Posted by Play by the rules!
Hi chaps, this is the first ever forum I've been, so hang in there.
The K700 is great, but Vodafone seem to have ruined another one of SE's phone by changing the menu icons to the same black, white and red ones used on all of their Vodafone Live! phones, Pants.
But the main reason I write this thread is to ask you all if you can play mp3 files for ring tones as my Vodafone Live! K700i won't let me as it will only play copyright-protected files, Whats going on?
Help!
[ This Message was edited by: Play by the rules! on 2004-07-02 21:20 ]
Posted by Loaded
Yup, I'm on Vodafone Live and mine says "Can't use that file" if i set a mp3 to a ringtone.
It even does this on the ones that came with the phone ffs!
Ring Ring Ring etc
Any Ideas?
Cheers
Jonny.
Posted by leerichards
Vodafone are starting to hack me off with what they are doing to SE phones. Not wanting to have the same hassles with my K700, I've now changed providers. From what you guys are saying, I'm even more glad a did. Changing the icons is bad enough.........!
Lee
Posted by Swedish_Chef
wow that sounds weird.. how can they do that? but if you still go for vodaphone.. add a few £ and get an unbranded one with the same subscription.. i did that with my t610 and voda
Posted by scottyoof
I get exactly the same. Seems it's Vodafone messing around with things rather than SE. The MP3s that come with the phone are all marked Unrestricted, so I reckon Vodafone have been a bit over-zealous when setting the restrictions.
I'm waiting for a call from Vodafone Tech. Support about this. If everyone starts kicking up a stink about this, maybe they'll do something about it. If they can't fix it I'll throw a tantrum and cancel the contract. I wish they'd stop messing with things.
As far as the look and feel is concerned, changing to a different theme fixes things nicely. They seem to have deleted the default one though. You can also get rid of the Switch On screen, but I can't find a way to disable the Switch Off screen.
I'll post a reply on here if I hear anything about the MP3 tones. Appreciate it if someone could let me know any fixes.
Ta
Posted by AJAY1983
thanks for the warnings guys, O2 it is then
Posted by Loaded
I have also sent an email to Vodafone about this, i dare say it will be ignored
There must be a way to unlock this feature.
Jonny.
Posted by MikLSP
I cannot believe they have done that! Thats outrageous!
should just take the phone away from them as it makes them look bad.
About a theme solving the horrible menu, NO it won't as u can't change the horendous icons back to the lovely original ones with a theme, also they have changed the actual layout too!
So glad I got a proper one
Posted by scottyoof
Ah, silly me, I didn't realise they'd changed the icons. The Vodafone ones aren't as good, but I can live with them. I'd rather have the choice though.
Anyone fancy mounting a campaign against Vodafone on this one? So far I have:
- MP3 ringtone and alarm functions that don't work;
- perfectly decent default icons replaced with nasty red-blobbed live! ones;
- at least two icons and one phone button that send me to Vodafone live! - leading to services that don't work with the phone;
- attempts to "add value" to my customer experience which have backfired into making my life harder.
Any more to add?
If we can get a few users together, maybe we can send a combined letter further up the chain. I spend a couple of hundred quid a month on my bill, at least (which is why they halved my 1000 minute tariff when I asked them, try it!) so if we get enough pound signs threatening to migrate en masse to O2 we might get someone to listen.
Plus, I recommend throwing phone calls into technical support. Option 6 followed by Option 3 on 191 I believe. The more buzz we create about this needless faffing with perfectly good phone functions the better.
Ta
Posted by scottyoof
Make that 2 icons and 2 buttons that go to Vodafone live. For crying out loud.
Posted by MikLSP
The way to 'protest' against Vodafone is to not buy phones from them in the first place!
If they're still selling phones I don't think they'll bother too much about people ringin up to complain
Posted by scottyoof
Yes, ok, I appreciate the point, and if I had my time again etc., but we are where we are. There's a case for getting existing suppliers to improve service. Besides which, lots of people are bound to already have the phone from Vodafone and some might not want the hassle of transferring to another provider, PAC code and all.
Posted by vanquish
so stupid. they are so ruining sony ericsson phones!
Posted by stormfall
Sorry to sidetrack the thread, but to all the voda owners of k700... sorry to hear that vodafone has once again messed things up with their customisation (I should know, I have the voda t610)...
I just want to ask the voda k700 owners if your phones are locked to voda only, and any idea how long will it take to unlock the phone (or if that's even possible)?
TIA
Posted by liamJ
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I think the most annoying thing is the live! button where it should be 'more', I keep pressing it by mistake to go and lock the keypad! Closely followed by no Mp3 ringtones though...
Posted by Swedish_Chef
cant you just flash the phone and get rid of all voda stuff?
Posted by 50Cent
oh my god, thats well bad, taking away such a good feature.... and i thought T-mobile was bad!
Posted by movisman
Hi there,
I have the same problem too! Its a pain in the ass to say the least, so I phoned Vodafone for a brief rant but they weren't helpful at all, and according to them I should be able to use mp3 ringtones no problem and told me to phone Sony Ericsson or take it to a Vodafone store.
I emailed Sony Ericsson (I will phone them in the week, as well as take my phone to VF) with the following:
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Hi there,
I have a problem with my phone - for some reason it will not allow me to set any mp3s as a ringtone, even the built in ones?
It appears to be a problem with phones purchased from Vodafone (as they alter the phones to suit their look, and the live! features etc) - this forum thread explains it all perfectly if you could please read it?
http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=61902
I would like to know if you can help me in this situation, and if there is a way of me getting the phone flashed back or replaced so this problem doesn't occur? (plus I can get rid of all the vodafone plastered menus)?
I would really appreciate a helpful response, Vodafone themselves weren't particularly helpful in helping me resolve the situation so i'm hoping my manufacturer can help!
Many Thanks
Morgan
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Hopefully they will respond, i'll be calling them anyway as I mentioned.
Does anyone know if the phone can be reflashed with the official Sony Ericsson k700i rom to get rid of all these problems?
Cheers guys,
Morgan
Posted by scottyoof
Vodafone are misleading you on this one I think. It's entirely their fault, nothing to do with SE. Vodafone seem to have placed restrictions on the MP3 files that can be used as ringtones, and so far, nothing complies with their restrictions!
SE were no help when I called. I'd call Vodafone back and tell them that SE told you that it was the Network Operator's (ie. Vodafone's) fault, that's what they told me.
Let me know if you get a response on the re-flashing though, that seems to be the best option. Vodafone have royally screwed up this phone. If I don't get a satisfactory response tomorrow, they'll be having my phone back (warning, tantrum alert).
Posted by mofostar
Hi, sorry to hear of your troubles, i would advise to flash the phone back to SE settings, you can do this at carphone warehouse service centres, i know that the one in cribbs causeway in bristol is, as that is where i upgraded my T68 to a T68i, i wasnt even a carphone warehouse customer and i didnt need any proof of purchase and they did it for free!!
Read this post about k700 flashing also
http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=61877
Posted by scottyoof
Thanks for the re-flashing tip. From reading the thread you mentioned and a couple of links from it, I think there are a couple of potential issues:
- Carphone Warehouse might only re-flash to Vodafone firmware, noone seems to know whether this is true yet, but they'd be unlikely to want to annoy Vodafone too much
- Flashing to a standard SE firmware may invalidate the warranty (no answer on forums to this yet I don't think)
- some newly implemented RSA authentication on the different firmwares inside the phone may make it difficult to do through non-official sources
I will mention the re-flashing possibility to Vodafone when I call them tomorrow, in the middle of threatening to send the phone back and cancel my contract (tantrum-meter on the way up
Posted by movisman
Excellent, well i'll see what SE have to say when they respond and i'll let you all know..
This is a rather annoying situation to be stuck in (bloody VF!), although we have a Carphone Warehouse just down the road from my workplace, so I may pop in there and question them also and see what flashing capabilities they possess (!)
I'll maybe call VF another time and give them some hassle again, see if they can admit to anything or better still, give me a proper unbranded original phone!
Morgan
Posted by etaab
I still dont understand how you Vodaphone customer keep on buying their phones when you know what they do to their handsets..
If you dont like the Vodaphone firmware.. why bother buying it on Vodaphone at all ?
Posted by 50Cent
price i reckon.
Posted by movisman
I understand what you are saying, but my last set of phones never had any branding that ruined the phone to a degree - my 3330, 7250 and 7250i all came from Vodafone but were fine with nothing major missing, and no silly omissions.
Also I got the phone free on an upgrade, with a sweet tariff and a lot of free stuff - as I mentioned I may leave for another mobile network (!), kinda was too good to pass up - also I didn't know they'd provide a crippled phone as my last ones have all been good.
I can't really afford 300 pounds or whatever it is to buy the phone either!
I just hope we can get a fix for these omissions, either by flashing or by replacement!
Movisman
Posted by etaab
The 3330, 7250 etc were pretty basic phones, theres not much Vodaphone coulda have done to kill the interface or features.
A friend of mine has a P900 on Vodaphone, and its absolutely awful !
Posted by movisman
Yeah sure - I actually just called Vodafone again and selected another option so I didn't get the same operator by chance and this girl I got - I tell you, was absolutely bloody awful - didn't have the slightest clue and told me that phone was not on her system, it was an 'up and coming device' and couldn't pass me onto anyone who had any knowledge about the phone.
A load of rubbish!
I am going to take it to the Vodafone store tomorrow and question the phone's capabilities with them - and with any luck come out of the store with a nice unbranded one (as the girl did say they stock them).
Guess we'll just have to see. Would be so much easier if I could flash it or do something to get the phone back to its original state!
Movisman
Posted by shuurajou
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Best of luck to you, you'll be better off getting a nice unbranded one with no vodafone crappy logo's on it anyway
.
Posted by etaab
OR just go in, ask for a full refund / cancel contract and go with a better operator such as O2 or Orange. At least they wont kill your phone.
Then never step foot in another Vodaphone shop again !
Posted by fu1at
after listen to u guys, i felt so sorry for u all. lucky we don't have such SIM lock thingy here. 95% of the phone here is sim free. and after seeing thru all those complain. i felt like whacking them myself.
Cheers dude,
Posted by movisman
Okay guys, not much good news but i'll mention all anyway:
Went into the VF store at lunchtime for a moan, but they insisted there was not much I could do apart from going to a 3rd party, as they 'do not' stock unbranded ones (even though the woman on customer services told me they did!). Not sure whether to believe them, but still...
I then phoned Sony Ericsson who said the same sort of thing - 'not much we can do, once we sell the handsets to operators they can pretty much do anything they want to the software'.
So I then took it to an independent store, and the engineer said he could sort it no problem, but he hasn't got the original rom yet - and it could take him 2-3 months to get one from a reputable source.
So all round rubbish at the mo then!
Any other valid suggestions?
Posted by Loaded
I phoned VF today and they were pretty useless. The chap said if I take it into the store I got it from they would sort out the missing features, i.e MP3 ringtones.
From what your saying, they won't.. doesn't suprise me really.
A chap who I work with got the same phone from Orange UK and it has the original icons and also allows MP3 ringtones .... gutted
I might just go in an try and cancel my contract as I am not happy. There must be a cooling off period i.e 14 days whereby we can cancel if we are not 100% happy.
[ This Message was edited by: Loaded on 2004-06-28 14:18 ]
Posted by scottyoof
There is a 14 day cooling-off period in the Vodafone terms and conditions. That's what I'll be throwing at them later today. All of this is very disappointing, maybe they'll learn their lesson. Or maybe not...
Posted by movisman
Hi again,
Yeah it certainly is all a right pain - are you guys now going to just migrate to another network?
I did actually call SE again (!) - but spoke to someone with a little more knowledge, he said the mp3 thing is on 2 of the major networks (vf being one, not sure of other) - and they disabled it because of being worried about copyrighting or something, as part of the mp3 ringtone thing was going to be illegal soon - so they basically killed the whole feature.
Turns out though he said, that it is not ever going to be illegal, so VF have shot themselves in the foot it seems!
The guy from SE seemed to think that the next firmware update will override the mp3 problem, but he wasn't 100% so couldn't confirm this. Also he thought that even re-flashing the phone wouldn't make any difference to the VF icons and shortcuts.
Hmmm!
Posted by Loaded
I think I will be exercising my 14day cooling off period on Wednesday then, when I go back to the shop.
I am nowhere near 100% happy so will cancel and try somewhere else.
Not sure what they will do about charging me for calls I have made etc
Will find out later in the week.
Cheers Lads.
Posted by scottyoof
I've been with VF for 7 years with the same number, so I'll be loth to leave. Having said that, it's a competitive marketplace out there, Vodafone live! is truly awful (just an unorganised free-for-all mess as far as I can see, and nothing bloody works with the K700), and I can PAC my number to another network. Plus, they've given me a good bargaining position I hope with my new £37.50 Anytime 1000 tariff. Woohoo.
Assholes.
By the way, for anyone reading, a friendly SE technical support chap confrmed that there's nothing they can do to help, but advised me to Master Reset the phone. Don't, it doesn't resolve our MP3 problems and you lose 3 games, several themes, a load of the non-working-anyway MP3 tones and everything else. Oops. Still, at least he tried.
One final try with VF tomorrow, I wouldn't mind if they indicated there was likely to be a resolution sometime. Failing that, I'm off shopping for another network. VF's loss, someone else's gain.
My T68i was fine, where's the dictionary, I need to look up "Progress". I still think the K700's a great phone though.
Posted by jmbillings
I've been with Voda since '95, so I'm not fond of the idea of changing either. I'm going to send them a complaint. Looks like it was a proper decision though, the manual has this on page 58:
"If you want to use an MP3 file as a ringtone, you can only use some copyright-protected files specially designed as ringtones. Please consult your network operator for more information. If you select and MP3 file as ringtone you cannot use voice answering."
Edit - here is the message I sent them (bad punctuation a result of the web form not allowing certain characters!)
Hi
Ive just upgraded to a K700i and it seems you have disabled the MP3 ringtone functionality of the phone apart from special -protected- content (which I assume means stuff I have to pay for thru Live). I and many others arent very happy about this. Its bad enough you change the attractive standard Icons to the rather dull blue and red ones but removing functionality from the phone is stretching things a bit. I hope you reconsider this decision and issue a firmware update to restore functionality as the manufacturer originally intended.
[ This Message was edited by: jmbillings on 2004-06-28 19:50 ]
Posted by movisman
Hi again guys,
I too have banged off an email to Vodafone, as below:
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Hi there
I have just upgraded my contract and phone to a Sony Ericsson k700i and I have to say im very disappointed with a few things that Vodafone have done with their branding of the product.
Firstly you seem to have disabled the ability to use mp3s as ringtones or alarms or anything bar playback - I know a few other people on other networks with the same phone and they have no problem. I can only hope you resolve this via a firmware update available to your customers as I feel this is a bit of a disasterous omission!
Also I feel it is a little bit of overkill to provide 5 quick shortcuts to the live! service (1 on the joystick - 1 on the selection button - 1 on the side of the phone and two in the main options screen) - I have only managed to alter the shortcut on the joystick leaving 4 still. I feel that just one or two is suffice...!
Thirdly in the main options screen you have VF customised icons which cannot be changed or altered in any way no matter what theme you use.
These are the main three problems I have discovered so far - although i'm hoping I don't discover more!
I can appreciate that all networks brand their phones to a degree to promote their networks and services but I wanted to raise the point that the branding on this phone is a little extreme - and i'm carefully considering using my 14 day period to cancel and switch to another network - where the phone is as its intended to be.
I'd really appreciate a response and some insight on if you plan to provide a firmware update for your customers to remove the limitations on the mp3 problems at least?
I don't usually complain about your products or services as you have been very good for the last 5 years - but after many calls to the customer services and a visit to my local store I still haven't been able to obtain any helpful info on what can be done to fix these problems.
Hope you will respond and give me some advice.
Many Thanks
Morgan
---------
Hopefully that will generate a helpful response (we can only hope!)
Morgan
Posted by jmbillings
Nice one Morgan - you're message sounds more pro than mine but hopefully one of us will hear some good news! I'll also mention it to a friend who works at Voda's head office, although I don't expect him to do an awful lot about it - he wanted me to buy a nokia!
Posted by Fish
Hmmm... Isn't it obvious? It's not that it won't play all MP3 files as ringtones... it will play them, but only the ones they'll offer you to BUY via live! service. Why would you put your favourite tune as ringtone for free when they can SELL it to you? Money, money, money! That's what they want!
Second thing... You have your phone manuals, don't you? It does say in the phone manual that you CAN select MP3 for a ringtone, doesn't it? Take the phone to the store, show them the manual, show them it doesn't work... the logical conclusion is that the phone is defective! They (in theory) HAVE to repair it or refund you.
Posted by scottyoof
Yes, I second that, nice one Morgan, and jmbillings. The more of us who complain about this the better. Who knows, maybe they'll listen.
Fish, thanks for the input but I think VF have covered themselves with this. You're right that they undoubtedly want us to buy MP3s from Live (which they can swivel on as far as I'm concerned), but the VF manual differs from the standard SE one by having a bit of added text. It's listedelsewhere on this thread I think, but basically says that the phone will only play copyright-licensed MP3s as ringtones. This, despite the SE MP3s being tagged as unrestricted. I think this is a boob actually, doesn't make any sense.
Hey, I think this is my 10th post. Do I get a little piccie now?
Scott
Posted by movisman
Sure, both the above points from Fish may be true (i had a feeling it would let you use mp3 if you buy from VF, although I haven't tested yet) - i'll still await a response from VF if they can be bothered, its a real shame about their mp3 copyrighting issues - pretty ridiculous and not a good way to promote their already rubbish live service...!
And it certainly doesn't make sense that the SE tones are restricted, and it still doesn't let you use them.
VF have really screwed everyone with this one! They had better provide a fix or something!
Morgan
[ This Message was edited by: movisman on 2004-06-28 21:11 ]
Posted by Fish
Different manuals you says... I'm not surprised at all. So it comes down to money that people will pay to buy their "legal" MP3 tones. Nice! The worst thing is that they started the same live! crap in my country. They're still not the official operator but they signed partnership with one of exsisting ones.
Posted by etaab
I'm finding this thread thoroughly entertaining.
Posted by CyberVisitor
Could anyone who bought the Vodafone-branded K700i please post the Vodafone theme and Screensaver image.
Now please don't flame me with "what do you want that for?". - I just want them, so please anyone...?
[ This Message was edited by: CyberVisitor on 2004-06-29 18:17 ]
Posted by Arne Anka
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Same here. Now I don't need my TV anymore. Once again
[ This Message was edited by: Arne Anka on 2004-06-29 02:01 ]
Posted by Loaded
I contacted Sony Ericsson with:
I bought the K700i from Vodafone UK and for some reason they have disabled the ability to have a mp3 as a ringtone. I can't even set the unlimited distribution mp3 files that came with the phone.
I am extremely disappointed with the way that Vodafone brand the phones and disable alot of the cool features
Is there a way i can flash it with the original firmware?
and got this response:
Dear Sir or Madam,
Thank you for contacting the Sony Ericsson Customer Care Centre.
With regards to your enquiry,
At present there are no updates available for this model.
Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again for further help and support.
For more information on our products and services, please feel free to visit our website at www.sonyericsson.com
www.sonyericsson.com/fun
Register now for great content and fantastic Web and WAP Services.
That got me far then
Posted by Ruvjet
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Thankyou! someone that talks sense!
This is not communism people! You can buy the phone from another operator subsidised, or you can pay the full price SIM free.
Or you can sit at home, angry with your customisations and "sign an online petition".
The only language Vodafone understand is money. If you take your custom elsewhere, they will sit up and take notice.
Posted by skumm
hey. does only vodaphone mess with the phone? or does O2 too? and other providers? I'm getting a k700, I'm trying to avoid this. Thanks
[ This Message was edited by: skumm on 2004-06-29 11:25 ]
Posted by scottyoof
Ruvjet, thanks for the constructive advice (ahem). We know all this.
The question is not how we got here, but how we find the best resolution. And that might not be going to another provider or spending £300 on a SIM-free phone. You can build something up, or you can knock it down. I know which I'd rather do.