craig1410
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| posted on 28/11/07 at 12:49 AM |
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"Three" mobile network - Any good?
Hi,
I'm looking to buy a mobile phone for my daughter for christmas and three seem to have the best tariffs for what she needs (loads of
texts...)
I've read some mixed reviews on three and wondered if anyone on here has any experience of them?
Thanks,
Craig.
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PhilCross66
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| posted on 28/11/07 at 01:00 AM |
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I've had three a year now and am really happy with it, will be sticking with them now.
Think it uses O2 for extra coverage when its own runs out, where I live they have coverage in places where Voda and T mobile have failed.
I like the little extras like free voice mail and photo messages count as 4 (I think its 4 anyway) texts. I get a few mins of video call and £5 of
free downloads from their site per month too, nice for a few games.
I just like having a contract where I dont pay anymore than the actual contract just because I've sent a photo or called voice mail 
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Pezza
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| posted on 28/11/07 at 01:18 AM |
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Been happy with mine for the last 6 months.
I've got some voucher things that'll get you £30 credited towards your line rental, if you want one drop me a u2u and i'll pop one
in the post for you.
Pez
You couldn't pwn your way out of a wet paper bag, with "PWN ME!!" written on it, from the "pwned take-away" which originally contained one
portion of chicken tikka pwnsala and the obligatory free pwnpadom.
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T1GER_SUPERCA7
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 posted on 28/11/07 at 09:18 AM |
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Three Mobile
Things are prefect with Three.........at the start.
I was with Three for 5 years and was completely happy. My contract Included 600 anytime any network mins (UK) and 1000 texts. Usually this was not
enough and my bill was usually £100. I was very happy with this amount as I would consider myself a heavy user.
I was origianlly very dubious that the network coverage was poor at the time of my original contract but was informed that the network was backed up
by o2 and if you were ever out of Three signal you would automatically be supported by o2. Good news as the original network coverage was very poor -
justified due to the high barriers of entry into the mobile market.
Every year I would receive a phone call from a 'UK' call centre offering me my annual upgrade (now commonly 18mths) and I would be offered
the most up to date handset. All was fine and I was compeltely happy until 6 months ago.
I was contacted for my 18 mth upgrade by an Indian call centre, not a problem as I had dealt with them the previous year. I was shocked to hear
originally they would not offer new mobiles to existing customers but still asked me to keep with my existing contract? Obviously I was not happy. I
received another call a week later asking me to renew my contract (on ave. in excess of £1800 for the contract) I refused explaining that I am
eligible for a free upgrade - I found that I could only get a new phone if I cancelled my contract and started a new one - since finding out from a
local store that the Indian call centre get a better bonus package for new contracts as opposed to renewals. Not acceptable as I would have to change
the number I had used for 5 years. Too much hassle for £1800 I thought. I complained on the website to Three customer services and awaited a response.
I received yet another call, from India, another week later informing me that there had been a mix up (not the case as I have seen hundreds of people
have had exactly the same issue at upgrade time) and they would like to apologise. Please remember if you complain to Three mobile about anything the
customer services centre is in India and are the same people who dealw with upgrades and any other issue you can phone through about. Obviously a
problem as when you ask to speak to a supervisor you get fobbed off that there isn't one in, or they dont have one, or they pretend to be the
supervisor/ manager and put on a ridiculous voice.
Cutting back to the story (sorry for the novel but please take note of this!!) I was eventually got an apology and was informed that I coule upgrade
my phone - hardly unreasonable - I explained that I wanted the Nokia N95 which had just been released and was instantly informed that I could only
have it if I pay £200 direct to the call centre??????? No way! On an £1800 voer the contract life i'll be paying nothing for my phone thanks!!!
I argued with customer services and was once again told that if I wanted the N95 free I would have to either try and barter with a local Three
franchise or cancel my contract and renew witha new number???? I went into the the Macclesfield branch of Three and was told how good the N95 was and
that I could have a free upgrade but they didn't have any in stock - not unreasonable as they are a brand new phone - I was then told there are
7 in the stock room which are on hold for members of staff and friends of the staff!! Not on. I would have to wait for up to 10 weeks as they had told
all there mates tp place orders and had nearly 200 orders for the phone?? I was also told I could have one of the reserved ones for £100 cash??
Somehow I smelt a rat!! dont know why but I did!!!!
I walked out in disgust - was going to complain but the last guy I spoke to didnt really know where England was so complaining about a franchise in
MAcc would obviously not do any good at all and waste another hour of my life!
I thought I'd give it another go and went to the Trafford Centre store. Knowing that the stores pretend not to have phones in stock for upgrades
if the handset is new to the market - I walked up looking at the brochure as a new customer as asked if there were any M95's in stock and what
the contract deals are - she ran so quickly to the stock room that in a blink of an eye I was sat at a desk looking at the handset. I told her it was
very nice and I would take one - and the fact that it was a free upgrade. She was very sharp to inform me that the N95 is reserved for new customers
only and not upgrades?? alhtough if I wanted to pay £50 cash this time we could sort something out? Not the brightest button to say the least.
End of the story is that I phoned customer services again to complain and they said it was out of their control - I then asked for the UK call centre
and head office - the phone went dead. I phoned again, the phone went dead. I phoned again and asked for the staff I had dealt with by name and they
miraculously didn't exist, nor did the supervisors I had previously spoken to. I finally got through to someone who promised they would help -
pisssssss me off even more - and he gave me the address of the UK head quarters - you cant phone they just write a letter.
I finally decided enough was enough and went to Orange - got the handset free, got more mins free and bills are now only coming to £40 max each month
and I'm using it the same as I have always done.
Cancelling the contract was a pain in the arse - as they lost my cancellation letter 3 times - maybe thats why they are called 3!!! I phoned the
customer services again to cancel and got cut off - finally it is cancelled and I am rid of them.
Not sure who to blame for this - probably ourselves in a way. We continue to fight for cheap or should I say better value products and services -
Making call centres in India is not the answer. Maybe organisations like Three are trying to make too much profit at the cost of customer services.
The problem with the market is that it is saturated - New customers are a myth - all the companies can do now is increase market share - chasing other
service providers customers - for this reason the branches are commended on new contracts I would guess as cancellations are not tagged to specific
stores - the money is with the new customer and the old one can clearly eff off!.
Obviously make what you will of my story - but at the start I would have recommended Three to anyone - Now I'd rather swim at Barrymores
house!!!
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stevec
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| posted on 28/11/07 at 09:31 AM |
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I read all that and I am so glad I have a knackered 10 year old Nokia on pay as you go.
Steve.
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mad4x4
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| posted on 28/11/07 at 01:28 PM |
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I took a PDA phone with them with intERnet access and got intRAnet access.
Everything on 3 "internet" is Pay pay pay 10p here 20p there. There intRAnet is free but limited. You couldn;t get to goolge with out
paying.
There Indian call center argued blind that my PDA phone couldn't do email even though there was 20+pages in the manual covering setup. Failing
was 3's network didn;t support it but they blamed the handset.
Cancelled the contract with in 14days. The automatically sent me a PUC code wich I didn't use or ask for. Only to find out because I hadn;t
used the PUC code they kept my contract going assuming I wasn't leaving them. - CRAP!.
Eventually after serveral letters etc and calls to Indian Call centre & my agent we got the contract cancelled - Nightmare
Basically be sure you get what you want first time because if you unsure goodluck in cancelling - even though the give you a 14day cooling off period.
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craig1410
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| posted on 28/11/07 at 04:05 PM |
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Hi Guys,
Well so far your experiences are similar to those I've seen on the web - a mixture of good and awful!
I'm planning to buy directly from a 3 store which is only a few minutes drive from where I work and I'm planning to buy a Sony Ericson
K770i. The contract I think I'll take is the "£15 texter" which gives 75 minutes talk + 600 texts per month. With this phone I will
need to pay £49.99 up front and then the £15 per month for 18 months. The 3G stuff is not required although I think they charge £3 a month or
something if you do use video calling.
Do you think my risk is lessened by buying from a store rather than from the website? It certainly gives me someone to shout at if I have a problem
and no store owner likes a scene in their shop do they...
The problem is that for the type of tariff I need for my daughter the other networks can't get close! O2 is best with Pay & Go £10 per month
yielding 500 texts but then I'll need to buy the handset and possibly have it unlocked.
Cheers,
Craig.
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PhilCross66
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| posted on 28/11/07 at 05:32 PM |
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I've already had a load of trouble with O2 which is why I ended up with Three in the 1st place.
O2 wouldn't supply me a free upgrade even though it was free on the web they wanted £140. So I walked away and got it from Three for free that
night.
I called O2 to cancel my contract and get a PUC code, my sim was turned off but I never got my PUC code by which time I didn't care cos
I'd handed out the new number by then.
Now 11 months later I've just got O2 to stop taking money from my account, Ive haven't been checking my statement and didn't realise
'till 2 months ago. The English call centres for O2 have been hopeless, they have promised the earth to me on the phone then done absolutely
nothing. After 5 phone calls they have finally stopped the direct debit but now they have sent me a letter asking for another payment, it seems my
account was still active, after all those calls
Three certainly don't have a monopoly on poor customer services, I think they can be all as bad and I certainly won't ever be using O2
again.
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T1GER_SUPERCA7
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 posted on 28/11/07 at 08:15 PM |
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Phil, Just so you know - if you phone your bank you can get them to stop the DD in future - trust me you will need to do it when you want to end your
Three contract. I did it with Three when I finally cancelled my contract. I just happened to be at the bank for mortgage advice - soon to be a first
time buyer (unfortunately!!!) and happened to talk it through with them - they informed me that if you stop a DD with the bank Three cannot get access
to the funds, whats more your not doing anything wrong - As long as you have given the correct notice to the company (30 days in my case at the time)
Just remember though - once you have given them notice expect at least 2 phone calls a day asking why you are thinking of leaving and that they have
some very exciting offers open to you!! As exciting as the birds mums cooking!!!!! (dont even ask!)
Seriousy though - I have only heard good things about Orange so far - I'm sure the bubble will burst one day!
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Coose
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| posted on 30/11/07 at 04:16 PM |
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I left Orange a couple of years ago after being with them for 5 years and signed up to 3 on an 18-month contract. Big mistake....
To cut a long story short (not dissimilar to that of T1GER_SUPERCA7, but not as involved) I bought my way out of my contract and went back to Orange,
who were offering £100 credit free (i.e. no bill for 3 months) which was handy as it paid for me to leave 3!
I really wouldn't bother with 3 unless you want a really fight if you have a handset problem....
Spin 'er off Well...
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craig1410
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| posted on 30/11/07 at 05:00 PM |
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This might be naive but why is it such a fight if you have a faulty handset?
I've had suppliers before (twice) refer me to manufacturers (Matrox and Karcher) when under the sale of goods act it is the retailer who needs
to honour the contract. Under these circumstances surely all you need to do is warn 3 that they have breached the sale of goods act and take them to
small claims court. I also wouldn't waste time speaking to foreign call centre staff, I would just send a letter to the UK registered office
recorded delivery.
Am I being too simplistic or is there some reason why the sale of goods act doesn't apply? Does it make any difference if you have paid for the
handset or if it is "free"?
Cheers,
Craig.
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mad4x4
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| posted on 1/12/07 at 11:30 AM |
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I'm generalising on all mobil companies in this rant not just "3"
Like most mobile companies they ill send you hand set away for 2-3 weeks and then it will com back NFF (no fault found) but during this 3 wks you pay
your contract and don;t have a phone (unless you have an old unlocked phone that will take the new sim) then you have to send the faulty phone back
again and again and again. Policy with these companies is that they will repair it 3 or 5 time before change out of the hand set. So therefore after
3x3 weeks you have had an 18month contract with 16months of usage or worse .......
again i am generalizing for all providers not just 3.
quote:
I would just send a letter to the UK registered office recorded delivery.
-Craig1410
Yeah right and where will you get the address and will anyone there give a "monkey;s"
quote:
. I also wouldn't waste time speaking to foreign call centre staff
-Craig1410
Ok so how would you complain you need to know the name of the people you deal with and if there "foreign call center staff" use more
friendly psuedo names how do we know who we are talking to and that is if we could actually under stand there broken english and wierd accents (says
the Jock)
Scot's do it better in Kilts.
MK INDY's Don't Self Centre Regardless of MK Setting !
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T1GER_SUPERCA7
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| posted on 1/12/07 at 12:02 PM |
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Totally agree, I have sent two letters to Three head office months ago now and still had no reply.
Craig, In an ideal world they would take notice but I think the point at hand is your trying to get a phone for your daughter - do you really want her
to have to write letters threatening legal action to cancel her phone which she will actually have to do at some point. If you end up writing it then
thats just a waste of indulgent fettling of the motor!!
The Indian call centres for Three are the worst I have ever had to deal with and as an Engineer for a huge multinational we have many ties with India
for manufactuing and still to this day I cannot see how Three get away with it! HSBC arent amazing but if you compare their call centre to Three there
is a huge difference - the rudeness is still there but the service actually works.
Its like everything in life - buy cheap buy twice unless it is regulated correctly by the UK!!!
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craig1410
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| posted on 1/12/07 at 02:17 PM |
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Hi,
I hear what you are saying but I think I'll probably take a chance. It's £15 x 18 months so I can afford to lose it and I enjoy a fight if
it comes to it!!! I do respect your opinion, don't get me wrong, but I'm working on the basis that there should be at least a 50:50
chance of everything just working and not having to contact 3 CS for any reason.
By the way, here is the registered address of 3 from companies house website:
HUTCHISON 3G UK LIMITED
HUTCHISON HOUSE
5 HESTER ROAD
BATTERSEA
LONDON SW11 4AN
Company No. 03885486
and here is their customer services address:
3 Customer services
Hutchison 3G UK Ltd
PO Box 333
Glasgow
G2 9AG
Whether anyone there will give a stuff remains to be seen...
I'm hoping by dealing with my local 3 store some of the issues you have seen may be avoided. Apparently if my handset fails I can take it back
to my point of sale and they will repair it within 3 days. They will also provide a loan phone while the repair is carried out. (Stop laughing, it
might even be true!!)
Thanks guys,
Craig.
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