Have Your Say

Not happy with UPC’s DIY approach

John Campbell contacted us in connection with UPC’s current advertising promotion for TV/broadband/phone packages. He decided to have broadband installed in his home for the first time and contacted the company.

“The representative to whom I spoke explained the options and I opted for the ‘Fibre Freedom Ultimate’ package,” he writes. “As my current landline contract is with Eircom, I asked if I would have to contact Eircom in order to switch the phone over to UPC. The lady said no, but added that ‘the man will have a form for you to sign’.”

Some days later, Campbell received a call from a courier who had three packages for him, all from UPC. “I asked him if a UPC engineer would call later to install the system. He told me no, and said that this was a DIY package. I refused to accept it. At no time during my telephone conversation with the UPC representative did she tell me that this was a DIY system,” he says. “I took it for granted all along, from my previous experiences of having television installed, that an engineer or other competent person would install the system. I am confused, in the light of the foregoing, as to what the representative meant when she told me the man would have a document for me to sign, in relation to the telephone service.”

He says the courier told him he knew “nothing whatsoever about getting telephone documents signed, nor was it his function, as I fully accept. Can you please confirm what is going on at UPC, as I took it for granted that an engineer would call to install and test the equipment?” We contacted the company to find out more.

A spokeswoman claimed to be “at a loss” about the basis of our reader’s complaint. She said she “fully investigated the points raised” and had listened to the recorded conversation. “I can confirm the package we attempted to deliver was that which was agreed, ie a self-install package. Furthermore, the agent advised should Mr Campbell have any queries to contact her directly. In conclusion, based on the foregoing – I’m at a loss to understand the basis for Mr Campbell’s complaint.”

UPC responds to reader complaint

Staying with UPC, last week we carried a complaint from a reader called Joanne Hunt who did not like the manner in which the company introduced a price change, stopped sending her bills and switched her to e-billing, and apparently set her up with a UPC online account without providing her with any log-in details. After going to print we received a bullish response from the company.

It claimed our reader had paid by direct debit since 2007 and “would only receive a paper bill if there were any changes made to the account”. A spokeswoman said an e-bill letter was sent to our reader informing her of the company’s new e-billing system and outlining the options to continue getting paper bills. The spokeswoman said our reader “did not contact the company to decline the change” and was thus moved onto e-billing.

She also said the “service changed in price and in accordance with e-billing framework. Joanne received the first text message in February to say, ‘A reminder notice about our January price change is available on upc.ie. To view it, log into MyUPC and go to My Messages. Thank You.’ Furthermore, an additional message was sent either online @My Messages or by post.”

In response to the UPC response, our reader pointed out that she had paid by direct debit since July 2006 and not 2007 and said it was “not true to say I only received a paper bill when there was a price change. I have a stack of old bi-monthly paper bills from them.” She accepts it was possible she “neglected to read this notice that required me to notify them if I didn’t want to be switched to e-billing but this automatic ‘opt-in to e-billing/call us if you want to opt out’ policy is shoddy.”

She refutes the suggestion that the company sent her any notification of the price change by post. “It may have been sent as a message to ‘My UPC’ but the point of my complaint was I had been given no instructions as to how to log-in to ‘My UPC’, and without a paper bill how am I to know my UPC account number?”

The company responded again and said our reader had received “no paper bill from October 2007 to December 2008”. She got one in February 2009 and was sent a text message in February 2010 “to reflect change on account”.

The spokeswoman said information about MyUPC was sent on February 7th, 2010 and added: “Any queries in relation to eBilling, including log-on details, may be viewed under service.upc.ie/cckservices/myupc/ or by contacting one of our agents on freephone 1908.”

It may have been sent as a message to ‘My UPC’ but the point of my complaint was I had been given no instructions as to how to log-in to ‘My UPC’