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.