Phone usage stats WTF



  • So after I managed to get the box open and started using my phone, I went to T-Mobile's site to make sure my contract had been set up correctly, and this is what they inform me my usage is so far.

    A few WTFs jump out at me.

    1) Time remaining is in xx:xx format which should mean mins:secs. Had they meant fractions of a minute, it should be in mins.frac format.

    2) "Unlimited" text allowance having a limit (even if it is 10million)

    3) Units for the unlimited text are the all-popular "null". I have nearly 10 million nulls left. Yay me!

    4) The default texts I would have had without the "unlimited" promotion are still listed, but at least they got the units right for that one. Hopefully I still get to use them if I got over the 1 million unlimited limit.



  •  What's the difference between a "text" and an "SMS"?



  • @Zemm said:

     What's the difference between a "text" and an "SMS"?

     

    Technically, SMS is a particular protocol for sending text messages between phones. In practice, it's often just used as a synonym for text messaging in general.



  •  Until recently, my phone would tell me that I had used -200% odd of my 150MB allowance.

    Now they have created a 'new portal'. Most of which is 4 point text with 2 point spacing. Like reading great-grandfathers 'crossed' letters. Progress!

    In case you hadn't gathered by the general incompetence, I am Australian, and the only game in town around here is Telstra. 



  • @Someone You Know said:

    @Zemm said:

     What's the difference between a "text" and an "SMS"?

     

    Technically, SMS is a particular protocol for sending text messages between phones. In practice, it's often just used as a synonym for text messaging in general.

     

    Then why is there an allowance of 1000000 texts but only 400 SMSs?



  • @Zemm said:

    Then why is there an allowance of 1000000 texts but only 400 SMSs?

    Choice 1 - one is the default for my contract (400), 10,000,000 is the promotional offer, and when they added the offer they changed the terminology and forgot to remove the default option. (And changed to the more industry standard null units)

    Choice 2 - The portal gets worked on exclusively by whoever they have in on contract/work experience that week.



  • @robbak said:

    In case you hadn't gathered by the general incompetence, I am Australian
    I don't think I read that the way you intended it...



  • @robbak said:

    Telstra
     

    TRWTF

    (Incidently my Telstra exchange has the letters "WTF" in it!)



  • The fact that they still have "exchanges" is TRWTF. In addition to the others.

    Although I kind of want to go back to describing phone numbers like "Pennsylvania-6-5000".



  • @blakeyrat said:

    The fact that they still have "exchanges" is TRWTF. In addition to the others.
     

    I think you Americans would call it the "Central Office".

    I'm lucky to live in an older area as there is room in the exchange building for other companies to install equipment (such as ADSL2+ DSLAMs) - modern electronic switches are much smaller than the old mechanical ones. My office just moved to a new area with the early-2000s version of exchanges (RIM/CMUX) and the internet costs twice as much, is a third of the speed (in theory - in practice it is even slower) and has wildly varying pings. An Optus 3G connection is more stable than this ADSL, and Optus has a reputation for overselling their 3G network. I hate Telstra.

    @blakeyrat said:

    Although I kind of want to go back to describing phone numbers like "Pennsylvania-6-5000".

     Telstra (then PMG or Telecom) hasn't done that since the 1960s.



  • @Zemm said:

    Telstra (then PMG or Telecom) hasn't done that since the 1960s.
     

    The "Pennsylvania" part of that number was known as the "exchange." I have no clue what you're referring to when you say "exchange."



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @Zemm said:

    Telstra (then PMG or Telecom) hasn't done that since the 1960s.
     

    The "Pennsylvania" part of that number was known as the "exchange." I have no clue what you're referring to when you say "exchange."

     

    I would have thought that the exchange name was "Pennsylvania-6" which became PA6, which became the direct dial prefix 726. We had something similar in Australia, too. When I say "exchange", I mean the actual physical building where all the phonelines in an area run into. This is an example of an exchange area.

    I was thinking you were referring to the operator exchanges, where young ladies manually switch your calls.

    PMG (Post-master General) became Telecom in the 1970s, then became Telstra in the 1990s.


Log in to reply