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	<title>Tom Gidden &#187; uk_telecom</title>
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		<title>...and joining Three</title>
		<link>http://gidden.net/tom/2006/12/04/joining-three/</link>
		<comments>http://gidden.net/tom/2006/12/04/joining-three/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:58:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Gidden</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[3mail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[6280]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[6680]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cellular]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile-phone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mobile-phones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My-3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nokia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[orange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planet-3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[uk_telecom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gidden.net/tom/2006/12/04/joining-three/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As noted in my previous posts on the subject, I changed mobile phone providers at the end of last week.  On Saturday, a day after I ordered it, I received my new phone from Three.  It's a refurbished Nokia 6280, and the tariff ain't too shabby.

However, I just noticed that they changed the tariff deal between my finding the deal and actually signing up for it... When I originally noticed it, the deal included double talk and texts for 6 months, meaning I'd have 600 minutes and 2000 texts for a third of the contract.  Now it seems I actually only got 300 minutes.  This is my own fault for not signing up on Thursday when I saw the offer, and not checking the deal in detail when I finally signed up.  I knew that Three was changing their deals (and launching X-Series) on Friday.  I decided to gamble.  Fortunately, the basic deal was kept in place, and it's still easily worth my while.  I'm not particularly upset about losing half my minutes, as according to Orange I only use about 45 minutes a month anyway.
Anyway, I've had it for a couple of days now, and while I haven't really put it through its paces, I think it's worth writing up my first impressions, albeit in a haphazard manner.
The phone itself is fairly non-descript.  It's a very good refurb, as new, with no obvious scratches or defects.  It's a slidey phone, which I'm always slightly suspicious of, and in this case, I think it's well-founded.  The action seems like it should be pleasant.  Unfortunately, there's a certain looseness that's particularly evident when pressing the soft-buttons.  They creak.  The whole phone wobbles.  It's not right.  I'm not sure whether this is the fact that it's refurbished, or whether they all do that.  Anyway, build quality: 2/5.
I've heard that the reason Three's offering these refurbs is because they recalled so many of them due to bad firmware, and they've got truckloads to get rid of.  Right now, this doesn't actually surprise me.
The software is, on the face of it, not too bad.  It's a lot snappier than the supposedly advanced "Series 60" interface on the 6680.  My major criticism of my previous phone was the sluggish reactions of the interface and OS.  It usually felt like I was running Microsoft Windows.
On the other hand, there are a few odd quirks about the 6280's software.  Nothing I can really place my finger on, but it just feels a bit unfinished at times.  I do wish Nokia would get someone smart in to rethink the whole interface.  Historically, the old monochrome dumb phones they made always had the neatest interfaces.  Nowadays, it's all kludgeware, with silly menus on top of menus.
There are two features/flaws/bugs I've found that annoy me slightly.
The first is the fact that you can't record new voice tags, or indeed remove them altogether.  Instead of the traditional mechanism whereby you record your own tags, the Nokia 6280 does it for you with a particularly robotic speech synthesiser.  Mimicking the robotic voice feels really humiliating, and it doesn't seem to get the right ones anyway.  I'd prefer to record tags for just the people I call often enough to make it worthwhile.  Saying that, I never use voice tags anyway, so I'd be happier removing them altogether.
The second it the incredibly annoying "Note: Active Incoming Call Diverts" message that appears for a second every time I make a call.  This happens even when I've cancelled all my diverts, either manually or by using ##02#.  From what I can tell, it's network dependent and fairly normal on other networks.  It's never happened to me on Orange, though.  It's a pointless distracting message that prevents me from seeing the status of the call just when I need to.  It's also astonishingly cryptic.  What does it actually mean?
Regardless, I could probably live with this software, as long as I treat this just like a phone, rather than the all-singing-all-dancing lifestyle device it's meant to be.  As I understand it, there's a new firmware out (5.92, compared to the current 3.81), but I don't expect Three will spend any more time on this lemon of a phone and authorise the new firmware.  If I'm feeling lucky (punk), I might try flashing it myself at one point.
MSN Messenger:  this was the fun toy that attracted me to this deal.  Unfortunately, the software sucks.  Since the 6280 doesn't multitask, Messenger needs to be running full-screen to work properly.  When you "hide" it to go back to normal phone functions, or to lock the keypad, it effectively shuts down, and instead Three act as a proxy.  Incoming messages are then sent as SMS texts, albeit with a single click to start MSN Messenger.  Problem is, Messenger takes a good ten seconds to start.  Worst thing is that more often than not, the incoming message then doesn't actually appear!  A few times I've had to message whoever I know who's online to ask them if they just sent me something.  Bottom line is that, to me, this is unusable as-is.
Anyway, to solve this and other problems, I've asked Orange to unlock my old Nokia 6680 for the bargain price of £20.  As the 6680 is a BB5 phone, a normal third-party unlock won't work.  See comment #1 for more details.
While I'm not particularly thrilled with the 6680, it's going to be my spare in lieu of paying £5/month for insurance I'm unlikely to use.  And, if it works well, I'll probably use it as my primary phone.  Since I flashed it last month with the generic Nokia firmware, it's a bit more stable and a bit snappier than the old, bloated Orange firmware.  Since it's Series 60, I'm also hoping there's a good multitasking MSN client that I can use on Three.
This brings up another idea: if they'd offered it and it was cheap enough, I would have been happy to go with a phoneless tariff.  Since a lot of new customers have existing phones, maybe the networks should offer a cheap tariff and a bill credit equal to the unlocking cost charged by the old network.  That way, they wouldn't need to subsidise the cost of the phone.
Anyway, onto the Three service itself.
One thing I wasn't particularly impressed by was the new customer pack.  After reading the pamphlet, I wasn't much more informed than when I started.  I wasn't sure whether I paid for voicemail calls, how much insurance would be if I wanted it, whether "3Mail" will cost me money or not, how to call Customer Services, etc.  I've found these answers now, but there wasn't *quite* as much handholding as I'd like.
The "My 3" site is basic, but functional.  The most useful feature is an up-to-date "Check my Usage" section, which will be very handy over the next few months as I get a grip on what costs what.  One useful improvement would be up-to-date itemisation.  I'd like to see instantly how much a call costs me.
"Planet 3":  this looks fairly neat on the face of it, although not much different from Vodafone Live! and Orange World.  However, just like Orange World, I'm unlikely to use this service that much.  The only thing I ever really used that kind of thing for was checking the odd phone number, train times, or directions to somewhere when lost in London.  Even with the £5 of included downloads I get on my new tariff, I don't think I'll find anything I particularly want.  The free news and weather videos look neat, though.
It's nice that they're clear about the pricing all through the site: browsing is free, and you're told about the costs of items before you actually buy them.  Okay, that pretty much describes any real-world shop, but it's not obvious on the other networks:  I was never sure how much stuff cost me on Orange, and with the inclusive bundles, it was hard to figure out afterwards.  I'm also convinced that seeing the prices would make me more likely to buy something.  With Orange, I was always afraid of being surprised by a massive bill if I used any of these kinds of features.  With Three, I know up front, and I'm more comfortable spending that money.
"3Mail":  I'm still not exactly sure how much I'd pay for this if I used it. I don't think I ever actually used "gid@orange.net" other than for testing, and I'm not sure I'll use 3Mail either.  It is nice to see that there's a level of integration between the voicemail system and the email system, with voicemails being stored in my inbox as WAV files.  Neat.  Obvious, but neat.  In fact, I think I saw something similar on my sister's cellular service in the States a couple of years ago.
They seem to offer a bunch of different email options... 3Mail, Mobile Mail, Office Mail, etc.  No idea what does what and for how much.  While push email (a la Blackberry) sounds cool, I'm not sure I'd use it that much even if it was free, no matter how addictive it's meant to be.
Overall, the Three service looks a little complicated overall, with a lot of confusing and potentially overlapping product names, and they could probably be rationalised a bit.  I'm sure it'll become clear before too long, though.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
		<series:name><![CDATA[Leaving mobile phone company "X" for "Y"]]></series:name>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Still leaving Orange...</title>
		<link>http://gidden.net/tom/2006/12/04/still-leaving-orange/</link>
		<comments>http://gidden.net/tom/2006/12/04/still-leaving-orange/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:51:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Gidden</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[07973100194]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cellular]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customer-services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile-phone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mobile-phones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[orange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[three]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[uk_telecom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gidden.net/tom/2006/12/04/still-leaving-orange/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Continuing on from my previous post about leaving Orange... I got a call from Orange Customer Relations (07973100194) this morning about the PAC code I ordered on Saturday. The woman calling was very nice and polite, was calling to get me back as I am a "high valued customer".  Once I explained why I was leaving, she got the point that I had made up my mind, and instead asked if I could elucidate so she could pass on my comments as constructive criticism.  We had a long and pleasant chat.

I basically told her all the points in my original post, gave her all the information she needed about the new tariff on Three, and explained what I thought Orange needed to do to become really competitive again.  She didn't argue my assumption that they weren't going to be able to give me a deal as good as the one Three have given me (ten times the minutes for half the price).
In fact, she mentioned that she hadn't heard about the offer I got from Three, and that it was only through conversations like this that Orange really got an idea of what's out there and popular.  Glad to be of help.  (Incidentally, it's this one.)
She was interested that they'd given me a refurbished handset, and I explained that that might be a way of reducing the tariff cost: perhaps even offering an ultra-cheap no-handset tariff, for those with existing phones and those with knowledge of eBay!
She brought up an interesting point when I mentioned that Three's 2G service was going to be moved from O2 to Orange, therefore giving me the coverage I'm used to. She said that I should be careful with that because Orange wasn't going to give them full UK coverage.  I'm not sure exactly what she meant by that, but interesting to know all the same.  We also talked about Three's heritage and how one of their directors was ex-Orange.
My final point was about how I felt that Orange had lost their innovative lead, and that to get me back would require them to start being smart again, rather than being just another network.  Giving their customers features and offers because they should, not just because they *need* to.  I explained that Three was trying a lot harder than Orange seemed to be and that if they got that feeling back, I'd be happy to return to Orange once my new contract expired.
Anyway, I was happy to have this conversation, as I'm always happy to give companies any feedback they need to improve their service.  The woman calling was very pleasant and polite, and incredibly well-trained and informed.  It wasn't the hard sell that I got on Friday morning, which as I said before didn't exactly endear me to the idea of staying with them.
It's a shame I had to leave before they decided to take on my feedback, though.  Orange used to be very big on loyalty.  Nowadays, you've got to leave (or threaten to leave) to get a good deal out of them.  Of course, preferential treatment to new customers makes sense on the balance sheet, but real common-sense says to keep existing customers happy to prevent churn.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>-2</slash:comments>
	
		<series:name><![CDATA[Leaving mobile phone company "X" for "Y"]]></series:name>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stupid annoying missed call alerts</title>
		<link>http://gidden.net/tom/2006/07/20/stupid-annoying-missed-call-alerts/</link>
		<comments>http://gidden.net/tom/2006/07/20/stupid-annoying-missed-call-alerts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Jul 2006 17:54:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Gidden</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[08009157111]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[0800_915_7111]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[annoying]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[complaints]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[completely_pointless]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[icstis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ofcom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recorded_message]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stupid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[telephone_preference_service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TRG_Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[uk_telecom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unsolicited]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gidden.net/tom/2006/07/20/stupid-annoying-missed-call-alerts/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[[... from companies I will (now) never buy from or do business with] Over the past few weeks I've been getting some missed call alerts on my mobile phone.  These aren't the normal type you get when the phone actually rings:  these are the text messages I get from Orange when the call is too short (this case) or my phone's off or out-of-range.  The numbers: 0800 915 7111 and 0800 915 7113

Googling for these numbers only gives me a discussion on uk.telecom.mobile of people with about as much clue as me on who the culprit is.
I signed up to the Telephone Preference Service years ago, so I shouldn't get unsolicited calls.  Unfortunately, the TPS seems utterly toothless.  They don't seem to have any enforcement powers whatsoever, and from my experience companies that claim to abide by the TPS completely ignore it.  I've made complaints to the TPS before and the data seems to go nowhere.  The extra problem is that these calls aren't necessarily sales calls.  I assume they are, but to me they're just silent calls if anything.
So, next step is the ICSTIS who also seem to be completely pointless, but they do offer a (sometimes) useful tool.  Admittedly, ICSTIS is only meant to regulate premium-rate services, but they're still part of this broken regulation system, so I hate them too. Their tool does indicate that although they don't regulate freephone (0800) numbers, their records state that the number is provided by Torch Communications Ltd.
Unfortunately, this doesn't help much:  it's usually just the company that provided the phone number, and not the company that actually uses the phone number.
I also tried the Information Commissioner who is supposedly meant to have something to do with this issue.  After wading through a woolly PDF about their complaints procedure, I think I understand that they have no powers either.
So, to Ofcom.  Their complaints page just points me back to the TPS, stating that I should make my complaint to them.  In the meantime, however, I emailed a rather bolshy note to "the office of the Secretary to the Corporation Graham Howell (graham.howell@ofcom.org.uk)" as shown in the "Complaints about Ofcom" page, saying (to paraphrase) "Belt up and sort this thing out".
Anyway, on calling the original phone number (0800 915 7111) I get a recorded message:
"Thank you for calling.  The call made to you was from TRG Europe on behalf of one of [his?] clients: a company which we understand you are familiar with.  The call was not urgent and we apologise for missing you on this occasion.  We'll try to contact you again soon.  The UK call centre industry is anxious to promote good practice in customer communications.  However, if you are concerned about receiving potentially unexpected telephone calls from businesses, you can register to stop them by calling the Telephone Preference Service on 0845 070 0707.  That's 0845 070 0707."
Unfortunately, they don't give the option to talk to themselves!  As I can't tell which client they're calling on behalf of, I can't really gauge how useful the TPS has been.  This could quite easily be on behalf of a company that I have "had business dealings with" as I do, in fact, live in a consumption-driven society and so I do sometimes BUY THINGS FROM COMPANIES!  If I find out who this is on behalf of, there's a good chance I will not have any further dealings with them.
Googling for "TRG Europe" is slightly confusing as the number-one hit is "www.iSky.co.uk" rather than the number-three "www.trgeurope.com".  It looks like iSky has now rebranded (read: has been bought by) TRG Europe Plc. This seems to be a company that offers "outsourced telephone call handling and relationship management" which (as far as I'm concerned) translates to: "battery farms full of miserable, ill-trained and ill-informed twenty-somethings whose sole purpose is to call me up and annoy me."
So, I emailed them asking if it was them.  I hold out zero hope that my email will be answered, but I suppose it's worth trying.  I might get around to calling TRG Europe directly, and asking them whether it's them.  Their HQ is only about five miles from where I live and close to the local Tesco, so I might pop round on my way back from there.
Of course, in the grand scheme of things, this is not exactly a shocking breach of human rights or anything like that.  However, low-level evil such as cold-calling is one of the primary causes of the ongoing fall of western civilisation.  For more details, read "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett.  This practice probably adds annoyance and stress to millions of people every day, causing them to be rude and intolerant with their peers, friends and families.  In addition, the problem seems to be getting worse.
The other reason this should be dealt with is that it can be easily stopped.  Unlike email spam which is practically impossible to trace, this is easily traceable.  There's no technological reason why this can't be prevented.
There are laws in place to fight this kind of behaviour, but unfortunately Ofcom, ICO, ICSTIS, TPS and the other quango-ish bodies just can't get themselves organised.  What we need are the directors of these companies to be fined and punished directly to make cold-calling, silent calling, unsolicited communication (eg. Fax and SMS spam) such an impossible legal minefield that a company will only think of calling a customer if they've got permission to do so from that customer.  How many UK voters would actually disagree with such a stance?
For those who reach this page by angrily hammering 08009157111, 08009157112, 08009157113, 08009157117, 08009157118, 0800 915 7111, 0800 915 7112, 0800 915 7113, 0800 915 7117, 0800 915 7118, or any other combination of these insipid numbers into their browser's search box, I'm afraid I have no good news to report so far.  If you've got further than me, or you agree (or disagree) then please get in touch by leaving a comment on the bottom of this page.
Grr. Bastards.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>-1</slash:comments>
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