READER'S FORUM:Have your say

Jennifer Ryan recently had a bad experience with 3 Mobile Ireland and was so enraged, she was prompted to contact us last week. Her iPhone was stolen while she was on holiday and, in order to claim a new one from her insurance company, she needed a letter to confirm that she had barred calls from her phone after it had been stolen.

“I rang 3 on a Friday to ask for this form to be faxed to my insurance company. They weren’t able to find the fax number of my insurance company – surprising, since I had gotten my insurance through 3,” she says.

“The insurance company wouldn’t give me a number either, but told me to e-mail the form instead. However, someone at the 3 call centre said they weren’t able to e-mail it directly to the company, so we finally agreed that they’d e-mail it to me and that I would receive it within 24 hours.”

The following Tuesday, she had not got the form so she called 3 again and was told she would receive the form within 24 hours.

“Twenty-four hours later [on the Wednesday] I called 3 to see where it was. I was told I’d receive it within five hours, after I refused to accept to wait another 24.”

A further seven hours passed with no sign of the form. She called the company again and was told she’d receive it within an hour. “When I was able to check my e-mail, four hours later, I still hadn’t received anything so called 3 yet again. I was told I would receive the form within 24 hours. I refused to accept this and eventually had to ask to speak to a manager.

“Instead, the girl spoke to her manager and told me it would be sent to me within 15 minutes. I finally received an email 10 minutes later, sent directly from the manager – six days after I had initially asked for the letter.”

She goes on to say that, two days later, she received the same letter from 3, sent from a different person, which was obviously the one that had been sent after going through the system.

“If I hadn’t asked to speak to a manager, I would have been waiting a full week for this letter. Needless to say, the whole experience was very frustrating. If I wasn’t tied to an 18-month contract with 3, I would be switching networks immediately.”

No fare play for Irish Rail passengers

More complaints about Irish Rail this week. A reader in possession of a rail pass contacted us, saying she wanted to book a seat on a train as she was meeting a family member on board and wanted to ensure she was able to share the journey with her.

“I went to the local railway station to book. I was told it couldn’t be done at the station and was given a phone number and told there would be a charge of €3. I rang the number and booked the seat.”

She was then asked for her credit card number and told there would be a €6 charge. “I asked how the price went from €3 to €6 and was told it was because I paid by credit card. This is sharp practice, to say the least,” she says.

A spokeswoman said the €3 charge for seat reservation was for existing ticket holders, including pass holders, season ticket holders and return ticket holders, who wish to reserve a seat on a particular service.

“This service was brought in as a result of requests from customers who were not regular fare-purchasing customers, but who wished to have the facility to reserve a seat.” It may have been brought in at their request, but we doubt any passengers requested the fee. She said our reader would have been charged €3 for seat reservation and the standard transaction and credit card booking fee.”

Albert Allison, meanwhile, with two of his colleagues, recently travelled from Dublin Heuston to Limerick to see Munster take on Toulon and bought day-return tickets. “My pals purchased their tickets online, costing €30 plus an additional €3 ‘administration/handling fee’. I was not in a position to purchase my return ticket online and bought my ticket desk at Heuston station.”

It cost €58, he fumes. He accepts there “may be a discount applicable on an internet purchase, but I feel a surcharge of 93 per cent for the “ticket desk” purchase is something close to usury. Next time we hit Limerick or Cork it will be by car!”