- Me
- Hello?
- Female Voice
- Hello, this Margaret from Eircom. Can I ask who I’m speaking to?
- Me
- Rory
- Margaret
- Hello Rory. Do you use the internet?
- Me
- Yup
- Margaret
- Okay, ley me just see how much you spend…
At this point, Margaret goes silent for several seconds as she checks my phone bill for last month. This is despite the fact that she works, as I will find out, for Eircom.net not Eircom proper, and therefore shouldn’t have access to my phone bill. I know she’s checking the phone records not the ISP records because I don’t use Eircom.net. I use IOL.
- Margaret
- Ooh! You spend a lot. Rory we recommend that our customers [“I ain’t one of your customers Maggie,” I think] upgrade to high speed internet access.
She gives a very general description of Eircom.net’s new service. So basic that she neglects to name the service. I think it’s DSL. She also neglects the price. I think it’s €45/month-ish.
- Me
- Go on…
- Margaret
- Can I send you out some information on this new service?
- Me
- Sure [At least written information might actually tell me something other than “It’s fast”].
- Margaret
- And would you like us to tell you about some of our other offers when they become available?
- Me
- I’d rather you didn’t.
- Margaret
- Can I ask why not?
At this point I’m expected to cave. Saying “oh, go ahaid and ring me whenever you want” is easier than saying “I don’t like getting phone calls from marketing people”.
- Me
- I don’t like getting phone calls from marketing people.
- Margaret
- Oh… [long pause] … thank you for your time.
So Eircom are abusing their telephone monopoly to steal internet customers from Esat. Shame on them.