Blueface (Three?) Mobile Issues

cormie

I switched to Blueface from Vodafone a few months ago and have been having a few issues and I'm not sure if Blueface or Three are to blame.

I have had numerous people telling me they were trying to call me and just got a "beep beep" noise, no ring tone, no straight to voice mail connection. Nothing. Two existing customers told me yesterday and it's happened before too. I'm imagining any new customers trying to ring me gave up and maybe even thought the business was no more. The frustrating thing is, there's no way to tell who was ringing me as there's no missed call text like Vodafone sent when I was with them.

Another annoying thing is I was texting 2 Polish numbers, one failed immediately every time, the other appeared to send. It turns out the recipient didn't even receive the ones that appeared to send ok, and were receiving a message that just said "sms". Both Polish numbers are fine, they are receiving sms from other Irish people and I never had a problem texting the number when I with Vodafone. The only advice I've been given is to ring the Polish network and see what the problem is. Surely its in my providers best interest to resolve this with the Polish networks and not rely on a customer to do it for them?

The reception also seems to be quite iffy and not the best at times, even around Dublin. I lost reception for about 30 minutes the last day but understand this was a Three issue.

The roaming data speeds are pretty bad and I was having trouble connecting to Data even in big towns in the UK.

Blueface support is only open until 17:30 and given the amount of issues so far, this isn't great. I never really had to ring Vodafone other than billing issues.

The only thing stopping me switching back to VF immediately is the convenience of having my 01 number directed to the mobile and I get a pretty good deal for that and mobile together, but any savings are quickly diminished if I'm missing new sales calls.

I could put up with a bit of bad reception and slow data, but to think I'm missing calls I'll never even know about, or to think people are receiving texts that they aren't is not acceptable.

Is anyone else experiencing similar? I don't know if it's teething issues with the three/o2 switch-over, if it's known and common issues with Three, or if it's just issues with Blueface.

Zombienosh

I had issues with Three yesterday, think it's fixed now though.

bugfreebob

cormie wrote: »

I switched to Blueface from Vodafone a few months ago and have been having a few issues and I'm not sure if Blueface or Three are to blame.

I have had numerous people telling me they were trying to call me and just got a "beep beep" noise, no ring tone, no straight to voice mail connection. Nothing. Two existing customers told me yesterday and it's happened before too. I'm imagining any new customers trying to ring me gave up and maybe even thought the business was no more. The frustrating thing is, there's no way to tell who was ringing me as there's no missed call text like Vodafone sent when I was with them.

The Three network has been in melt-down since the "merger" of O2 & Three. In addition to the big national outages which were publicised in the media, most users are experiencing problems daily with calls going to voicemail, poor speeds, and bad handovers when "roaming" between Three and Three(O2). Three were heavily dependent on the Vodafone roaming agreement and that gave them good coverage - without it they can't cope. Most people I know have either left them or are trying to leave. If you are on Blueface, you are going to have exactly the same problems as they just use the Three network. Since you are a business user, you should take a look at eMobile - very good business deals, proper 4G network and free roaming in Europe & US. Alternatively go back to Vodafone, but it will cost you. All the other main re-sellers are using Three and should be avoided.

See this poll for recent boardsies opinions on Three. Also check out the "Talk-to-Three" board to see just how bad things are. You won't find too many other Blueface users - but plenty of stricken Three users.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057400780

cormie

Thanks a lot for that. I guess it's good to know it's not just Blueface, I'm wondering is the Polish number texting blueface or three related now you metion all that thought!

The vodafone deal I was on before switching was very good, the only reason I switched to blueface was to have it all together in one bill and on service, it's really handy that way but I'm not going to be able to put up with this service for business use. The vodafone deal was great, unlimited calls/texts, 100 international minutes and texts and the red roaming which gave 200mb a day and "like home" calls, all for €35 a month +2.99 per roaming day, which is great value.

Which emobile plan are you referring to? What network to emobile piggy back off? I thought it was Meteor and I thought meteor used the same network as o2, which has now merged with 3, so are they not all the same and the only independent network now VF?

bugfreebob

cormie wrote: »

Which emobile plan are you referring to? What network to emobile piggy back off? I thought it was Meteor and I thought meteor used the same network as o2, which has now merged with 3, so are they not all the same and the only independent network now VF?

€35 pm eMobile Business Unlimited Plan - Unlimited calls/texts in Ireland, EU and US. No daily surcharge for roaming like you have with Vodafone Red. International calls to UK included free also as well as roaming. 15GB 4G data included in Ireland (you haven't said - but I think your Vodafone plan might have been limited to 2GB?) 250MB roaming data included. I suppose if you use most of your 100 international minutes for non UK, then Vodafone might have some small advantage. On the other hand if you need more data at home or free roaming without the surcharge, then eMobile looks better.

https://business.eircom.net/product/small-business-mobile-plan

eMobile is on the Eircom network (they also own Meteor - so it is the same network). It is not the same as O2 or Three - totally separate network, but they did share some sites with O2 and now Three. They have not been affected by any of the outages that Three have had, so I guess they are just using the same buildings/masts and not sharing any of the network infrastructure. They also have a roaming agreement with Vodafone - but it very rarely seems to kick in - only in some remote areas in the West.

cormie

Thanks for that, I see the business unltd is €45 outside of a bundle, but it's €20 pm sim only which is very good. €24.60 plus VAT in that case.

Nice that the roaming is all inclusive with 250MB data too.

The advantage with VF is you got 200MB a DAY. 250MB a month wouldn't last too long on a few trips abroad I don't think, the great thing with VF is you knew you had plenty of DATA with 200mb a day and it would only cost you €2.99 or so.

250mb data roaming isn't to be sniffed at either though. I wonder how much it is per MB once you use up the 250mb though. I'm still hesitant to move from Blueface as I really researched it to bits before moving and it seemed perfect for THIS.

If the network service was ok I'd stay for sure!