My Frustration with O2 and lack of understanding of support for the 4G version of Samsung's Galaxy Watch 3

I have made a video of how to connect to O2 or EE if that is where you would like to start. 


 

Context

I have owned both Samsung and Apple smartwatches since the first issues of both. I review tech on YouTube so know a little bit about this subject. My last network-enabled smartwatch was an Apple Watch connected to O2. Setup was straightforward.

Query

I want an eSIM plan to use with my Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 (4G version) and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. I am already on a phone plan with O2.

Contact and advice

Phone call – Screened as not urgent. They are only taking urgent calls during the pandemic. Advised to visit website www.o2.co.uk. What they do not know is that I always start with the website before I make contact. There is no plan for the Galaxy Watch 3 or information for the 4G smartwatch except for pairing. I decided to use the conversation feature within the MyO2 app.

Conversation feature (a feature like instant messenger within the O2 app to talk to tech support)

Cannot help with this query and advised to contact the connections team through the same www.o2.co.uk/contactus. We already know there is nothing there.

O2 community (a forum for O2 customers)

Talking to other people on the forum it is clear that the O2 Customer service team has no knowledge of what a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is, some know what an eSIM is but none know how the 4G version is currently supported by O2.

Chat feature (web chat)

I made contact twice on the chat feature and the outcome was the same. The second chat resulted in me being forwarded an eSIM and I was hopeful. It turns out that the sim has no plan with it. I was asked to go in-store.

In-store

I spoke to 2 representatives whose first response was they do not do that in-store and I needed to go on the chat. I reminded them that I already did and they advised going in-store. These guys had no idea and asked me to go back and call to speak to someone. I told them that only urgent calls were being taken. They suggested I say that I want to leave O2 and someone will definitely help. So that is what I did.

The very long call

Call duration 1 hour, 5 minutes and 42 seconds. The only good thing is I spoke to a person within 3 or 4 minutes. In the end, I spoke to 4 or 5 representatives. Most were honest to say they do not know much about the Samsung smartwatch. At each stage, I explained what a smartwatch was, how 4G enabled smartwatches work and I even told them that there should be some kind of eSIM plan to enable me to remotely connect. I also explained that this was not my first smartwatch. I review them on YouTube.

In all, I have talked to over 12 individuals. Some asked whether my problem was due to not inserting the SIM correctly, even though my query relates to an eSIM which is integrated within the device. The last rep was in the sales team. I asked her why customer service do not understand this subject and she said that only the sales team would generally know. I was again optimistic. Most of that long and painful call was with this individual. With me correcting her all the time, she kept referring to the Apple Watch SIM. I would point out that it is for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, and that it is an eSIM, not just a SIM. In the end, I got a £7 a month plan that is supposed to work and my eSIM would be posted. Well, just received the sim pack today and it is NOT the eSIM which is a QR code that I was expecting, it is a normal SIM instead. 

CONCLUSION: O2 staff have zero understanding of the subject and it is not their fault as there is no information from the company to guide them. I am now with EE who took one call to set me up within 10 minutes. Also got 3 months free. Additionally, for my phone, I now get 5G signal which I did not get with 02. 

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