UTF-8, XML, URL, WTF etc

I am having problem with XML downloaded from a URL, being parsed differently in fw3 and fw5. Namely, on a firmware 3 box it seems to disregard UTF-8 encoding. Here is what i am doing:

    xfer = createObject("roURLTransfer")
    xfer.setURL(url)
    data = xfer.getToString()
    xml = createObject("roXmlElement")
    xml.parse(data)

And then from the element i need, getText() returns the right thing on fw 5 and multi-character mishmash on fw 3. Considering how straightforward the code is, i can't think of anything wrong i might be doing.

Some more details:

• HTTP response has "Content-Type:application/rss+xml; charset=utf-8"


• XML starts with "<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>"


• the element in question, in the raw, is "<description><![CDATA[(408) ••• •••• 7days [...]]]></description>",
  displays as "(408) ••• •••• 7days [...]" on fw5 and
  something like "(408) ••• •••• 7days [...]" on fw3.


• representative character i checked is "•", AKA bullet (&bull; &#8226; U+2022) - it comes as ASC(mid(s, .., 1))=8226 on fw5 and as 3 chars with ASC( )=-30, -128, -94 on fw3 (which seems to be the UTF8 encoding of U+2022: E2 80 A2)

So, how can i get the right string on fw 3?
Can i read the URL any different, any setting i can trigger? (I have zero control over the server - but it is sending the right format anyway).