Curiosity = -18.64

That was my cell phone balance a few days back. So, I am sitting home getting bored and I decide to explore my phone. I landed somehow on the RSS feeds. Had a few default feeds there. So decided to check it out. I updated the Sony Ericsson feed and to my surprise, it worked. I was literally jumping with joy ( a joy that wouldn’t last long, as I found out later)

Now, you need to know that I use a prepaid connection and a few days back I activated Vodafone Live. (Don’t ask me why.)

Coming back, so I clicked on a link from the feed and was excited to see a web page open. (For the record, I have never previously used GPRS in my life. I previously had a 1100 you see. ) Then I was curious and went right ahead and checked out my blog. Man, was it beautiful. I was thrilled really. I know it’s not much. But I appreciate technology. If you can read your blog (or someone else’s for that matter) from your phone, it’s a big deal. (I know it’s been around for a while. Doesn’t mean I can’t marvel it.)

So I clicked on a couple of pictures and links. I checked the balance after having quit the browser. It was some 12 Rupees. Man, I had 20 odd rupees balance. 8 rupees for this ? Not worth it. Then I go to sleep.

When I get up, I make a call and the call doesn’t go through. I try a couple more times. Then I check my balance. Freakin -(minus)18 rupees!! What ? Where did the money go ? Then I realised it must be the RSS feeds. (Still can’t be certain.) So I am frantically searching for options to turn them off and I can’t find them. Great!! So, instead I delete all my feeds.

I wanted to call Vodafone Care and yell at them, but after my last experience calling them, I decided against it

Vodafone Customer Care-Happy to Yelp ?

Happy to yelp ?

Nice advertisement and all. Well done. To the advertisement agency of course. But don’t overwork the dog. Animal rights activists are watching.

Now coming to Vodafone itself and it’s customer care and how they are ready to help. I had to call Vodafone customer care yesterday and I expected prompt service after watching these advertisements. No, I did not call just to check. I really had to call.

Excerpts from that call:

Mr.Jackass*: Vodafone Customer Care. Jackass speaking. How may I help you ?

(Now, I have to stress before typing further that I got the feeling this guy had watched too many T Rajendar movies and Jackie Chan movies back to back and must have used his English text as nothing more than a pillow. He has to be a fan of Himesh Reshamiya too. Because he was speaking in such a bad nasal tone (not voice), that I was finding it really hard to understand what he was saying. On top of the bad tone, his English was just as crappy.)

Me: Excuse me ?

Mr.Jackass: (Repeats what he said earlier.)

Me: Errr, Ya, this is Karthik. I have some issues with my friends and family numbers charges.

Mr.Jackass: (Gibberish which I assume to be, Ok, can you elaborate ?)

Me: Ya, I was earlier being charged 10 paise per minute for my friends and family numbers. Now I am being charged 30 paise for the same. I recharged with that 99 rupee per month recharge. Any idea why this is happening ?

Mr.Jackass: Sorry for the inconvenience Mr.Karthik. How long has this been happening ?

(using my decoding skills again to roughly get what he said)

(Also, what’s this bugger sorry for ? What inconvenience ? That’s supposed to be the parting line when the problem has been resolved and I am not at fault. The problem hasn’t even been identified yet!!)

Me: (Yea, like I set a timer for it) Some three days I guess. (shrug)

Mr.Jackass: Please hold on Mr.Karthik.

Me: Ya

(Weird Noisy music playing in the background. Oh, it’s the Hutch-now-Vodafone music)

After a while, he comes back on line.

Mr.Jackass: Sorry for the inconvenience Mr.Karthik. I just checked your scheme. It’s not possible for you to make calls for 10 paise Mr.Karthik.

Me: (WTF??) Listen, I have been using this for a while now. You are telling me I can’t have used it ?

Mr.Jackass: Sorry for the inconvenience Mr.Karthik. Sorry for giving you wrong information. You have to top up with that bonus card for you to avail that offer.

Me: See, is this because of the 99 rupee recharge ? And if so, how do I revert back to the 10 paise scheme ? Supposing next month I recharge with a 250 rupee recharge, will it automatically revert back to 10 paise ?

Mr.Jackass: Sorry, Mr.Karthik. You have to use the bonus card.

Me: (Fuming, yet controlling it well.) Oh, ok. Thanks then.

Mr.Jackass: Will that be all, Mr.Karthik ?

Me: (Yea, right) Yes, that’ll be all.

I don’t know about the inconvenience, but he should be sorry he is an idiot. Also, I guess the inconvenience was like a statutory warning. “Sorry for the inconvenience, but I am not going to resolve anything.”

So, after speaking to him like for 10 minutes, he still hadn’t given me a solution. Worse, still, he hadn’t even identified the problem. He must most definitely have a negative IQ. The only reason I didn’t lose my cool was because I know he must be pretty badly paid.

Vodafone, stop making dogs run behind tiny girls and provide better service instead.

*Name changed (even if there was no request) to protect the person’s identity.

I am Broke

I am totally broke. People wanting evidence in this regard are requested to note that my cell phone balance is currently 50 paise and this is how I have been recharging for a while now,

Vodafone Chinna Recharge

Vodafone Chinna Recharge-02

Pretty decent photo courtesy my phone. The recharge card actually looks funky for the 10 rupees we pay. Now, I just hope I get some money from someplace. 

Sony Ericsson PC Suite

Ok, I know I said Sony Ericsson PC Suite doesn’t allow you to send messages, receive messages ..etc from your computer in my earlier post. However, looks like I was wrong.

No, it’s not like I did not check the features before going on my blog and criticizing Sony people. I am not a trigger happy kind of person. It’s just that the version that shipped with my phone didn’t have any useful features. (Sony guys, make a note of that.) 

Now, I installed Vista today and hence had to reinstall all the software. So, I decided to pop my Sony CD in and install the PC suite. To my astonishment, the PC suite that shipped with me phone was compatible only with Xp or below. What dumbasses ? For a phone that was released I think in 2007, I don’t see why they did not include a Vista specific software. Really sad.

So, I went online to search for a Vista compatible PC suite, even if it was a third party software. I however wanted to give Sony guys a shot and check out what was available on their website. This is what I found,

English Sony Ericsson PC Suite 3.204.00

And this is the PC suite that shipped with my phone,

PC Suite 2.0.60 (for Windows 2000)

So, I decided to download the new PC suite and it installed fine. However, I am still having some trouble setting my phone up. This is what I get to see when I connect it, almost indefinitely.

WTF ? How long does it take to install the drivers ?

Microsoft SMS Sender

It’s a shame really that Sony Ericsson’s PC suite allows you to do very little. You can copy files and stuff and charge your phone (duh!!) maybe, but other than that, it’s not so great. It has this feature wherein you can synchronise contacts and appointments and stuff. Like I am ever going to need one. 

I remember some 5-6 years back when Nokia has this 5100 phone, that we could send and receive messages form your PC using the PC suite. So I set out the find an application that would allow me to do the same with my Sony Ericsson phone. I found the Microsoft SMS Sender.

You can find the original article that I stumbled upon, here: (I don’t wish to repeat stuff that’s already there elsewhere on the Internet.) 

Sending SMS Using Windows XP

However, on going to the Windows site to download the same, it asked me to verify if my Windows XP was genuine. Else it would not allow me to download this crappy 625KB application. What the heck ? Well, my Windows XP is genuine alright, but nevertheless, I am not going to allow these guys to check that before I can download this application. So I got it from another site anyway. Here’s the download link:

Microsoft SMS Sender 1.0

In XP it seems you can only send messages and not recieve them. It maintains a crappy log on a notepad file and the sent message cannot be found on your phone. But then I was pleased that it actually worked. It is supposed to work with data cable, IR or Bluetooth.

I did find a better software afterwards and it rocks. I shall be writing on the same later. I am sure there are more such software available on the Internet.

Hand Stitched Custom Phone Cover - SE K810i

Well, this is the height of joblessness. I asked a couple of stores if they had a cover that would fit my phone and all of them seemed to have only those leather covers which serves no purpose really. (And I hate it when people put that pouch through their belts. Not very convenient if you ask me.) Thankfully, most of my trousers have a cell phone pouch inside the pocket so that your phone doesn’t fall out.

I am sure it’s available in some store somewhere. Maybe I should check out a few cell phone stores and also Odyssey and Mercy.

In the meantime , I thought I needed a cover for now. So I decided to make my own cover. After a bit of thinking over what material to use, I narrowed down to the cloth you get with your shades/spectacles. These are really soft and hence will not scratch you phone. I have a couple of them that came with my shades, but I was not going to use them. So I decided to go purchase it from a shop. Read about that in my next post.

Hand stitched Cell Phone Cover:

Firstly, I know it’s not great. Maybe it’s not even good. So save the ‘it looks lame’ comments.   

Anyway, here’s the end product. I stitched it myself (I learnt stitching when I was in boarding school. )  and intentionally used a thread colour that stood out. (I did have the same matching shade of yellow thread as well. )  I wanted to use twine actually, but then didn’t find a big enough needle at home.

Other Future Refinements:

Right now this is meant to protect the phone when it’s not in use from dust and scratches. Later on, I think I’ll add a window for the screen, the buttons and the camera. That way I can have it permanently on. Or, wait I could actually buy one by then. :D 

Help Me Choose A Phone

I have been wanting to buy a good phone for a while now and chances are I will get some money in a few days form now. I have been trying to choose a good mobile at a decent rate. Anything between 7000 and 10,000 rupees would be alright. I would prefer Nokia, but Sony Ericsson is also acceptable. (No Korean Phones though )

Here are some models which I think are good. Take your pick and if you could reason as to why.

NOKIA 6300

Rs 7367/-

A very very good phone with good features and a mini USB port. Initially it cost about 12k. Today its available for less than 7k. Anything the trouble ?  2MP camera. Also, amazingly slim. Doesn’t have IR though. (Not that it is required)

Looks like there was a reason this phone’s price has been dropping. As Hari pointed out, the battery life is really bad. and I also heard that the phone gets heated pretty quickly.

Sony Ericsson W660

Rs. 8995/-

It’s got decent features and a 2MP camera, but no Infra Red.

Sony Ericsson K550I

Rs. 7365/-

Another decent phone with 2MP camera. The price is almost same as 6300

Sony Ericsson K750 I

Rs.7695/- 

Another 2MP camera. Very little difference between this model and the one on top. Again, a contender to 6300.

Sony Ericsson K 790I 

Rs 9995/-(vasavi) Rs 9615/- (Univercell) Rs 9495/- (poorvika)

This is my personal choice. But, I don’t know if I will have 10k with me for sure. This has got stunning features for the price you pay. A 3.2 MP camera which works really well. (Vibushan has this btw)

After going through the comments, I am adding a few more models here:

Sony Ericsson 810I

Rs 12,795/- (vasavi) Rs 11346/- (Univercell) Rs 11495/- (poorvika)

If not for the 1k more than my budget, it blows the mind hole!!

*-All prices as per Vasavi mobiles. Univercell seems to be cheaper. I am sure there will be cheaper stores. You can suggest where to buy as well.

Prices seem to be cheaper in univercell and even more cheaper in Poorvika.