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MP3 ringtones? |
movisman
Joined: Jun 27, 2004
Posts: 8
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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? |
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Loaded
Joined: Jun 26, 2004
Posts: 25
From: Oxfordshire, UK
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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 ] |
scottyoof
Joined: Jun 26, 2004
Posts: 14
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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... |
movisman
Joined: Jun 27, 2004
Posts: 8
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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! |
Loaded
Joined: Jun 26, 2004
Posts: 25
From: Oxfordshire, UK
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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. |
scottyoof
Joined: Jun 26, 2004
Posts: 14
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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. |
jmbillings
Joined: Sep 28, 2002
Posts: 196
From: Oundle, UK
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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 ] |
movisman
Joined: Jun 27, 2004
Posts: 8
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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
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Hopefully that will generate a helpful response (we can only hope!)
Morgan |
jmbillings
Joined: Sep 28, 2002
Posts: 196
From: Oundle, UK
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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! |
Fish
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 56
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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. |
scottyoof
Joined: Jun 26, 2004
Posts: 14
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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 |
movisman
Joined: Jun 27, 2004
Posts: 8
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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 ] |
Fish
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 56
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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. |
etaab
Joined: Jan 23, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: UK - South Yorkshire
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I'm finding this thread thoroughly entertaining. 
Check me out on Instagram ! search for etaab ! |
CyberVisitor
Joined: Dec 21, 2001
Posts: > 500
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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 ] |
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Posted: 2004-06-28 15:01
