topic Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless in Discussions & Feedback

Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Thu, 26 May 2016 17:23:14 GMT

Hi,

I joined O2 in November 2015, based on good coverage reported on the coverage checker for my home postcode. Unfortunately, my phone is next to useless at home, and in the immediate streets surrounding my house. I either get "Network not available" or "No signal found for mobile networks" when trying to dial out, or call quality so poor and intermittent that it's effectively unusable. Even outside in the garden, the phone is basically unusable. I estimate over half the calls I make drop before they are finished too.

This is not a handset issue. I had a Microsoft Windows phone from work on 02 which had exactly the same problem. It has become a standing joke among friends and colleagues when they need to contact me. My daughter has a Samsung phone on my contract and that too is very poor at home. My current work phone is on EE, and it has no signal issues at all, indoors or out.

What can I do about this? I am 7 months into a 2 year contract and I feel I am paying for a service that I am not getting. There is also a massive gap between the service suggested by the coverage checker at my postcode, versus what I am actually getting. The result is a phone that, unless I leave the house, I cannot use, and have to borrow my wife's iPhone (on Vodafone) or use my EE work phone to be able to use a basic service. I am not even talking about data here, just simple voice calls.

I have installed TuGo, but that has limitations in that incoming calls often get routed directly to voicemail without the phone ringing. The point also being that according to the coverage checker, I should have good voice and data (2G, 3G and 4G) at this postcode. I can't even make calls reliably.

Any advice gratefully received.

Many thanks

Dan

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Thu, 26 May 2016 17:29:14 GMT

You can pay off your device plan then cancel your airtime plan & you are able to go to a network that has good signal in your area

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Cleoriff — Thu, 26 May 2016 18:01:30 GMT

Hi @Anonymous

Have a check through this thread....https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Pay-Monthly-and-Pay-Go/Self-help-guide-Is-the-network-down-for-me-or-everyone/m-p/593752#M59833

If you are still having problems and issues...then you need to complain http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

You may be allowed to finish your contract early if complaint is upheld

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Bambino — Thu, 26 May 2016 18:02:14 GMT

First mistake was relying on the coverage checker as the basis for taking out a contract. They're never particularly reliable. We always suggest trying Pay & Go sims before you dive into a long contract. It's the only way to be certain of the kind of coverage you'll get.

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

MI5 — Thu, 26 May 2016 18:16:44 GMT

Little else you can do other than pay of your contract or device plan and give notice.
The terms of contract only give you 14 days to cancel which should be used to check suitability.

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

songie63 — Thu, 26 May 2016 21:23:11 GMT

i am having the same problem it really is a joke now and this is the only phone i got so cannot even ring O2, and if i use someones land line you have to pay for the call, because calls to O2 cost you of a Land line the net work coverage checker says a mast near me is not working but this has now gone on for five weeks and im fed up now , one very angry customer

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Cleoriff — Thu, 26 May 2016 23:08:16 GMT

@songie63 Have you made a complaint? Follow this link here http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2016 10:22:40 GMT

I am in GL54 (Bourton On the Water) and we have serious issues which they are supposedly working on... we have what looks like a signal, but in reality no one can make or receive calls or text messsages the phone doesn't ring at all and when you try to make a call it is just dead, o2 have said a few different things, that a mast isnt working, that the upgrade to 4g in our area has meant that service works are being carried out and other people say that they have actualy removed a local mast to us!!! the service checker confirms we have a problem, that a mast isn't working... but this has been going on for at least a month now with no signs of improvement, businesses in our area who rely on o2 are seriously suffering, but no one can tell us what is actually happening? I have just moved to o2 and I wan't out, can anyone tell me how I can escape my contract, they can't provide the service that I am paying for so surely I can leave them?

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

gindygoo — Fri, 27 May 2016 10:52:01 GMT

@Anonymous you say you've just joined O2? Are u within 14 days of taking out a contract? If so you still have the right to cancel. If not then you'll have to put in a complaint by following this link:

http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

Come back and let us know how u get along.

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2016 10:53:11 GMT

I had exactly the same issue.....took out a contract based on good coverage but that all changed 6 months into it.

What I did was raise a complaint through the link and after pointing out they are breaching their own T's & C's such as section 2.2 "You're entitled to the quality of service generally given by a competent mobile telecommunications service provider, using its reasonable skill and care" and "Sometimes technical issues or outages on our Network can occur. If something goes wrong, we'll try to fix it quickly" along with other conditions I felt they haven't kept to, O2 have offered me a vastly reduced early termination fee or the free return of my unlocked handset.

Stay firm and stand your ground.....O2 are not gods and the law does apply to them

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

MI5 — Fri, 27 May 2016 10:54:45 GMT

As always, the advice is to try PAYG sim cards before committing to a contract.

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2016 10:58:29 GMT

@MI5 wrote:
As always, the advice is to try PAYG sim cards before committing to a contract.

or use your 14 day cancellation period however its no good if you start with fantastic signal which then deteriorates to being unusable

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

MI5 — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:05:18 GMT

I agree. If signal deteriorates after a time, that's a different scenario altogether.

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:05:50 GMT

Hi Gindygoo, sadly not within 14 days... 😞 thanks for your help though

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:07:28 GMT

@redtitbit... thank you thats really useful info

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:08:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous... thank you thats really useful info

No problem. Good luck

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:10:29 GMT

my partner is on o2, had a great signal, which is what made me change, then in the last month our signal is dead, I'm told even the local MP has jumped on it to try to help the local businesses who are in dire straights

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Cleoriff — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:45:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I had exactly the same issue.....took out a contract based on good coverage but that all changed 6 months into it.

What I did was raise a complaint through the link and after pointing out they are breaching their own T's & C's such as section 2.2 "You're entitled to the quality of service generally given by a competent mobile telecommunications service provider, using its reasonable skill and care" and "Sometimes technical issues or outages on our Network can occur. If something goes wrong, we'll try to fix it quickly" along with other conditions I felt they haven't kept to, O2 have offered me a vastly reduced early termination fee or the free return of my unlocked handset.

Stay firm and stand your ground.....O2 are not gods and the law does apply to them

Thanks for this info @Anonymous. Good to hear you got a resolution...

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

gindygoo — Fri, 27 May 2016 12:01:19 GMT

@Anonymous it sounds like your whole community are affected, this gives you a stronger case. Make sure everyone affected uses the link on the live issues map that reports the signal not being as advertised.

Here's a snap of what I mean. You see where it says "I disagree".?

Follow the advice of @Anonymous as well. Which is very interesting.

Do come back and let us know if you manage to sort it out or not.

Re: Persistent signal issues at home address and local area, rendering phone effectively useless

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2016 13:33:41 GMT

Oh I am signed up for the updates -

Live results for Bourton on the Water, England, Glos, GL54 2HQ

Sorry a phone mast close to you isn't working

Sorry, there’s a mast near you that isn’t fully working and we’re waiting for our 3rd party supplier to visit the site to fix the problem. Your service may be intermittent for calls, using the internet, or sending/receiving messages in this area during this time.

Updated 14:01 (refreshed hourly). Recent faults might not show yet.

So you see we are powerless to do anything.... we rely on our mobiles these days so it's hopeless