Unable to get signal abroad

[dht32559]

I received the new Blackberry bold. 9900, I think. Touch screen, anyway.

It worked fine in the UK, but I then travelled to Toronto where inexplicably, the phone can only obtain a SOS signal.

I have checked the settings, and everything seems to be fine (2G and 3G enabled; roaming enabled)... I'm not an expert on this stuff, but have a reasonable amount of common sense when looking through the config menus. Have tried removing battery and sim and giving it a cold reboot.

The problem seems to be fairly well reported in various circumstances, but I haven't been able to find a solution by looking online.

I can't seem to get hold of Vodafone's customer services. I had thought they were 24/7, but apparently not, and I'm on business, and have to attend lots of functions, which make it very difficult for me to call Vodafone at their convenience... and to do that even, I had to put some credit on a Skype account... and of course, VOD don't offer a geographic number because they're enjoying the income from the 087 number.  I don't imagine the other suppliers are any better, but I might still ditch this new VOD contract as the only way I have of really explaining how cross I am. Not that it'll really make a difference, but it might make me feel better.

My old Blackberry (the old Bold with the trackball) worked all over the place without a problem.

Connectivity aside, issue 2 is that I synched the new bberry with Outlook. If I receive a call from someone in my address book, the name does not show on-screen.

Anyway, if someone could tell me how to make this very expensive shiny pile of excrement work, that'd be great and would even bring a smile to my face.

Thanks!

D

[DPH]

Sounds like you have a roaming bar in place at the network level, the team here will be able to check that alternatively customer services can sort that out for you.

[pau1j]

Definitely sounds like a roaming bar (particularly if it's a new contract). I transferred a hat-full of numbers to Vodafone recently and (although the intermediary knew we we're a business that would be making international calls) all were barred by default. That included international outgoing calls too.

(Not Vodafone's fault, just the way their system works - I always check that there is no roaming bar in place ... even if it's been fine in the past.)

To call Vodafone CS try +44 (0) 1635 676061 or, for Business CS +44 (0) 1636 602902. (Courtesy of saynoto0870.com)

As for the non-showing caller name ... not sure to be honest, will think about it.

[dht32559]

I'm not sure, by the way, it's fair to put this down to a system failing.

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a company of VOD's size to get their systems sorted. It's hardly sensible to think that if a customer has an account with roaming enabled, that they want it automatically disabled when they change their handset.

[grolschuk]

For the contact not showing when being called.

Couple of things it could be:

Do you have encryption turned on, and is your handset locked at the time the calls come in?  If so, check you don't have your contacts encrypted too, as unless the handset is unlocked it won't be able to read the contents to show

If it's not that it may be useful to type your contact number in internataional format to see if that helps.

[dht32559]

@grolschuck - thanks. I did have encryption enabled. I have now disabled it... Once radio has been re-enabled, we'll see if it works. Mind you, at this rate I'll be back in London before it's sorted. Ho hum.

@james - thanks for including the link to private messages - I'd never have found out how to find them if you hadn't!

[grolschuk]

No need to disable all encryption if security is an issue, but there should be a seperate option for not including your contact list.

Hope you get un-barred soon

[dht32559]

The utter stupidity that exists in this world occasionally astounds me. I'm getting better at anticipating it, but Vodafone are just astounding.

Firstly, they put in place a system that for "security" reasons, they cannot take information over email... but I imagine (I can't be bothered to log in to check) they are able to take payments online. They even have a "private" messaging facilitiy... I understand email traffic over SMTP is not secure, but a closed system ought to be fine.

So, they want me to phone them, on their 10ppm or whatever it is, phoneline, but which isn't 24/7. I'm here on business which means for me, I do not have control over when I am able to find a phone to call them and do not have enough change to use a call box. If I could use my mobile, finding an opportunity to call them would be a bit more practicable.

One especially bright Vodafone operator said she tried to call my phone, but that it just made a busy sound at him/her. That must have been a surprise. 

So, I'm flying back to the UK today, and have had no phone all the while here, have annoyed my colleagues because they have ended up waiting around for me, as I have often had to wait in a place where I have a wi-fi connection so I can email etc.

...and now I'm going to be so busy when I get back to the UK, terminating my mobile contract is the last thing I want to deal with, but you can imagine just how annoyed I am. It is quite an effort to omit the expletives.

Anyway, there you go. Vodafone customer service.

[dht32559]

Great news everyone. I received an immediate private message response to my previous post.

It reads, "Congratulations, dht32559!

As the result of your contributions to the community, you have earned a new rank. Your new rank is Member.

We appreciate your efforts and hope you will continue to be an active member of the community.

Thanks!

The Vodafone eForum Team"

I didn't know I wasn't a member before. The kudos of this new ranking is mind boggling and so helpful in resolving the issue.

[Retired-James]

Hi dht32559,

I can see that you have had emails from both Cate and Sukhi from our team, please can you reply to one of these emails with a time when you will be available to take our call or an alternative number which you can be contacted on.

Once we have this we can then contact you directly to confirm security with you directly and look at your issue in more detail.

James