Mobile phones as business tools; and when it goes wrong

I have been using O2 for about 18 months. Last week a I rang a client and he said that he thought I'd gone out of business because he wasn't able to get me on my phone numbers (my office is usually redirected to my mobile). I was pretty shocked and rang some other people to find out if they ever had problems getting in touch with me. Apparently loads of them have; for the last 18 months. I couldn't beleive it! It's like having a secretary who doesn't pass on the calls.

I rang O2 to sort out the problem. After tests they reckon the issue is with my hand set and/or simcard. Both of which I bought off them. I'm absolutely livid and shudder to think how this may have affected my business. I've told them that if they don't give me my choice of free handset I'm going to Vodafone.

If I had the resources I'd consider looking for compensation. It's a pretty big deal and it goes to show just how reliant our businesses are on the compatency of others. Anyone had similar scares?

Re: Mobile phones as business tools; and when it goes wrong.

Icarus said:

If I had the resources I'd consider looking for compensation.

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I'm pretty sure you'll find a clause somewhere in your small print about O2 not being responsible for any loss/damages incurred as a result of the service being unavailable/not functioning normally. In fairness, what's to prove the 'phone didn't become defective through some fault of your own? (not suggesting this is the case, but you see what I mean...)

By all means, you should threaten to move network if they don't offer you a 'goodwill gesture'.

Re: Mobile phones as business tools; and when it goes wrong.

DrMoriarty said:

I'm pretty sure you'll find a clause somewhere in your small print about O2 not being responsible for any loss/damages incurred as a result of the service being unavailable/not functioning normally. In fairness, what's to prove the 'phone didn't become defective through some fault of your own? (not suggesting this is the case, but you see what I mean...)

By all means, you should threaten to move network if they don't offer you a 'goodwill gesture'.

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My business is in a technical field and I know well that no system is 100%, it's just pretty frustrating to be at the receiving end and have no way of knowing just how serious that problem may have been. Also, from a compensation point of view it would be hard to quanitify the damages. Anyway, with the litigious culture in this country the word compensation is one I wish we heard less of!

I've told O2 what I want, they're going to come back to me on it. I've also told vodafone that if they can do the same I'd go with them. With the size of my monthly bill I'm sure one of them will want to keep me happy!

Re: Mobile phones as business tools; and when it goes wrong.

Do you only have one office phone? It may be worth considering installing a second one which doesn't redirect to your mobile but will take a message. Just in case this kind of thing ever were to happen again. Cliche that comes to mind would be "don't put all your eggs in one basket".

I can understand you're livid but you'll never get guarantees that it (or something similar) won't happen again. To my mind, although you are right to ask, no amount of free handsets could make up for potentially lost work so you need to look at ways of minimising that possibility.

Re: Mobile phones as business tools; and when it goes wrong.

O2 gave me my choice of any phone in their range for free. It's amazing what you get when you ask!

Re: Mobile phones as business tools; and when it goes wrong.

Janet said:

Do you only have one office phone? It may be worth considering installing a second one which doesn't redirect to your mobile but will take a message. Just in case this kind of thing ever were to happen again. Cliche that comes to mind would be "don't put all your eggs in one basket".

I can understand you're livid but you'll never get guarantees that it (or something similar) won't happen again. To my mind, although you are right to ask, no amount of free handsets could make up for potentially lost work so you need to look at ways of minimising that possibility.

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very sound advice janet

Re: Mobile phones as business tools; and when it goes wrong.

Seems strange that family/friends wouldn't have noticed this problem and alerted you to the issue.

Re: Mobile phones as business tools; and when it goes wrong.

RainyDay said:

Seems strange that family/friends wouldn't have noticed this problem and alerted you to the issue.

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Intermitent faults are always the most difficult to identify and although the odd person had said it to me I presumed they were just isolated incidents. It wasn't until I client had presumed I'd gone out of business that I found out the extent of the problem. I get pretty annoyed when I think of it!

Janet:
I think I'll be following your advice!