3 is the cheapest, but is it best

EMA_4

Just a little note to continue with the saga of the NEC 313e I got it back yesterday following repair. On the note the repair company sent with the returned phone the fault was listed as 'old software'!!!!! Anyway. surprise - surprise it doesn't work so I had another of those conversations with their customer service and I did point out that that phone was not fit for the purpose intended ie. making and receiving phone calls. However, comment completely ignored and they are coming back tomorrow to collect the phone. So I have put the SIM back in the Nokia and all is well.

Anyone any idea which is the cheapest contract phone with SIM free. I am thinking that if the worst comes to worst I will transfer tariff to £4.99 per month and try and get onto O2 or something.

Eileen of Heaton Mersey

Malestrom

Handset: NEC e606 - 2 off - my wife and I got one each last December. Handset well featured but large. Battery dies in less than a day. Not recommended.

Most commonly used location: Plymouth, Devon

Ease and reliability and connection: Useless. Lots of good 3G reception areas but not blanket cover so much touted video-calls get dropped constantly. Phone also switches to 2G/3G randomly, dropping normal voice calls at will. Wife's phone used to switch itself off, had it replaced - same.

Any other problems: Customer Services - terrible. Locked to 3's own WAP portal so unable to access anything that they dont supply - useless.

Overall service and rating (out of 10):
1/10 - wouldn't recommend '3' to anybody. Now on Orange with a Samsung D500 - this is what you call a phone!

malcolmord

I'd agree 3 are a terrible network!

bdl_3

Handset: LG8110

Most commonly used location: South East London/N W Kent

Ease and reliability and connection: Since they installed a 3G mast locally (much to the annoyance of the local nimby's - who all complain about masts yet have mobile phones DOH!!) reception has been excellent at home - before though an absolute joke! Reception in Woolwich is patchy to say the least. To get a signal in my office I have to stand on a chair and hold the phone up in the air (with the headphones plugged in). The looks I get!!! Signed up to 3 because Orange wouldn't give me a better deal - tried it all - but they just wouldn't do it...honest. Did the deal thru' Carphone Warehouse, managed to switch both numbers very easily and will get £200 back from Carphone Warehouse in Feb. Customer Services - very poor. It's great to outsource abroad, but trying to get them to understand your problem can be somewhat difficult

Any other problems: Yes - It doesn't work at Bluewater - so the Mrs. gets all flustered when she can't ring me to pick her up!

Overall service and rating (out of 10): 6/10 and i'm being generous.


I will almost certainly switch over when my contract expires. The Mrs. will keep hers as she uses all her 500 minutes!

ifiwereu

Mostly used in Lanarkshire and Glasgow

We moved to 3 in Sept, from the beginning it's been a nightmare - we are counting the time down until we can change - preferably to orange.

The customer services are appalling and every time I have to phone I come off the phone with my blood pressure sky high.

They took nearly a month to port my number and gave me £5 to compensate.

The phones are nice, but the coverage is diabolical, in the space of 10 seconds we can go from 5 bars to none, without moving!

My advice to anyone? Don't touch 3! My brothers in N. Ireland have 3, our cousins in Southampton have 3, and everyone says the same thing, "3 is rubbish" Role on September 05

We hate 3! :-[ :-[ :-[

louise1234_2

I have just got out of my three contract & it feels great!!

I now have an Orange phone that works when I want to use it, has a reception in my house & customer services speak English!!

I have been waiting, similar to others 12 months to get rid.

They only take complaints by email, don't respond to half of them, and promise credits to your bill that never appear....

I would be interested to hear if anyone actually stayed longer then they had too...

i live in Manchester & reception is very poor. It is meant to work on O2, but when my other half's O2 phone works, my 3 one has no reception..

My friends and family are very glad, as even a five minute call is dropped 3 times due to network problems....

Mandy_Thompson

[glow=red,2,300]Cheapest but not the best[/glow]

[b]Handset : LG 8120 x 2[/b]

Plan : Talk and Text 600 - 500 minutes and 100 text for £30 each Month

Deal : 3 months at £15 discounted by 3 Mobile and £135 refunded for each Phone from Carphone warehouse.

Most Commonly Used Location : Cardiff and surrounding areas - No Problems with getting calls even in areas that I could not previously get messages or calls while on Orange Network.

Ease and Reliability : Very easy to use and so far reliable

Any Other Problems :

No 1: Direct Debit not set up

Despite numberous phone calls to advise them that they had failed to collect payment for both our phones and promising to sort out the issue the next invoices were raised and we were charged £3 each phones for not having the Direct Direct in place.

A complaint was dealt with via the Executive office and finally we were refunded £3 overcharge and £15 per phone for the inconveniance.

Part of the problem was the complete rubbish we were told by both offices including we would be refunded 2 dollars and 55 pounds and that our bank had requested that the £3 charge be added to their bill?? to name just a few. ???

No one wishes to deal with the issue they simply want to get you off the call and that is why they keep asking you ring back in either 24 or 48 hours and hope that someone else gets the call. They don't understand the query and in most cases it is very hard to understand what they are trying to say. My partner now refuses to call them and gets me to do it instead.

No 2 - Trying to unblock my partners mobile

One morning, while slightly hungover I picked up his phone thinking it was mine and blocked it by accident.

It took two phone calls one for 30 minutes and the second for 45minutes to get the call unblocked.

During the whole time we were on the line to 3 customer services they claimed they could not unblock the mobile as it takes 48 hours for the code to work and he should ring back then. I insisted without being rude that I wished to be put though to a supervisor and was told that I could not be put through as the operator know his job.

For 45 minutes he advised me that he was going to cut off the call and for 45 minutes I told him to go ahead and that I would keep ringing back until someone sorted out the problem and in the meantime I would keep asking for the operators name to include into the letter of complain about to be faxed to their Executive team. After 45 minutes he told me to hold the line and after 5 minutes come back with the code to unblock my partners phone.

No 3 - Software going faultyBoth my boss (LG8110) and my partner have had to have the software on their phones corrected since they signed the deal with 3 mobile.

My Boss after 1 month and my partner, just before christmas. Both lost games, videos, ringtones and pictures that they had previously paid 3 to purchase. No compensation given to either.

No 4 - Messages from 3

3 Mobile keeps sending us messages, to advise us of the services they offer ie football updates. But if you don't advise them by email that you don't want to have this service they will continue to send out the updates etc and of course will charge you for using the service.

From December, You now have to pay to send them a email. I have already send numberous emails to opt out of these messages for both phones, but over christmas I was getting up to 3 a day and the part of the message that advises you to opt out of the service is right at the end and very easy to miss, only my partner noticed it. I am now waiting to see if they send any more.


No 5 - you can only use 3 services

As Malestrom as already stated you are not allowed to purchase games, video's or ringtones from other sites as 3 won't allow you to download. This means that you are only able to purchase these items from them.

LG has a free site for the owners of their phones to be able to download these items for free, but 3 customers are not allowed to use this service as 3 won't allow it.

This means that customers are not free to shop around.


Finally (I don't know how true this is) :

But I have been told that on pay as you go you have to put £15 of credit into their phones each month but use at least £5 for these services and if they don't buy any videos etc £5 is taken off the balance anyway.

Overall Service :
If you don't need to use the customer services and don't wish to purchase any additional items like games :
9/10

If you put the lack of freedom and the stress of using customer (Ring back in 48 hours) services : 0/10 on a good day >:(


[glow=red,2,300]Chances of getting rid after 12 Months : 100/10 if I can last that long [/glow]

Mandy_Thompson

Forgot to mention :

CEO is Bob Fuller but he does not get to see any complaints addressed to him.

They go instead to the

Executive Office
Hutchinson 3G UK Limited
123 St Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5EA

Telephone : 08707 330295
Fax : 0141 2048773

I dealt with Paul Roe and Edward Keogh.

Not much better than the Indian call centre but it is always worth a try.

SamShah

I live on the edge of a 3g area so sometimes it is annoying that i get a very weak 3g signal when if i move into the next room i can get an excellent 2g signal.

I think 3 netowrk itself is actually great, I've been with them since launch (T-mobile previously) and things have seriously improved network wise, even the dreaded CS is answered after a short wait. I think the problems have all arisen nto from the netowrk but from poor handsets i have a nec e606 on 3togo which has been a bit flaky but recently i also got a nokia 7600 on talk & text 600 for an amazing deal (£2.99 for 12 months) and i've really noticed a difference so much so that i prefer it to t-mobile with whom the rest of my family were on various deals.

TBQH I think in the beginning 3 were quite awful but they have really upped their game and mud has stuck and people seem to be biased against them. As all the other operators go 3G the handset situation with 3 can only improve.

SamShah

I find it an interesting coincidence that most of the people criticising 3 are on orange, i've read very little else on this site about other netowrks including O2, Vodafone and T-mobile. It may interest people to know that Orange was previously owned by Hutchison who currently own 3.