Well apparently the Nokia N97 is now available, and I’m interested in upgrading to one. As a member of the Nokia owners club, Nokia have even contacted me via SMS message and invited me to call them about upgrading.
Sorry Nokia, that’s not going to happen. I’ve never paid more than £50 for a phone upgrade, and I’m not about to start now!
What I’m waiting for is for my mobile carrier, Orange, to release the N97, then I can go through the cycle of ringing them, getting their “best offer”, leaving it a couple of days, calling back and requesting my PAC (the code required to transfer a mobile number from one network to another), and then finally getting a genuine “best offer”. Sometimes I even try to tickle a car charger out of them as a final haggle 
We’ve played the game before, many many times. I’ve been with them for over 10 years, and ever since the invention of the PAC, I have used this as a swift kick to tell them I really am serious about leaving. I’m amazed their systems don’t point this out to them. Maybe they enjoy the game.
Anyway, back to the plot… Nokia released the N97 at the beginning of July and sold exclusively from their stores. They said the mobile carriers would follow the week after, which is where I could start my little upgrade fee game. I watched, I waited, and although the CarPhoneWarehouse offer it on Orange and Vodafone, there was still no show on the Orange website as an upgrade option.
Eventually I rang Orange and asked where it was. The answer I got was that Orange had received a batch of N97s, but upon testing they had failed their quality control, so they had all been sent back.
For the uninitiated I will translate… Orange always have the firmware of Symbian phones modified. I don’t know why. Nothing they add to the phones has ever filled a gaping feature hole. In fact I generally found the changes rather clunky and horrible (it doesn’t help that they insist on using their corporate colours for everything – I’ll let you guess what colour that is!).
I’ve experienced this “Orangified” firmware on the Nokia 7650, 6600, N70 and N95. During my time with the N95 the delay this caused in firmware updates becoming available (if at all) and the crippling of the VOIP stack so you couldn’t talk via a wifi point, became a point of major annoyance. Luckily there are a couple of tricks you can perform to put the phone back to standard Nokia firmware. Change the model number of the phone to that of a generic N95, then update to the latest firmware via the Nokia website. Taadaa! Standard N95! Wonderful!
So what has happened to the Orange N97? Well Orange have obviously taken it upon themselves to “modify” the firmware again. There was already talk of Orange/Vodafone throwing their toys out of the pram back in January 2009 as the N97 was to come with Skype built in, so I’m sure we can expect to see the VOIP function crippled again. By the looks of things they have screwed it up and have to have another go at crippling the phone without buggering everything up.
According to the man from Orange, Carphonewarehouse are selling generic N97s that are locked to the Orange or Vodafone network, but running untouched Nokia software.
So Orange, thanks so much… I am having to wait whilst you remove features from what could be my next phone. Features that I will reinstate almost instantly I have it in my hands!
Update 15th July 2009
The Orange website is now showing the N97 as coming soon, although it doesn’t have its features correctly entered in its search filters (if you select 3G the N97 isn’t shown. Selecting Touch screen correctly shows the 5800 and the N97. However it also shows E75! D’oh!)
Update 21st July 2009
I spoke to Orange yesterday and they said it should have released last week, but it’s had to go back yet again and that I should ring next week to see if they know more. The guy I spoke to said they didn’t even know if they would be selling the phone at all!
I did suggest that as T-mobile and Vodafone both had the N97 with no issue, and that the carphonewarehouse offering on Orange (which he had suggest as an upgrade route for me) were also happy with the phone, maybe Orange should leave the firmware alone and stop messing about with it!
Update 27th July 2009
Well my weekly update… I went through the IVR, and decided to go for the “I’m thinking of leaving orange” option for once. Maybe I would get someone with more of a clue.
The lady I spoke to repeated exactly the same as the guy last week (including the “we might not release it” line). I asked when the next batch was expected in for testing and she said “Sorry, I can’t predict the future sir”, which was rather rude. I’m sure Nokia provides Orange with an ETA, and I’m sure Orange demands one.
I asked how come Vodafone have the N97, and she said “Well vodafone don’t test the software like Orange do…”, Odd that all these untested N97 users on vodafone don’t seem to be rioting and crying for blood eh?
I think I might ring back and see if I can get through to someone who’ll treat me as a long standing valued customer and not a naughty school boy.
Saying “Sir” after a sarcastic comment does not make it professional.
Oh, and pop on over to Orange’s site and ask about the N97 here. They won’t even publish my questions, even the polite ones, or even the question “Why do you keep rejecting my posts?”!
Update 28th July 2009
After yesterdays conversation with Ms Stroppy I decided to try again. I went through to the usual upgrades line and the girl told me it’s failed and they won’t be stocking it. I asked when it failed and she said “Last Friday” (24th july).
As I spoke to Ms Stroppy on the 27th and she didn’t say that, it’s evident that either people are singing from a different hymn sheet, or they’re just making it up as they go along…
I tried again. This time I selected the “I’m thinking of leaving Orange” line, which probably gets through to the same call centre people, but at least there might be a star on the end of my name when it pops up on their screen.
The chap I spoke to said it’s still being tested. I told him I’d spoken to someone two minutes before who said it had failed and he said he didn’t have anything like that on his screen. He said they were having problems getting their software onto the phone, and that I could purchase it through CarPhoneWareHouse. I commented that CPWH are selling a generic firmware model, and that maybe Orange should concider doing the same as I personally knew of quite a few people who are waiting to get the N97 through Orange (that’s you lot *waves*). He said if they couldn’t get it working by the end of the month that he thinks it will be dropped.
Me thinks that Orange should change their website…
Update 30th July 2009
Following a comment that Orange had shelved the N97 I decided to ring them myself (again). I got the same answer I have usually got “waiting for testing”, “No ETA”. I decided as the PAC (the code you require to transfer your number to another network) is sent through the post and is valid for 28 days I thought I might as well ask for it. You never know, I might get a “Oh why are you leaving” phone call… Friends who have changed networks in the past always seem to get bombarded with offers from their old networks afterwards, so if nothing else I’ll get to tell someone from Orange (who might actually collect feedback), why I’m leaving after all these years. It’s not just because of the lack of N97, it’s the lack of information and the impression that you have several hands and yet no chance of finding your own backside with any of them even when provided with the GPS coordinates!
Oh, and Orange, if you’re interested, this post has had over 350 hits since it was published 3 weeks ago, and is approaching 100 in the last 2 days. You really should see the search referral strings:
- will orange ever release the n97
- orange n97 failed testing
- why isn’t the n97 available through orange
- nokia n97 orange testing
- when will orange release n97
Update 31st July 2009
<accent=”geordie”>Day 27</accent> Sorry, HTML based big brother joke. Although sometimes it does feel like I am trapped with my only information coming via a voice link to a sadistic b*stard who’s playing mind games with me. For those that aren’t reading between the lines too well, I’m talking about the Orange ones… No not Tango man… Oh I give up!
Well todays news, as pointed out by one of my flock, is that Orange have now removed the “Coming soon” N97 from their website. (See my modified version above for proof it ever existed!).
This could be for several reasons…
- They have given up and failed it… So why are they not telling us… Maybe because they want to string us along until they get something shiny like the iPhone which they believe we will want.
- They have got fed up with people ringing saying “Coming soon? When? When? WHEEEEN?!!!”
I’m loosing the will to live!!! Maybe I should try asking Nokia.
Now where’s my PAC?!
Update 1st August 2009
I won’t repeat what written in the comments, basically it looks like Orange are stringing us along with a maybe by the end of August, but no promises (or prices).
So maybe we should start ringing them up and asking them about this instead…
Nokia N97 mini
Personally I’m not convinced I want it slightly smaller at the expense of a camera lens cover.
Update 4th August 2009
Well the contradicting information continues. Thanks to all those posting comments and telling their stories. I think this blog should be required reading for management/PR courses!
The traffic to this page continues its upward climb. There was the normal Sunday dip, but over 100 visits both yesterday and today, and there are over 4 hours left of today.
Update 5th August 2009
Plenty of activity in my comments, but very little from Orange, although they have managed to do some press releases about new 3G card data prices.
Inspired by sjh’s screen grab, I thought I’d do one of my own…
Not sure what everyone does on a Sunday, but they're not on here... I can't remember, was it sunny?
Hello Orange, are you listening, you’ve got quite a fair few people here who would like a straight answer, and would like to feel like valued customers and not peasants huddled behind the Lord’s dinning room window in the hope that they get thrown something yummy.
Update 6th August 2009
I was having a look at the various network deals for the N97. I stumbled upon Dialaphone and mobileexpress. They are both trading names of Phones4U… Why they have two I don’t know. The websites are pretty much identical, so it doesn’t really require you to look at the “About us” to work out they are the same company. Amusingly because the websites are basically the same, from the same templates, and probably on the same server, both “About us” pages claim they are the “UK’s No 1 direct supplier of mobile phones”.
However their deals seem to have some subtle variations.
For me, the best deal on the N97 can be found on Dialaphone. It’s an Orange Dolphin 45 18 month contract with a £10 a month discount applied for 18 months. 1200 minutes, Magic number, unlimited text, unlimited internet and a free N97… £35 a month! Sounds good to me!
The only things to watch are the add ons they give you free for a month (insurance and gadget helpline), which you’d need to cancel before the end of the first month to avoid (especially important for the gadget helpline as they bill you for 6 month chunks). Also as the £10 a month discount runs out at the end of the contract period I’d stick a reminder into the phone on the day I get it to tell me to cancel it and switch to a cheaper contract or SIM only deal.
This beats any of the deals (even the Web exclusive ones) offered by CarPhone Warehouse and also Phones4U the parent company of both these web based companies.
So guys and girls, have you found a better deal?
Update 10th August 2009
Just saw this over on the orange forum:
"Thanks for your comments everyone. We are glad to provide a forum for you to chat and debate."
That’s from one of their admins… Curiously enough they never seem to be happy to provide a forum for my chat and debate… That’s why I created this blog!
Would a few of your guys/girls like to go over there and see if you can get a post published linking to this blog? That would be funny! Link
Update 12th August
Hehe… Guess they got annoyed with us… They closed the blog comments (older blog entries are still open, so it’s not an age thing)! I was perfectly polite. Were you? Oh… You called them what? Ahhh… That explains it.
Having just checked if the N97 has sneaked back up (it hasn’t), I notice they now only have 8 Nokias on monthly contracts. They had 11 before they removed the N97…
Update 14th August 2009
Well I see some of my “flock” have already managed to obtain their N97s via Phones4U, and are now taunting me from the pub! So I think I’m going to go the dialaphone route and play musical numbers… Although I am going to have to get my old N95 unlocked… Doubt Orange will want to give me an unlock code for free after I’ve already got my PAC
Anyway, whilst doing a quick, last minute check of the deal, I noticed a couple of nice little bits of website decoration I couldn’t help sharing…
Phones4U's list of most wanted phones. Number 2, not bad... I wonder where the black one is?
DialaPhone's list of most wanted on Orange... What's that I see at number 1... AND number 6!
So Orange, what do you think? Kinda miss-judged it haven’t you.
Update 19th August 2009
I finally gave up waiting for Orange to tell us what they are doing and went and struck a deal with Phones4U.
So now I have a new blog entry called…. Owning the N97
