Things you hate about the mobile industry (threads merged)

Greenmachine

Figured if the staff can have a thread about their customers, the customers should have one too.

My experience with 3 have been pretty Brutal. I had a 3 pay phone and was spending 100E+ a month on credit for 3-4 months and figured it was time to get a bill. I only had the phone about 6 months I was still entitled to free credit every month once I topped up. It was around christmas and a I had a few credit vouchers I got as gifts. I recieved a text entitling me to free internet on the phone I don't recall the limit. I went instore to activate my free internet and asked about getting a bill phone. I was told I was credit approved and then their system went down. It Came back upa nd it said I needed to amke a deposit of E200. This was near closing time and the clerk was curious as was I as to why this had changed. I had to come in the next day and ended up paying the deposit of 200 euro to be held for 6 months. Over 9 months into my contract and I still ahve not received this back, I ahve checked bank statement and CC statement and have made numerous phone calls assuring me this would be corrected.

About a week later I started a mobile broadband contract with them. Still not activation on my broadband on my prepay phone despite numerous assurance of a 24hour activation period. I provided my home address and the address I was residing in at the time and was assurred of excellent coverage in both. Despite displaying a perfect signal on numerous occasions there was absolutely no connection.

I rang customer service and was putting through their foreign exchange in India I think. The customer agent was perfectly polite and I can't fault them their at all. They must have had the patience of a saint. However they were either outright lying to me or were completly misinformed. Initially when I had my problem because of being very buzy it was two weeks before I was able call. After going through various routines of disconnecting/reconnecting the usb using the dual lead and reconfiguring software etc. There was an admission that there was a temporary problem and would be resolved the next day. That particular phone call I was on for nearly 7 hours. I do ahve a life you know.

Had similar issues on various other occasions similar to this but just gave up ringing. Trying to get any kind of compensation from them was like trying to get blood from a stone. I eventually got a five euro credit off them for my inconvience meanwhile the problem was still going on.
Now back at my home address the only room in the house I can get any kind of signal is the attic bedroom


Additionally when I started my bill contarct I was assured that locall number were counted in my inclusive minutes. When I got my first bill I found out this was not the case. And had an additional 30 euro or so on top of my 49 basic trying to sort out a problem with NTL. I contacted 3 about this and their was a complete denial on their part.

Finally when I got my phone I found I could not call my best friend on his tesco obile phone which he picked up in January. I would ahve made at least 50% of my calls to him. I very soon found myself in a position where I was on too high of a price plan, and had not way of ringing my friend, sending texts worked either way and he could call me. I just couldn't call him. After a few months of this I was pretty fed so I gave my friend myothe 3 mobile my 3 pay one. It was the better of the two I was then finally able to ring him. n

I have rang up 3 about this numerous times and had them insist taht it is a temorary problem and is a tech prob. I ahve heard from other taht it is going on over a year and is down to disconnection fees.


I feel sorry for the staff jsut trying to do their jobs when the company has such an atrocious attitude.

Tarakiwa

Sorry ........ but the original thread was MUCH funnier!!

Greenmachine

Tarakiwa wrote: »

Sorry ........ but the original thread was MUCH funnier!!

I am guessing it is, it is funny to laugh at how ignorant people are as customer. Musch harder to bitch about how crap a companies service is and make it funny.

chrislad

That's why we have the Consumer Issues forum!

Greenmachine

chrislad wrote: »

That's why we have the Consumer Issues forum!

I had no clue we had one. Seems there are more forums here than days in the year.

drunkmonkey

Greenmachine wrote: »

Figured if the staff can have a thread about their customers, the customers should have one too.

My experience with 3 have been pretty Brutal. I had a 3 pay phone and was spending 100E+ a month on credit for 3-4 months and figured it was time to get a bill. I only had the phone about 6 months I was still entitled to free credit every month once I topped up. It was around christmas and a I had a few credit vouchers I got as gifts. I recieved a text entitling me to free internet on the phone I don't recall the limit. I went instore to activate my free internet and asked about getting a bill phone. I was told I was credit approved and then their system went down. It Came back upa nd it said I needed to amke a deposit of E200. This was near closing time and the clerk was curious as was I as to why this had changed. I had to come in the next day and ended up paying the deposit of 200 euro to be held for 6 months. Over 9 months into my contract and I still ahve not received this back, I ahve checked bank statement and CC statement and have made numerous phone calls assuring me this would be corrected.

About a week later I started a mobile broadband contract with them. Still not activation on my broadband on my prepay phone despite numerous assurance of a 24hour activation period. I provided my home address and the address I was residing in at the time and was assurred of excellent coverage in both. Despite displaying a perfect signal on numerous occasions there was absolutely no connection.

I rang customer service and was putting through their foreign exchange in India I think. The customer agent was perfectly polite and I can't fault them their at all. They must have had the patience of a saint. However they were either outright lying to me or were completly misinformed. Initially when I had my problem because of being very buzy it was two weeks before I was able call. After going through various routines of disconnecting/reconnecting the usb using the dual lead and reconfiguring software etc. There was an admission that there was a temporary problem and would be resolved the next day. That particular phone call I was on for nearly 7 hours. I do ahve a life you know.

Had similar issues on various other occasions similar to this but just gave up ringing. Trying to get any kind of compensation from them was like trying to get blood from a stone. I eventually got a five euro credit off them for my inconvience meanwhile the problem was still going on.
Now back at my home address the only room in the house I can get any kind of signal is the attic bedroom


Additionally when I started my bill contarct I was assured that locall number were counted in my inclusive minutes. When I got my first bill I found out this was not the case. And had an additional 30 euro or so on top of my 49 basic trying to sort out a problem with NTL. I contacted 3 about this and their was a complete denial on their part.

Finally when I got my phone I found I could not call my best friend on his tesco obile phone which he picked up in January. I would ahve made at least 50% of my calls to him. I very soon found myself in a position where I was on too high of a price plan, and had not way of ringing my friend, sending texts worked either way and he could call me. I just couldn't call him. After a few months of this I was pretty fed so I gave my friend myothe 3 mobile my 3 pay one. It was the better of the two I was then finally able to ring him. n

I have rang up 3 about this numerous times and had them insist taht it is a temorary problem and is a tech prob. I ahve heard from other taht it is going on over a year and is down to disconnection fees.


I feel sorry for the staff jsut trying to do their jobs when the company has such an atrocious attitude.

First off the store mis informed you bad form on their part...
7 hours on the phone to support, come on seriously i've trouble shooted 100's of those modems and even the worst problem was resolved within 3 hrs...
NTL or any other national or premium numbers are not included in your minute allowance regardless of Network provider, I know I got stung once or twice myself...
As for not being able to call tesco numbers....they should really sort that out...

Greenmachine

drunkmonkey wrote: »

First off the store mis informed you bad form on their part...
7 hours on the phone to support, come on seriously i've trouble shooted 100's of those modems and even the worst problem was resolved within 3 hrs...
NTL or any other national or premium numbers are not included in your minute allowance regardless of Network provider, I know I got stung once or twice myself...
As for not being able to call tesco numbers....they should really sort that out...

They insisted on going through trouble shooting when the problem was with the network. I will see if I can find the bill. If I can I will ask my friend to help me upload it.

drunkmonkey

Greenmachine wrote: »

They insisted on going through trouble shooting when the problem was with the network. I will see if I can find the bill. If I can I will ask my friend to help me upload it.

No need to, if you say it happend that's good enough, it's not outside the relms of possibility....;)

120_Minutes

I'll relate a little story about the time i rang 3 CC as a customer to check my data usage on my modem.

As you may be aware, the software on the 3 modem has a data counter to tell you how much of your 10gb allowance you've used. i'd heard reports that they werent too accurate so i decided to call 3 cc (at home on my own time) to see what i'd used and compare. I had used approx 2gb leaving around 8 gb)

the conversation went something like this:

(after all the verification crap)

me: i'd like to know how much data allowance i have left
3: (after some brief checking) 8 mb sir.
me: 8 mb??? are you sure??
3: (more checking) yes sir 8 mb.
me: thats impossible, i cant have that little left, do you realise how small of an amount that is?
3: well sir that is what our system says.
me: can you check again please?
3: it is definatly 8 mbs sir.

at this point i decided i had given him enough rope...

me: could you explain to me then, why i'm sitting here looking at the modem software and its telling me i have 8 GIGABYTES left????

3: errrr

me: is it possible you cant tell the difference between mb and gb??

3: *click*

he hangs up. HE HANGS UP.

so i call back, get a different rep and ask the same question....his answer??

3: 8 gb sir.

:rolleyes:

Greenmachine

drunkmonkey wrote: »

No need to, if you say it happend that's good enough, it's not outside the relms of possibility....;)

Thanks. hard on a forum sometime to tell when someone says that's unbelievable whether they mean OMG :eek: or yeah right.

120_Minutes wrote: »

I'll relate a little story about the time i rang 3 CC as a customer to check my data usage on my modem.

As you may be aware, the software on the 3 modem has a data counter to tell you how much of your 10gb allowance you've used. i'd heard reports that they werent too accurate so i decided to call 3 cc (at home on my own time) to see what i'd used and compare. I had used approx 2gb leaving around 8 gb)

the conversation went something like this:

(after all the verification crap)

me: i'd like to know how much data allowance i have left
3: (after some brief checking) 8 mb sir.
me: 8 mb??? are you sure??
3: (more checking) yes sir 8 mb.
me: thats impossible, i cant have that little left, do you realise how small of an amount that is?
3: well sir that is what our system says.
me: can you check again please?
3: it is definatly 8 mbs sir.

at this point i decided i had given him enough rope...

me: could you explain to me then, why i'm sitting here looking at the modem software and its telling me i have 8 GIGABYTES left????

3: errrr

me: is it possible you cant tell the difference between mb and gb??

3: *click*

he hangs up. HE HANGS UP.

so i call back, get a different rep and ask the same question....his answer??

3: 8 gb sir.

:rolleyes:

That's pretty funny. Imagaine your were a GB over and they told you, you were a TB over.

long_b

Idiot in a Meteor shop scaring the cr*p out of my poor wife, telling her she would lose all of the contacts and messages from her business mobile after getting a replacement SIM, without even checking her phone to see if they were stored in the phone's memory.

Random

long_b wrote: »

Idiot in a Meteor shop scaring the cr*p out of my poor wife, telling her she would lose all of the contacts and messages from her business mobile after getting a replacement SIM, without even checking her phone to see if they were stored in the phone's memory.

Sometimes it's better to prepare people for the worst! Although seems a bit insane .. "scaring the cr*p" ?? Really ??

chrislad

long_b wrote: »

Idiot in a Meteor shop scaring the cr*p out of my poor wife, telling her she would lose all of the contacts and messages from her business mobile after getting a replacement SIM, without even checking her phone to see if they were stored in the phone's memory.

I'd hate to see how she'd react if something serious were to happen!

As I said in a previous thread, if your contacts are that important to you, and you don't have them backed up, more the fool you.

long_b

Random wrote: »

Sometimes it's better to prepare people for the worst! Although seems a bit insane .. "scaring the cr*p" ?? Really ??

Like I said, it was her business phone, so the contacts are pretty important to her.

chrislad wrote: »

As I said in a previous thread, if your contacts are that important to you, and you don't have them backed up, more the fool you.

Point taken, but I wouldn't like to guess what percentage of punters actually do ?

Not everyone is as comfortable with technology as they would like, and it's exactly these people who need assistance from the "professionals".

danger mouse

Thread does not deliver..IE there is whole forums for this whining ****e. Take it to the bridge.

chrislad

long_b wrote: »

Like I said, it was her business phone, so the contacts are pretty important to her.


Point taken, but I wouldn't like to guess what percentage of punters actually do ?

Not everyone is as comfortable with technology as they would like, and it's exactly these people who need assistance from the "professionals".

People in mobile phone shops are not responsible for your data. They are there to recommend a plan to suit your needs, recommend a phone to suit your needs and to help with with problems that occur within their remit, such as basic troubleshooting and facilitating phone repairs. No disrespect meant but if your wife has a massive amount of business contacts, she shouldn't be putting all her eggs in one basket. What amount of people back up their numbers, and I suspect you're right in this regard, is irrelevant. She knows how much it would hurt her to lose those numbers so she should take steps to prevent that. It's extraordinarily easy to do that. If she has a PC, practically every phone syncs with Outlook. If she doesn't, pen and paper.

long_b

chrislad wrote: »

People in mobile phone shops are not responsible for your data. .

I agree totally - my point is just that he shouldn't have told her that her contacts were now all gone. A simple "there won't be any of your old contacts on this new SIM" would have been fine.
Anyway, I'm off to do some backups now.

Dankoozy

alright we have one thread full of people complaining about the users of mobile phones and how they won't just sit still and enjoy being ripped off by the system so now we need one to complain about the industry itself

what is it that really annoys you about the mobile phone industry, the networks, manufacturers, retailers, anything at all.

For me the big thing is SIM-locking, I really wish there would be more countries like Singapore that would stand up against this anti-competitive, e-waste generating practice, since the iPhone there are more companies trying on exclusive handset deals that they refuse to ever unlock.

Ever since I bricked a 3310 trying to unlock it i have bought all my phones unlocked. i do travel around a bit and switch network as soon as prices go up or a better deal comes out so well worth it for me anyway, its just a shame to see networks trying to get people used to the idea of perma-locked phones now.

other things that piss me off are
planned obsolescense
slow interfaces (never a problem in the B&W display days)
Lithium batteries (nasty tech + doesn't last very long)
Touchscreens and the hype surrounding them
Rip-off data charges
One-sided contracts that give the networks almost no responsibility at all

bigeasyeah

The ads.

Bondvillain

The customers.

chrislad

Already been done.

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055394946&highlight=things+hate

It wasn't funny so it didn't last

The original thread is meant to be a bit of fun as some of the things that get said to us are priceless!

jordainius

OP, your stance regarding unlocking is completely ignoring WHY networks are so restrictive when it comes to unlocking. Ask yourself why sim free mobiles are way more expensive to buy than they are from a network? We all know that the reason the networks look for a minimum spend before unlocking a phone is because they subsidise the cost of the phone as a goodwill gesture for joining their network, and they are fully entitled to seek that money back, otherwise they would be left seriously out of pocket in the long run and would probably have to recoup the costs by increasing call charges.
And regarding the iphone, o2 won an exclusive contract to distribute the iphone in this country and they are well within their rights to dig their heels in when it comes to unlocking it. And in general, the networks are happy to give out the unlock codes once the customer fulfills either contractual or top up obligations.

Yeah, it is annoying to be restricted, but lets not ignore the reasons that networks do this.

Dankoozy

jordainius wrote: »

OP, your stance regarding unlocking is completely ignoring WHY networks are so restrictive when it comes to unlocking. Ask yourself why sim free mobiles are way more expensive to buy than they are from a network? We all know that the reason the networks look for a minimum spend before unlocking a phone is because they subsidise the cost of the phone as a goodwill gesture for joining their network, and they are fully entitled to seek that money back, otherwise they would be left seriously out of pocket in the long run and would probably have to recoup the costs by increasing call charges.
And regarding the iphone, o2 won an exclusive contract to distribute the iphone in this country and they are well within their rights to dig their heels in when it comes to unlocking it. And in general, the networks are happy to give out the unlock codes once the customer fulfills either contractual or top up obligations.

Yeah, it is annoying to be restricted, but lets not ignore the reasons that networks do this.

Subsidised phones are rarely worth the trouble - my e63 cost the same online as the locked version. at best case its a 0% interest loan you are paying back.

Phone shops overprice unlocked phones they never sell to give clueless folk the idea that they're getting a good deal..



Exclusive deals = network & manufacturers ganging up to rip us off.
I wouldnt complain if you could buy iphones sim free in the shop over here like they do in australia, but its like the choice of getting a phone sim free is slowly being taken away

ninety6days

Pretty soon this problem is going to go away. Trust me, i know something on this.

In the mean time, quit your bitching about sim locking. They're businesses, not charities. Theyve subsidised the cost of the phone AND given you free credit (which by the way, you're not entitled to). If you prefer paying 229 euro for a 6300 then by all means, lift the locks. Also if you want the networks to provide every handset imaginable you'd better be damned sure that a lot of others want the same handset as you because otherwise it increases the cost for the network , and guess where that cost goes to? That's right, the consumer. None of you have paid for text messages for the last 3 years so quit your bitching. If it's that bad, buy a walkie talkie.

And for the record no, i do NOT work for a mobile network.

The cost of text messages,what a rip off!

Dankoozy

ninety6days wrote: »

Pretty soon this problem is going to go away. Trust me, i know something on this.

In the mean time, quit your bitching about sim locking. They're businesses, not charities. Theyve subsidised the cost of the phone AND given you free credit (which by the way, you're not entitled to). If you prefer paying 229 euro for a 6300 then by all means, lift the locks.

the going rate for a 6300 is ~100 euro. but of course the shops will charge you 229 because they want to make the subsidy look bigger because they get kickbacks from the network.

they are indeed not charities, which is why the handset subsidies are just a way of fooling yourself into thinking you're getting a good deal. they have worked out that if you take out a contract for the minimum term you will have paid them back for the handset + a handsome profit for them.

i'd rather buy the handset outright but the problem starts when the only way to buy it is through a network. with the openness of GSM we have a great thing, it would be a shame to see it go the way of CDMA or satellite phone networks

Also if you want the networks to provide every handset imaginable you'd better be damned sure that a lot of others want the same handset as you because otherwise it increases the cost for the network , and guess where that cost goes to? That's right, the consumer. None of you have paid for text messages for the last 3 years so quit your bitching. If it's that bad, buy a walkie talkie.

And for the record no, i do NOT work for a mobile network.

i don't want the networks to do anything other than relay my calls & data. i don't want to buy the phone off them, i don't want the ****e they plaster onto their branded phones, i don't want their walled garden rip off services either.

ninety6days

Dankoozy wrote: »

the going rate for a 6300 is ~100 euro. but of course the shops will charge you 229 because they want to make the subsidy look bigger because they get kickbacks from the network.

no, the going rate for a subsidised handset is ~100 euro. This may have been a bad example as this phone more than any other has fluctuated hugely. The point i'm making is that this is the break even price for the handset sim free.

they are indeed not charities, which is why the handset subsidies are just a way of fooling yourself into thinking you're getting a good deal. they have worked out that if you take out a contract for the minimum term you will have paid them back for the handset + a handsome profit for them.

Again, you seem to have missed the point. the prepaid handsets are subsidised just like the postpay ones. Heavier subsidy on contract because call spend is guaranteed. moderately subsidised on prepay(varies by handset, admittedly) because the spend is probable but not necessarily going to happen. And yes it's a profit. BECAUSE ITS A BUSINESS.

i'd rather buy the handset outright but the problem starts when the only way to buy it is through a network. with the openness of GSM we have a great thing, it would be a shame to see it go the way of CDMA or satellite phone networks

more ignorance. you can still buy simfree phones in plenty of places, it just costs more. But most people don't realies this because they assume that jsut because the prepay price is higher, it's the actual price. it's not.

i don't want the networks to do anything other than relay my calls & data. i don't want to buy the phone off them, i don't want the ****e they plaster onto their branded phones, i don't want their walled garden rip off services either.

I actually agree with some of this. walled gardens are a pain in the ass, so is branding. But you don't HAVE to buy the phone from them. You can buy or (if you're more clever) get the sim for free and add a sim free phone from wherever you like. The catch my friend is that
1. The phone may never have been tested for compatibility with the network, because why would they spend time and money testing a product tehy don't sell?
2. THE COST OF SIM FREE PHONES IS HIGHER THAN THE COST YOU SEE ON PREPAID LOCKED PHONES



sigh.

Dankoozy

ninety6days wrote: »

no, the going rate for a subsidised handset is ~100 euro. This may have been a bad example as this phone more than any other has fluctuated hugely. The point i'm making is that this is the break even price for the handset sim free.


Again, you seem to have missed the point. the prepaid handsets are subsidised just like the postpay ones. Heavier subsidy on prepay because call spend is guaranteed. moderately subsidised (varies by handset, admittedly) because the spend is probable but not necessarily going to happen. And yes it's a profit. BECAUSE ITS A BUSINESS.



more ignorance. you can still buy simfree phones in plenty of places, it just costs more. But most people don't realies this because they assume that jsut because the prepay price is higher, it's the actual price. it's not.





I actually agree with some of this. walled gardens are a pain in the ass, so is branding. But you don't HAVE to buy the phone from them. You can buy or (if you're more clever) get the sim for free and add a sim free phone from wherever you like. The catch my friend is that
1. The phone may never have been tested for compatibility with the network, because why would they spend time and money testing a product tehy don't sell?
2. THE COST OF SIM FREE PHONES IS HIGHER THAN THE COST YOU SEE ON PREPAID LOCKED PHONES



sigh.

I can get a 6300 for the same price as the subsidised phone, easy. not on a high-street mobile phone shop but i can definitely get it.

there are plenty of sim-free phones around now but this idea of "only on Meteor/o2" thing seems to be catching on. its a way of getting people to stick to a more expensive/lower quality network because they've cleverly teamed up with some manufacturer.

The good thing about GSM is that the phones are tested by some company to see if it complies with the GSM spec, if it does then there is nothing to worry about. the good thing about a standard like that is there is no need for testing each individual phone model. its only some of the more lower-end knock-offs from china that don't work properly because the company that makes them probably can't be arsed spending $50,000 to have a phone tested

ninety6days

Dankoozy wrote: »

I can get a 6300 for the same price as the subsidised phone, easy. not on a high-street mobile phone shop but i can definitely get it.

there are plenty of sim-free phones around now but this idea of "only on Meteor/o2" thing seems to be catching on. its a way of getting people to stick to a more expensive/lower quality network because they've cleverly teamed up with some manufacturer.

The good thing about GSM is that the phones are tested by some company to see if it complies with the GSM spec, if it does then there is nothing to worry about. the good thing about a standard like that is there is no need for testing each individual phone model. its only some of the more lower-end knock-offs from china that don't work properly because the company that makes them probably can't be arsed spending $50,000 to have a phone tested

only on meteor/o2 is not to keep someone on a more expensive network, it's the only method networks have of using and individual product to sell a range of services (which is where they actually make their money). they can't all have every phone. Anyway, how is this any differnt from mcdonalds having the only big macs? Or restaurants having their own menus? or sky having movies earlier than others?

Admittedly you're partially right about the GSM issue, but i wasnt specific enough. i was talkngi about the extra services like MMS and internet access, which are most of the actual logistical problems for networks when picking phones, massive amounts of effort go into the network software (particularly meteor) because ITS NOT AS SIMPLE AS PEOPLE THINK.

and further, when was the last time you were "arsed" spending 50000 on something?

Random

Two threads merged together.

ninety6days

Dankoozy wrote: »

slow interfaces (never a problem in the B&W display days)

this is a stupid complaint. It's like complaining that the ABS never faield on a model t.

drunkmonkey

Dankoozy wrote: »

the going rate for a 6300 is ~100 euro. but of course the shops will charge you 229 because they want to make the subsidy look bigger because they get kickbacks from the network.

Dankoozy wrote: »

I can get a 6300 for the same price as the subsidised phone, easy. not on a high-street mobile phone shop but i can definitely get it.

No Carphone have big sim free prices which make the vodafone prices look good when in fact their sim free prices and vodafone prices are a rip off..

Where's this place you can pick up sim free handsets for the same price as subsidised handsets?

Dankoozy

ninety6days wrote: »

only on meteor/o2 is not to keep someone on a more expensive network, it's the only method networks have of using and individual product to sell a range of services (which is where they actually make their money). they can't all have every phone. Anyway, how is this any differnt from mcdonalds having the only big macs? Or restaurants having their own menus? or sky having movies earlier than others?

Admittedly you're partially right about the GSM issue, but i wasnt specific enough. i was talkngi about the extra services like MMS and internet access, which are most of the actual logistical problems for networks when picking phones, massive amounts of effort go into the network software (particularly meteor) because ITS NOT AS SIMPLE AS PEOPLE THINK.

and further, when was the last time you were "arsed" spending 50000 on something?

once the standards for MMS and all that are properly implemented on the handset and the network there shouldn't be a problem, thats what standards are for.

its different because manufacturers and networks are completely separate entities and the way things are now - the ability to use any GSM handset on any GSM network is a great thing to have. mobile phone networks should compete on the basis of having the best service at the lowest price, not who can strike the best exclusive deals with manufacturers.

'only on meteor' doesn't actually bother me that much once i can still go and get the phone independently. the trouble starts when they start defending their exclusivity 'iphone-style' or making the networks more proprietary so that independently bought phones don't work as well

drunkmonkey wrote: »

No Carphone have big sim free prices which make the vodafone prices look good when in fact their sim free prices and vodafone prices are a rip off..

Where's this place you can pick up sim free handsets for the same price as subsidised handsets?

ebay, expansys sometimes and this little shop in the middle of london that i will never for the life of me be able to find a second time. ah **** it if i had 130 pound in my pocket that day...

ninety6days wrote: »

this is a stupid complaint. It's like complaining that the ABS never faield on a model t.

its more like complaining that the smallest engine offered in any particular car model is underpowered. except with phones you can't really say you want a faster processor unless you overclock it yourself. things are not nearly as bad as they used to be but srsly, a 150 mhz processor in the 9500? wtf were they thinking. but i suppose everyone wanted a phone with a colour screen and the faster processors were too expensive

ninety6days

Dankoozy wrote: »

once the standards for MMS and all that are properly implemented on the handset and the network there shouldn't be a problem, thats what standards are for.

its different because manufacturers and networks are completely separate entities and the way things are now - the ability to use any GSM handset on any GSM network is a great thing to have. mobile phone networks should compete on the basis of having the best service at the lowest price, not who can strike the best exclusive deals with manufacturers.

'only on meteor' doesn't actually bother me that much once i can still go and get the phone independently. the trouble starts when they start defending their exclusivity 'iphone-style' or making the networks more proprietary so that independently bought phones don't work as well



ebay, expansys sometimes and this little shop in the middle of london that i will never for the life of me be able to find a second time. ah **** it if i had 130 pound in my pocket that day...



its more like complaining that the smallest engine offered in any particular car model is underpowered. except with phones you can't really say you want a faster processor unless you overclock it yourself. things are not nearly as bad as they used to be but srsly, a 150 mhz processor in the 9500? wtf were they thinking. but i suppose everyone wanted a phone with a colour screen and the faster processors were too expensive

800 mhz in the jet. 600 in the iphone. Yes, some things are expensive compared to purchasing online. It's almost like websites have no overheads, isn't it? Moron.

watty

SMS. Expensive, costs Network essentially nothing.

Roaming charges are dishonest in Europe

Misleading claims about coverage.

Packages are designed to make it very hard to compare with the other 4 voice Mobile operators.

Cross subsidy of 150:1 to 500:1 of Data packages by Voice packages.

The lying dishonesty of quoteing total Mast Sector peak speed (only one customer with perfect signal) as a speed (weasel Up To).

Claiming Data Internet is Broadband. It can't ever be as minimum speed is under Dialup, and it may drop call or disconnect. It's officially "Midband" and is a form of Wireless Dialup.

Subsidised locked in packages to make phones look cheap. Distorts market and limits handset competiton.

Excessive unlock charge when you have paid enough subscription to cover subsidy and made them a normal profit.

Refusal to sell Data Sims for unlocked Modems. (Because you would buy 4 to have x4 data per month, which they can't afford, see below).

Hidden FUP and misleadingly presented Traffic charges. Claiming 5G, 10G or 15G is a large Cap (120G is a large Cap, 15G is small).

Lack of clarity that if you use up 30 day PAYG DATA, unlike voice you are charged at upto €500 a Gigabyte out of topup till 20 more days are passed if you use your 30day topup data in 10 days.

Only let you have one PAYG SIM for Data (see last one as to why).


Not losing their licence when they did not comply with it. Lying to Comreg about coverage and Roll out.

Allowing and profiting by premium voice and SMS scams.


Operator SMS and MMS Spam. Really getting bad on O2 bill pay.


They are pathetically regulated.

Random

ninety6days wrote: »

800 mhz in the jet. 600 in the iphone. Yes, some things are expensive compared to purchasing online. It's almost like websites have no overheads, isn't it? Moron.

Please don't insult other users. You've been given a warning. PM me if you have any issues.

ninety6days

Random wrote: »

Please don't insult other users. You've been given a warning. PM me if you have any issues.

understood. New here. uesd to forums with less restrictions. not to be repeated. Apologies also to drunkmonkey.

ninety6days

watty wrote: »

The lying dishonesty of quoteing total Mast Sector peak speed (only one customer with perfect signal) as a speed (weasel Up To).

In all fairness with so much variation how else can they quote the speed?

Rsaeire

ninety6days wrote: »

In all fairness with so much variation how else can they quote the speed?

Mobile providers need to quote "a" speed, so consumers are aware of what the network is capable of and so they can market that speed with all the hyperbole they can muster in an attempt to increase revenue.

Also, by carefully including the two words "up to", they're effectively covering themselves should anyone complain that they're not receiving the quoted figure that appears in all the providers' marketing material, e.g. Meteor advertising their HSPA network's speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps; they also "forgot" to advise their loyal customers that they don't sell any device(s) that come(s) close to that speed.

watty

ninety6days wrote: »

In all fairness with so much variation how else can they quote the speed?

There ARE Industry metrics KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), Cell Average Throughput is quoted by the VENDORS of the masts at 2Mbps per sector shared between all the online users.

An economically loaded Mast would have average of 200kBps at peak time.

"Up to" 7.2Mbps is so misleading compared with a real 3Mbps or 7Mbps DSL or Cable or Fixed Wireless Broadband package speeds.

They are NOT quoting a typical speed, but peak system capacity. It's basically a lie. International definition of the systems is NOT Broadband but MidBand. Dialup and up to 2 channel ISDN (128kbps) is officially Narrowband.

Less than 10% of a Cells area can get the full speed, and only if only one user is on line
http://www.radioway.info/comparewireless/CompareHSPAandFixed-v4.html

Speed versus different distance from mast, a SINGLE connection switched on is figures on right,
the "speed bubbles" show individual speeds for 10 users.



Speed versus distance from mast with 20 users (in a sector)

Note though shown as circles a "Sector" of 20 users is 1/3rd pizza/pie slice of "petal" shape overlapping the two neighbouring sectors slightly.
The "speed bubbles" show speed of each user if all are simultaneously running.

watty

The 14.4Mbps only applies thus close to mast and no other users INCLUDING phone calls on your 1/3rd pie/petal sector.

It's thus fantasy, on average, in the real world.

The Cells are small, and Random users clump. So some masts have occasional phone calls (road side National Routes) and others have twice the average number of users and thus you have only 50kbps or random disconnects.

Data users only get what is left after phone calls are connected! It's only a Mobile Phone system.

The "real word" Average speed is (2Mbps x 3 x Number of Masts) / (Number of customers connecting at once). Due to uneven nature some people will have up to 5Mbps (less than 10%) and some 50kbps or disconnects.

xanthor

Rant:

Vodafones spotty coverage around the D5 area, combined with several months of "we only just became aware of the problem".

Vodafone's intermittent 3G coverage right in the center of Dublin.

Vodafone's piss poor "full range" of handsets.

Nokia's market dominance.

Nokia's abuse of their market dominance.

Networks' that will not offer anything other than Nokia for fear of confusing people who think that Nokia is the only viable mobile phone brand on the
planet.