T-Mobile Pulse: fab: network coverage: awful

SonOfPearl

Please help!

My wife and I both bought a T-Mobile pulse for each other last Friday as Xmas pressies, and we really enjoyed using them over the weekend at home.

Then today, we took them to work. Oh dear. I had no network signal whatsoever in my building, and my wife's was very intermittent. Since most of the time we would spend using the phone we would be in work, this renders them pretty much useless to us.

Before we bought the phones we did, of course, check the T-Mobile network coverage at their website and for the postcodes of both our places of work it confidently assured us that there was excellent 3G coverage.

Are we entitled to take the phones back and have a refund? As far as we are concerned, they are not 'fit for purpose'. We spent a lot of money on these phones that we can't afford to lose and they were our only presents to each other this Xmas...

greyster

if you google around and look on hotukdeals.com, you will see unlocks for under £20. If you want to swap networks that is.

blue-e

Have you tried switching off 3G reception whilst your at work?

I too am a Pulse owner and absolutely love the phone, if you find switching to 2G only at work helps then you can download a switch for the homescreen from the android market to save you doing this through all those menus everytime you go to work.

Dave

DarkConvict

Coverage on mobile operator coverage maps, is outside coverage only. Due to the steel construction of office buildings unless you are close to the mast you will get little to no signal inside.

You could try returning the phones/contracts back however if you get coverage outside the building they probably will not let you.

SonOfPearl

Swapping networks might work - our old phones were on Orange and they had a decent reception in our places of work. Does this void any warranties?

Do we have a legal right or contractual right, to take the phones back within a certain time, no questions asked?

We tried the 2G thing, but I still get no reception, and my wife still keeps losing hers. The issue for my wife is that the phone doesn't seem to automatically pick up a signal again when there is one available. So she doesn't realise her phone doesn't have a connection unless she checks, and then she have to switch it off and on again...:mad:

If the coverage claimed is only valid outside, how can anyone ever know whether their phone will work where they need it?

Ash888

i live in a block of flats and have been with t mobile for years and not had an issue, but my friend is on o2 and he never gets signal in my flat, i turned his 3g off and he gets a full signal now, he doesnt need 3g so its not an issue for him. as someone mentioned earlier you would need to switch back.

i was considering getting the pulse or a htc touch as i already have a blackberry, would you recommend the pulse over the htc?

SonOfPearl

I don't know much about the HTC Touch, so I can;t rally compare fairly. But the Pulse is a lovely phone. However, since the coverage doesn't work for me it will have to go back. I hope I don't get any grief off them.

SonOfPearl

Thanks to everyone for the replies. We took the phones back to T-Mobile within 7 days because of the poor signal reception in our offices, and they were happy to refund our money. They have a guarantee on their postcode reception-checker page that says this.

We lost the credit we had put on the phones, but they let us keep the sim cards, so maybe we can use it up in future somehow.

We asked Orange if they had a similar guarantee, but they didn't. I don't know what other network policies are, but it's clearly worth asking before you buy. We were lucky.

Eventually, we bought an iPhone 3G for my wife (on Orange) and she tried it out in her office in Cardiff and the reception is great. I don't really use my mobile enough to justify spending £343 pounds on a new one, so I think I''ll wait until the new year when hopefully there will be lots of new phones at better prices.

I wouldn't want to put anyone off the T-Mobile Pulse, despite my experience. The phone itself was fab, and for £137 I think it's great value as a cheap 3G smartphone on Android. As long as you have a good signal on T-Mobile in your area, I'd recommend it.

Llyllyll

SonOfPearl wrote: »

... they have a guarantee on their postcode reception-checker page that says this.

Please can you point me to this, as I'm looking at it now and can't see anything about a guarantee. Thanks

DarkConvict

This map is only a guide and is not a guarantee of service availability in a particular location. It shows outdoor coverage only. As with all radio-based systems, service may be affected by a number of local factors, such as building materials, tree cover and weather conditions.

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/coverage/street-check/

Llyllyll

DarkConvict wrote: »

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/coverage/street-check/

Thanks. That's what I read as well - not a guarantee.