Spam texts!

I find it increasingly annoying that the level of spam received via both email and text message is not reducing. We have been suffering an increase in spam mail at work – although it does now appear to be under better control now due to the work of our spam filter providers arcanza – who are excellent.

What I find most annoying however is the spam text – we have all got them, and increasingly they relate to PPI insurance claims. I received the attached earlier this week, and the urge to reply is so strong, but apparently the best course of action is to ignore it – otherwise you are confirming the phone number is still in use.

Then forward the text to 87726 – which adds it to a black list. Sadly the mobile operators don’t appear able to sort the issue (in the same way the ISP’s have failed with Spam email).

A recent report indicates that over 80% of spam comes from about 3 small areas of the world – surely something can be done?

 

Not great being proved right…….

As a family we have ‘suffered’ more than most in relation to mobile phone theft. My stepdaughter has had two iPhones stolen now over the last 6 months, both in Nottingham when on a night out. The first was taken from her in Rock City which apparently is well known as a hot spot for this crime (they are working with the police on the issue I gather).

The second was in a pub in town – in both cases the phone was taken from a closed bag – so we assumed it was professional criminals.

This has now been confirmed by information released recently by the police that shows that teams of criminals are descending on our cities to carry out this crime – to then export the phones abroad (where they are not locked and can be used or sold).

Yes this is a problem the police and venues need to address, but is it not more of an issue for the manufacturers and networks? The ability to reuse the phones abroad is a massive ‘loophole’ in the supposed security provided by blacklisting phones. The networks need a world wide system to block phones – and they need it now.

 

Fingers crossed – “problem sorted”

Regular readers of my ongoing ‘experiences with mobile providers’ will be aware of my recent run in with T-Mobile. You will be pleased to hear that the matter has now been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. This is great news, but it is rather tiring having to resort to an email to the CEO to get that resolution!

The gentleman I dealt with in the CEO’s office at T-Mobile was very helpful, polite and most importantly was in a position to deal with my problem quickly and efficiently. So, I am grateful for his actions, but really rather aggrieved that it always takes this level of input from me to get things sorted.

Now I accept that these are very large organisations, but that is no excuse for the quality of service failing. I cannot help but point the finger at call centres – they are a great way of saving money, and can work for basic issues. But, if the matter in hand is even slightly ‘off piste’ they just can’t deal with it.

At the end of the day it all comes down to the relationship between the provider and the customer – all business is based on relationships and trust – the banks have learnt this again the hard way over the last few years, and we shouldn’t forget this.

The man from EE did suggest to me that they might be having a ‘few issues’ with T-Mobile since they took them over – I would say that is an understatement – but at least there was an acceptance of an issue – perhaps there is hope for our telecoms providers after all?

 

Call centres – time for another option?

I have recently had cause to speak to a call centre in the Philippines – it services T-Mobile and has the usual very polite and friendly staff that one gets in all call centres. So what is my problem? If the service is friendly and helpful why complain?

Well friendly is all very well, and in my experience the staff are always very apologetic (I only appear to call if there is a problem) – my issue is that they all work from scripts that don’t usually answer problems – they just deflect them! I find that the only way you can get a resolution to a problem is to ask to speak to a manager, and in effect escalate the issue – which is always a major issue for the staff member you are talking to!

I realise that call centres can work for very basic issues – like “how do I do this on my phone” or “why won’t this work on my phone” – but as soon as you throw them a “curved ball” the system can’t cope and they just end up being even more apologetic and friendly!

So why can’t the call centres have an option when you ring up (and they have lots of options!) that is for people like me who only call when they are forced into a corner? The option could be something like this;

“Press 4 if you are at the end of your tether a want to kill someone”

It could work and actually save time at the call centres as well!

 

Phone networks – friend or foe?

The mobile phone is a part of everyday life now – the smart phone is rapidly getting to the same position – how many people do you know who haven’t got one?

The mobile phone operators are all keen to land us as clients – they make great offers to lure you over to them, but how is the service then? At work we received some interesting ‘care’ from Orange before we had even signed up with them – because of this we didn’t move to them from Vodafone – perhaps this should have made me think before going with T-Mobile for my daughters iPhone!

The deal was (is) good, and the network is great. But, once things go wrong the care becomes rather less ‘impressive’.

Daughters iPhone was stolen this weekend (second time – not good, but not her fault). So a replacement SIM card was required – not a massive ask you would think as we have a contract – but there is a £10 charge! They give them away free to new customers! Also the opening times on the EE website (which has recently been updated) were wrong for the Nottingham stores – but that is another story!

And it gets better, we needed a ‘fill in’ phone while we sorted out the insurance, so a cheap pay as you go was required. But, and there is always ‘a but’ – we had to add £10 airtime to a sim we didn’t want. I asked the question – “can’t you wave that on the basis that we have just paid £10 for a sim anyway” – apparently not!

So we went to Carphone Warehouse who were very helpful and let us use a pay as you go number on another network to do an upgrade and therefore pay only for the phone.

So brilliant service (and advise) from Carphone Warehouse, but money grabbing and greed from T-Mobile, Orange, EE or what ever they call themselves today. If I need another mobile who will I be going to do you think?

 

Knowing when to stop.

Today sees the last race for Michael Schumacher in Formula 1 – his return has not been particularly successful, and one could suggest that perhaps some of the old magic isn’t there anymore. The Ricky Hatton fight over the weekend is a similar case in point. so is it a mistake for sports stars to come back for a second bite of the cherry – or can’t they help themselves?

Schumacher was a frighteningly successful driver – his years at Ferrari were the best that they have ever seen (a visit to their museum at Maranello confirms this in the trophy room). However this sport is not just down to pure talent, the car plays a massive part – Nigel Mansell was good, but the car helped, the same with Red Bull at the moment – great drivers but also a great package.

So in coming back for a second go I believe Schumacher has perhaps taken the shine off his legacy, yes the car wasn’t great, but his younger team member has regularly finished and qualified above him.

I really don’t think the likes of Schumacher and Hatton can help themselves  - to be at sport at that level you have to believe in yourself totally – you are the best, even if you aren’t anymore!

So Michael – thanks for the entertainment, but it’s now time to retire gracefully and start spending all that cash, and don’t what ever you do come back for a third bite of the cherry!

 

It’s good to talk….

You may recall the BT advert from a few years ago that tried to get us all to use our telephones to talk to each other – it was apparently ‘good to talk’. Time moves on and it now seems that it isn’t and we are more likely to text each other than speak!

According to Ofcom while 58% of people communicated via texts on a daily basis in 2011, only 47% made a daily mobile call, the shift away from traditional ways of keeping in touch being led by young people aged 16-24 (no surprise if you have your own teenager).

The report confirms that on average UK consumer now send 50 texts per week while fewer calls are being made on both fixed and mobile phones (certainly our home phone is more of a decoration now).

However for the first time, there was a fall in the volume of mobile calls – by just over 1% – in 2011, while landline calls were down by 10% and overall time spent on the phone fell by 5% in 2011.

This change in behaviour is believed to be down to greater ownership of internet-connected devices – smartphones like the iPhone;

• 39% of adults now own a smart phone, a 12% increase on 2010.
• 42% of these now say their smart phone is the most important device for accessing the internet, with a similar percentage regularly using social networking sites and 51% using e-mail.
• The average consumer spends 90 minutes a week accessing social networking sites and email.
• Tablet ownership is also on the rise, with 11% owning such a device, up from 2% last year.
• According to Ofcom, tablets are most often used in the home as a “snacking version” of the home PC.

So probably no surprises here, but a confirmation that the smart phone is beginning to play a very important part in all our lives – and is perhaps going to kill off the basic telephone before too long. It is also sad that people now prefer not to talk to each other. Is this the start of something more insidious in our behaviour?

 

When is a mobile network not a mobile network?

Answer? When it constantly drops calls so that you have to use your landline!

Even Yoda can’t sort it out!

We are currently suffering constantly dropping calls on Vodafone at work – I have had calls lasting 10 minutes that have dropped at least 4 times during that time – and both parties had a good signals at the time! Frankly in this day and age this is just not acceptable, the mobile phone has been around for long enough to be reliable – it is about time the networks were as well.

This brings me back to one of my pet hates – the fact that our networks all run independent systems and don’t share ‘cells’. They are all intent on offering us a peek at 4G, but don’t appear capable of actually providing a consistent voice service.I am off to the wilds of Wiltshire this weekend – actually mid way between Bristol and London and near the M4 – but in network terms it could be the moon, the signal is rubbish on Vodafone!

As a firm we are currently looking at the renewal of our mobile contract and strangely the ability to actually make and receive calls comes quite high on our list of expectations! Vodafone are not exactly helping their cause here!

 

Five years on – still a market leader?

Amazingly it is five years ago that Apple changed the way we all interact with our phones. Yes there were smartphones before the iPhone, and they were very capable things – I used various Windows-based units and they could run lots of program’s much like the iPhone does – but the similarity ends there.

The iPhone brought with it an idiot proof interface – having and using a smartphone was no longer the preserve of the ‘geek’ or ‘techy’. The beauty of the iPhone OS is that it just works – sounds really obvious to us all now, but those familiar with the old Windows mobile OS’s will remember the constant need for reboots or the crashes! Also the user interface was just plain clunky compared to Apples iOS!

So in five years the iPhone has made huge progress in its market place and is now able to offer the majority of the functionality that the old smartphones offered (but in a far more user-friendly manner). It has also been ‘copied’ by Google’s Android OS, this is a very capable system and now has some very capable hardware to run it on – and this is where I am going with this blog. Apple need the next iPhone to be very, very good. They are now constantly in the courts with Samsung trying to stop their phones being sold – and that can only be because they fear them!

From my recent trial of the new Samsung S3 I can see why, it is very good. The screen is larger than the iPhone 4, it is thinner, lighter and a much nicer shape (I am not a fan off the square sided 4 if I am honest, (I loved the 3GS).

So, much as I love my iPhone I am worried that if Apple don’t produce an awesome iPhone next time around they will lose the lead in the smartphone market which would be a very sad turn of events. So here’s hoping for a good one!

 

Before we start worrying about faster 3G speeds can we sort out basic mobile signals?

So small but so important!

As I mentioned in my last blog post I have had a very relaxing weekend under canvas in Derbyshire this last weekend. The Derbyshire Dales are truly breathtaking at any time – but particularly at the moment with all the new growth and wild flowers. So a quiet time was had – but quieter than I expected due to the almost total lack of a phone signal.

I am happy to accept that a National park does not want phone masts all over its hills, but we are not talking a partial lack of signal here, I was without a signal for the majority of the two days, despite moving around a lot (including in a car along main roads – so not all in river valleys!) I am also on a network that apparently claims to have the best UK coverage – Vodafone. Now if this is the case perhaps they could explain to me why my wife had a full signal – including 3G for almost the entire weekend? Her network? – Virgin Mobile who are not exactly a ‘big hitter’ like Vodafone!

I have commented before about exactly the same issue at my Mothers home town of Malmesbury in Wiltshire. It is only a few miles from the M4 and sits mid way between Bristol and Swindon, but the Vodafone signal is appalling! And guess what – my wife gets a full 3G signal there as well!

So my request to Vodafone is simple, stop claiming to have the best coverage – you don’t, by a long way. As far as I can see the other networks nearly all trounce you in most areas. So rather than spending a fortune pushing out 4G to everyone in the big cities how about a thought for your rural customers, what about giving them a decent service as well?