Vodafone Review: 1st week of May
After more than a month of getting the Vodafone sim card, things are looking good. The first 3 weeks have been a pain though. As from my previous posts, there have been days and even weeks, that it was really difficult if not impossible, to get a connection. However, there have been some improvements the past 2 weeks. I asked Mavis to use Vodafone instead of Qtel as my new (yet damaged) Sony-Ericsson phone is still with Sony Service Center (they told me that they’ll be replacing the unit and just waiting for the replacement from Dubai!). She says that the signal is strong in Ein Khalid, where Doha Montessori and British School is. Last Saturday, she started the call from Abu Hamour (Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary), through Salwa Road , Midmac and Mergab street. The signal was pretty good. Then she placed another call from Mergab to Villagio. Great. Voice call was clear and strong signal throughout.
The service is not perfect. The signal in City Center is not stable. On Tuesday, we didn’t get any signal at all at City Center. Yesterday, we got 2 bars so we were able to call each other. Driving from City Center to Airport Area using the Corniche was more problematic. She got disconnections from voice calls made. The area which doesn’t really have any signal at all is from the Ras Abu Abood Flyover to the Clock Roundabout.
We still have about 1200QR credit from the 1400QR we got through the Vodafone 1st 1000 promotion. At least, the credit would still be valid till the end of June as per the terms of the Vodafone Promotion. I’m hoping though that before July comes, they’d let us make International calls. Cause other than that, I don’t think I’d still be able to finish off that credit. I’m also sure that I can not recommend getting a Vodafone card at the moment. It’s not yet as stable as a Qtel Connection. And it would probably take 5 more months before they reach 80% operations and service level. They could prove me wrong.
For the 1st 1000 customers, I’m sure a lot have given up the first 3 weeks they got their Vodafone sim cards due to the lack of service and issues they encountered. Some people are still active on the forum setup by Vodafone for the 1st 1000 but you’ll notice that there have not been a lot of active members. They’ve also added Coverage Maps on the 1st 1000 site (suggested the Admins of the Vodafone Forum to use a more interactive Google Map so that users can add comments on the map themselves). It is not that effective as they can always say that an area is covered but it differs when you’re actually making the call. People are also clamoring for more promotional stuff (who wouldn’t want more) and privileges as it seems that paying 140QR for 1400Qr is not enough especially that we don’t get a stable service and make International calls (although this has been made known beforehand).
So after a month, I’d give Vodafone a 6 out of 10 for at least trying. Till next review.
The service is not perfect. The signal in City Center is not stable. On Tuesday, we didn’t get any signal at all at City Center. Yesterday, we got 2 bars so we were able to call each other. Driving from City Center to Airport Area using the Corniche was more problematic. She got disconnections from voice calls made. The area which doesn’t really have any signal at all is from the Ras Abu Abood Flyover to the Clock Roundabout.
We still have about 1200QR credit from the 1400QR we got through the Vodafone 1st 1000 promotion. At least, the credit would still be valid till the end of June as per the terms of the Vodafone Promotion. I’m hoping though that before July comes, they’d let us make International calls. Cause other than that, I don’t think I’d still be able to finish off that credit. I’m also sure that I can not recommend getting a Vodafone card at the moment. It’s not yet as stable as a Qtel Connection. And it would probably take 5 more months before they reach 80% operations and service level. They could prove me wrong.
For the 1st 1000 customers, I’m sure a lot have given up the first 3 weeks they got their Vodafone sim cards due to the lack of service and issues they encountered. Some people are still active on the forum setup by Vodafone for the 1st 1000 but you’ll notice that there have not been a lot of active members. They’ve also added Coverage Maps on the 1st 1000 site (suggested the Admins of the Vodafone Forum to use a more interactive Google Map so that users can add comments on the map themselves). It is not that effective as they can always say that an area is covered but it differs when you’re actually making the call. People are also clamoring for more promotional stuff (who wouldn’t want more) and privileges as it seems that paying 140QR for 1400Qr is not enough especially that we don’t get a stable service and make International calls (although this has been made known beforehand).
So after a month, I’d give Vodafone a 6 out of 10 for at least trying. Till next review.
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