There was surprise this week when it emerged that 4,000 Eircom customers were still waiting for their phones to be repaired more than a month after Storm Darwin hit. But that wait is minor compared with Martin Maher's case.

The Vodafone land line customer has been waiting since January 2nd to have his phone line restored after a storm at Christmas. He said that although he was told it would be repaired by today he was not holding his breath. Mr Maher said he had been given several "resolution dates" by the firm but all had passed without the problem being resolved.

He was told a pole had fallen near his house in Bandon, Co Cork, and a wiring crew was needed to restore service.

“Every time I ring them they tell that they’ve escalated the complaint for me,” he said.

He has been receiving monthly bills since and was told that the rental charge would be refunded after the service is restored.

A Vodafone spokeswoman said the firm had a wholesale arrangement with Eircom for its fixed services, so the repairs would be carried out by Eircom. She said the unusually bad weather through the winter months had a very significant impact on mobile and fixed services.

She could not say how many Vodafone customers were still waiting for repairs but “the majority of repairs and faults have been fixed”. She said Mr Maher’s phone should be fixed today. “We . . . have reassured him that the issue he is experiencing is being treated as a priority,”she said.