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

robt_2

There is a thread in the Referrers section of this site for people who want a 'friend' to recommend them. Most people there will split their £30 with you - meaning that you get £45 and the person making the offer gets £15.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=514486&page=12&highlight=three

KTF

stphnstevey wrote: »

Plus £30ish quidco!

Its £16 for M&M 100. Dont assume it will be paid either.

N1AK

Eliza1001 wrote: »

Unfortunately I also have a 3 contract that I will need to cancel in about 6 months, so I'll have to face another phone call to the worst customer service centre on the planet!

Don't phone them. Your contract with 3 requires you to inform their customer service team, which they are obliged to give a postal address for:

See section 10.1 http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/Terms_and_Conditions?content_aid=1214305745245

Address is available on 3s contact page
http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/Contact_Us

If I am cancelling a contract, I will generally phone up to see if they offer something that makes it worth staying, but if I still want to leave and they make it remotely difficult by phone I email them a complaint and cancel by post.

If you want to complain but can't get the employee to tell you his name or put you through to a supervisor, then when you complain make sure you have the start and end time of the call and the number you phoned from. With that information they can easily find the employee, which is something to make clear to them.

Also please note that you can write to cancel your contract at the end of the minimum length at any time (10.1c) in the terms. Simply write to them more than 30 days before the end of your contract and state that this is your "notice to cancel your contract at the end of minimum term".

Hope that all helps.

Ilias_Karampatsos

12 Month Cheque Back Terms and Conditions

Send your 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th monthly bills within 60 days of the date stated on the relevant redemption claim form, to us and we will credit you by cheque with 25% of the total amount at each redemption period*

This will save you the stated amount over the 12 month duration of the contract.


*Approximately 25%, the combined total of all Four Cheques will be equal to the stated amount.

lkmc01 wrote: »

not the best deal anyway. The best one at the moment is

http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_contract_details.asp?ItemKey=189404&MPItemKey=204092&NetKey=2

Its £40 a month for 12 months so £480

Add to that 10 months free £480 - £400 chequeback

so £80 for 12 months

plus £30 cashback from anycashbacksite apart from linemypocket

and its £50 for 12 months for 700 minutes and 250 texts

so £4.17 a month

alan_lovedog

phoned O2 today to cancel my contract with the plan to use this offer.
they talked me into staying by offering me a new phone - sony c702, 75 minutes per month, 250 texts ( fine for me ) for a fiver a month - discounted from the regular 20.
that's fine for me and a decent price - 18 month contract.

Ilias_Karampatsos

Just spoke with an 3g agent, here is the summary:

• The Skype phone will allow you to call any other Skype user for FREE. They could be on a PC or another Skype handset.
• You will have 4,000 minutes EVERY month to use. You don't need to be stuck at your PC when making a Skype call, you can do it from the handset on the bus, train...anywhere!
• You also get 10,000 Skype Chat messages which are FREE, you can use these to send messages to your friends on Skype.
• You will need to use your inclusive minutes or texts when making a normal voice call.
• You can use SkypeOut provided you have Skype credit and you will not be charged when you are within the 4000 minutes limit. You can only SkypeOut 3g partners: 3Australia, 3Austria, 3Sweden, 3Denmark, 3Ireland, 3Italy, 3Hong Kong.

slopemaster

I don't understand , they have special skypephones (on contracts from £12 upwards only) but the OP says free Skype on that phone, which is a 'normal' one?
How does it all work?

I was thinking of signing up for skypephone package and also mobile broadband, but its a big commitment, and now with all I've read about poor network and poor customer service ... I wish there was a way of trying it out.
Perhps I will go for PAYG after all, but it means £93 upfront for Skypephone (which is then locked to their network) and dongle thingy, so you still lose out if its no good...

kianella

cshowell wrote: »

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.

I have to say i thoroughly agree AVOID 3 AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!!
I have a mobile & mobile internet with them & I have had endless problems.
I went a full month with no internet connection or mobile phone coverage in october & when i called i was just fobbed off endlessly & still had to pay most of the months bills.
Thankfully my contracts are both up in the next few months but beware you need to give 30 days notice to cancel even though your contract ends!!!!!!

Dime_Bar

slopemaster wrote: »

I don't understand , they have special skypephones (on contracts from £12 upwards only) but the OP says free Skype on that phone, which is a 'normal' one?
How does it all work?

I was thinking of signing up for skypephone package and also mobile broadband, but its a big commitment, and now with all I've read about poor network and poor customer service ... I wish there was a way of trying it out.
Perhps I will go for PAYG after all, but it means £93 upfront for Skypephone (which is then locked to their network) and dongle thingy, so you still lose out if its no good...

Three offer free Skype on a number of phones \ tarrifs, however the difference between the phones running the Skype software and the Skypephone\Skypephone S2\INQ1 is that on the latter Skype is completly intergrated with the phones contacts and you can call through skype from the phonebook.

With the INQ1 this also works with Windows Live Messenger (MSN) and Facebook. I like this approach as it gives me one point of call for all ways of contacting people.

As for trying it first, do you no anyone on three? Where abouts do you live? It might be worth going into the store and playing around with them.

robt_2

slopemaster wrote: »

I don't understand , they have special skypephones (on contracts from £12 upwards only) but the OP says free Skype on that phone, which is a 'normal' one?
How does it all work?

I was thinking of signing up for skypephone package and also mobile broadband, but its a big commitment, and now with all I've read about poor network and poor customer service ... I wish there was a way of trying it out.
Perhps I will go for PAYG after all, but it means £93 upfront for Skypephone (which is then locked to their network) and dongle thingy, so you still lose out if its no good...

For every unsatisfied customer there are thousands of happy ones. The same can be said of any phone network, or indeed any company of any kind in the world.