... A company called Swift, and the one I finally plumped for, Euphony.
There was really fairly little to choose between the two in terms of cost, both being considerably cheaper than Eircom. What finally tipped the balance in their favour was that they also offered me a “Business Consultant” ... Read review
Advantages: See opinion Disadvantages: See opinion
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In fact, the whole Euphony marketing policy is based on this ‘word of mouth’ recommendation principle, and they don’t indulge in expensive newspaper and media advertising. (Thus keeping down their costs; clever!!)
DON’T approach me through Ciao if you are interested in any further details of this business package. As I said earlier, I am NOT touting for business here, simply giving my opinion of the company and ... ...~ ~ So what do Euphony offer their customers.
Well, here in Ireland, I receive 1,000 free minutes of off-peak telephone calls each month.
This is broken down into 500 free minutes of local calls, and a further 500 free minutes of National calls. The only stipulation is that the calls must be under 5 minutes in duration. After this, call charges come into effect, although they are still much cheaper than the normal Eircom rates.
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~ ~ Any of you who read my opinion about Eircom, the major Irish telecommunications company, will know that I could not be considered their biggest fan. Things really came to head for me earlier this year, when Esat Fusion had to discontinue their unmetered Internet access in off-peak hours as a result of the ongoing crippling rates they are forced to pay Eircom for line rental and call time. It was then I decided that enough was enough, and began to look for another company to give my business to. At least for my phone calls; daytime Internet access still HAS to be through Eircom, as has my line rental.
~ ~ There are a number of companies offering cheaper call rates than Eircom in the Irish market ever since the telecom industry was deregulated here in 1998, and it was those I began to compare. After much deliberation, the choice came down to two. A company called Swift, and the one I finally plumped for, Euphony. There was really fairly little to choose between the two in terms of cost, both being considerably cheaper than Eircom. What finally tipped the balance in their favour was that they also offered me a “Business Consultant” package at a cost of £250 (Irish Punts), which allowed me to sign up other friends/neighbours/relatives, etc to their service, and to earn an ongoing commission for doing so. I am not going to go into great detail about this business package here at Ciao, as I don’t want anyone thinking I am ‘touting’ for customers. Suffice to say that it is based on a multi-level marketing scheme, and that with a few hours effort each week, you can, over a period of time, build up a fairly lucrative part-time income for yourself. In fact, the whole Euphony marketing policy is based on this ‘word of mouth’ recommendation principle, and they don’t indulge in expensive newspaper and media advertising. (Thus keeping down their costs; clever!!) DON’T approach me through Ciao if you are interested in any further details of this business package. As I said earlier, I am NOT touting for business here, simply giving my opinion of the company and service provided by Euphony. Instead log onto the Euphony website at www.euphony.com for further details.
~ ~ So what do Euphony offer their customers. Well, here in Ireland, I receive 1,000 free minutes of off-peak telephone calls each month. This is broken down into 500 free minutes of local calls, and a further 500 free minutes of National calls. The only stipulation is that the calls must be under 5 minutes in duration. After this, call charges come into effect, although they are still much cheaper than the normal Eircom rates. As most of my phone calls would be well within this five-minute limit, I thus pay next to nothing for my phone calls. If I wish, I can also simply hang up and use the redial button when I am approaching the five-minute limit, if I want to maximise the benefit of this feature. Their rates for calls to the UK and the rest of Europe and the World are also much more competitive than I was paying with Eircom. The savings vary at between 20% to 75% depending on what country I ring. I’ll give you just a few quick examples. A Peak time call to the UK with Eircom costs 12p per minute; with Euphony, it’s 7p per minute. A Peak time call to Europe with Eircom costs 29.8p to 37.7p per minute depending on the country; with Euphony it’s 20p per minute. A Peak time call to the USA costs 15p per minute with Eircom; with Euphony it’s 11p per minute. These savings apply almost universally across the board, and apply to off-peak as well as Peak time calls. As well as this, if the person I am calling is also a Euphony subscriber, I also receive a further 25% discount on the cost of the call. I could go on and on giving you examples, but I think this suffices to give you the general picture. I’m simply saving money!!
~ ~ The cost of subscribing to this service is a one off charge of £9.95, which is refunded on your telephone bill if you remain a customer for over three months. Incidentally, Euphony doesn’t tie you down to a service contract for a set period of time. You’re free to leave and go to any other telecom company at any time if you are unhappy with the service in any way.
~ ~ In the UK, there are different packages available than those on offer here in Ireland, and obviously the call rates are different. Again, you will find full details of these at the Euphony website. In the UK, where they have been operating since 1998, they have an even more comprehensive list of services than are currently on offer here in Ireland, where they only began operation in September, 2000. These include an Internet service, an online shopping portal, pre-paid calling cards, a mobile service, and Euphony home insurance. They also operate in Belgium, Holland and Mexico.
~ ~ I have read one or two other opinions here at Ciao which have been critical of the Euphony service, but I can only speak as I find, and I have certainly been more than happy with both the service and the cost savings since I changed to Euphony a few months ago. If you were to seriously consider changing to Euphony from your current service supplier, can I recommend that you take the time to read those opinions also, before you come to any final decision.
Advantages: Cheaper telphone calls and free off peak local calls Disadvantages: none
What is Euphony
Euphony Communications a privately funded company was launched in the UK in 1998 by a guy called Dan Robison.
His success in the USA, as vice president of marketing for Excel Communications Inc, was replicated at Euphony. The Euphony marketing plan is a refined version of that of Excel, The concept of the company is wonderfully simple: Independent Consultants like me ( Dalesman) are given the opportunity to develop their own home ... ...save and earn money from Euphony ? ....
By using the principles of relationship and tel-a-friend marketing, Euphony customers and Consultants have benefited from the deregulation of the telecoms industry in Britain and the rest of Europe. This proven business plan has enabled Euphony to branch out into Belgium, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands soon to be in Germany. In addition to its landline services for business and the home, Euphony ...
Dalesman 14.04.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Euphony
Advantages: They work, whilst you're with them. Disadvantages: They pretend you owe them more money, when you dont.
...bill. By this, I mean Euphony sends you a bill for the calls made through them, and as long as I made the calls through them, I was able to pay for my part of the 'phone bill'. Saving the quartly arguements I was having previously with my parents! ;-)
It all went well - in fact I even bought a Euphony phone, so that there was a 'Euphony button' I could press before dialing (pure lazyness I know, but I didn't have a phone in my bedroom at the time, ... ...I decided I would cancel Euphony on my parent BT phone, as it's just another service I'd be signed up on pointlessly. I phoned them, they cancelled it. I recieved my final bill, and I though it was all over. At this point, I decided I'd replace my parents knackered out old phone with the white Euphony phone, but didn't want my parents accidently pressing the Euphony button, just incase they "hadn't quite" cancelled the service - you know how these ...
MikeWhalley 06.04.2001 (02.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Euphony
Advantages: None Disadvantages: No response from customer services, shoddy billing system, need I go on?!
...I?! I was with Euphony for several months, joining up because I thought it sounded like a good deal (ha!). However, after numerous problems with billing (there seems to be no rhyme nor reason as to how the calls get itemised - some are there from two months before, some appear immediately) and no response to any of my complaints, either by fax, email, letter (even addressed to the MD these went unanswered) or phone (if you ring the helpline they ... ...a customer services rep), I decided to cancel my account. I thought (mistakenly) that this would be easy. I was wrong. More than a year after cancelling my account, I'm still having problems with this company. They are trying to bill me for money that I don't owe them, and the final straw came when I received a bailiff's letter... Euphony's response? I'm still waiting for it.
Like I say in the title, don't touch them with a bargepole. It seems that ...
TantJane 18.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Euphony
Advantages: Good service. Simple. VERY Cheap. No Contract. Disadvantages: Sometimes have to wait a few minutes on hold with crappy music.
...he was a consultant for Euphony that I looked into it as a favour to him. Before I joined he came round and looked at my BT bill and did a price comparison. What I liked about his approach was that he really wasn't pushy with it at all (he later told me that that was the sales approach he was trained to take but prefers as he's not much of a salesperson anyway). I have seen bad reviews on here and so I can only speak from experience but my experiences ... ...I have been with Euphony so far about five months and I'm saving roughly 50%. The basic gist of it is 1000 free minutes for the first 5 minutes of every local and national call exc. 0870/0854. This is perfect for my business as the majority of my calls are made within 5 minutes (I call other small business to take orders) and even after that i think it's cheap, something like 1.9p per minute. Calls to mobiles were cheap as well. The two things that ...
I joined Euphony in December 2006. Foolishly I signed up to a 18 month contract. Since joining I have been completely dissatisfied with their service.
Their Customer is non existent, errors on bills every month. No point calling or emailing. They don't answer emails or calls. If you are lucky , i mean really really lucky then you might just get to speak to smoeone when you call them. If you get to talk to them you will find right hand does not know what left hand is doing.
I think it is a company that is run on automated machines without any human touch, care or feelings for customers. DON'T, DON'T join them. I can't wait for the 18 month contract to be over so i can leave. ...
rchy 12.06.2007 (11.06.2007)
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Euphony
Advantages: They're the biggest Disadvantages: They're the biggest!
OK, admittedly for most people (and I'm talking residential lines here, not commercial) BT is going to be the only option to get a phone line. However, once you've got the line and are paying BT line rental, there's really no justification for staying with them for the calls as well. BT's call charges are outrageously high - International calls particularly so - so it makes far more sense to bypass them and join up with another provider like Euphony. The only exception to this is National calls at the weekend - BT have hammered down the costs here to compete effectively with pretty much everyone else.
What irritates me more than anything else about BT is the complexity of their discount schemes. Sure, you can get money off your bill by joining Friends and Family or Premium line or any one of a hundred other schemes they have, but they ...
iankg 11.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of BT
