Meteor Reception

JTMan

I have had a meteor phone now since meteor launched. I like the pre-paid package but the reception for me is piss poor.

In their covered area's the strength of the reception 90% of the time is just not as good as vodafone or 02 . Where I work I have to go out to the carpark just to get reception.

Does everyone find the strength of the reception with meteor is not as good as Vodafone/o2 ?

viking

I bought a pre-paid SIM card from Meteor just after they launched. I was in college in the centre of Dublin at the time and it was nigh impossible to get a reception, when I did it was impossible to maintain it. Needless to say it was frustrating, so I wrote a very angry letter to Meteor. They were quite nice about my complaint but unfortunately I couldn't see any improvement with the service so I went back to Digifone/02 .
[goes off to find the email and the reply]:

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Original Message

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From: Viking
Sent: 03 April 2001 16:34
To: info@meteor.ie
Subject: Meteor Network?


Dear Sir/Madam,

I preregistered and eagerly purchased a SIM card as soon as they were available with the view that I was joining a network that would meet my mobile needs.
What I have found is that instead of leaving a bad network (Digifone) and joining a better one, I seemed to have left a bad one and gone to one that extraordinarily worse. The level of network availability is next to non-existent, I live in Dublin and spend most of the working day in and around Dublin 2. When I do get a signal I certainly cannot be mobile or the signal is gone. This does not define a mobile network in my opinion, but one that has more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

Now, I honestly thought that I was going to get a better level of service and one that I was happy to use. Unfortunately this is not the case. I understand completely that your company is brand new and may have some problems at the beginning, but there has to be a point where that explanation doesn't wash. If your network wasn't ready you should not have launched and certainly you should not have launched telling people that you had 55% of the country covered including Dublin. (Am I not mistaken or does the map on your site show that Dublin is covered?)

Your network is not usable in my opinion and it has nothing to do with my phone (Nokia 6610) as it could receive a strong signal 95% of the time with Digifone. I know you will reply and tell me that Meteor technicians are working very hard to build a network around the country and these problems are to be expected, but as I said previously you should not have launched if the network was not ready, especially in the centre of Dublin, where there most definitely should be adequate network coverage.

I have a found a single place in the building where I am where I can receive 2 bars of coverage and make a call, although the call quality is poor with echoes being the norm, and I dare not move a couple of feet or the signal is lost. I will continue doing this until the end of April when the half price call offer ends or when the credit on my card runs out, whichever comes sooner. After which I will cease using your service for good. I could only envisage returning when I am completely confident and have been assured
that you have a proper level of network coverage. Until then, from my personal experiences I will not encourage anyone to join your network.

Yours,

Viking

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Dear Viking,

Thank you for your email and your comments. At present we do have coverage
in Dublin, however we are constantly improving the coverage there. I have
spoken with our Coverage Department and they have informed me that they are
taking steps to have a number of new sites available there in the very near
future. I have also informed the coverage department about you not having
access to the network in the Dublin 2 area as we do have sites available
there and they will investigate the sites there.

For Meteor Mobile to launch the third mobile phone network in Ireland the
licence requirement of 33% population coverage was required. Meteor
launched with 55% population coverage and we are continuously extending the
network.

I have noted your comments and I will forward them onto my relevant
colleagues. I apologise for any inconvenience caused and as a gesture of
Goodwill I would like to credit your account with £10 if you wish to forward
me your 085 phone number. As Meteor continues to expand our network we
would look forward to regaining your valued custom in the future.

If you have any further queries please contact us.

Kind regards
[Name Removed]
Customer Care Department
Meteor Mobile Communications.

ehalpin

Congradulations Mr Viking for spending so long to write an e-mail of Pure witt into an 18 month old company / 2 weeks at the time you sent that e-mail. I bet you sit at home all day and write those kind of e-mails to companies that you are not satisfied with. You buy a sim card for £15, get another £40 free credit and have the cheek to insult the reader of that letter with that content. If i was the one reading that letter i would have went to your house and stuck that 6610 somewhere you would definitley not get coverage. You my young sir have a god-damned cheek to post that letter publically on a site, are'nt you a witty little darling. I hope digifone (O2) suspend you, just for being you

Yours with coverege

Non- 085 User

Chico_2002

Quote

"What I have found is that instead of leaving a bad network (Digifone) and joining a better one, I seemed to have left a bad one and gone to one that extraordinarily worse."

In the words of Mick McCarthy....TUFF TITTY

Mutz

I Get Perfect Reception from Meteor. Nokia 3310

Viking, try turning it on and off like all good technical experts. 'Location Update'. It works alot of the time.

Get your phone checked out. What Part of dublin are you in?

You Could try suggesting all of the areas that you have poor reception in to Meteor to allow them to improve there service.

Its all very well criticising a new company, but balance your criticism and give suggestions i.e. What areas have bad reception.

I'd say all mobile companies have these problems at the start. You'll never hear anything about those days because very few ppl had mobile phones back then.

I do realise that when ppl buy something, they expect 100% Quality and reliabilty, but Vodafone and o2 cant claim 100% either.

My Experience with Vodafone was a constant "Network Busy" message. Basically their Network is Over Capacitated with too many customers and the 'I dont give a shít attitude'; from there Customer Care Reps.

With o2 (Digiphone) my phone could never get coverage.

So with all honesty I can say that this is the first phone that I have never had any problems with. My currnet phone with meteor is a Bill phone.

Only unattractive thing is patchy coverage in the west and extreme south west.

viking

I bet you sit at home all day and write those kind of e-mails to companies that you are not satisfied with.

No I fortunately I don't encounter too many companies that frustrate me so much to write such an email.

You buy a sim card for £15, get another £40 free credit and have the cheek to insult the reader of that letter with that content.

Excuse me, but that letter was written to express my annoyance/anger at what I felt was a complete lack of coverage in the Dublin area. The letter was not sent purposely to "insult" anyone. I'm sure that the reader of that letter didn't feel personally insulted, I think they would have enough cop on to realise that I was criticising the company that they work for and not them.

If i was the one reading that letter i would have went to your house and stuck that 6610 somewhere you would definitley not get coverage.

You weren't the one reading it, it was sent to a trained customer care representative who's used to getting letters/phonecalls from irate customers. Its part of their job and I'm sure that the person [a girl] forgot about the "content" of my letter very shortly afterwards.

You my young sir...

I am not young, nor am I immature, but thanks for the compliment...

...have a god-damned cheek to post that letter publically on a site, are'nt you a witty little darling.

Why? Someone posted a new thread regarding the reception of Meteor versus Vodafone/O2. I relayed my experiences by posting the emails, hiding my name and the Customer Care Reps name, thereby protecting identities. Why have I a god-damned cheek for doing that? Don't be silly. There are plenty of people on these boards who post email communications between themselves and other companies without receiving childish abuse.

I'm not trying to start a flame war or anything like that ehalpin, I was quite entitled, as a customer of Meteor, to send feedback (good or bad) to them relaying what I thought. Its what should be done if you are dissatisfied with a company's service, how else are they suppose to know what their customers are thinking? Any company worth their mettle will seek out feedback from customers, they would rather be told than not told at all and wonder why their customers are unhappy.

"What I have found is that instead of leaving a bad network (Digifone) and joining a better one, I seemed to have left a bad one and gone to one that extraordinarily worse."

In the words of Mick McCarthy....TUFF TITTY

LOL. Seriously though Chico_2002, thats what happened, I was soo frustrated with them. I hadn't cancelled my a/c with Digifone at the time so I used my choices as a consumer and went back to Digifone, saying goodbye forever to Meteor. I didn't even use the credit in the 085 account, I couldn't get an adequate signal to make a decent call.

Get your phone checked out. What Part of dublin are you in?

You Could try suggesting all of the areas that you have poor reception in to Meteor to allow them to improve there service.

Its all very well criticising a new company, but balance your criticism and give suggestions i.e. What areas have bad reception.

It wasn't the phone Mutz, it was a new Nokia 6110 which worked perfectly with Digifone. I did write a follow up email to Customer Service explaining where in Dublin 2 I was having network problems. I got a call several days later from an engineer who was checking out the problems I reported, and I helped him with his enquiries. I didn't have to, I could have easily told him to feck off I was so pissed off with them, but since I informed them of the problem it is only right to help them out with more information.

At the end of the day, we Irish are very fond of sitting back and letting companies provide poor services, we don't complain enough and therefore the services don't improve.

viking

ehalpin

ehalpin: You made your point (I didn't nuke it, even though it bordered on abusive) and viking responded in kind. Your last post was just abuse, so I've deleted it.

Both of you: Play nice or bad things will happen.

ehalpin

Hey man, thats cool, i have nothing personal against any poster, nor do i have a problem with anybody expressing their opinion. I'm sorry if i came accross abusive, and for that i appologise to Viking for any insult taken.What i do have a problem with is somebody posting a response to a complaint he made privately. Admin in meteor have replied privately to the mail Viking sent in. They have had no oppertuinity to defend themselves to a public discussion. Most companies i know would have words to say about this form of opiniated discussion as potential clients may be turned away by a small few.

I also believe this thread should not have been allowed to be started in the first place as it encourages bitching towards a company, a company which has been given no oppertunity to defend themselves in this forum. If you want everybody to play nice, a bit of consideration towards the company would be Fair. The email by Viking was sent a year ago, thats a very long time in a mobile network roll out timescale, and as Mutz said, he now has perfect coverege on his handset. I am not very opinionated in most matters, but open bitching is not what i consider a forum is about.

bkehoe

I certainly don't see the problem with viking posting his email here. IMHO, it shows them as having good service, e.g. giving him €10, etc.

ehalpin, you'd love all the Eircom bashing in the other forums, e.g. IrelandOffline. Check it out.

Brendan

ehalpin

Thanks Brendan
Maybe ill check it out, who knows -> i could get to like company bashing