Earlier this year I had to cancel my datacard plan with Vodafone Ireland because they simply refused to fix the 'data flooded' cell tower in Rathkeale on which I depended for 3G connectivity. Two months after my connectivity first disappeared, with numerous phone calls in between they still couldn't give even give me a date for when it might be fixed. After spending €49 a month with them for the 8 months previous to that I have to say it was the most hair tearingly frustrating customer experience I've ever had. Put bluntly Vodafone demonstrated that they couldn't give a f**k about me or my business.
Recently Conor O'Neill has gone through a similarly enraging episode with the same mobile operator, though relating to another product, which he chronicles in a blog post under the title of 'Vodafone - Staring into the Abyss'.
"Vodafone Live is not an internet connection, it is a bastardized hamstrung http proxy and the Advertising Standards Authority should come down on them like a ton of bricks"
I had high hopes for 3 but it looks like they are equally clueless with blocking ports too. I remember when they launched, someone I knew in BT (who built 3 Ireland) gave them zero chance of success. Pity.
Posted by: Conor O'Neill | December 24, 2007 at 02:55 PM
I'd be very surprised if anything can be done about this. The consumer in Ireland is f***ed and there's no one to help us. Not only is there a lack of will in government, there is a severe shortage of competency to enable proper telecoms regulation.
Posted by: James Gallagher | December 28, 2007 at 01:40 PM