# Changing Broadband & Phone Provider from eir



## Logo (6 Nov 2018)

My eir broadband and phone contract ends in 30 days time. Eie has advised that when switching provider there is no need for a 30 day notification and to contact them on the day the contract is up and give the UAM number to the new provider. Does anyone know the correct procedure to switch from eir to another provider?
Thanks


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## tallpaul (7 Nov 2018)

Don't believe anything a person from eir tells you until you ring a second time and ask a different representative the same question and you get the same answer. There is not one other Irish company of its size or stature with a worse reputation for customer service at present. It is a terrible indictment to say that they simply cannot be trusted to follow through on any advice they give.

I would also give the 30 day notice regardless of what any of them say.


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## Logo (7 Nov 2018)

I was diligent enough to make note and call for the 30 day notice but was advised that it was better to call back when the contract was up and then do the switch. As customers do this on a regular basis, surely there is some guidance around the correct procedure.


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## Jazz01 (7 Nov 2018)

Hi Logo,

According to eir home page here, you do need to give them 30 days notice. TallPaul is correct in this assessment of Eir customer support - they are very poor at the best of times. 

Also, the new provider you are moving to, will have details on what they require and when. Again, check their web site and when you've read their T&Cs, give them a call to switch.


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## Logo (7 Nov 2018)

Thanks but that link says - 

You are obliged under the terms of your contract with eir to provide 30 days' notice of your intention to switch service provider.
Customers who switch service provider *without giving eir 30 days' notice of their intention to switch will not be charged a penalty fee*


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## Jazz01 (7 Nov 2018)

Yes, no penalty fee (as that should only apply for early contract break), but at the end of your contract, you ring them and tell them that you are switching provider - they MAY come back and say that they need 30 days notice from the date of the notification and that they need it in writing, etc and you'll be charged, from that day, for 30+days usage of their service.


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## Logo (7 Nov 2018)

Jazz01 said:


> they MAY come back and say that they need 30 days notice from the date of the notification and that they need it in writing, etc and you'll be charged, from that day, for 30+days usage of their service. [/QUOTE}



So they might charge me extra fees or they might not.
Does anyone on AAM have experience of switching from eir to another provider?
Thanks


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## Jazz01 (7 Nov 2018)

It's not "extra" per se - they'll see it as "you used our service from the date of notice received plus the 30days" - best to get the letter into them as soon as possible and go through everything within their web page. 

When you talk to them, I'd recommend stating to the Eir "helpdesk" person that you are recording the conversation, and request their name and note the date/time of the call (and take notes if you aren't recording it from your phone). It might all go super smooth but then again...

Best of luck with the switch!


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## Decision Tree (9 Nov 2018)

I've been through this with Eir twice in the past.  Give them the 30 days notice either by email or web chat, get them to acknowledge the request, and save the mail / chat transcript for future reference.  I would avoid calling them, you are better with a written record.  Otherwise as suggested above chances are they will charge you an extra 30 days.  I found the Eir broadband service excellent, but their customer service and switching process is atrocious.


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## Logo (10 Nov 2018)

Fair play to you  if you were able to get a written reply from Eir. To date, I rang them and was promised an email which didn't happen. I've emailed and so far I'm waiting for a web chat reply for the last hour. So now I have to rely on the trustworthiness of a customer service member and their website - "Customers who switch service provider without giving eir 30 days' notice of their intention to switch will not be charged a penalty fee".
Honestly I can't believe that customers can be held to ransom by Ireland's biggest telecommunications company without regulation.

Update: Eventually got through to web chat and told that cancellation can only be done Mon-Fri.


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## TheReflex (26 Nov 2018)

Did anyone get a reply or feedback from Eir on this issue?

I seem to be on a similar boat - called Eir twice to confirm my last day of contract, then after that date called a different provider to switch. Still got hit with an Early Cancellation Charge 

Web support or weekend phone support say they can't do much,  and that I have to call phone support during the week. Which I did, waiting for 30m until I got "we are currently experiencing difficulties connecting calls to our customer service representatives" and then the call ended.

Boards.ie forums were closed mysteriously 2 weeks ago so no help there either.


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## Decision Tree (26 Nov 2018)

Try mailing ccm @ eir . ie (Customer Care, remove the spaces obviously, I can't post addresses).  Provide as many details as possible.  If that doesn't work out it just takes a few minutes to log a complaint on the Comreg website.  Then include Comreg and your Comreg complaint number in further mails to Eir.  This has worked for me in the past.


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## Jumpstartdublin (26 Nov 2018)

Email Ccm@eir.ie for any queries and prompt follow up. It’s their complaints Section and not outsourced.


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## Logo (26 Nov 2018)

Which provider are you switching to ?


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## TheReflex (27 Nov 2018)

Thanks all.

I tried logging a complaint at https://www.eir.ie/logacomplaint.jsp , supposedly would get a reply in 48h... it's been now a week and nothing  Will go with Comreg first and then use that number on my email to ccm AT eir DOT ie

@Logo I went with Pure Telecom for Internet & Phone.


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## Black Sheep (5 Dec 2018)

Have just moved from Eir after a nightmare of a 1 year contract and now have no landline for the last 2 days due to yet another cock-up (I am not a lover of mobile only). I'm surprised that i even have broadband.

The new provider will need your Eir UAN which is on the top of your bill. However there is a second UAN required by the new provider which is not displayed on your bill and Eir don't seem to know what you're
talking about when you request this. Recent changes require a UAN for phone and a second UAN for broadband.


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## Logo (6 Dec 2018)

Black Sheep said:


> However there is a second UAN required by the new provider which is not displayed on your bill and Eir don't seem to know what you're talking about when you request this.


So how did you find the second UAN and who did you switch to? BTW, I'm about to switch to Pure Telecom.


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## cmalone (6 Dec 2018)

Agree with assessment of Eir’s customer service. Complained to them in 2013 and progressed complaint to Comreg. Eir then disconnected service and sent a bill for termination of contract.  Didn’t panic as Comreg said to await their adjudication on complaint.

 Didn’t hear anything from 2013 until start of 2018-when Eir’s debt collector wrote claiming they had ‘bought’ the debt!

When we queried with Comreg and Eir - they advised after many months that they had no records on matter as they destroy such records per data management after 2 years!

Long story short - Eir then claimed to Comreg that they were ‘waiving’ the fee.. we argued cannot waive fee for a charge that was never payable!

We did have emails from 2013 to both .., any advice ...


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## Logo (6 Dec 2018)

My Eir contract ended today. I called 1901 to switch to another  provider. I was advised that the estimated waiting time was 30 minutes. Following that I was told that the Eir call centre was closed and the call was disconnected. I just want to switch to another provider. Can I enter another contract with new provider without contacting Eir?


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## Leo (7 Dec 2018)

Logo said:


> Can I enter another contract with new provider without contacting Eir?



As per their terms, you can submit the cancellation in writing with 30 days notice (template). No harm register it for proof of receipt in case they later dispute it.


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## Logo (7 Dec 2018)

Thanks . I spent another hour on the phone to Eir today. The first call was disconnected and eventually I managed the switch on a second call. I then set up a contract with Pure Telecom. A few hours later I received an automated call thanking me for choosing Eir and saying that they had attempted to make contact. Not really sure if I should waste more time calling them again or simply ignore. Honestly, even if they were to offer their service for free I would decline.


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## mathepac (8 Dec 2018)

After an on-going battle with eir over my generally poor and currently non-existent (for the last two weeks) broadband service, I tried to cancel my contract yesterday. I was told a €250 penalty would apply. I argued as I was getting no service, the contract was void, but it made no difference to the guy on the phone who threatened debt collectors in the event of non-payment.

I then tried Pure Telecom and discovered to my horror that the technicians who can't fix line faults after multiple attempts and lots of promises are the same no matter what retailer I pay. Which makes a nonsense of shopping on price for broadband as the level of after-sales service will still be appalling.

I'm currently tethering to my iPhone to get internet access and found over the last two weeks, despite the assurances on their web-site, complaints about service cannot (will not?) be escalated by the phone jockeys. The on-line chat facility is a joke too, staffed by non-native English speakers / typists. Ashkar or Akshar told me s/he couldn't verify my security check as I was spelling my own name incorrectly (well s/he said wrong actually).  I gave her “Joe Murphy”, “Joseph Murphy”, “joseph murphy”, “MR JOE MURPHY” and s/he rejected all of them saying my spelling of *MY* name was incorrect. I pointed out to him/her that I was at a disadvantage as s/he was not a native English speaker and s/he did not grasp the cultural  significance of any or all versions of them being acceptable in this country.  Oh wait, maybe it’s a cheap chat line provider like eir's cheap modem/router that failed on Thursday night!!

Come back BT, all is forgiven, well almost.


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## Black Sheep (11 Dec 2018)

I finally got my second UAN by continuing to call Eir and being fobbed off by many call centre people, after escalating up the line to the boss of all bosses? and managed to screw an email address from him. So apologetic (just words) was he that I was almost expecting him to arrive at the doorstep.

Moving to Pure. Their engineer arrived and did not seem to have a clue, told me we had a fault on the line (the one I was using five minutes before he arrived). Spent 2.5 hours here and had to go (6 o'clock) and his boss would be back in the morning. No show, that was last Tuesday (1 week ago now). Got a call yesterday to say he'd be round in five minutes. I was 2 hours away so he'd call back to day. No call!!

It could only happen to me. Does life have to be so difficult?


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## Logo (13 Dec 2018)

I posted a switch letter (on 10th Dec and got a certificate of posting) as per Eir's website instructions - "Please note this is the only address we can accept Switcher notification letters to: Switchers team, eir, Floor 2, Heuston South Quarter, St. John’s Road, Dublin 8". However I noticed that the template letter has a different address (*Switch*, *eir *Unit 6b, Westgate Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 24). At this stage I honestly just want to be rid of eir.


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## mathepac (13 Dec 2018)

Please don't look at the "Customer Service" availability hours on their web-site so; the hours are wildly inaccurate and the phone are *not* staffed at the week-end based on personal experience last weekend. I have a tech en route as I type, "15 minutes away". We'll see.


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## Logo (18 Dec 2018)

FYI. I signed up with Pure Telecom on 7th Dec to switch from eir. I contacted Pure Telecom yesterday and was advised that the switch won't happen until after Christmas but that there won't be a break in service because I'm still with eir. I am now having to pay €76 per month for that privilege.


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## Black Sheep (18 Dec 2018)

We are finally back on the air after 2 weeks, with our new service from Pure. A proper engineer (Polish) who knew his job undid the mess of the previous guy.

Now we've just got to sort out the bills /compensation!!


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