ComReg dismisses Eir's claim of 'incorrect allegations' following court case

James Cox

ComReg has denied Eir's claim of "incorrect allegations" following a court case in which the telecom giant was convicted and fined over customer complaints procedures.

A judge has described as "disgraceful" how Eir threatened staff with disciplinary action if they handled customer complaints according to its own code of conduct and in compliance with Irish law.

At Dublin District Court on Monday, Judge Anthony Halpin convicted and fined the company €7,500 after it was prosecuted by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) over its former customer complaints procedures.

In a statement issued after the ruling, Eir claimed ComReg "made serious, unprecedented and incorrect allegations".

Eir claimed the documents were "interpreted incorrectly" by ComReg. The company also claimed the issue could have been addressed outside court, and that ComReg introduced them "without notice" in court.

In the statement, an Eir spokesperson said: "During [Monday's] court session, ComReg made serious, unprecedented and incorrect allegations against eir, accusing us of instructing our customer care team to not comply with regulatory obligations; we categorically reject these accusations. The claims by ComReg, based on documents they interpreted incorrectly, could have been easily clarified had they engaged with us directly in advance of the court hearing.

"The slides in question were taken out of context. They are part of training material for new customer service agents, outlining the steps they should take to escalate calls to eir's dedicated specialist complaint management team. The transfer of a call to the complaints team, rather than giving the eir complaints phone number and asking them to make a call themselves is a better experience for the customer. It is regrettable and deeply concerning that ComReg chose to introduce these incorrect claims without notice in the court.

"Eir is committed to the highest standards of compliance and integrity, and we take our legal responsibilities very seriously. At no point has eir directed any team member to act contrary to legal or regulatory obligations."

In response to the statement, a ComReg spokesperson told BreakingNews.ie that yesterday "before the Dublin District Court, eir pleaded guilty to 12 counts of not having complied with legal requirements relating to its complaints handling processes. Eir did not raise objection to the facts underlying any of the 10 cases before the Court.

"During the course of the hearing reference was made to an onboarding manual used by eir for new customer service agents.

"This manual was provided to ComReg by eir in the course of a formal investigation into eir’s complaints handling processes and procedures. It formed part of the book of disclosure in the prosecution.

"Eir was convicted in each of the 10 cases before the Court."