..."Here's a quarter, call someone who cares...."

[koØm]

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/Paws264/rant.gif (http://s111.photobucket.com/user/Paws264/media/rant.gif.html)

I have an issue with my cellphone service provider and, I am locked into the contract for another 14 months.

Two weekends ago, I took the resident Harmonic to Kings Island Amusement Park along with some of my emancipated Harmonics, SO's and Grand-Harmonics; we had a great time riding, eating and being family. Of course, my daughters had to post about the adventure on Facebook which, they did with no effort. When I tried to get online and see the photos, my T-F*CKIN More-Bile phone came back with the red circle with slash icon saying, "NO DATA". Funny, looked like everybody else in the park had data service because, they were texting, Tweeting, talking and, even playing games online. My Fone (Samsung S-II) would not do squat. My daughter's Samsung S-II performed as expected. I asked who was her provider, she said, "Sprint, not that Boot-Leg T-Mobile". I was crushed. I thought, "Maybe the T-Mobile Satellite fell out of the sky"!

Yesterday, 6/16, we went back to Kings Island (we all have seasons passes) for a Father's Day get-together; more kids and more cellphones; everybody's phone phone worked internet wise and text and talk but, mine. Again, I polled them on their service provider and the answers came back, "Sprint and AT&T", even my son's throw-away TracFone had full service!

My T-Mo-bile POS wouldn't even complete a regular call inside the park; Pissed, I even tried to call "Customer Support" from the phone and it dropped that call also.

Today, I went online for help and the SOBs tried to insist that I go to Facebook (which wanted "Permissions" to have access to my online profile, contacts and, wanted to be able to post to my Facebook page....my response to that request was, "E-S-A-D"! Their phone support team is off-shore and if I'm lucky I can get someone who UNDERSTANDS and SPEAKS English, not someone with a lack of sentence structure speaking "Pigeon-Engrish".

It's going to be a long hot Summer so, we will be at the park quite a lot but, I'm gonna have to take my "Obama-Phone" (which is on the TracFone network) to stay in touch.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/Paws264/rant.gif (http://s111.photobucket.com/user/Paws264/media/rant.gif.html)

.

[koØm]

....For what it's worth.....

I called Support on my landline, they were very supportive about where and when the "Outage" occured; they went so far as to locate their tower in the area and placed a "Service Ticket" on the location and "expected" that within 72 hours, the problem would be resolved. The support person said that I should give them a call back if when I go back into the park next weekend if I don't have service.

She went out of her way being sympathetic while blowing smoke up my azz.

.

[KC2UGV]

I've found T-Mobile to be rather responsive to calls for trouble tickets (I have T-Mobile too). But, understand, T-Mobile is one of the smaller providers, and their coverage in outlying areas has much to be desired (Something I'm learning as my bike rides take me out to more rural places).

If you absolutely need coverage to make a phone call anywhere in the US, you have to go with VZW (Shudder), or AT&T. Even VZW is lacking in some areas. With AT&T, you'll be able to make a phone call anywhere you have battery, within 2 miles of the coast of the US. And, you pay for that.

FWIW: I'm betting you're going to have a much better signal next time. When T-Mobile says they'll fix, they usually do (YMMV). I reported a similar issue at my office (Downtown Buffalo), and the next day it was resolved. Same thing for when I was further up north.

[koØm]

I've found T-Mobile to be rather responsive to calls for trouble tickets (I have T-Mobile too). But, understand, T-Mobile is one of the smaller providers, and their coverage in outlying areas has much to be desired (Something I'm learning as my bike rides take me out to more rural places).

If you absolutely need coverage to make a phone call anywhere in the US, you have to go with VZW (Shudder), or AT&T. Even VZW is lacking in some areas. With AT&T, you'll be able to make a phone call anywhere you have battery, within 2 miles of the coast of the US. And, you pay for that.

FWIW: I'm betting you're going to have a much better signal next time. When T-Mobile says they'll fix, they usually do (YMMV). I reported a similar issue at my office (Downtown Buffalo), and the next day it was resolved. Same thing for when I was further up north.

Well, that's good to hear that the company is responsive to customer input and try to act on it in a timely manner.

My problem was, I was drinking T-Mobile's flavor of Kool-ade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T4e-JYzR78) ! The Customer Service Rep. was nice enough to point out that I had been a T-Mobile subscriber for 9 years.


The bottom line



So AT&T has the fastest 4G LTE network, and Verizon has the largest. So what?
Here are some important factors and conclusions to consider:
(http://culturemass.com/2013/04/02/who-really-has-the-best-4g-network/)

If you have a smartphone, choosing the right carrier is essential to a great smartphone experience. (http://culturemass.com/2013/04/02/who-really-has-the-best-4g-network/)
While asking yourself the question “Is speed or coverage more important to me?”, keep in mind that there isn’t alarge difference between AT&T and Verizon in terms of speed. There is a decent difference in download speed (4.3 Mbps), but not a large one. (http://culturemass.com/2013/04/02/who-really-has-the-best-4g-network/)
As the study and Phandroid’s article suggest, look at the specific coverage in the area you’re in. However, if you visit family a lot or travel for business, you may want to give more consideration to a larger network. (http://culturemass.com/2013/04/02/who-really-has-the-best-4g-network/)
While T-Mobile is really lagging behind in 4G LTE coverage, RootMetrics suggests keeping an eye on their future. They currently have HSPA+42, and while it’s not as fast as 4G LTE, when they add 4G LTE it could be an impressive combination. (http://culturemass.com/2013/04/02/who-really-has-the-best-4g-network/)
Of the past four Consumer Reports issues I’ve read (January-April 2013), they’ve mentioned overall quality and customer satisfaction with the major wireless carriers a couple times. Verizon sits at #1, Sprint at #2, T-Mobile at #3, and AT&T at #4. And it’s been that way for a little while (I’ve read those exact same standings in previous issues). (http://culturemass.com/2013/04/02/who-really-has-the-best-4g-network/)


They all advertise "4G" networks but, is HSPA+42 really "4G"? I understand that there is also a "5G" (whatever that will be) coming to fruition soon.

.

[WØTKX]

All I can say is that as long as I don't have to talk to a "rep", I've been very happy with AT&T. The 4G is speed is reasonably fast, and my Lumia 900 Windows phone is a nice device. I have the "fat" data plan, and use tethering quite a bit, which works really well.

Since I'm reasonably "tech savvy", I don't need no stinkin' rep.

[n6hcm]

when i had tmo they were quite responsive ... coverage here is crap, tho, and their gsm phones use oddball frequencies so byod is more problematic.

i've been with at&t since they were pacific bell wireless and have had no issues with local coverage in about eight years. it's notoriously difficult to get new towers installed here (all the hipsters want to facebook and tweet through life but nobody wants a tower nearby) but at&t has regularly been activating new towers (they text me when a tower is erected near my usual haunts).

this is all a very local experience. ymmv, etc. look at the coverage maps and take with a grain of salt.