out there and there is nothing we could say to change this.
However, customer service can be changed. If you receive bad service, a provider can make efforts to repair this situation, and pay special attention to a customer's complaints to ensure that the problems are dealt with efficiently and speedily. This is not our experience with Eircom and BT Ireland.
Let's began with Eircom. The largest telecoms provider in Ireland provides their new bundles package, a relatively good value product, where your calls and broadband are bundled into one package. Over the last few weeks we have called Eircom to enquire about switching a client from BT to Eircom to avail of this service. Now it seems to us that Eircom is good at receiving calls and taking orders, but isn't capable of answering any question about IT. We asked about switching from BT and how we can move across our line. In the course of two hours we were repeatedly transferred from department to department, we were regularly cut off and had to begin the process again. But most frustrating of all, once we were cut off, we would have to phone again and this time would be told that "that service doesn't exist", despite the fact that on the previous call we had almost completed our order with a different sales rep.
But this all pales when compared to BT Ireland. The customer care line for BT ireland has a wait time of approximately fifty minutes. On one occasion we phoned at 5:30 and was then cut off at 6:30pm. We phoned back, but when their closing time arrived at 7:30pm the line changed to an engaged tone. If we did reach a customer service agent, we would explain our request, the agent would make all the normal reassuring noises about our request now being processed, and we waited a few days. With nothing happening, we would phone back, reach a new agent, and be told that their was no record of our order and that service wasn't available anyway. This was a general circle we revolved in for about three months for a client, and are now looking for help from the telecoms regulator, ComReg However ComReg say that broadband is not their remit and so their assistance may be limited.
Our sorry conclusion is that switching broadband provider is a nightmare in Ireland right now. Trying to terminate a service with one provider whilst picking up the service with your new company is painful. If you are sending a formal request to cut a service, make sure you use registered mail. ComReg made this recommendation to us as it is the only traceable form of correspondence. Unless you record your calls, you will be told by Eircom and BT that there is no record of your request. This appears to be a standard practice. Also, be careful with charges. We have one client who canceled BT in November 2006 but was then charged by direct debit in December 2006. This was after they had cancelled the direct debit with their bank. BT re-enabled the direct debit without any notice to the client, and withdrew 150 euro in charges. Make sure you instruct your bank in writing.
The feeling we are left with is that there is a serious lack of customer care in the telecoms industry in Ireland. Sales is where it is at; the follow-up is a painful process which can leave you wondering where the care is in their customer care services.
Simon Spence/2007
Recently we contacted Eircom and BT Ireland about their broadband services. We had to call on behalf of clients and on behalf of ourselves, inquiring about changes to accounts, upgrading services, and to order new services. What has shocked us has been the level of service given by both these suppliers. We knew in advance about the level of the technical service. For instance, glancing at BT in the UK shows you that their broadband offers speeds up to 8Mbps. The best you can get in Dublin as an average home user is 3mbps We knew this in advance, and accepted that this was the best out there and there is nothing we could say to change this.
However, customer service can be changed. If you receive bad service, a provider can make efforts to repair this situation, and pay special attention to a customer's complaints to ensure that the problems are dealt with efficiently and speedily. This is not our experience with Eircom and BT Ireland.
Let's began with Eircom. The largest telecoms provider in Ireland provides their new bundles package, a relatively good value product, where your calls and broadband are bundled into one package. Over the last few weeks we have called Eircom to enquire about switching a client from BT to Eircom to avail of this service. Now it seems to us that Eircom is good at receiving calls and taking orders, but isn't capable of answering any question about IT. We asked about switching from BT and how we can move across our line. In the course of two hours we were repeatedly transferred from department to department, we were regularly cut off and had to begin the process again. But most frustrating of all, once we were cut off, we would have to phone again and this time would be told that "that service doesn't exist", despite the fact that on the previous call we had almost completed our order with a different sales rep.
But this all pales when compared to BT Ireland. The customer care line for BT ireland has a wait time of approximately fifty minutes. On one occasion we phoned at 5:30 and was then cut off at 6:30pm. We phoned back, but when their closing time arrived at 7:30pm the line changed to an engaged tone. If we did reach a customer service agent, we would explain our request, the agent would make all the normal reassuring noises about our request now being processed, and we waited a few days. With nothing happening, we would phone back, reach a new agent, and be told that their was no record of our order and that service wasn't available anyway. This was a general circle we revolved in for about three months for a client, and are now looking for help from the telecoms regulator, ComReg However ComReg say that broadband is not their remit and so their assistance may be limited.
Our sorry conclusion is that switching broadband provider is a nightmare in Ireland right now. Trying to terminate a service with one provider whilst picking up the service with your new company is painful. If you are sending a formal request to cut a service, make sure you use registered mail. ComReg made this recommendation to us as it is the only traceable form of correspondence. Unless you record your calls, you will be told by Eircom and BT that there is no record of your request. This appears to be a standard practice. Also, be careful with charges. We have one client who canceled BT in November 2006 but was then charged by direct debit in December 2006. This was after they had cancelled the direct debit with their bank. BT re-enabled the direct debit without any notice to the client, and withdrew 150 euro in charges. Make sure you instruct your bank in writing.
The feeling we are left with is that there is a serious lack of customer care in the telecoms industry in Ireland. Sales is where it is at; the follow-up is a painful process which can leave you wondering where the care is in their customer care services.
Simon Spence/2007
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