yonmei

11:18 pm: I WIN!
The last time I tried to recredit my Vodafone Pay As You Go account, I was told my card had expired.

I checked with my bank, and discovered to my unsurprise that Vodafone had got it wrong; my card was still perfectly valid.

So I tried to check with Vodafone what the problem was. I found that Vodafone had no means to let me do that:

( for length )

So that was the end of Vodafone for me. Well, at least until next time. I mean, all phone companies are garbage. But oh, the joy of PAYGO: to be able to just decide "screw you!" and go. (I transferred all my contacts across on Sunday in an Orange shop, before I rang Orange to port my number.)

And then I had a problem. I got a Nokia 1600 with a Vodafone SIM card last year in the aftermath of the 3 thing. And the Nokia turned out to be locked to Vodafone only: which I found when I inserted my Orange SIM card and got "SIM CARD NOT VALID".

But, solo put me on to a site called www.moneysavingexpert.com, and there was a subsection for unlocking mobile phones for free, so I tried a couple of the websites from there (unlock.nokiafree.org and www.unlockitfree.com) and found the second one had the clearer explanation so I went with the number one code from that website...
...and WHEE. It worked. My phone was unlocked. My Orange SIM card works.

I am wizard of my own phone. :-D



Tags: *bounce*, 3 are bastards, cool things people do with software, evil phone company plots, mobile phone blues

10:15 pm: The 2008 meme
( it was 365 days )

Tags: 3 are bastards, bloody job, bob, cats, evil british politics, meme meme meme, working at the forest, worrying about my cats

05:28 pm: Huzzah!
3 have cancelled my account.

All it took was: three and a half months; 18 letters; 2 registered mailings of an unwanted handset; and a whole lot of stubbornness.

(One of the letters was to the Hong Kong billionaire who owns the telecoms 3 and T-Mobile: one was to the CEO of T-Mobile UK, one was to the CEO of T-Mobile Europe, who's in Germany: several were to the CEO and head of marketing and head of sales and people like that listed on the 3 website: two were to consumer-rights people in the UK.... and so on.)

Gosh. I feel sort of peacefully smug. I won.

Huzzah.

Tags: 3 are bastards

11:14 am: Wow. Okay.
( I got a phone call )

Tags: 3 are bastards

08:10 pm: 3 are bastards: review please
( Another letter to 3 )

Tags: 3 are bastards

04:25 pm: Oh God, 3 are bastards
I have been talking on the phone with a 3 robot for ages about how "You owe us a termination fee, etc".

When I eventually got to asking if I could speak to a 3 supervisor, things moved a little bit more quickly.

Basically:

3 say that their procedure requires me to pay a termination fee before cancelling my account.

I explained, again, what the situation was from my POV. I counterproposed that if they wanted to go through the right forms and check off the right boxes, I'd pay £15 - line rental for the less-than-one-month the phone was in my possession - and that would be that. (I pointed out that 3 could not possibly want this to go to small claims court land: the supervisor person said nothing to that - he claimed the full termination fee was 3 policy, and no one at 3 could change 3 policy.)

The supervisor said that wasn't acceptable - they'd want me to pay the termination fee in full - and counterproposed that I should go visit the 3 shop on Princes Street to talk to the shop manager. (He pointed out that I might be able to get confirmation from them that the information about a 14-day notice period had been available in the shop, and that it had been 3 staff at the shop who made the two calls from the phone.)

Oh god, I wish I didn't feel ill. This is a great idea for Saturday - crowded shop, lots of customers, plenty of embarrassment opportunities for 3. I am totally tempted by the idea of running up there right now, actually.

(Oh, he also invited me to transfer the balance of my account with 3 to someone else. Uh. Gosh. Yeah, I can see myself selling this to my friends: "Friends, who among you would like a dubious handset and a customer account with a mobile phone company whose customer service and aftersales provision stinks this much?")

Tags: 3 are bastards

11:14 am: I am bleeding
Looking around my flat, it is a tip, and I reflect sadly that I meant to spend at least part of my holidays tidying up, and I didn't.

Looking at Things To Do For Work Tomorrow, I reflect sadly that I meant to spend at least part of my holidays writing several cogent and enthralling articles about things I'm long-term interested in, and I didn't.

I also meant to get a new phone, and I did do that, but then I spent practically the entire holidays trying to get rid of it again, because I couldn't get it to work, and the shop wouldn't take it back.

I also meant to make mince-pies. I have a large jar full of mincemeat. I have butter and flour. I didn't do that.

I'm 41 in a week: I have no plans for my birthday. (This is normal for me: I never do. Last year was the exception.) But I probably ought to want to do something. Go out for a meal. Invite friends round to watch TV. I just can't think of anything I want to do right now.

And I'm going back to work tomorrow. :-(

However, the sun is very shiny outside, and I'm meeting Ajay for coffee at one o'clock, and I haven't taken a paracetemol yet today, so I can take a 500mg one and just wait till it hits. Painkillers are yummy. \

Tags: 3 are bastards, bloody bloody bloody

03:32 pm: In the Forest
Currently, in the Forest cafe, the soup is mine: a red lentil soup with onion and cabbage (and a bit of tomato, and turmeric, thyme, and rosemary) that I put together on the 27th. Also, the chilli is mine - the fabulous one I made on the 23rd.

All I need to do is figure out how to get them to take my bread, and I can rule the universe!

Yay.

In other news: I bought a new phone before Christmas, or rather I took an 18-month contract with 3 (£15 a month, 300 minutes or 300 texts - that is, for every text I send, I get a minute less talk time, which just suits me) and got a free phone. Unfortunately, it was a Sony Ericsson piece of shit, and first of all I couldn't get the SIM card in (it was complicated, and no diagram was provided or any detailed instructions beyond "insert SIM card") and then after I'd complained AT LENGTH someone put it in for me and I felt like an idiot and also possibly a sucky customer (will go into more detail in another post, perhaps do a poll, as one does). Now the battery has completely run down and either the charger or the battery is faulty because it won't CHARGE, dammit.

I should need to get another phone some time after July 2009. Do not under any circumstances let me get another Sony Ericsson. I was tempted by this one because it doubles as a Walkman, but oh lord what a piece of crap.

Tags: 3 are bastards, mobile phone blues