Cell Signal dead, Whitehaven

[Yzerman19]

Could someone from the company reply and give an estimate for the the signal (calls and data) outage in the Whitehaven area?

No signal since Thursday, and one message that there'll be an update on Friday 31st (over a week on from the initial failure) is pretty unacceptable.

Before anyone advises dialling 150, there literally is no signal and works phones block the landline number. Similarly, tethering personal devices to works' WiFi is not permissible. 

[Yzerman19]

With respect, we don't know it's a DNO power cut as the company with whom I have a brick contract has not said what the problem is. They've texted about access issues (for those lucky enough to have had a text manage to sneak through), but nothing else. Plus, the storms weren't that bad - most folk just put a hoodie on, perhaps a jacket if they were a wee bit soft.

The problem is the complete lack of comms from a company for whom comms is its very business, and a complete lack of ways to get in touch with them outside of snail or email when the signal doesn't allow one to call them.

[650Max]

Just spoken to a helpful lady at the call centre, she's confirmed a power supply problem at Rosemary lane, the "access issue" is a legal problem and not physical and EE lawyers are currently dealing with Sellafield lawyers to enable Electricity Northwest's engineers to get on site and fix the damaged cable.

She also took on board our concerns of a lack of information coming from EE and promised to raise this with supervisors at a team meeting later today. 

Hopefully tomorrow's text will have a bit more than "we're having access issues" about it.

[bristolian]

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The problem is the complete lack of comms from a company for whom comms is its very business

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Out of interest, what sort of communication would you be seeking and/or consider acceptable, in the case of unplanned local outages?

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@Yzerman19 wrote:

a complete lack of ways to get in touch with them outside of snail or email when the signal doesn't allow one to call them.

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You don't need to use an EE mobile to call EE-CS, you can dial 07953 966150 from any working phone - fixed line or mobile. +44 800 9566000 can also be used from a web-calling app such as Skype. You can also use WiFi-calling. Contacting CS is not reliant on EE mobile signal being present.

[650Max]

The simple answer to that is we shouldn't need to be chasing them, they should be telling us the facts, rather than being evasive. We now know what we do without any input from EE.

They don't seem to understand customer service.

[bristolian]

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@650Max wrote:

The simple answer to that is we shouldn't need to be chasing them, they should be telling us the facts

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Given that radio sites go off-air on a daily basis for numerous reasons, I'm just curious what specific facts you would seek?

The vast majority of customers don't care how their phones work, they just want them to work - CS are thus geared towards this end. I'm curious what specific changes you would seek, if you were to input into CS processes.

[Yzerman19]

Okay, I think I've already said what I want comms-wise , but here you go: 

I wanted an explanation as to the fault

I wanted an estimate on the expected return to service

Call it customer services, keeping folks in the loop, or just managing expectations... It promotes good will and acceptance on the part of the posting customer even if a fix isn't quick or easy. Keeps is from getting somewhat miffed.

As for "you don't need an EE mobile", well, EE's what I've got, and it's their signal that's goosed.

Landline? I think I've already said, works' phones block certain numbers... and they're not for personal use anyways.

WiFi calling is using someone else's, or another of your own billed services to compensate for the fact the EE service doesn't exist. It's not EE providing a solution, it's abdication of a solution. And again, works WiFi and tethering personal devices is grey at best, non-compliant at worst.

So, when *mobile*, or at work, no, I have very little recourse to CS. Because, y'know, my mobile's currently a brick/paperweight as there is no signal.

As it happens, I did get on chat thru WiFi with CS earlier today (shouldn't have been, and it took on excess of 90 minutes, but the gaffer was off, so...), and was told similar to what 650 has said.

Now, if EE had communicated that without having to be chased, without me having to write an email complaint, without me having to surreptitiously use works WiFi for 90 minutes when I'm supposed to be working, I'd not need to be here, would I?

For someone who doesn't work for EE, you're some champion for deflection and evasion.

[650Max]

I don't understand why you continue to defend EE.

I don't pay for any radio stations, they're free to the listener, I do however pay for a mobile phone service that comes with data as well that I use continually. At the moment I'm receiving neither, despite paying for them, without explanation from the supplier why, or when they expect the problem to be resolved. Which part of that is difficult to understand? 

If my gas/electricity/water went off, there'd be continual updates on the exact issue and timescales offered for a return to service. At the moment, EE's attitude is comparable to British Gas telling us to either go to the library to get warm, or else wear a big coat, and they'll get round to fixing it, eventually.

Do you work for EE and are running cover for them, other than that I can't think of any good reason for your input.

[bristolian]

Some interesting points in the last 2 posts, coming at this with both professional & personal experience...

I'm not entirely sure that utility companies do provide "continual updates on the exact issue", certainly not to the degree that I would consider "exact" like "xyz pipe an abc location is severed, and we're currently seeking the relevant permissions and equipment to dig in abc location". They will give a best-estimate ETR for when particular areas will be back on-service, but those are always subject to change as a fault resolution progresses. All that said, it's always a useful exercise to see what sort of comms customers are wanting with faults that do become protracted.

WiFi-calling has never been intended as a substitute for mobile coverage, but it does have a valuable part to play alongside both wide-area & small-cell coverage. Although network design plays a large part, 100% national indoor coverage is unlikely to ever happen from any operator and thus WiFi-calling provides a free (to user) method to extend coverage into indoor blackspots which are ultimately unavoidable sooner or later. Individual customers are free to decide whether or not to enable the facility and avoid being off-service.

Works WiFi is a valid point, not every firm makes it available to staff or visitors - but very many do and it would be irresponsible of any operator to avoid suggesting alternatives when they could well help some users.

I've just taken a look at Electricity North West's outage board, and come across this curious entry as an illustration. This fault occurred 12:49 yesterday, they have staff onsite but have not detailed when they arrived. They are also not currently offering any estimated time for resolution.

[650Max]

A mate phoned for an update today: 

Contractors are due to start digging the hole tomorrow (Thursday) with electricians onsite over the weekend to restore the power supply. Hopefully they won't be put off by a bit of rain.

[Yzerman19]

Yeah, word around Albion 1 echoes this...

Still begs the question: why are we getting more reliable and useful info third-hand and nowt from the company who we're paying?

EE customer relations leaves a lot to be desired.

Anyone had a rebate on their bill at all? This has spanned two billing cycles now, no sign of a reduction or money back.