Mobile Phones, Telcos, Customer Loyalty and Failing Hardware #2

On the 10^th October 2011, I had the unfortunate need to write THIS POST http://itaintalwaysmylife.blogspot.com/2011/10/mobile-phones-telcos-customer-loyalty.html due to Optus’s inability to solve simple customer questions.

On the 9^th December I spent a further 2 hours on the phone to Optus Support, regarding handset that wouldn’t stop ringing. Literally. The phone (Nokia X7) was stuck in some sort of loop, even with the SIM card and Memory card removed, the bloody thing rang for nearly 20 minutes before I managed to somehow turn the phone off. (You can’t remove the battery because it’s an all in one unit). Keeping in mind I was driving ALONG a freeway at the time and normally the bluetooth picks up. Handsfree.

As soon as I reached a landline I called Optus help and again offered numerous handsets, this time, the operator attempted to answer my questions, which did surprise me, completely different approach, I was pleasantly surprised. The only problem was………….. NOT ONE handset could do the 3 things that were/are and will continue to be ESSENTIAL for my day to day operations. Which are sync with Outlook (offline), tether to a laptop, and make phone calls. Not anything terribly complicated.

90% of handsets available to Optus Customers with faulty handsets are NOT SMART PHONES and 100% of handsets WON’T do everything that I require. This surprises me greatly. So I ran a short survey on Twitter, which revealed that 86% of people used and operated a smart phone. Number of participants was 43 people.

So own a ‘smart phone’ and need a replacement whilst yours goes back for ‘repairs’ (software upgrades) DO NOT EXPECT to get what you pay for.

I have to admit that Optus DID handle this query FAR better than previously, BUT it is still appalling that a majority of Optus network users, USE smart phones and yet Optus DO NOT provide a smart phone as a ‘loan’ phone in the interim.

My problems so far with my Nokia X7 have been:-

.Looping/ringing handset that you can’t stop
.The unit asking for USB cable to disconnected, when it is not connected
.’Connection Error’ when attempting to make outgoing calls
.Phone ‘freezing' which required the intervention of an Optus Employee, who was unable to tell me what he did to ‘unfreeze it’ (Chadstone Store)
.Unable to connect to Android Market (probably my fault) but no help guide can solve the problem.
.Phone not always recognised when connected to PC for sync/upload/download.

And NO - I DO NOT want an Apple iPhone, I do not want to use Apple iTunes, I dislike Apple products, I dislike iTunes ability to wipe things when it feels like it, I dislike numerous personal security issues that arise with the use of Apple Products (and no doubt Nokia as well). and look what happened Friday 9th/Saturday 10th December with Telstra Bigpond.

I am currently waiting for Optus to send a 'post pack' for the return of the 'faulty' phone and no doubt, they will find nothing wrong with it and in the interim I have to put up with a sub-standard issue 'loan' phone, which won't do what I NEED  until I get my phone back. A lose lose situation if you ask me!

Are you Dead?

Weird question……. Hell I’m a weird person, so I suppose it’s normal for me to have weird questions.

I always worry when people disappear from my digital life, they come, they make an impression, (or you wouldn’t be worrying about them) and they go. Not in the, I hate you, I don’t agree with you way ………… but just *POOF* gone and it makes me worry.

People say why worry? I worry! Just because it may be someone I’ve never met In Real Life (IRL) but someone I’ve met through a computer screen. They are real people even if some say it’s not like these people are your friends. I consider them a friend, the only difference is they are a digital friend – I may not share what I do with IRL friends, but you still share a little bit of you every time you communicate.

One memorable case for me, someone had obviously got sick of social networking, so they posted

‘It's not you, it's me. 999 days together (that went quick!) but I need a break. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

Now this works for me, it tells me they are okay (well you hope so) and that perhaps they’ll be back, perhaps they won’t, but at least you know they are okay.

Whilst writing this blog post – I realised that someone else has gone and done the *POOF* thing. It wasn’t until I asked others that I found a website etc.

Because 90% of my work (and my relaxation) time is computer orientated, I use social networking like the proverbial water cooler and will often pop in and talk to a variety of people, the conversations often aren’t very deep, but they are enough to make someone smile or laugh and that could be the highlight of someone’s day.

For me social networking is not just about advertising oneself (which I rarely do) It’s not about spamming the people you talk to. It’s about communicating with people who have similar interests, worries, concerns or even just strange animals! (Yup, animals can define who you are too!)

So next time you take a hiatus from social networking, let someone know, if you decide to change your name, let people know also – it may seem a small thing for you – but some people do care. Perhaps you run a business and use your business name as your name on social networking – suddenly, you can no longer be traced. (That’s not a good business practice!)

Someone sitting behind a computer a screen does care, even if sometimes it appears they don’t.

Enjoy the day and remember treat others as you wish to be treated!

I tweet – it doesn’t make me a bad person

I tweet, I play with Twitter. I enjoying talking to people, I enjoy the instant news updates, local, national and international. I enjoy the one on one conversations possible via DM (private messaging) I enjoy the interaction provided by the @ (mentions) facility.

People are constantly asking me why I bother wasting my time, because that is what they see Twitter as, a waste of time. Like any social media it CAN be a time-waster, but used in the right way can be an excellent way of keeping up to date instantly with news either locally or internationally or even something as simple as a road closure or traffic accident in your local area.

I love the fact I can pop in and out of Twitter and not miss anything. If someone wants to include me in a conversation they mention you and it pops up in your time line as a mention. It could sit there for 1-2 hours, or even days and you can still follow the conversation. Not everybody has access 24/7 – not everyone wants access 24/7.

As my work involves computers, I have access almost 24/7. But that doesn’t mean that I participate 24/7.

I see Twitter as one big world-wide neighbourhood; people ask for help, people look for support. People share their good news, people share their bad.

The trick to Twitter is not to try and keep up with each and every tweet that people have broadcast, since you were last active. Just wipe everything in past, check your mentions and pop right back into the stream of tweets.

Say good morning, wander off for a coffee, and maybe go to work. Pop in later and see who has what to say. Different times of the day have different nations online. You rotate through the world depending on what time where and who’s doing what.

You don’t have to participate if you don’t want; you could be a voyeur and just watch. Or you can participate to the max and not miss one tweet or call for help. It’s completely up the user, as to how they choose to participate.

Twitter has also come to the forefront in cases of emergencies. From the Australian Bushfires to the Haiti Earthquake to the New Zealand Earthquakes, to the Natural Gas line explosion in San Bruno, California.

Hash tags have been developed, that assist the Twitter user in following topics of interest. At the time of writing this the most popular hash tags were:-
#neverforget in relation to the events of 9/11
#Clijsters in relation to the US Tennis Open
#IMORTAL TRICOLOR is a homosexual Brazilian football team. (<-- I’m not sure I want to know where this one came from.)

Why not jump in and join all the bad people and have some fun, meet some good people, both online and off (which I have done several times)

Do the Twitter thing and become a twerp and release some tweets on the world!

Twitter - The Funny ReTweet- Here is the Solution

You notice in your timeline some funny RT's - from people that you don't know, from people and perhaps topics, things that don't interest you.

Solution at hand - Twitter has implemented a new tool (called ReTweet) - that automatically allows this to happen when you have followed someone, perhaps to introduce more names and topics into your timeline thus increase the number of people you follow. I have no idea behind the thought processes!

Anyway............................ Solution

Straight from Twitters help Page..............http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/77606

What is retweet? (RT)

Like a tweet? Retweet!

Sometimes you come across a tweet that you just have to share- tweets can be a big deal when they're newsworthy, informative, or even just really funny. Twitter's new retweet (RT) feature helps people quickly share information, which is pretty much what Twitter is all about.

Just hover over a tweet, click the retweet link, and you’re done! A click of a button shares an interesting tweet with all of your followers. Regretting your retweet? Hover over the retweet and click undo. Retweet has been rolled out to all users!

Recognizing retweets in timelines and profiles

Retweeting isn't just a great way to spread information through the twitter network; it's also a great way for you to discover new and interesting content. Twitter now shows retweet information for all public tweets.

Retweets in timelines are distinguished by the retweet icon next to the author's picture.

When someone you follow retweets, you’ll see the original tweet and a picture of the tweet’s original author, with the retweeter’s name below.

Retweets in profiles are indicated by the retweet icon as well.

To credit a tweet's author, retweets show the profile picture, user name, and tweet of the original author, with "retweeted by" information appended at bottom.

Disabling retweets
If you don't want to see retweets from a particular account, just visit the profile and click the retweet icon to disable, but keep in mind, if you see a new face in your timeline, it's because someone you follow retweeted something they thought you should see.

Look for the retweet icon next to the user name when you don't recognize a face, and then look for the retweeter's name below- it should be someone you follow. If the icon is green, you see retweets from that person in your home timeline. (If you want to double check, hover over the icon.) Manage whose retweets you see from your following page in the same way- click the green retweet icon to disable retweets from that person. If the icon is gray, click it (it'll turn green) to turn on retweets.

New retweet tab in sidebar

Click “retweets” in your sidebar to get retweet feedback-- see what you’ve retweeted, what’s been retweeted by people you follow, and who retweeted your tweets!

Retweets by others: read the retweets posted by people you follow under the first tab, 'Retweets by others.'

Retweets by you: read your own retweets- it's like the sent items in your email account. If others have also retweeted, you'll see their profile icons listed.
Your tweets, retweeted: find out who retweets your tweets!

Please note that retweets, like regular tweets, from people you've blocked will not show up.

Frequently Asked Questions
People often wonder:
Can I set retweet preferences for people I follow from my home page? No, you have to turn retweets off/on from profile pages, or your following page.

Can I turn off ALL retweets? Nope! You can turn them off on a person by person basis, but you can't turn off retweets completely. To disable all retweets, visit your following page, and click the green icon for each person. (Nope, there is no 'select all' option, unfortunately.)

When people visit my profile, can they view my retweets in a tab, like favorites? Nope. People can view the retweets posted in your profile by scrolling through the your tweets and looking for the ones with retweet icons. Only you can see your retweet archives.

What if I retweet from apps like Tweetie, twhirl, etc? Retweets, like regular tweets, will appear differently in different applications. All retweets from third party apps (like Tweetie and twhirl) will show up in your retweet tab IF they're using Twitter's retweet API. (Not sure? Try retweeting from your favorite app, and then check the "retweets by you" tab on the web.) Many apps have built in their own version of retweeting; retweets sent from apps that don't use the official feature will not appear in your retweet tab.

Are there limits on retweets? There's no limit to the number of times a tweet can be retweeted, but Twitter will only show the most recent 100 retweeters for any public tweet.

Social Media and the Personal Attacks (Trolling)

Some people call them trolls, some people call them sick. I call them people who are bored with nothing better to do.

Often their claim to fame as having completed a BA (bugger all) in something that is really nothing, in that it hasn’t gained them useful employment. They are angry that this is the case and blame everyone around them.

They think they are better than everyone else on the planet.

They believe it is their god-given right to attack people who disagree with them, people who have opinions are considered dangerous as they can see through the garbage the attacker is spouting.

The attacker will claim they are being victimised, they will claim they are the one being hard done by. Yet they fail to see that they caused the problems in the first place.

People who attack via social media – I consider them to be psychopathic with regards to real world behaviour, so much so that they have often isolated themselves behind a computer with little thought for the outside world.

Many people say ‘don’t feed the trolls’ this in essence is difficult because as the name suggests – they are ugly creatures and even if you don’t offer food (responding) they will find crumbs to feed off (another topic)

Some people claim that opening up and removing the anonymous nature of forums, twitter etc. will remove the threat of trolls.

I have personally experienced a personal attack, the nature to this day, still can’t be disclosed, but the reprisal was the publishing of all my personal information, phone numbers, email accounts, residential address, all in one location. In a forum that is not your average ‘nice’ guys forum.

Trolling or personal attacks whatever you may call them are vicious, uncalled for and people who instigate such attacks, should be sanctioned and possible removed from the media they offend in.

Until laws in the real world catch up with those on the internet, it will be hard to police, but perhaps the medium being used, needs to address and enforce their own rules BEFORE they become liable under current laws.

Trolls, think before you leap – with the court ordered disclosure against Google of information, anonymous is no longer as hidden as you think.