No mobile signal for nearly a week Tesco Mobile

queline

We're with Tesco Mobile and for nearly a week we've had no signal.  Tesco mobile piggy back off O2. 
On checking the coverage thing for our area a message comes up: 
'Sorry we're carrying out some upgrade work in this area.' 
Obviously we've no means of texting/calls.  We have an elderly family member who we need to keep in contact with, not to mention other family who may have emergencies and need us. 
Two questions, 
1. Should Tesco Mobile have warned us this was happening?  
2. Should there be compensation forthcoming?  We all have monthly contracts so this means we're paying for a service that has been out of action for nearly a week with no warning. 

Thanks for reading, polite responses welcome. 

JSmithy45AD

queline said:

We're with Tesco Mobile and for nearly a week we've had no signal.  Tesco mobile piggy back off O2. 
On checking the coverage thing for our area a message comes up: 
'Sorry we're carrying out some upgrade work in this area.' 
Obviously we've no means of texting/calls.  We have an elderly family member who we need to keep in contact with, not to mention other family who may have emergencies and need us. 
Two questions, 
1. Should Tesco Mobile have warned us this was happening?  
2. Should there be compensation forthcoming?  We all have monthly contracts so this means we're paying for a service that has been out of action for nearly a week with no warning. 

Thanks for reading, polite responses welcome. 

Never used Tesco myself but O2 used to send me texts ahead of work in the area, wouldn't surprise me if any MVNO send out the same texts but I don't think they're required to. Not all work is planned for starters.

As for compensation, the answer is no as the T&Cs will state that a signal is not guaranteed (especially for MVNOs as the work is down to O2). You can (politely) ask for a goodwill gesture after the fact but they're not obliged.

You can always of course just move to another transmitter area to use the phone. Another option is a monthly Asda sim for instance (uses Vodafone) and either swap sims or put it in a spare or new cheap phone.

flaneurs_lobster

Are your phones able to use WiFi Calling? Might be a solution when at home.

JSmithy45AD

flaneurs_lobster said:

Are your phones able to use WiFi Calling? Might be a solution when at home.

True, I'd forgotten to mention that or various "texting" apps such as Messenger or Whatsapp presuming the other end has access through phone/tablet/computer/wrist implant.

queline

Hey thanks both, I'm aware we can call and message in other ways but it just annoyed me that TM didn't bother to warn customers, and not everyone has a smart phone only a basic mobile, such as my son for one.  On that subject, he pays for data every month, which he doesn't use! 
So while he's at work, he can't get get hold of us, while they are doing their upgrading, which must have been planned work. 

flaneurs_lobster

queline said:

....he pays for data every month, which he doesn't use! 

Of no use at the moment (they use O2) but Sky Mobile have a 1GB SIM with unlimited calls/texts for £1/mth.

Frozen_up_north

We currently have our 2 mobiles on different networks, one on O2 (GiffGaff) and the other on EE (1p Mobile). It just happened that way and has the advantage of one or the other often having a signal when the other does not.

The O2 signal in our main supermarket is near zero, EE is 2 bars. In one of our favourite pubs the reverse is true.

FWIW, I signed up for EE to send emails whenever work is going on at the local site, it works pretty well and I have even phoned and spoken with their technical support... despite being with 1p Mobile. Not sure if O2 offer a similar helpful service.

Atomichamster

I'm with Tesco mobile and for a week I've only had access to internet after 5 pm.  I've had difficulty this morning but it's the best it's been all week.  Very frustrating because I've had no warning about any work other than the phasing out of 3G.

JSmithy45AD

queline said:

Hey thanks both, I'm aware we can call and message in other ways but it just annoyed me that TM didn't bother to warn customers, and not everyone has a smart phone only a basic mobile, such as my son for one.  On that subject, he pays for data every month, which he doesn't use! 
So while he's at work, he can't get get hold of us, while they are doing their upgrading, which must have been planned work. 

Not necessarily planned work, there could be a multitude of issues cropping up unexpectedly.

Does the status checker have any option to warn you of changes? I seem to recall the O2 version having an option to keep me updated.

queline

Yes, I've now registered for updates from O2. 
Thanks for all the helpful responses 😊