on 29-03-2013 19:07
Solved! Go to Solution.
on 12-04-2013 19:34
on 14-04-2013 15:59
on 14-04-2013 15:59
I live right opposite the hospital. I have spent a few weeks battling with o2 to cut my contract. I was told that I would have to pay £607 to end it, as it runs out in October 2014. Nobody in support told me about the problem with the hospital mast at all. It was only after three hours of calls that I was able to get in touch with a manager, I was finally told that there has been a decomissioned mast at the Hospital. I read on messages here that it is for a helipad, that may not even be needed!! I can't send any texts, perhaps the odd one after several attempts. I cannot make any calls, that last, they get cut off. I have to resort to getting people to call my landline. I pay £31.50 a month for nothing!!! I have received £16 in so called goodwill payments, but Harry (surname I shall withhold- a manager) told me that O2 would expect me to pay the full amount for my service up and until the problem is sorted. He said o2 are currently negotiating with business in the area to host a temporary mast. I said it wasn't legal to charge me for no service, he said it was, and that o2 would compensate people retrospectively after the mast problem is sorted. I said that this was ridiculous, and that only if people phoned and complained would they get some compensation, it could hardly be a 'blanket operation' of compensation. I am quite livid that people have been offered a free severance of their contract, or repeated £8 discounts, or even, when I phoned a week ago, a waived contract of £22 per month until the problem is sorted. Where is the consistency here? I want my PAC number and what the hell out of O2 for good. PLease advise somebody!! Thanks...
on 14-04-2013 16:03
There is a hospital liaison meeting tomorrow, perhaps people can turn up to this and voice their opinions on the matter, I shall be there...
on 15-04-2013 10:09
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10354613.O2_signals_intent_to_return_hospital_mast/?ref=mr
Looks like this made the local news then:
A mobile phone mast could be returned to a hospital just weeks after it was removed, plunging residents and medical staff into a communication blackout.
O2 is considering restoring the phone mast to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, as one of several possible sites.
The communications company’s decision to remove the mast at the end of last month has left thousands of residents without a mobile phone signal, while creating havoc with hospital staff’s ability to be contacted.
A company spokesman said it was seeking legal permission to reinstate the mast but did not have a timescale for when it would be back and operational.
Customers are being offered goodwill credit including a month’s line rental free by way of compensation.
Brighton and Hove city councillor Gill Mitchell described the situation as “an utter, utter **bleep**-up”.
She said: “There seems to have been a breakdown in communications.
“The hospital trust told O2 they had 18 months to remove the post and O2 just put a date in their diary and then removed it even though the hospital renovation could be more than a year away.”
More doctors have contacted The Argus after our story in Thursday’s paper revealing the extent of the problems.
Radiology expert Dr Hugh Harvey said: “As a doctor, I rely heavily on my phone whilst working, especially when on-call. There have been unfortunate incidents now that have directly resulted in delay of patient care simply because no one could reach me, or I could not reach them.”
An O2 spokesman said: “We are progressing several options with the utmost urgency in order to restore full service as quickly as possible.
“We have the resources ready but cannot do anything without the appropriate legal permissions which we are pursuing with the highest priority.
“Again we apologise to those customers affected but can reassure them that we are absolutely committed to resolving this as soon as we can.”
on 15-04-2013 10:12
And I got an e-mail reply from 02 this morning:
I understand your phone is important to you as you completely rely on it
for your personal and business purpose.
As you're aware, the mast close to Brighton has been recently
decommissioned and it has resulted in a reduction of coverage around
that area. However, the surrounding masts have been upgraded to increase
network capacity, helping to reduce any impact when using your mobile
service.
We don't have an exact timescale when the network issue will be resolved
but trust me, we're progressing several options with the utmost urgency
in order to restore full service as quickly as possible.
We have the resources ready but can't do anything without the
appropriate legal permissions which we're pursuing with the highest
priority.
We're in negotiation with the hospital to locate a site on the hospital
and we're also seeking permission to put a temporary cell in the
hospital grounds. We're talking to 3 other local
businesses/organisations about locating a temporary mast on their land.
I'm really sorry for the inconvenience this may be causing but please be
assured that we're absolutely committed to resolving this as soon as we
can.
It says in our terms and conditions, our service may not be fault free
but we'll try to fix any issues as soon as possible as a competent
service provider should.
Network coverage can be susceptible to outages due to a number of
reasons, including but not limited to, maintenance work or cell sites
going down. If this ever happens, O2 work at the highest priority to
resolve these issues and restore the network reception/coverage back to
its prior state.
Until this issue is resolved, you can go for a application called 'TU
GO'. This application allows customers to use their existing mobile
number to make and receive calls, texts and voicemail on any supported
device.
You can use TU GO to contact all your friends and family as they don't
need to have the app to speak to you. In fact, as TU GO is completely
integrated in to the mobile network you can call their landline or
mobile with another provider.
You can find more about TU GO by visiting the link given below:
http://www.o2.co.uk/tugo/got-it
Just to say sorry, I've added one month line rental credit (£37.15) to
your account as a goodwill gesture. It'll show on your next bill.
I appreciate your patience and understanding.
on 15-04-2013 10:24
Hilariously, if you're connected to the Hospital wifi, TuGo doesn't work.
SMS's are fine, but the network proxy seems to screw voice calls.
on 15-04-2013 11:00
Basically you are all screwed.
O2 have it written well into their terms which states they can do anything they like and they don't have to compensate.
I would recommnd buying a vodafone PAYG sim and redirecting you main number to it.
It will be weeks before this is resolved. Funny thing is there are hundreds of people oblivious to the problem so O2 are happy only a small minority are kicking up a fuss.
From what I've read here O2 had 18 MONTHS TO PREPARE FOR THIS!
on 15-04-2013 13:32
on 15-04-2013 22:50
on 16-04-2013 11:10
on 16-04-2013 11:10
I have heard that it's going to take another 2 weeks, form a person who works for o2. Also the Helipad and building works for the new hospital are not starting until the summer. So i don't see why they have been asked to take it down so early.