The man on the street vs mobile phone companies

[SGHOM]

I'm back online via my mobile after yet another outage /catfight

Only 9 hours offline this time ! I am fecking sick & tired of getting nowhere with them about the downtime.

I pay £35 per month for unlimited calls/ texts/ Internet, but can only access when it suits them...... *****rs

[martin_y]

pray tell, who is the company?

[oldgit9]

I pay £35 per month for unlimited calls/ texts/ Internet, but can only access when it suits them...... *****rs

I'm in a similar boat. I'm with Orange and the 3G reception around where I live is bloody poor. I'm lucky to get any signal in my office at work. Ok, my office is in a basement of an old building, but my mates on other networks can get full 3G signal. So why can't I? I get the same problem when I'm at my parents house in Wales.

If my old memory serves me right, didn't Orange state in their TV ads, that they are the best 3G network with 97% of the country covered. I must be one of the most unluckiest people in the country. Living, working and having family and friends around the country, that all live in the 3% that is not covered by the 3G network.

Do we qualify for some sort refund? Because our network provider does not supply us with the service that we are paying for?

[swinks]

Do we qualify for some sort refund? Because our network provider does not supply us with the service that we are paying for?

Yes, and eeergh.. no.
Depends on small print in contract. There was a case in Poland which I know quite well, because my bro works as one of leading traffic engineer in Polish branch of Orange.
So, Orange (called Idea in late 90's and beginning 2000-on), was pioneer of providing 2.5G and 3G (over 1800Mhz) in Poland. In mid 90's they signed up many contracts with customers and to their surprise they were sued to the court due to lack of coverage. Apparently, they didn't change small print claiming still coverage for 2G! Well, finally they didn't pay any compensation, but customers not happy with service were free to terminate their contracts without any fees or penalties.
Since then they have in small print formula saying that you had check actual map coverage (over website or with dealer) and acknowledge it.

[Humpty's Revenge]

If there not giving you the promissed agreement on the contract then they are in breach and they should of told you that you would have problems.

Change suppliers don`t put up with crap services from this country!

We were on Virgin what a load of :censored: they caped our line so we could`nt get more than 1.1 mbs on log-on and told us it was BT`s fault. How could it be??

We are now with Talktalk and our speed is getting higher each week

We pay £26.95 which includes everything from broadband to free calls 24/7 Etc

[SGHOM]

pray tell, who is the company?


O2.....

3 times in the past 2 weeks the server has stopped working. Usually for several hours.
If I go outside, I get a reasonable signal. I can only dream of full 3G signal though!

[chris g]

Yes SGHOM, I think I am in same situation, can only dream of full performance...

[Spirit]

Coverage Maps:

Orange: http://search.orange.co.uk/ouk/portal/coveragechecker.html?channel=direct/
O2: http://www.webmap.o2.co.uk/
Vodafone: http://online.vodafone.co.uk/mobile_services/mobile_network_coverage/Coverage_map_signal_strength_tester

[oldgit9]

just done a search on the orange website and found out that the figures that i quoted in my post were wrong.

here is a direct quote from their website: http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Satellite?c=OUKService&pagename=OUKPersonal&cid=1096023564458
"Our 3G network covers 93% of the UK population, more than any other mobile network in the UK. Orange also has the largest integrated 2.5/3G network in the UK so if you happen to go out of our 3G range, you’ll be seamlessly transferred to our 2.5G network."

so i wasn't too far off.

i checked out the coverage maps that "spirit" had linked to, and according to the map, i live in an area where i should get good to very good coverage. which is full of bull i can tell you. im sat in my house next to a window as we speak and i can only get one to three bar signal strength on my iphone.

orange need to sort this out....but i can guarantee you, when you contact orange (or any other network), they will say that either a tower is down and it's in the processes of getting fixed or that you just live in a poor coverage area. therefore, there is nothing that they can do at the moment.

[Barney]

Taff,
Think yourself lucky.
I can only get a mobile signal up here of 1 bar - occasionally, so whenever I drive away from the house I get 100 metres and then receive 10 or more text messages at one go. The coverage maps say the road gets coverage but my end of the road doesn't. It is generally accepted that Orange has the best coverage on the moor.

As for broadband, the whole area was wired up during a Copper wire shortage -so the lines are made of Aluminium.
Over the years these lines have become subject to micro fracturing. They still function but suffer high noise that translates into slow internet speeds even though I'm paying for 2 MB the best I get is around 500/600 KB. (I use the speed tester on 2-wire.com). Compare this with the Fibre Optic lines I have in the States where I get 11MB down and 5MB up reliably.

[SGHOM]

According to o2, I'm in a "high coverage area" ..... Or as 02 like to call it.. "high coverage predicted area" !! Best get out clause?? /Hmmm

[swinks]

"predicted" is a magic word

[psbarham]

Del, its the interference from the pacemaker thats blocking the signal /lol

[Turbo_Steve]

Just to play Devils advocate for a moment, I assume you've:
1) proved that the phone also doesn't work outside of the buildings you're having problems in. Buildings with RFI screened windows (which is some domestic double glazing these days!) or certain types of construction absoloutely destroy mobile signals...so if they're 3 bars on the outside, they're 0 Bars on the sofa.

2) Tried a different handset on the same network. A faulty handset can often attenuate signals dramatically.
I'm not trying to defend the network, here, but wouldn't it be nice if a replacement phone in the post solved all your problems?