Text messaging from Genie...and the other features (mobile.genie.co.uk)

Member Name: aebone

Product:	mobile.genie.co.uk
Date:	03/05/01 (304 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: unlimited text messaging.... free!!!

Disadvantages: sometimes a little slow, it has started to let standards slip!!!!

I first posted this opinion quite a while back. Since this time, there have been just a few changes, not all of them grand either. So, if you want to find out what the site is currently doing, flick to the end, where I put all my amendments....

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Ah Genie. A most wonderful website for those who love to text message from the internet. It knocks the spots off the competition!

The site now has a whole number of different features, including WAP services and email, but I use it mainly for text messaging people. Yes, there are now many sites which offer free SMS, but they are only at the stage Genie was at 2 years ago when I first joined up. Genie now has many advantages over the 'cometition'. The first is, you can send as many messages as you like, you are not restricted like on some sites. The second great feature is that you can set up an address book. Just put all your friends details in, and then you don't have to enter the number for every message you send, as with sites such as Breathe. It saves a whole heap of time...and is just so convenient. If you have friends using Genie too, their numbers also show up when they text you, so you can see who it is and there are no guessing games! Messages usually arrive very quickly too, within a few seconds. I have only had trouble a couple of times where messages don't get through for an hour or so. Another minor hassle is that sometimes the text messaging page takes a few seconds to load.

There are a range of services which Genie now provide free of charge. You can choose to have 'Alerts' sent to your phone on several topics. I have tried out many of them, ones that come to mind are 'Music', 'Football',' Formula One' and 'Shares'. As soon as there is news of importance on a topic it is messaged to you, but only at the times of the day you specify, handy if you dont like being woken up at
midnight! I did have these alerts on for a while, but I found they gave you limited information and just wanted you to call a number to find out more. Very annoying! So I turned them off again. Another useful thing, is that you can choose to have alerts sent when you get email at Genie (you are given a free email address when you sign up). This is handy if you are waiting for important news! This also can become annoying though, especially if a load of companies start sending you junk mail. Not to complain though, as it is all FREE!!!!

There are also various WAP services on offer. I don't have a WAP phone however so have not explored this part of the site in much detail...and can not tell you much.

The actual website itself is very easy to navigate around. You sign in (if you are a member) on the left hand side. If you are not a member, from what I remember it takes only about 5 minutes to sign up.

As well as all the phone service features, there is also a shop online, so you can buy Genie phones and SIM cards. I have explored this area in the search for a good tariff, but can't see any that appeal to me personally. Free text messaging from your phone is one of the better features of some tariffs though.

There is a competitions page, although this usually just takes you to competitions on another site. Also, fairly up to date news is available, and the weather too. If you have any problems you can contact customer services from the website, and in my experience they are usually happy to help.

I have recommended this site to many friends, and they have all been really happy with it. Yes, sometimes it is a little slow, but it is by far the best SMS site online that I have come across. If your wish is for free text messaging at your convenience, then Genie.co.uk is the place for you!

*UPDATE************************************

17th May 2001
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A comment made about this opin
ion said that the site no longer worked! I tried it yesterday, and none of my messages actually arrived. Today however, it is working fine again. I guess it may be a technical error yesterday, but I may well email genie and find out. I will of course keep you all posted!

In my opinion however, this site is still superior to and more reliable than other sites. If you want to be sure your messages will arrive, send a message to your own phone from the site first, and it will give you a good indication of how fast the service is working on any particular day.

4th June 2001
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No more such technical problems with genie. Its working fine! They have also now added a 'Big Brother' section to the site, so people can find out the latest gossip, by phone if they should want to. Don't think I'll be taking up this offer though!!!!

One other thing to mention is that when you join this site, it may lead to genie giving you a call sometime. I had a call on my mobile from them about a month ago, asking if I would consider changing my vodaphone sim card to a genie one. They weren't pushy though and I just said no. This has happened only once in nearly 2 years as a member, so thats not bad is it?

13th August 2001
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Oh dear. Genie genie genie. I hope nobody finds that lamp and rubs it, as this genie has gone bad!!!!! I have noticed increasingly over the last few weeks that this site is becoming more and more unreliable. The text messaging part of the site has now changed slightly, so that you now have to go past an extra screen to send another message, which is annoying if you are sending more than one message to a person, as you forget what you were saying (maybe thats just because I'm blonde though). Also, quite a few times my messages have not arrived. Now, to test it, I actually send a message to myself before sending one to anybody else. This is quite a good way of testing
out any SMS service.

Due to the recent 'bad genie' I am afraid to say I am now rating the site only average. It is still much better than many SMS sites, but the quality of this site has begun to deteriorate. Boo hoo!!!!

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