Very disgruntled about the 3g,4g service abroad

[Anonymous]

Hello all

I have just returned from holiday in tenerife. I must say im furious about the non exsistant service in that european country. I was tied to using a provider named Movistar. 5 days I tried conecting to the internet with this provider to no avail. the service is woefully slow, almost dial up speed. I tried registering with another provider, orange, vodaphone es etc, only to be told its not possible. My wife who is on EE had a perfect 4g service the entire time. Now call me grumpy but, we are in the 21st century, in Europe with a company run by telefonica, a Spanish company. So why was I tied to movistar with that hopless service. so much so that to get online, I had to pay 30 euros to use WIFI at the hotel and Airport. Now only to find on my return 02 has charged me for this hopeless service. I have been with 02 for many years, but I will tell you now. I will be terminating my contract when it runs out. I will be moving to a provider than can provide 3g and 4g service abroud

[Cleoriff]

Hi @Anonymous I am currently in Spain at present and have a different story to tell. I am on Movistar here...but  am not using 4G due to locality. 3G however is excellent. My problem this visit seems to be with the WiFi connections hereabouts. I presume as it's winter there are more people staying in at night using WiFi and this is the slowest I have found it.

My friend has a villa in Tenerife and has no problem with Movistar.. Her son on Vodafone does when he visits Tenerife

Edited to add...I know this doesn't solve your issue but is showing that locality can have an effect on coverage. It's poor really that this should be the case however...

Maybe you should consider downloading TuGo for trips abroad http://www.o2.co.uk/apps/tu-go

Excellent for texts and calls at no cost over Wifi...

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply.

I must say from the moment I landed in the airport until I returned it was the same. not once did I recieve 3g. I was all over the south of the island, over mountains and down to the beach, the story was the same, nothing. You would think in the 21st century I could have at least got a 3g service. Then to be charged by 02 for this hopeless service. I have tried to ring and complain 4 times, only to be placed in a cue. I have therefore written a strong email of complaint. I do not accept the fact that it was Winter time, people were staying in and online. I had 6 days of sunshine. My partner who is on EE had a perfect 4g servce. I was the only one running about like a madman waving my arms in the air trying to get a signal. At one point a child asked if I was the poolside entertainment, before going back to her 4g service and laughing at my attempt at standing on a chair on one leg, waving my arms around. No im not a happy person having to pay 30 euros for wifi, and a further £20 by 02 for this discusting service. It was like a slap in the face. 02 you need to get you act together.

[viridis]

Did you manually attempt to connect to another network?

[Cleoriff]

@Anonymous I really do feel for you...although the image of you standing on a chair waving your phone around for a signal did make me laugh......and no doubt you had to resist a strong urge to chuck the child with 4G into the pool....

If you wish to complain in the hope of getting some compensation then this is the route to follow

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

PS I travel back to the UK on Monday. I will be pleased to get back to good WiFi... My phone has given me no problem whatsoever....but my laptop is another story. Best of luck with your complaint

[Cleoriff]

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@viridis wrote:
Did you manually attempt to connect to another network?

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Apparently so @viridis Orange and vodafone according to the first post?

Also @Anonymous did you have O2 travel? https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/international/using-phone-in-europe

Not saying it would have given you a better signal....but may have reduced some of the costs?

[Anonymous]

Hello. Yes i tried to connect manually to, Vodaphone es and orange. Only to be told it was not possible.

[viridis]

Yeah, reread it and saw.
It's one of those things tho, while movistar is directly connected to o2 via Telefonica, there is nothing o2 can do about the connection in the countries.
Sometimes connection is great, sometimes it's awful.

[Anonymous]

Yeah awful all the time for me, and I still have to pay for it. Well I still have 9 months of my contract to run. I will be back in Spain in January so I will try it again. Hopefully Barcelona will have a good service, or i may keep my data and roaming turned off and just pay for wifi

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yeah awful all the time for me, and I still have to pay for it. Well I still have 9 months of my contract to run. I will be back in Spain in January so I will try it again. Hopefully Barcelona will have a good service, or i may keep my data and roaming turned off and just pay for wifi

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Or better still @Anonymous stay somewhere in Barcelona that provides free wifi. I am on the Costa Del Sol and honestly have no problem (normally) with data roaming or wifi. If you have O2 travel as indicated in my last link and then use wifi like whatsapp, messenger or Skype over wifi you really should have no issues at all. Tugo would also give you free calls and texts over Wifi Best of luck anyway..