Mobile Networks - get your act together next year please

[irons]

O2 were awful, I actualy got a text from an efester on Wednesday night even thou it was sent last Saturday. If anyone tried to phone me it went straight to the answerphone.

[Mardy]

Yeah, O2 were dreadful, texts seemed to be sent/arrive at random and in no definable sequence. Half my conversations from that weekend look like a Wiliam S burroughs experimental cut up novel.

[scaryclaireyfairy]

i'm on o2 as well and pretty much gave up after it became apparent that the time delay in receiving texts made it pointless and frustrating. i did things old school and possibly enjoyed it more. i'm in 2 minds whether to get an orange sim for next year.

[chuckley]

Right, I've complained to O2 via their customers services. Don't let this slip peeps, we need to moan at them until they've confirmed they'll fix it for next year. I'll let you all know when they come back to me suggesting I might need a handset upgrade :angry:

[Kyelo]

I have an Orange phone, my friend an o2 one. Everytime I phoned her or her me, we got through. Couldnt get my dad(o2)or sister(Orange)at all. Strange.

Edited July 3, 2009 by BenchBuddah

[glastoman417]

I signed up for Three when I was in London and it was great, but in Merseyside I could never get a signal in the house nor at work, so I looked around for other networks.

Whilst I'd have liked to supported Vodafone (British company and all that, biggest mobile phone operator in the world and something like 2nd biggest British company) when I saw a friends signal go up and down, and knowing that Orange are a glasto sponsor and likely to have good coverage on site, I went for them instead!

Never regretted it at all, always got 5 peaks not only in Merseyside, but also at Glasto!

I was getting/sending outside world texts within seconds. What more can you ask for?

[ktej]

I have an o2 phone, service was crap except for marketing texts that were sent by o2 themselves, strange that :angry:

[paulo999]

I honestly don't know what they would do in the Orange recharge tent, I've never been there and don't know where it is! I'm just trying to work out what to do with it as I've spent half and hour looking for a Sony charger and the Sony shop say they can't help me - although apparently this effort makes me a bad person!

Edited July 4, 2009 by paulo999

[posthuman]

Right, I've complained to O2 via their customers services. Don't let this slip peeps, we need to moan at them until they've confirmed they'll fix it for next year. I'll let you all know when they come back to me suggesting I might need a handset upgrade

[cabstar]

I am on Virgin which uses T Mobile network & I was the only one amongst our group that could send & receive texts promptly.

Also used my 3G netbook also on T Mobile on Sat morning to watch Doves on the I Player from the night before & worked brilliantly. Can't even get 3G back home having to use 2.5G most of the time.

remember you are in a field so network coverage is going to be sporadic at best, plus 150,000 people in an 8 mile perimeter is going to put heavy strain on any temporary mobile masts.

[morelego]

I'm on T mobile and had amazing coverage. Could always send texts and ring people when I needed to.

I usually hate them and thinking of changing when my contract is up but thought the signal was great at Glastonbury. Signal in my house is terrible though, but I think that is all networks.

The net worked really quickly too, I was made to see if Michael Jackson had really died and if people really did have swine flu

Edited July 4, 2009 by morelego

[Sam Crawley]

I did the same and got a £15 goodwill credit... better than nowt!

[morelego]

Glad to hear some people had good experiences. It's not rocket science though, is it, there's no reason why we all shouldn't have decent coverage - Glasto is not a flash-mob, they know exactly how many punters will be on site, for how long, and presumably based on previous years have a good idea of split by network.

[Sam Crawley]

Don't worry everyone, O2 have come back to me with the following:

Thanks for emailing us about the network problem that you come across while you attended the festival in Somerset.

Samuel, I've checked your account and would like to confirm that your account is active to make and receive calls. Also there's full network coverage in your area as well.

Samuel, this could be a temporary fault as we improve our network coverage from time to time.

So that's alright then. It was just a temporary fault - 200,000 people not getting any mobile coverage for a week. Everyone get back to work, there's nothing to see here, move along please..

[abu hamster]

Tescos Mobile was ridiculously bad. Half the time it wouldn't let me send texts, I couldn't make or receive phone calls, and texts sent to me could take up to 24 hours to arrive.

I couldn't arrange to meet up with mates at all. Luckily Glasto is so friendly that if I couldn't find my mates again, I'd just make new ones.

I'm going to get an Orange pay as you go sim card for next year.

[Rufus Gwertigan]

It was like being back in 2001 when trying to send a text message would require 400 presses of the "Retry Sending" button. Why so poor this year?

I am on T-Mobile and the data service coverage was shocking. Timing out all day. Going to get worse next year as more and more people get data-enabled phones and want to quickly check the news or look an act up on Wikipedia to find out a bit more about them when choosing who to see etc.

Mate was on Vodafone and just kept getting Access Denied on trying to send texts etc.

I know they park extra temporary cells around the perimeter but it wasn't enough to cope with everyone's phones this year.

[dvjj]

It was like being back in 2001 when trying to send a text message would require 400 presses of the "Retry Sending" button. Why so poor this year?

I am on T-Mobile and the data service coverage was shocking. Timing out all day. Going to get worse next year as more and more people get data-enabled phones and want to quickly check the news or look an act up on Wikipedia to find out a bit more about them when choosing who to see etc.

Mate was on Vodafone and just kept getting Access Denied on trying to send texts etc.

I know they park extra temporary cells around the perimeter but it wasn't enough to cope with everyone's phones this year.

[Sam Crawley]

I will say nothing. Merely enclose what I've been sent, having replied to the previous palm off with a "this is not good enough" message:

Good afternoon Samuel

Thanks for your email about the network issue you've been experiencing. I agree that it's really frustrating at times not being able to get a proper network coverage. Let me check the status of the network coverage in your area.

I've checked the network coverage in your area (W9, Central London) and can assure you that the network for calls is high and also we didn't have any outages recently.

Samuel, I understand that many of our customers are facing this problem in your area and it is not a problem with your handset. However, I personally request you to do a basic test for your handset:

- switch off your handset

- remove your SIM and the battery

- clean SIM with a piece of cloth

- wait for some time and switch on your handset and check your handset

- if still the network is not good use another handset to check.

You can call our customer service team free from your O2 mobile on 0870 600 3009 between:

- Monday to Friday 8am to 9pm

- Saturday and Sunday 8am to 8pm

They'll transfer your call to our dedicated network team who'll assist you further with the network coverage.

Awaiting to hear from you and have a nice day.

If you have any further questions, please reply to this email or visit our online Help Centre at:

http://www.o2.co.uk/help

When you email us please provide: your full name, first line of address with postcode and mobile number as it helps us answer your query faster.

Kind regards

Valencia

O2 Customer Service.

[scaryclaireyfairy]

*facepalm*

[nicktrow]

I am on Virgin which uses T Mobile network & I was the only one amongst our group that could send & receive texts promptly.

[Sam Crawley]

Yep, me too. 5 beautiful bars all weekend.

[oafc0000]

I did not lack for signal strength on O2... had full signal the whole time. Contrary to the ideas of the complete f*ckwits in their customer services, it was network congestion that was the problem, i.e. despite everyone having full strength, you were competing for the 2 phone lines O2 seemed to have plugged into their transmitter!

Anyway, it is not over. I'm gonna call the b*stards today!

Edited July 7, 2009 by oafc0000

[Sam Crawley]

I am on O2 and had full signal but couldnt make one call all weekend... Piss poor... Text message took four hours to arrive... I had no issues in 08 or 07... Which is weird...

[OliverJames]

I am on O2 and had full signal all weekend but awful congestion with texts, calls and data.

I used to work in network operations in O2 and they do send out temporary transmitters to Glastonbury and other festivals but a deal is in place to give Orange priority. For the same reason at Wireless festival (when it was run by O2) there will be a great O2 service and maybe not so good on other networks.

The solution's simple - get an Orange PAYG SIM for Glasto next year :-)

http://freesim.orange.co.uk/

[oafc0000]

I am on O2 and had full signal all weekend but awful congestion with texts, calls and data.

I used to work in network operations in O2 and they do send out temporary transmitters to Glastonbury and other festivals but a deal is in place to give Orange priority. For the same reason at Wireless festival (when it was run by O2) there will be a great O2 service and maybe not so good on other networks.

The solution's simple - get an Orange PAYG SIM for Glasto next year :-)

http://freesim.orange.co.uk/