Unrealistic expectations of service

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halper86

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#279650 30-Oct-2020 10:22

https://stuff.co.nz/national/123228361/spark-stumped-as-customers-demand-answers-for-virtually-nonexistent-cellphone-coverage
Come across this article today: a few residents in a rural/lifestyle neighbourhood near where I live, complaining of the lack of signal provided by the nearby cell site. They are not the only ones to complain and then go to the media about it - A second business near Invercargill has contacted Stuff within a week to express their extreme frustration at the Spark telco, saying the company is failing to provide them with an adequate cellphone service.
This to me sounds unrealistic and entitlement. Anymore thoughts?

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#2593850 30-Oct-2020 10:24

Reading the full article, it sounds like it was working, then has started failing. So fair enough for them to kick up a fuss if the provider has done nothing.

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halper86

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#2593864 30-Oct-2020 10:35

xpd:
Reading the full article, it sounds like it was working, then has started failing. So fair enough for them to kick up a fuss if the provider has done nothing.

Or whether they believe it is going to get better and it never does.
Overloading may also be an issue as there has been an increase in lifestyle developments in the area. The nearby freezing works only has one 850mhz transmitter, so traffic to the tower in question would be increased, so quite possibly this could be a factor to play.

hio77

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#2593870 30-Oct-2020 10:42

xpd:

Reading the full article, it sounds like it was working, then has started failing. So fair enough for them to kick up a fuss if the provider has done nothing

read to me like their concept of it originally working is that it would get enough of a sniff to send a sms.

all it really takes is for a minor environmental change for that little sniff to go.

I'm not surprised by the response from spark. although reading between the lines it sounds like they might simply put a femicell in for this customer.

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BlinkyBill

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#2593915 30-Oct-2020 12:29

halper86: https://stuff.co.nz/national/123228361/spark-stumped-as-customers-demand-answers-for-virtually-nonexistent-cellphone-coverage
Come across this article today: a few residents in a rural/lifestyle neighbourhood near where I live, complaining of the lack of signal provided by the nearby cell site. They are not the only ones to complain and then go to the media about it - A second business near Invercargill has contacted Stuff within a week to express their extreme frustration at the Spark telco, saying the company is failing to provide them with an adequate cellphone service.
This to me sounds unrealistic and entitlement. Anymore thoughts?

I have a thought. How about you pay me, say $150 p.m. for cellphone service; I won’t provide any and I won’t respond to your pleas for service either. No doubt you’ll be happy with that - anything else would be unrealistic and entitlement. How about that proposal?

gbwelly

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#2593926 30-Oct-2020 13:05

hio77:

read to me like their concept of it originally working is that it would get enough of a sniff to send a sms.

That is how I read it too. I think Spark are being very polite in this matter, they could have easily suggested that the customers explore other providers.

halper86

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#2593953 30-Oct-2020 14:05

gbwelly:
hio77:

read to me like their concept of it originally working is that it would get enough of a sniff to send a sms.

That is how I read it too. I think Spark are being very polite in this matter, they could have easily suggested that the customers explore other providers.

Maybe offer discount?

halper86

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#2593955 30-Oct-2020 14:08

BlinkyBill:
halper86: https://stuff.co.nz/national/123228361/spark-stumped-as-customers-demand-answers-for-virtually-nonexistent-cellphone-coverage
Come across this article today: a few residents in a rural/lifestyle neighbourhood near where I live, complaining of the lack of signal provided by the nearby cell site. They are not the only ones to complain and then go to the media about it - A second business near Invercargill has contacted Stuff within a week to express their extreme frustration at the Spark telco, saying the company is failing to provide them with an adequate cellphone service.
This to me sounds unrealistic and entitlement. Anymore thoughts?

I have a thought. How about you pay me, say $150 p.m. for cellphone service; I won’t provide any and I won’t respond to your pleas for service either. No doubt you’ll be happy with that - anything else would be unrealistic and entitlement. How about that proposal?

IF they had service prior, then I would agreee. But as there is more than one physical network, you aren’t obliged to be a customer of spark. All 3 providers (+MVNO’s) operate from the same site in this case

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Bung

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#2593969 30-Oct-2020 14:24

halper86:IF they had service prior, then I would agreee. But as there is more than one physical network, you aren’t obliged to be a customer of spark. All 3 providers (+MVNO’s) operate from the same site in this case

All providers on the same site isn't the impression I got from your Stuff comment that Vodafone having a site close by might be a better alternative.

afe66

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#2594028 30-Oct-2020 15:06

Whats the bet that if spark puts up a big new cell transmission tower people from same community will moan complain about it ruining the outlook..

tripper1000

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#2594043 30-Oct-2020 15:48

It looks like Stuff is scraping the bottom of the barrel for stories. I wonder if the journalist has a conflict of interest here.

Many old people don't realise there is more than one telephone company now days...? Some of the other companies and newer phones have something called Wifi Calling which is very handy for rural customers.

Edit: I wonder if the apparent deterioration in coverage coincided with with the customer dropping/damaging their handset or changing handset to one without B5/850Mhz capability.

KrazyKid

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#2594046 30-Oct-2020 15:58

hio77:

read to me like their concept of it originally working is that it would get enough of a sniff to send a sms.

if you read the article a week ago (and assuming it is the same location) it has gone from full internet to 0.

If it's good enough for fair go - it's good enough for Stuff :)

halper86

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#2595185 31-Oct-2020 00:49

Bung:
halper86:IF they had service prior, then I would agreee. But as there is more than one physical network, you aren’t obliged to be a customer of spark. All 3 providers (+MVNO’s) operate from the same site in this case

All providers on the same site isn't the impression I got from your Stuff comment that Vodafone having a site close by might be a better alternative.

Close by their location, never mentioned if it was the same or different spot to sparks

halper86

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#2595186 31-Oct-2020 00:53

KrazyKid:
hio77:

read to me like their concept of it originally working is that it would get enough of a sniff to send a sms.

if you read the article a week ago (and assuming it is the same location) it has gone from full internet to 0.

If it's good enough for fair go - it's good enough for Stuff :)

Other side of the city and completely different story, otatara is like waiheke to auckland, and it is an affluent suburb with dense bush, I struggle to think why they believe they should have service delivered in a different way..

quickymart

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#2595257 31-Oct-2020 07:57

Rachel Wood looks quite nice :)

Geektastic

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#2595694 31-Oct-2020 22:07

Logically one might reasonably posit that Spark (or whoever - but in this case, Spark) might actually WANT to provide adequate service to customers. They might actually set themselves that standard and in this case may not have lived up to that ideal and do something to fix it.

"The Spark spokesman said the service provided to the couple “isn’t the service we expect to provide our customers”."

Oh look. They are doing something.

How is this news? Why is it even in print?

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