| Author |
The Great Network Debate |
Malibu Steve
Joined: Feb 23, 2003
Posts: 16
PM |
Hi all! I'mm about to purchase a P800 but am undecided as to which network to join. Am on T-Mobile (formerly known as One 2 No-One) at the moment and have been with them for almost 9 years. These guys are great if you're a teenager and gang-banging in your local area but in truth, T-Mobile suck more than a whore from King's Cross.
Voadafone have few too many holes and grey areas for my liking which leaves me with either O2 or Orange. I nearly joined Orange yesterday just because of a simple but amazing handset, but thanks to the numb-nuts at T-Mobile, the computer with PAC numbers was having a maintanance weekend; how ironic!
Therefore viewing public I ask you this, between Orange and O2, who comes out tops overall. We're talking coverage, costomer services, and deep down genuinley nice people to do business with.
May the great debate begin.
Steve x.
It's not what you know, it's what you can proove! | |
|
Bogman
Joined: Feb 22, 2003
Posts: 123
PM |
My personal choice is Orange...been with them 2 years good coverage in the south west, you can also chose the plan which suites you best |
killa007
Joined: Feb 21, 2003
Posts: 16
From: england
PM, WWW
|
It depends, if your are a text message monster and send over 400 sms per month (and if texting is what costs you the most) then O2 because you can get 800 sms per month for £32!. Customer service is very good generally (but it can be tricky to get through on the phone). The prices are middle of the road as well.
I am on Orange, and no other network has the quality of customer service, the people you talk to can actually give you an answer to a question without putting you on hold, or transferring you!. They are pretty cheap, and the extras like GPRS etc is unrivalled.
The only reason I am thinking of going from Orange to T-mob is that T-mob give 50% off line rental for dealers! 
|
craigc
Joined: Feb 05, 2003
Posts: 149
PM, WWW
|
Hi,
I've just switched from O2 to Orange. I have to say that although I didn't really have any particular problems with using the O2 network, I found their customer service to be appauling.
Any company that doesn't have an e-mail address or telephone number on their website doesn't really want to listen to theitr customers.
They have a web-based form to contact customer support which doesn't work, and no other way of contacting them from the website.
I've had e-mails come back as user unknown from the official e-mail address on my monthly bill and I've spent over 30 minutes on hold before I could get through to a person regarding a query, only to be told that I had to call another number. I spent over 20 minutes on that line. They then set up my international roaming wrongly after spending over an hour on the phone !
The only other gripe I have is that O2 don't natively support delivery receipts for SMS's but seeing as the P800 doesn't support them (yet), this isn't much of a problem.
C |
dadickin
Joined: Feb 23, 2003
Posts: 26
From: Bristol, UK
PM |
Well I am on the orange network, and have been for years now, ever since my first mobile with One-2-One, right back in the days of analogue phones, 1.2.1 never worked anywhere but the center of bristol (for me)
I sent my phone back under the 14 day thing, paid a bit extra and got an Orange contract, looking back the phone was poo, but the network was excellent, and allthough I personally think that it is not quite as good now as it was when I first joined them, or even say 3 years ago, they are still the best out there - or at least (well in this part of the country at least) equal to vodafone.
I never had much luck with a BT celnet phone a couple of years ago - never any coverage, but I have been told that O2 are a little better now??!??!
Orange
-Pros- Good coverage, good prices, excellent customer service,
FREE insurance with most of their contracts, or V.Good insurance
for about £5 a month on PAYG, FREE 0800 numbers(contract
only I think)
-Cons- You seem to have to wait ages for orange to release
the latest phone on their network, They don't really offer any
contracts with loads of free messages
I wont do the same for O2 as I am not a customer of theirs, and the last time I was, was not a great experience, I would be too biased, perhaps an O2 customer could do a similar post.
I have had PAYG phones on all 4 networks in UK, but my main phone is my orange contract.
Voda - great, but no free 0800 numbers, no free insurance, and u only get the best handset prices if u go through one of their third parties such as single point - companies like this usually run on a minimum budget, and their customer services shows it.
T-mob - Just recently chucked a PAYG sim in the trash as it would never connect to WAP - ever - and in the end I got sick of trying to get through to customer service. Also some bits in North bristol - not far from the centre, and u have to travel like half a mile before you can use the damn thing.
O2 - not tried it since they where BT celnet - that was bad enough, it never worked anywhere - and I almost mean that!
And when I got the PAYG sim, it had £10 of free credit, except the line u had to call to get WAP sorted was not free, and it cost me the whole £10 - needless to say - that if I don't see for my self (eg on friends phone) that they have improved - I will never go back to them!
Orange - Love them - although I do feel a bit ripped off when I am talking to my Voda friends that are all getting X free SMS a month!
[ This Message was edited by: dadickin on 2003-02-23 20:16 ] |
dazbradbury
Joined: Nov 24, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: UK - Derby/London
PM, WWW
|
Well, i'm with O2 but thinking of switching to orange some point soon. With O2 if you are a big spender they make you part of their select club, which i'm in. This means you get 20% off line rental which is nice, free international roaming, itemised billing, and most importantly a special number to get in contact with them. i've never waited more than about 3 mins to speak to someone since being part of the select club. Also you get other privelidges like cheaper upgrades etc. It is quite good, but i still want to change.
Thing is, i phoned orange and said that i am a big spender and do they have a special club that has these extra benefits but they said no. I was a bit annoyed at that, so for the moment i am staying!
|
dadickin
Joined: Feb 23, 2003
Posts: 26
From: Bristol, UK
PM |
when you say big spender - what are we talking - ball park??
is it something that most users may be just 5-10 quid under - or are we talking 50+ here?
I think it is a bit poo to be honest, at the end of the day if i am a customer of theirs I expect to be treat the same as any other customer, obviously business customers should get a different class of service, the kinda people that spend thousands - rather than hundreds a year should be getting that bit extra.
However - on reflection - I don't think I would have anything to say if I where in the secret club like.  |
dazbradbury
Joined: Nov 24, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: UK - Derby/London
PM, WWW
|
above £80ish a month... sometimes more, sometimes less...
 |
dadickin
Joined: Feb 23, 2003
Posts: 26
From: Bristol, UK
PM |
ouch - I am suprised you don't get an O2 employee holding the phone for you at that sort of cash!
|
billk2
Joined: Aug 16, 2002
Posts: 9
From: London
PM |
I'm an O2 customer and the major problem for P800 users is that they can't currently support GPRS and MMS simulatiously. You can only subscribe to their Mobile Web (GPRS) or Picture Messaging (MMS), not both. Their customer support people say they're looking into it, but haven't given me a firm date when. I've called them 5 times since November.
Because of this, I'm seriously considering changing to another company - probably Orange.
/<. |
geo2k
Joined: Dec 26, 2002
Posts: 307
From: UK
PM |
Www.hateorange.com i think it is, if not just search on google for hate orange. That made my mind up, maybe yours too
This message was posted from a T300 |
simion_levi
Joined: Feb 20, 2003
Posts: 291
From: London, UK
PM |
billk2 - you can sign up to both MMS and mobile web (i.e. GPRS WAP) simultaneously on O2 without problem - one of my contracts has em, and both work fine - the issue is that you can only have 2 APN's currently, due to billing problems. Thus you cannot have MMS AND mobile web (GPRS WAP) AND GPRS (internet).
If you actually mean GPRS (i.e. internet access, not WAP) rather than mobile web, which is the GPRS WAP service, then again - you can have both. You then just wouldn't be able to use GPRS WAP if you had the other two active.
Most people try to get both GPRS WAP and GPRS APN's activated and forget about MMS - you can use the GPRS WAP or CSD to use nowMMS instead at a much lower rate than O2's MMS service, so you're better off without!
|
richardadc
Joined: Jul 11, 2002
Posts: 118
PM |
Quote:
|
On 2003-02-23 22:59, geo2k wrote:
www.hateorange.com i think it is, if not just search on google for hate orange. That made my mind up, maybe yours too
This message was posted from a T300
|
|
I would ignore that site if i was you. That guy has absolutely no idea what he is talking about, and got absolutely slagged down when he posted his experience on uk.telecom.mobile. For example he states that the Orange customer service number is not free, and he's spent £100 calling them. One problem with that, Orange customer care has always been free.
I've been with all the networks, and I have to say Orange is my favourite network. Vodafone is a very close second. As for the other networks, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.
|
dadickin
Joined: Feb 23, 2003
Posts: 26
From: Bristol, UK
PM |
Quote:
|
I've been with all the networks, and I have to say Orange is my favourite network. Vodafone is a very close second. As for the other networks, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.
|
|
I like that - kinda rounds it up nicely, Orange - Voda - Almost equal, the other 2, not really worth the hastle, and lack of coverage.
I know your choice was between Orange and O2 - go for orange if I where u.
Of course if you don't mind a bit more research and a bit more of a cost up front - get your current phone unlocked, and buy yourself a couple of PAYG sim cards for O2 and Orange - about £15 each on the web - prob cheaper in your local bargain rag, and try them both out for coverage. (not customer service though as I think the customer service for PAYG customers is poorer than it is for contract customers) |
Superluminova
Joined: Feb 24, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: ...Mummies Tummy!
PM |
i got an o2 payg sim which gets me 300 free txt and 300 free wap mins a month, thats the only reason why am with them | |
|
Access the forum with a mobile phone via esato.mobi
|
Posted: 2003-02-23 12:16
