3 Mobile £9/month Mix & Match 100: the lowdown

I guess one could use the quidco cashback to get £16 on the three offer which would take it down to £8.11 (i.e £16/18 = £0.89 less than the £9)

I posted about this offer a few weeks ago when it was advertised as ending 31/12/08.

girona002 how does the 2000 3-3 minutes work if you buy two phones - is it every month or a one-off?

l33tsp33k wrote: »

While Three should be applauded for breaking the £10/mo barrier for contracts (no other network has yet dared do this), if you think you are going to use less than 75 units/month on average (75 minutes or texts or mixture of the two) then Three's Pay As You Go offering is cheaper....

• £9/month for 100 mins/texts is 9p per min/text. You get a free phone but you are tied in for an 18 month contract.
• Three's "Flat 12" PAYG tariff is 12p per min/text, but there's no contractual obligation, you only pay for what you actually use. If you think you are going to go for a burst of texting or talking you can buy a "stretch" add-on to reduce your costs to as little as 4p per min/text. Skype calls are also free providing you have topped up in the past 3 months. See the Three site for full details.

Hope that helps

Mike

Material is the fact you get a new phone with this tarriff.

Before taking out a contract with 3, you should be aware just quite how bad their customer service is. When I joined up originally I gave them my correct details with all my ID in my local store. When they printed off my receipt they had put both my first name and my surname as being the same. When I pointed this out I was told it was not a problem and to phone up and they would change it as it was clearly just a computer glitch. I phoned customer services and was told that they would not change it and that I had to go back to the store I brought the phone from (no other store was acceptable), and re-take in my ID. As I was 300 miles away at that point, they were asking a lot. When I pointed out they had done a credit check on my correct name, they refused to acknowledge that they had, and it was only when I yelled down the phone at a supervisor and threatened to call the police over having had a credit check done against my name, when I apparently did not have a contract with them, that they acquiesed and change my name back to what it should have been in the first place.

When I got married later that year I phoned them to find out about how to go about changing my name. They told me to take my marriage certificate into any local store and they would be happy to fax it in to customer services to get my name changed. As I was not working (Mat Leave) this was easy enough. Four stores in four different areas, on the same day, refused to fax it off for me, stating that their faxes were broken. When I made a return trip, one person told me that I was responsible for sending my own faxes, it was not their problem. Not having any stores near me with fax machines (nowhere locally has a mailbox etc), I did not bother any further and left it in my maiden name.

In September last year I got a letter stating that if I continued to receive itemised statements after October/November (can't remember which), I would be charged, so if I did not want to be charged I should phone customer services and ask for an e-bill. I did that straight away, spoke to a nice English chap, was assured that the e-bill would be forthcoming and that I would not be charged for any more itemised statements. Ever since I have still been receiving paper statements, and been being charged for them. What a surprise.

At the end of my contract in December I decided, not surprisingly, to cancel the contract. I phoned the call centre and had the most frustrating conversation of my life. The customer services assistant refused to cancel my contract, stating that they had a special offer for £12 a month and he would not cancel my contract as he felt that was the best deal for me. I spent 45 minutes on the phone to him, stating that I just wanted my contract cancelled, and he refused. I hung up. He called me back. I restated my case. He refused to cancel my contract and said he would keep calling back until I agreed to give him the sale he wanted. I hung up and called the call centre again, and the next person put me straight back onto this chap who still insisted on trying to sell me the contract at £12 per month. I asked to be put through to someone in the UK (yes it was one of those awful Indian call centres) who would cancel my contract, and he refused. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he said one was not available and they would not be willing to help unless I took out this further contract. My blood was boiling at this point and I even asked him if he understood what "cancel contract" meant. He said he did, and then tried again to sell me a contract at £12 per month. I hung up and switched the phone off.

I then went into a shop in my local town and asked them to cancel my contract. They refused and said I had to call the customer services. I explained the problem with customer services and was met with a shrug of the shoulders - not their problem apparently.

I phoned the call centre back and told the woman I got through to that I would take legal action for harrassment and threatening behaviour if I was put back to the person I had previously been talking to (clearly I did not have a case but with 3 it seems the threat of legal action is the only thing which motivates them). I told her I did not want to be sold anything, that I was suffering morning sickness and she had about 5 minutes before I made her listen to me throw up, and that I wanted my contract cancelled right away. She said that listening to me throw up would not be pleasant so she cancelled my contract in less that 5 minutes. My contract has apparently been cancelled as of about the 6th Jan. I await my final bill.

In short, avoid 3 at all costs. They have Indian call centres where the staff apparently do not understand English. They are rude and unhelpful and the staff in the shops are not much better. I would never, ever make the mistake of taking out a contract with them again. My blood still boils thinking about the last conversations I had with them, and if I trusted that my contract had actually been cancelled, I would be putting the complaint in writing. However, as I have no faith, the letter will wait until I am sure no more money has been taken from my account after my last payment is due at the end of the month.

Don't whatever you do, take out a contract with this company. You will only regret it if you have a problem with them, or want to cancel your contract.

Incidentally, if you are a long standing customer of any of the other major phone companies and threaten to leave, they will price match any of 3s offers, including this one.

carringtonshire wrote: »

Does anyone know how Skype works if your phoning from outside the UK, can you still access it for free???

If you are using your mobile abroad you cannot use any of you inclusive packge unless your on another "Three" network, Oz, Ireland, and Hong Kong of the top of my head but you will have to check on the website.