Thousands of Eircom customers to be hit with bills of up to €500

The bills comes as Eircom failed to collect direct debits from around 30,000 customers since the beginning of the year.

And instead of crediting customers following the blunder, Eircom will be asking customers to stump up for several months in one go, the Irish Independent has learned.

Some customers owe up to five months in arrears as no payments have been taken since October.

Over the next few months, the telecoms firm will be hitting customers with letters outlining the situation to them.

Eircom has blamed a ‘systems error’ and said it will be talking to customers in a  bid to make out payment plans for those who have difficulty paying.

Eircom's letter to customers pictured below