Welcome to eircom - just about
So about a month ago I decided that it was time to upgrade my broadband connection at home. I’d been using Ripwave from Irish Broadband and it was fine. But that was just it, it was just fine. The connection speed was a bit of a throw-back to the days of yore at 512kpbs down. Yep, you read that right 512kpbs. A bit like if dial-up drank two cups of weak [and cheap] coffee. So I decided to take eircom [that lower case e is intentional, it makes them look like a young funky company that's on the edge and 'down with the kids.' Anyway I filled in the online application and let the wonders of the internet whisk my order off to eircom's order processing department shead out the back.
I called a couple of days later to enquire as to when I should expect the phone line to be turned on and when the broadband would be activated. Imagine my dismay when the charming man on the other end of the line informed me that my order had be lost in the depths of cyberspace? C'est imposible I exclaimed but alas no it was gone. So I reordered the line and broadband and that was that, but not really. The second order decided to follow in the footsteps of it's departed brother and jumped off the edge of the internet into the abyss and was never to be seen again.
After my third call to all-powerful eircom I managed to get through to a human who managed to actually place my order and get things moving. 3 days later a diall tone was born at the end of my phoneline and all that was left now was the broadband. Wasn't to be that simple though. After fucking up the first two orders they decided to do one thing at a time and managed to forget about the broadband order. So after yet another call and a debate on weather I signed up during the 'free connection' period [I did] a credit note and a broadband order were arranged. Eureka it was all coming together!
Not a hope in hell I hear you say. You’d be right you know, the broadband was ordered but someone in eircom had ‘forgotten’ (there’s a surprise) to send out the modem so that was now arranged. So after being pushed from pillar to post and back again I decided to call their customer care line and register my annoyance with them. 33 minutes on hold listening to Spring by Vivaldi I finally got through to someone who took all the details and will be back to me in 10 working days i.e. 2-3 months.
So a month and countless phonecalls later I finally got everything sorted yesterday and I’m now zipping along through cyberspace. My only advice to people going down the eircom road is 1) be prepared to wait, and then wait some more 2) chase them like you’d chase after a cut-price pair of shoes in Brown Thomas and 3) watch you bill like a hawk!
Update: I got a call this morning from eircom and they’re giving me my first months rental free as a ‘good will’ gesture. At least it’s something and at least they phoned back!
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