Mayo councillors critical of eir's customer service

EIR came in for heavy criticism of its customer service at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council today.

A representative of the company, in a presentation, outlined its investment in the county, including €20 million to bring fibre to the home to 21,000 premises. However, councillors had requested the company's attendance to answer their questions about its customer service and they sent a clear message back to management – it's 'appalling'.

Councillor Donna Sheridan suggested that people who can't get through to customer service should start writing to the board members and chief executive, and maybe then things would change.

You can find their names on Google, she added.

And Councillor Jarlath Munnelly went a step further: He wanted to hear back from the company, otherwise the council would consider having a vote of no confidence in the chief executive and the board.

Councillor Ger Deere spoke of his own experience in September 2019 when he was 22 hours and 20 minutes trying to get through to customer service.

Councillor Blackie Gavin highlighted the plight of older people who can't afford to be without their telephones, for security and as their only means of communicating with people.

Among the issues he raised were the length of time people were left without a service, be it the phone or broadband, the length of time you had to wait when you called eir, and the complications around cancelling contracts with the company.

There were issues too about the cost involved in moving poles, and connectivity – Councillor Tom Connolly spoke about a village being connected to broadband at both ends, but the bit in the middle was left out.

Councillor Michael Kilcoyne said the service was 'appalling' and he would not recommend anyone become an eir customer.

In response, Mr. Kjeld Hartog, operations director with eir, said since appearing before an Oireachtas committee in 2020, customers had seen improvements, with wait times of barely five minutes. He said he would share a mailbox with councillors to deal with issues they have.

He heard their frustrations but the issues have been addressed.