Thousands of viewers of RTÉ's Late Late Showwere overcharged by Eircom recently when trying to dial in to the programme's premium-rate competition phone lines. Ciarán Hancock, Business Affairs Correspondent, reports.
The telecom company yesterday admitted that a software glitch meant that viewers dialling phone-in competitions on the Late Late Show'sthree most recent shows before last night were charged for uncompleted calls.
Eircom said the number of customers affected was in the "low thousands". On average, customers were overcharged by €1 a call, the company said.
Some viewers could have been charged more if they were dialling from mobile phones or depending on charges imposed by their phone companies. Eircom said "impacted customers" would be "fully rebated".
Eircom said the problem was corrected on Thursday and the Late Late Showproceeded last night with a charity phone-in competition.
The competitions charge a premium rate to callers. The service is operated for RTÉ by Phonovation with Eircom supplying the network support.
The overcharging came to light when five viewers received their phone bills and contacted RTÉ.
Eircom said it hopes to conclude its investigation next week. In a statement, the company said: "The problem appears to be the result of a software upgrade in Eircom's network, implemented by one of the company's key suppliers. This upgrade may have resulted in some customers being charged for attempted but uncompleted calls."
The affected shows were broadcast on April 27th and May 4th and 11th.