Eclipse Internet

LUSK

A few months ago I was looking to change Broadband provider from BT whom I have been with for the past 10 or so years to somebody else as BT did not fit my requirements etc. I was talking with a friend who recommended Eclipse Internet. I immediately contacted them and asked then that when I came out of contract with BT, would there be any connection charge and the very helpful customer sales man said that as long as the line currently has broadband on it then no, there would be no connection charge.

Anyway, the contract came to an end with BT so I thought that I would make contact with Eclipse and sign up. This time I spoke to another customer sales rep and just to get it right in my head that there would in fact be no sign up fee, I asked him to confirm this was right. Without putting me on hold, he asked me to hold whilst he spoke to I presume a supervisor. Not putting me on hold was a mistake because I heard somebody say, 'tell him that if he signs up today there will not be any connection charge'. I did not appreciate this but because I had basically already decided that I would go with them, I signed up.

The migration from BT to them went without a hitch and since being with them for one week, there have been no problems, they are easy to contact, easy to use web site which tells you how much of your package you have used etc etc.

Then, four days into the contract came an email asking me to log into their site where there would be a bill waiting for me for one months account in advance. I contacted them and asked them to confirm this was correct and the reply received today states:

Thank you for your response. It is standard industry practice to invoice in advance for the service of your broadband. This is because the service is effectively rented from us and therefore the rent for the service is invoiced in advance. I hope this information is of help. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.

I then decided to read some reviews about them on the internet...lets just leave it as dear oh dear!!

Had it not have been for the fact that I believe I was duped into signing up that day, I would have just paid their account but I am starting to think maybe all is not well. Could somebody please advise if this is correct that it is industry standard to charge monthly in advance?

penrhyn

For what its worth I pay in advance for my Sky broadband.

Stompa

I pay in advance with BE.

LUSK

Thanks for the replies. I dont have any problem at all paying for something in advance if thats what is requested. It's just that after reading those reviews about them, which, in their defence are fairly dated now, I wondered if they maybe trying to pull a fast one.

:beer:

macman

Line rental and internet charges in advance are quite standard, you would have been paying BT in advance if on a monthly DD.
I thought Kingston Communications (of which Eclipse is just one of many trading names) were now in administration though?
What minimum term contract did you agree to?

LUSK

I hadnt heard they were in administration but that of course is not to say they arent. I was dubious about moving away from BT because in the event of there being problems, it seems like the BB supplier blames BT and vicer-versa and was going to go for the one month contract. But as this had a £10 set up fee, I decided to take the plunge and go for the 12 month contract. Granted that I am only on day eight of 365 but I have to say that so far, I am impressed.

macman

Eclipse are BT in terms of what it runs on, it's just a resold BT service. Eclipse does not have it's own network or engineers-they just resell the same BT Wholesale service you were on before.