Stupid support suggestions from Vodafone about 403 server proxy errors

author Richard Fennell calendar May 13, 2010 · 1 min read · Uncategorised  ·
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A while ago I blogged about the problems I was having with 403 error when trying to use my HTC phone as a 3G modem or using Opera or IE on the phone itself. When I initially complained Vodafone refunded my data fee for the month and said engineers were onto this known intermittent issue. No grief, Ok I did not want to see 403 errors but I was happy with the customer service, fast and no quibble.

But the 403 errors have not gone way, in fact I am seeing them more often and not just when in the square mile in London. When I complained again I got a different level of service, I got the ‘it is your handset’ response. This was even though I had clearly said FTP and HTTPS (to an Exchange server) were fine it was only HTTP again via the phones two browsers and from a PC using the phone as a 3G modem i.e. traffic that they proxy.

They outdid themselves today with this suggestion

1. Switch off your phone
2. Remove battery and SIM
3. Clean it with clean cotton cloth
4. Insert battery and SIM after 15 to 20 minutes

How this is meant to help a server side error how?