I headed for the All Bar One after my meeting, flicked open the laptop and looked for a wireless connection.
I am OBVIOUSLY not doing any more business with Vodafone after their totally unreasonable silence regarding my stupid data bill. I’m still seething about it. But at least you understand that any negative comments published here relating to the big V are steeped in direct, relevant experience. I had an email from someone the other day asking me if I would care to comment on this issue: "Customer Service and Mobile Phone Operators – A myth?"
Yes, yes and thrice yes, I responded 😉
So I left the data card at home. Stupid All Bar One doesn’t have any sort of wireless internet access whatsoever. It is totally in the dark ages. So I quickly left and headed for the Starbucks on the end of the street.
Flicked on the laptop and I was immediately connected to the T-Mobile HotSpot. Now, you know I’m a T-Mobile customer, yes? So I immediately selected the pay-as-you-go option for them and texted ‘OPEN’ on my handset to their shortcode. Got a username and password back right away.. logged in… gorgeous. There we go.
All good.
Ish.
I started looking at my email and in the back of the mind I finally processed and recognised the reality that they were whacking me for £0.75 a minute.
A MINUTE?
YOU what?
I was gulping down my croque monsieur because the time was moving so fast … shit! It’s not that far off the same cost of me dialing Lucious Linda on some premium rate line and asking her to do a google for me.
Absolutely tip top 100% ridiculous.
I’m a sodding T-Mobile customer? 75p a MINUTE?
So after 5 minutes I hit ‘log out’ and subscribed again for an hour for a fiver. Better. Still stupid though. STUPID rates.
This is the next thing that needs to change. No wonder I’m the only guy sat in this Starbucks in the SQUARE MILE (wireless laptops galore around the seats here, just none of them online). 75p a minute?
I need to go and lie down.
Just back from a visit to a T-Mobile shop today. I think you can get a data card tarrif that allows you “free” access to their hotspots. Though the T-Mobile tarrifs are so complex even the staff in the shop were confused by the end of it.
For the life of me I can’t understand why companies like Starbucks don’t offer free Wi-Fi access. Wonder if anyone in these companies has done the maths?