and impresses me so far. Rex Comb was on Morning Ireland this morning and when asked about broadband stated the biggest issue was availability. Something the previous eircom owners stated again and again was not an issue. Something the DCMNR said was fine. Something ComReg said was fine. All along eircom and DCMNR had their hands respectively over their ears and eyes, the telecoms poodle didn’t have to cover their ears and their eyes as their head was quite firmly up their own HOWYA! Now a new CEO and he’s cut out the shit and said they have to roll out to more places. So I’m impressed.
Rex also said that customers were very important and they’d want to give them what they wanted – broadband but also educate them as to what they could do with broadband. Fantastic news. We need to get Internet usage up in this country. Rex avoided the line rental hike question though. Did it quite well. Still we all know it’s going to go up. I’m sure there’ll be a public outcry over this.
Speaking of customer service, Rex’s boss, Pierre Danon, emailed someone today who complained about a shitty service from eircom after they got a line installed. The person contacted me about it knowing I’d love to hear a story like that because the chairman of a multi-billion euro company personally sending emailed a customer and apologised about lousy service. I’m sure he won’t be able to do this for every complaint email send, but still. It was only a few weeks ago where a PA would send a template email to anyone that managed to get an email to the Chairman of eircom and then some customer services flunky would send a snipey email trying to catch you out on the complaint. Clearly there’s a new style in eircom but lets hope it continues and provides broadband for all.
Now, I admit that I have not been following the history of Eircom and that I haven’t even bothered to use Google to check if Mr Danon was promoted or brought in from outside. And, having said that, I don’t think it matters.
It seems to me that it perfectly reasonable for a new CEO in a large firm to sample a range of “non-CEO” stuff to get a better sense of what is actually going on – eliminate the filters, put your own finger on the pulse. etc.
It has been said the in the mid years of the NIHE’s history, before it became UL, Ed Walsh would from time to time, spend an hour wandering the corridors with a timetable in hand checking what classes wre running and which weren’t.
In addition to allowing the CEO to sample the funtioning unfilter (or, at least, differently filtered), it also puts the existing hierarchy on guard: oh fuck, [she’s | he’s] looking in corners the last CEo didn’t.
This guy’s name is increadible. King Coxcomb. With a handle like that, he’ll no doubt kick some serious ass.
At least, he should.
There are a few directors remaining in operational roles who need to leave or be left behind.
Danon is excellent, McLeod is a good technologist (Less of a good MD) and Comb will suit the markets along with Danon.
I am glad that we are beginning to see a change to SNAFU.
I hope Dannon and Comb realise soon that the relationships with government are in dire need of band aids. Ministers come and go, civil servants stay.
[SNAFU – Situation Normal All F’d Up]
It does look like there is an attitude change in the top levels of eircom. Maybe they’ll open up shop to clear off that nice debt of theirs.
Rex Comb is over rated
I wrote to Rex Comb last week and sent it registered post about the terrible service Eircom was providing. I was waiting since last May for telephone line. I had already complained to the Complaints Dept of Eircom and after dealing with most unhelpful staff there, I posed the question “Where does one complain about the complaints department in Eircom?. I’ve got a result at last…the poles were installed on Monday last and a promise to have service by Friday 1st December. I have great hopes for Eircom with Rex Comb on board.
We have a number of issues relating to Eircom customer service which we would like to bring to the attention of Rex Comb.
Would you have his direct email.
I must say, Eircom is the biggest rip off in Ireland. I was being charged almost 400 per month on dial up internet charges even with the 180 hour allocated time. When I tried to enquire why such big charges, I kept getting the run around. I did not have any dialers etc hackers on my computer, all was clean yet I was being charged this. Then I got a bill for 1200 euro. I called Customer care where they said they were going to issue me a 650 credit note. I waited for a month and when I had not received it, I called them back and was told I was not going to receive it.
Back on the 12th September 2007 I received a not so nice email from S. Dillon at Eircom who assured me they had a multi-million dollar broadband exchange upgrade which she said would be implimented in the first quarter of 2008.
Where is it? The first quarter of 2008 is almost over and it is no where to be seen! Meanwhile millions of us continue to be ripped off by dial up charges and Eircom having the monopoly over the exchange and twittling their thumbs about this upgrade. Of course they are. Rex Combs and his puppets are putting so much money into their pockets because all of us poor rural dial up customers are paying for it.
Don’t know if you have noticed, but all the repair guys are driving 2007 Mercedes Vans.
This is not fair trade.
When is this upgrade really going to happen? We are only 6 miles from Tipperary Town and it is absolutely ridiculous that everyone, including all telecommunications companies are waiting for Eircom to get it together.
Someone should file a law suit demanding to be given the same price for dial up as the people are paying for broadband until this far-off upgrade takes place, also we should demand through the courts to be refunded all the over-billing charges.
Some of us need a broadband connection to do our work and it is unfair to be sitting for 5 minutes waiting for a page to turn or 1 hour to upload with the provided 31.2kb speed – when having broadband would have been uploaded in 2 minutes.
In the year 2008 I would say Poland probably has a better broadband infrastructure than Ireland it is an absolute disgrace and outrage.
Move to Eircom – No F’N Way. Move to Perlico atleast their call charges and dial up charges are a heck of a lot cheaper and their customer care is brilliant!
Rex Combs get it together!
Here here Robbie!! Youve hit the nail on the head. Its beyond logic that a crappy 10th rate service such as dialup is soooooo much more than the cost of BBand. It defies logic.