Some of you may be aware of my history with eircom, and the wonderful services they provide. If you are not from Ireland, you may not be aware that everytime you need to connect to a DSL or phone service, you must (MUST) connect with eircom first, and then move services. Eircom have 100% control of all telecommunication switches in Ireland, and because of this, they feel they can treat their customers like shit.

I have just returned from travelling and have acquired an nice apartment in dublin city. I like the internet, so I've decided to get broadband from eircom. When I moved in, there was a phone, and eircom broadband router in the apartment, so I knew that it was going to be a straight forward process, and there would be no need to connect the line, so no upfront costs. Boy was I wrong.

I called eircom, and told the lady my address. After spelling it out (metropolitan is a tough word to understand), she informed me that there is no line on their accounts at that address and apartment number. I said, "I find that very unlikely, as there is a phone and broadband router in the apartment.". She said, "I may not have been active in the last eight months, you will have to pay €110, and wait 2 weeks for a technician to call out to connect". "If you want, you can try plugging in a phone, and if you get a dialtone, call 199000 to find out your number".

This left me peeved. But, it's not like I have experienced a smooth conversation ever with this company.

Last night I got a phone from conor, and plugged it in. DIALTONE. Dialed 199000, and boom, a phone number was called back to me.

Lesson: Never trust eircom. If I was a normal punter, I would have been duped and paid €110 to eircom for doing absolutely nothing.

Don't worry, this isn't over yet. I'll keep you posted.