Eircom has apologised to thousands of customers who could be left with financial problems due to a billing error.
The company said that due to a processing error in the direct debiting of the August/September bill, about 16,000 customers did not have their bills debited from their bank accounts.
This amount was included in the October/November bill. The full amount would normally be debited from bank accounts within 21 days of receipt of the bill, but eircom have promised to refund "arrears".
"When this error was highlighted, the billing process for October/November was already in place and unfortunately it was not possible to notify approximately 11,000 of those customers," eircom said in a statement.
"We have made arrangements for those customers to either defer the payment of the 'arrears' amount, or alternatively, if the direct debit has already been drawn down, we will refund the 'arrears' amount by way of cheque or relodgement to their bank accounts. To avail of either facility, customers affected should contact eircom on 1901 and select 'bill enquiry' option.
"We apologise to those customers affected for any inconvenience caused. The processing difficulties which caused this situation have now been fully resolved."