Readers’ complaints: ‘My experience with Eir showed a multitude of incompetence’

We have two stories in connection with Eir. One is good and one is not so good. We’ll start with the not so good. It comes from a reader called Amy who got in touch to highlight an experience with Eir which, she says, left her “beyond frustrated with their company and its treatment of customers and potential customers”.

Her tale of woe started a few months ago. “I moved into a new apartment and needed to set up wifi. I contacted Eir and they said they would run a type of compatibility check to see if it could be installed. I called them back a few days later to ask about the check. They said one type of broadband they provide wouldn’t be compatible but another type would and it would require installation by an installer.”

She says that Eir outsources its installation and she received a call from them to organise it. “They could not be specific with a time and said either a morning or afternoon appointment could be booked and it would be an approximate four to five-hours window in either slot. I work in healthcare so can’t work from home. I booked an appointment for a Friday afternoon when I get a half day.”

The day came for the installation. It was coming up to 5pm and no one had showed, so she called the company. “Their system said the technician was on site at my address,” Amy says. “I explained no one was here so they said they would call me back when they figured out what was happening. I got a call about 20 minutes later from a different representative to confirm my installation for Monday. I explained I was supposed to have it installed now. This rep reported they were not aware of this and that my installation was coming up on the system for Monday. They called me back after double-checking to say the technician had to cancel my appointment due to an unexpected incident at another job.”

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Frustrated

Amy says she was disappointed and frustrated as she had to call and make contact with them to get clarity and answers, when they should have been in touch with her.

“The representative apologised and asked if I wanted to go ahead with the installation on Monday. I explained I wouldn’t be able to. I’m a clinician and had patients booked in for sessions for the entire week the following week and did not want to have to cancel patient sessions for an installation. I have one other roommate who is also a clinician who also wouldn’t be able to be at home for the installation. They also don’t do weekend installations.”

So she arranged the installation again for the following Friday on her half day. “They said they would only be able to book in a full-day appointment, where the installer could come at any time, but could put a request in the comments section for an afternoon installation. I asked if there was a possibility of a smaller time window of approximately two hours rather than a five-hour wait at home. They said this would not be possible but could ask the installer to call me approximately 30-60 minutes before they were due to arrive.”

Amy says she was told that installers work in two shifts, morning and afternoon, and have to plan their installations geographically. “I asked if I could be prioritised for one of the first calls of the afternoon shift if they had yet to organise the schedule for Friday. They said this would not be possible.”

Then the next Friday came. “I received a call in work that morning from the technician. He explained when he saw my apartment building address he knew straight away Eir is not compatible with it. He was profusely apologetic. He explained this is a consistent issue with Eir. He said Eir know the apartment building and other apartment buildings in this complex are not compatible. He said they used to receive at least a request a week from Eir for an installation in my building and other buildings in this complex and he and his other technician colleagues would have to be the ones to call the customer to tell them it’s not compatible. He said he would be writing a full report to Eir and does this every time this issue has arisen.”

So Amy called Eir as soon as she finished work. “It is hard to get through to the right department to speak to through their phone system. I spoke to a representative and explained my situation and my frustration. I also made sure to ask on this call for a confirmation that my account was cancelled and that I would not be charged anything. I was assured my account would be cancelled and no payment had or would be taken. When you register with Eir and they have organised the installation you give all your payment/bank details. I got a link to log a formal complaint online and filled out same. The reply I got was apologetic for my experience. I was delayed in replying because their response went into my spam folder. I asked that they review their communications and systems to avoid this having to happen to someone else – a very big ask, I know. I never received a response.”

This sorry saga unfolded in May but you can probably guess what happened next. In the middle of August, Amy received a text from Eir saying her latest bill was ready to view and she could view it on her Eir account or click a link.

“Due to the amount of scam messages going around I didn’t want to press the link just in case. I also did not think I could log on to an Eir account as I cancelled it when it was not compatible with my apartment. I therefore decided to email back through the existing thread I had with their complaints department as I knew this was a safe and secure method of communication. I explained I had received a message about a bill and explained I do not have an account with them and asked for a confirmation I would not be charged. I never received a response.”

Charged

Last week Amy checked her bank account and saw she had been charged €60 by Eir. “I attempted to call them through numerous lines. Their website says they have phone lines open at the weekends but the different avenues I tried on their automated system told me their phone lines were open Monday to Friday only. Some of the other automated phone systems asked me to put in my Eir account number to progress forward. I put in the original number I was given when I was attempting to set it up. The system told me this number did not exist, yet I have been charged for this account.”

Amy then found an escalation form on the Eir website for those who have already made a complaint and need to escalate it further. “The form only let you put in a landline number and not a mobile number and did not ask for an email. I detailed my complaint and had to put my mobile and email in the comment box. I also noted in this section that with no option for a person making a complaint to put in an email or a mobile number, they would receive no digital confirmation record of the escalation having been made. I therefore took screenshots of everything I sent on the escalation form.”

She was waiting to hear back from the company when she decided to mail us. “The main point I want to make is that my whole experience with Eir has shown a multitude of incompetence that leaves their customers and potential customers in disarray and distress, out of pocket, and wastes people’s time. What has happened has happened to me but I just really don’t want this to happen to someone else.”

We contacted Eir to see what it had to say and received the following statement: “Our care team has been in contact with the customer to arrange a refund and to apologise for the poor customer experience in this case. The charge was related to an unreturned modem. The initial error in our cabling records has been raised internally and the records have been updated to prevent installation issues at this apartment block from recurring.”

‘Credit where credit is due’

We did get another mail about Eir which is quite different. It came from Elizabeth Grant. “I am writing to you to give credit where credit is due. I am a great ‘fan’ of your column and have noticed how many complaints involve Eir. I would like to tell you of my recent good experience with them.”

Her story started three weeks ago. “On a Monday, my landline went out of order – complete silence, no calls in or out. I need this landline as I am an elderly person and have an emergency button which is activated through the landline, although I didn’t think to mention this to Eir,” she writes.

That afternoon she received a text from Eir “to thank me for the complaint and say that it would be investigated as soon as possible to see where the fault was – either in my house or outside – and would hope to have it rectified within two to three days. The next morning I received another text telling me the fault was not in my house and a technician would be out to rectify the fault outside.”

Less than 48 hours later she got a telephone call “on my landline from a gentleman who said he was the technician and that he was confirming all was now rectified. I thought I would just let you know. Eir do not always give good customer care. Maybe things have improved with them.”