Ipod Touch/Iphone question

My last Orange phone, it told me I couldn't top up and told me to phone a number from my mobile phone. I phoned it, but it wouldn't work because I had no credit. And I couldn't top up. I phoned them from another phone and they said I should do it from my mobile. *facepalm*

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
theRacingLine.net
SportsCarArchives.com

I'll just have to hope I don't encounter any problems with them.... because this time I'm on a 24 month contract and I don't fancy paying that off early :P

The customer service reputation seems to ring true... I haven't had any trouble with them yet... simply because I hadn't bothered calling up to ask "where the @#$%& is my phone?"

I'm a bit annoyed that the on-line ordering process wouldn't take a PAC code though, and that they won't take one until after delivery or so said the hapless dimwit in the call centre who I had to call after the on-line process got all confused.... So I have to call them when I've actually set the phone up. I'm regretting jumping the gun now and not waiting for carphonewarehouse to stock up..... because when I got my 3G from them it was pretty seamless, so I don't understand why I have to dick about so much for Orange.

I read on the actual Orange forums that one disgruntled customer upgraded to iPhone4 with them and got delivered a 3GS, and then had to contend with various morons at customer service who apparently didn't know their arses from their elbows.

J i m Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I read on the actual Orange forums that one
> disgruntled customer upgraded to iPhone4 with them
> and got delivered a 3GS, and then had to contend
> with various morons at customer service who
> apparently didn't know their arses from their
> elbows.


Customer service are determined to sit all day on their elbows

They rarely help anyone. Probably the best customer service I've faced was when my Xbox had the Ring of Death, where the employees were surprisingly quite helpful.
But for multi-national conglomerates to create defective products and redirect you to some pasty-faced bullshitter who hasn't got a clue is just unforgivable. Shame on them.

---

GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2010 12:10AM by Incident 2k9.

yeah, MS were good with mine as well... though i wasn't expecting a very loud, overly cheerful american guy! Still, they got it fixed double quick time, and it's still running...

_______________________________________________________

Team Japan Owner - GPGNC

Incident 2k9 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They rarely help anyone. Probably the best
> customer service I've faced was when my Xbox had
> the Ring of Death, where the employees were
> surprisingly quite helpful.
> But for multi-national conglomerates to create
> defective products and redirect you to some
> pasty-faced bullshitter who hasn't got a clue is
> just unforgivable. Shame on them.

This is unfortunately quite common in a capitalistic society. In the end nothing really matters but the bottom line for each fiscal quarter and year. Is it in red or black ink, and are the shareholders happy? This is the only loyalty a large corporation will ever have, regardless of what they say, or what their brand image is. If they push a faulty product, they wipe it off in a shoddy customer support, and let the PR people do increased activity as a follow up.

Here in Denmark, Dell of all companies, was busted for selling shoddy and faulty computers. Their customer support was contracted to a separate company. To keep costs low, each supporter was required to average X amount of calls per hour for each shift. The limit was set at 12, I think, that is one around every 5 minutes. So if you had just a slightly complex problem, the supporter hand you a useless suggestion, tell you to call back later and hang up on you.

Hence there was always a massive wait to get through, and you couldn't request to continue the conversation with the previous supporter. You would get a new one every time. Needless to say, many customers just gave up. Evidence points to the fact that this was a profitable and deliberate strategy by Dell.

When national television busted this scheme wide open in a direct confrontation with the Dell's Danish chief executive, they suffered massive brand damage. They promised all sorts of things. Nevertheless, they got busted again 4 months later, having done nothing to alleviate the situation. Now they are running not stop adds, saying that the only thing that makes them happy is customer satisfaction... yeah right.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Finally got my iPhone4... spent much of the day setting it up from fresh. (didn't want to sync a backup of my 3G).

First hurdle was actually getting through to Orange to give them my o2 PAC code. They have an absurd call centre... that insists on you quoting your new orange number to get through to iPhone support and you also have to submit your orange account password. Which meant I had to register my account before I could actually talk someone! And when I did get through it was to the wrong sodding department! though to their credit they put me through and it's all sorted now.

First impressions and I haven't made any calls but will make a face time call to Zcott soon are quite favourable. I called it from my 3G... and hilariously it dropped the without me even touching it. But worked fine 2nd time round. GPS chip is significantly better and the phone has much nicer feel to it in general.

There isn't a big wow factor to it yet though... thus far it basically feels like a natural evolution. More later.

Facetime is awesome.... and now my 3G feels odd and clunky in my hands.

Had 2 failures on my tower system, bought a laptop And that had a hardrive fail ( replaced under warranty). And installed iTunes and signed in and it told my that I have 2 devices ( phone and iPod touch) and that I had just used up 5 out of 5 allowances, which is correct as I've had 4 system rebuilds between my towervand laptop over the years, so what happens next time it's eventually gonna happen? Am I screwed?




LS's Tip of the week
ESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat

Didn't know about the de-authorisation, but then again I didn't know components were gonna fail had I have done




LS's Tip of the week
ESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat

By the looks of it deauthorise all computers and then reauthorise the one you want to use it on... I'd do a backup first though, just in case.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

That movie kicked up a massive fuss. BestBuy tried to sack the guy who made it, before the Unions stepped in for abuse.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
theRacingLine.net
SportsCarArchives.com

Indeed... but he decided not to go back there anyway.

I must say, I really do have a problem with Apple products. I bought a 120 GB iPod about 20 months ago. Turned out that it was faulty. It turned itself off all the time, it would skip in playback, or just randomly change songs. The controller wheel would also stop working, like it just froze up for a couple of seconds, and there was also a lot of lag in the menus and in the loading of simple graphics. Pondering this, I found the support pages on the Apple website was not useful at all. Just fill of generic crap. No real issues was recognized by Apple. I guess their product works perfectly, at all times.

When I entered their official forums, the story was very different. You can see problems galore in there with every single product. It did not take me long to find at least 3 multi-page threads, describing these problems with this particular iPod. So, I returned for a replacement. 2 weeks later, I got a reply from the store. Faults had been found, and they would supply me with a new one. I was happy to discover that the random skipping and powering off was gone. The problems with the controller wheel, the interface lag, and the slow loading of simple pictures in the album art was unfortunately still there. Apparently, Apple does not consider these issues to be problems with the device. It is WAD, or Working As Designed...

That is just horrible. My old 20GB Creative Zen didn't have these problems. It was rock solid in its performance and practically indestructible. Dropping the iPod, which happened a few times, is downright scary! I know at least of one friend whose iPod disintegrated after dropping it from 1½ meters... the first time! With the iPod, the lag was often associated with the slight humming of the HD spinning up. Making playlists in the iPod is a real pain, and the menus are cluttered and confusing.

My old Zen was years older than the iPod, yet in its core functionality, like in playing music, making playlists, lag, user friendly menus, etc... it blew the at least 2 generations newer iPod away. But as long as used the iPod, people would walk up to me and say. wow, that is really neat... can I see it? That really didn't happen with the Zen. There was no flashy graphics and peer impressing bling-bling about. It just did its job.

That is really my issue with Apple. Their products are designed to impress peers... that is the first and most important design parameter. It is a fashion statement. A marker of personal identity. Functionality comes, at best, a distant second.

I saw a review, discussing if Apple would do a iPhone4 recall to address the issue of the antenna. The authors conclusion was no, but they might issue free bumpers. Pondering if this problem would damage brand or stifle sales, fanboy as he was, he concluded no... because in the end the consumer could use it. To bolster this claim, he referenced the American consumer guide review, that concluded that the iphone4 as A PHONE was mediocre. They recommended not to by, but did admit that the iPhone4 was a leading media device. So, the reviewer concluded, it was usable for those who purchased it.

This is exactly my point and iPod experience. The device has stupid design flaws, and the primary function it is supposed to do, it does mediocre job of at best. "Hey, I have this TV I want to sell you. It isn't very good, it is slow to change channels and settings, and it is kind of difficult to program. But it looks awesome, it is very flashy when you use it! It can make espresso, ice cubes out of the side, and extra heat on the back to dry clothes while you watch it! Everyone will think you are the sh!t when you show it to them. Wanna buy?"

...

To compound the matter, my iPod was stolen about a month ago, while I was on a binge. Some kid decided that it was worth the risk, to grab into my bag in a massively crowded area, and take the iPod while I had the bag over my shoulder. When I discovered it was gone, I realized, despite having used an mp3 player regularly for years, that I was not even sorry it was gone. The only thing that gave me a sting, was the fact that I had to shell out for a replacement. I will probably get a Cowon. Nobody knows what it is, but as far as I can read, it actually does work as promised.

But I get it. Some kid wanted to risk stealing the iPod from me, because of the bling-bling value... so it has to be there!

Apple won't do a recall with this phone. They have years of experience handling this sort of sh!t with their products. The sheeple will want them, even if they don't work as they should. After all, people walk up to you and say; "Wow that is neat! Can I see it?"... or steal it.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

It's amazing, the iPhone 3GS I own is the most functional device I've ever owned.

Yes, but you are Covfan. You are universally known as a moron.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

I'd write a long reply about my previous statement but considering you used the word 'sheeple' in a previous post it'd be wasted on the likes of you.

Love what you have, don't hate what you don't have - Simon Pegg




LS's Tip of the week
ESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat

Covfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'd write a long reply about my previous statement
> but considering you used the word 'sheeple' in a
> previous post it'd be wasted on the likes of you.

Oh no, I used the word "sheeple". Oh... My... God...



*IThinkIAmGonnaFaint*

...

Pretty much anything you could say to me would be wasted. Unless of course, it was for the entertainment value that other people could derive from it.


LS. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Love what you have, don't hate what you don't have
> - Simon Pegg

That may sound good, but really... it is just nonsense on so many levels.

So if you find a fly in your soup, you should just sit there and eat it, instead of returning it? When the waiter refuses to acknowledge the fly, you should just accept it. When you see that there are many flies in the restaurant, and people are eating them, you should just STFU? You shouldn't try and raise awareness about the problems with the food served there? Even the king of acceptance, the Dalai Lama, considers it to be important that people speak up against whatever they consider to be wrong-doing.

Of course, if that quote is a thinly veiled attempt at saying, that I am phone-hating because I don't have one, that is I am consumed in a fit of envy, then it does make sense. But trust me on this one. It is certainly not envy. And I found my iPod to be frustrating and poor, while I had it too. Not just when it got stolen.

While my critique was levelled against the shoddiness of the product, and the attitude of the company, I think it is more the breeding mentality among people that really gets to me. If you have read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, you know what I am talking about. The totality of meaningless consumption, and the equally totality of the numb mentality comes from it, that ensures social stability in society. Or perhaps it is better said in this comic:



What if I want something more than the pale facsimile of fulfilment brought by a parade of ever-fancier toys?

If you look at it, this is EXACTLY what is going on. It is called, fostering a Philosophy of Futility. This concept was coined in 1928 by marketing professor, Paul Nystrom, in his book "Economics of Fashion". He spotted that the life in the new industrial era fostered a great deal of boredom and monotony, and people sought to medicate this with fashionable products and accessories. I give the most favoured quote from his book:

Quote

One's outlook on life and its purposes may greatly modify one's attitude toward goods in which fashion is prominent. At the present time, not a few people in western nations have departed from old-time standards of religion and philosophy, and having failed to develop forceful views to take their places, hold to something that may be called, for want of a better name, a philosophy of futility. This view of life (or lack of a view of life) involves a question as to the value of motives and purposes of the main human activities. There is ever a tendency to challenge the purpose of life itself. This lack of purpose in life has an effect on consumption similar to that of having a narrow life interest, that is, in concentrating human attention on the more superficial things that comprise much of fashionable consumption.

This is actually a deliberate strategy, pursued by large corporations, and they have a shared interest in pushing this agenda... to dislocate people from their true needs and desires. The subsequent emptiness, is then filled with a steady stream of arbitrary and meaningless manufactured goods. It is at the very cornerstone of modern marketing, and has been so for over 80 years now. By harnessing this affliction of the modern soul, consumption can be ramped up to an ever increasing level, thus emptying the life of modern human of meaning even more, which in turn promotes even more consumption.

We have now reached the point, where people are actually bragging about living their lives like this, and people who don't, or speak against it are frowned upon. Given this situation, I think both speaking up, and using the word "sheeple" is very appropriate. Unfortunately, it should be no surprise, that when one ventures into the Cave of Plato, the disdain of inhabitants is the most likely gesture of greetings.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.