When You Take You Eye Off The Ball - #ALifeInNumbers #41

Today something happened that shouldn’t have happened to me. I’m in a low connectivity area so I’ve been using my phone for tethering to give me internet access. I have a contract that gives me 4Gb a month which is usually plenty of data.

This morning I was doing a couple of blog posts and the laptop required what I thought was a routine update. Then all of a sudden web sites were not available. I looked at my phone and there were messages saying I’d used 80% of my data then all of my data. I thought my phone company have screwed up again, then I checked and saw that according to the phone it had used up all the data in background tethering.

So it wasn’t my phone company, but I noticed the iPad had connected, so that was the next thing to blame because Apple products are always downloading stuff in the background. So I bit the bullet and bought 10 Gb of data, and the download had finished then it said it was 50% complete.

I disconnected the tethering but the laptop continued to update itself, for the next two hours. It was that massive Windows 10 Update that happened on my desktop a couple of months back.

The thing is that I have experience of IT and mobile phones so I should have realised what was happening. But that is a lesson learned and it won’t happen again to me … I hope.

Though we cannot foresee everything no matter how much information we have at our disposal.

Anyway we hit number 41 in #ALifeinNumbers and the song I’ve chosen in #41 by Dave Matthews, an artist who doesn’t get enough exposure.

Here is some excellent guitar playing for you to enjoy, and for me to enjoy too. There are another 18 songs to go, in the sequence so we will hit the end probably in mid November.

Last month over 3,000 people visited my blog, that’s 100 people a day. It’s not a great number in the scheme of thing but given the number of visits I got for my first posts it’s nice to know that people return to look at what I have to say. So enjoy Dave Matthews and enjoy your Sunday evening.

The next one is 41 which everyone knows, because Douglas Adams told them, is the meaning of life.

One Bad Apple

Most people know that I always try and find the positives in situations , as to many people try and focus on the negatives because its easier to focus on one negative than 99 positive things. The reason I'm talking about this is because after having a rolling mobile 3G broadband contract with 3 for a few years I finally don't need it anymore.

I had been stung by the costs of train , BT Hotspots and Hotel WIFI so dropped into a Carphone Warehouse shop who found me a rolling 30 day contract with 3 which would give me 5Gb for £15 a month plus £5 for the dongle. The guy sheepishly , and with a laugh said he had to ask me if I wanted to take out insurance for the dongle . With a laugh I declined but thats the sort of service that makes you go back and trust a shop. This was Carphone Warehouse in Worcester.

Things went fine , and when I bought my first tablet (an Advent Vega) I needed to get a Mifi device so I could use it away from the house. The mifi device was going to be £40 but I was told on a 3 shop that I had to cancel my current contract and take out a new one to get the Mifi device, and I had to phone up to cancel. This seemed a bit convoluted but I did so and got an asian guy on the other end , who asked why I was cancelling , was the service not up to scratch etc. I explained the situation and he said he could just continiue my contract and get me a new device for nothing which sounded good. He then said I'd be on a two year contract which I didnt want , so he said he would have to charge £40 for the device , which I was expecting anyway. \he then said he would increase my data allowance to 15Gb for no extra charge , which was nice. SO a case of excellent customer service.

Also in that time the signal from 3 has been reliable and generally excellent.

Anyway now I dont need it so gave my 30 days notice and the first guy seemed fine with my reasons and passed me to retentions......

This guy would not let it go he offered me a free iPad (I hav one , dont want anoter) , laptop (I have one dont want another ) a reduction in my tariff to £6 a month (I dont need it) , , he would not listen to me at all and eventually the connection dropped. He never called back. They sent a customer satisfaction survey in which I invited the to call me about my experience. I have heard nothing.

I can thoroughly recommend 3s Mobile 3G Broadband service but am not too happy with their retentions process . If you are losig 5-0 with 5 minutes to go , the game is over