Mobile phones - Caller ID

I've had a lot of mobile telephones in various countries. As you might expect given the title of this Blog, the experience in Australia was somewhat eccentric.

I'll try not to harp on how I was forced to buy a pre-paid thing when I first arrived, told by a Vodafone store that I definately could use it for Internet use and then sat on technical support (being charged until I ran out of credit) for an eternity trying to figure out why not and then ultimately suggesting to the chap perhaps it's because I'm pre-pay. "Oh, yes. It doesn't work with pre-pay." Thanks mate, bye Vodafone.

So on to Optus. Got me a brand new N95. Simple enough you'd think except that caller-ID doesn't work on it. You know, how someone's name comes up so you can work out if you want to pick up your mobile or not - or at least customise your greeting anywhere between, say, "hello" and "fuck off you scumbag, I told you never to call me again".

I eventually email support who tell me it's been fixed. They don't fix it. So I call up and it's fixed.

This is a bit of a recurring theme in Australia. If you do something via a web site or via email, chances are you're not going to get a good result. Call up, speak to a real person (which is much easier than in Europe these days, and things get fixed.

It's not necessary better or worse, it's just strange.