3 is the cheapest, but is it best

benedictC

I made the mistake of joining 3 on Monday. My experience with them has/is terrible.

I joined them because they advertised themselves as being great for smart phones. However, when I joined I discovered that:
- poor reception: I live in Fulham, London and get 1 bar/no service when at home.
- Terrible website: I tried to find out about tethering, which said I had to buy an addon, but the links just sent me in a circle and I was unable to buy the addon.
- No visual voicemail: I assumed that because they advertised as being great for smart phones that they would have this feature. I guess this is partly my fault for not checking, but I feel duped by the advertising.

I initially though that I had a cooling off period after signing a new contract, but this is not the case. I mistakenly though that the cooling off period was so that customers could check that the service matches there needs - how else are you meant to check if the reception is good in your area without using it? The cooling off period is just for people who have made an ill considered handset purchase.

Customer services told me that because I signed up in store then I had forfeited my cooling off period. I was not given a copy of the terms when I was in store (just a link to them online), and the terms were not even summarised to me before I signed.

The customer service was terrible. I spoke to 5 people over 50 minutes. Each time I had to repeat myself and each person was unhelpful. I decided that I just want to pay off the £180 contact, get my PAC code and go back to my previous network (better the devil you know) and put it all down as an expensive lesson. However, the last guy tried convincing me to stay with 3, not listening to what I was saying and just parroting the same sales pitch over and over. He wouldn't accept my request to pay off my contract! Instead he said I'd receive a call back from his manager within 24 hours (40 minutes to go) and his manager would do it.

Today I mentioned by bad experience on Twitter and have now had replies on there. Unsurprisingly they offered no help and I just ended up repeating my self for the 6th time.

I feel duped by their advertising and incredibly frustrated by their incompetent and unhelpful customer service. I would strongly advise anyone to avoid Three.

buscape

benedictC wrote: »

I made the mistake of joining 3 on Monday. My experience with them has/is terrible.

I joined them because they advertised themselves as being great for smart phones. However, when I joined I discovered that:
- poor reception: I live in Fulham, London and get 1 bar/no service when at home.

Did you check their coverage before you signed up?

- Terrible website: I tried to find out about tethering, which said I had to buy an addon, but the links just sent me in a circle and I was unable to buy the addon.

Did you ring customer services to buy the add on since the website wasn't working?

- No visual voicemail: I assumed that because they advertised as being great for smart phones that they would have this feature. I guess this is partly my fault for not checking, but I feel duped by the advertising.

The adverts don't say anything about being great for visual voicemail do they? Don't see how you have been duped to be honest.

I initially though that I had a cooling off period after signing a new contract, but this is not the case. I mistakenly though that the cooling off period was so that customers could check that the service matches there needs - how else are you meant to check if the reception is good in your area without using it?

By doing your research and checking the signal beforehand.

Customer services told me that because I signed up in store then I had forfeited my cooling off period. I was not given a copy of the terms when I was in store (just a link to them online), and the terms were not even summarised to me before I signed.

Again, you could have looked at the terms beforehand, a quick google search would have brought them up.

I feel duped by their advertising and incredibly frustrated by their incompetent and unhelpful customer service. I would strongly advise anyone to avoid Three.

I would strongly advise people to do their research before joining Three or any network for that matter. As the saying goes, assumptions are the mother of all !!!! ups.

Sosdon

Just been on the THREE site to check my coverage as i was thinking of changing to them ....

You can use your mobile to make calls, send texts and use the internet in most outdoor locations. If you're inside you may struggle to get a signal.

So its ok as long as i live in a tent :rotfl:

fezoe10

Well i took out a contract with Three 6 months ago i got the nokia lumia 800, and have had nothing but problems for the last 2 and half months, my handset was sent off for repair was sent back after being so called repaired, only to find the same issues i then phoned customer services and after 2 days of complaining they said they would send me a brand new handset which i received and 4 days on the phone has died completely i have tried everything, i dont have another phone to contact three so i have had to contact them through skype, customer services are rubbish, today i have been told i need take the phone to a store to be sent off for repair, only problem with that is they dont have a loan phone and ive been told i have to pay £19.99 for the privilege when they do, i am so not happy what can i do?

senorsombrero

fezoe10 wrote: »

Well i took out a contract with Three 6 months ago i got the nokia lumia 800, and have had nothing but problems for the last 2 and half months, my handset was sent off for repair was sent back after being so called repaired, only to find the same issues i then phoned customer services and after 2 days of complaining they said they would send me a brand new handset which i received and 4 days on the phone has died completely i have tried everything, i dont have another phone to contact three so i have had to contact them through skype, customer services are rubbish, today i have been told i need take the phone to a store to be sent off for repair, only problem with that is they dont have a loan phone and ive been told i have to pay £19.99 for the privilege when they do, i am so not happy what can i do?

I'd the same happen to me with multiple repairs forms broken loudspeaker they kept claiming was fixed..........it wasn't! In the end, rather than get nowhere with customer service who don't care I just gave up and I'll be unlikely to stay with 3 once my contract is up.

myfairrlady

- Terrible website: I tried to find out about tethering, which said I had to buy an addon, but the links just sent me in a circle and I was unable to buy the addon

I was tethering using Three for 2 weeks last year, no problems and no add on, just need app for tethering from Play Store.

Meeby

Me, my mother and my friend each briefly used 3 network.
I stopped using mine within a couple of weeks. The 3g reception was terrible.& phone calls were impossible.
My mum persevered slightly longer, they had to replace the phone twice as it kept 'overheating' & cutting out/switching off on calls, & after 4 months she gave up & took a contract out elsewhere because the reception on 3g was terrible. They made her pay the remainder of the contract, even though she pointed out they hadn't provided a reliable service & therefore hadn't fulfilled their part of the contract.
And my friend had a phone on 3 for 6 months. She was constantly annoyed at the lack of reception so took a contract out with another provider. She had to pay the remainder of the 3 contract, which still had 18 months to run.
All of us are in agreement, we will never have a phone on that network again.

denideth

Handset: iPhone 4 (one year in to contract)

Most commonly used location: Northumberland, England

Ease and reliability and connection: fantastic. I pay £35ppm for 2000 any network mins, 5000 3-3 mins, 5000 texts and all-you-can-eat data. Customer service has been great and any queries have been resolved efficiently. Signal is fantastic - the occasional 'No Service' icon appears but not as much as i had with o2 on a previous phone. I use my phone for work and at home so Im using data constantly, and have never been slown down. I once had another iPhone, BlackBerry, latop and XBox tethered to my 3G connection and experienced no lag on any device. I can access my data usage quickly (through the 3 App) and receive texts from Three with the latest offers available to my family and friends. I will continue to use this mobile network in the future as I get the most value for money and the best service - in store and on the phone.

Any other problems: None.

Overall service and rating (out of 10): 10/10. Cannot fault. My partner, his family and my friends who are with Three have had no problems, either.

senorsombrero

denideth wrote: »

Handset: iPhone 4 (one year in to contract)

Most commonly used location: Northumberland, England

Ease and reliability and connection: fantastic. I pay £35ppm for 2000 any network mins, 5000 3-3 mins, 5000 texts and all-you-can-eat data. Customer service has been great and any queries have been resolved efficiently. Signal is fantastic - the occasional 'No Service' icon appears but not as much as i had with o2 on a previous phone. I use my phone for work and at home so Im using data constantly, and have never been slown down. I once had another iPhone, BlackBerry, latop and XBox tethered to my 3G connection and experienced no lag on any device. I can access my data usage quickly (through the 3 App) and receive texts from Three with the latest offers available to my family and friends. I will continue to use this mobile network in the future as I get the most value for money and the best service - in store and on the phone.

Any other problems: None.

Overall service and rating (out of 10): 10/10. Cannot fault. My partner, his family and my friends who are with Three have had no problems, either.

You're sure you are definitely on three lol? Fair play but in my experience the 'calls' from three with 'offers' are usual terrible deals that are just off their website, nothing special. I signed up for some service on three that prevents them calling me with 'deals' as they pestered me persistently.

UKViking

senorsombrero wrote: »

You're sure you are definitely on three lol? Fair play but in my experience the 'calls' from three with 'offers' are usual terrible deals that are just off their website, nothing special. I signed up for some service on three that prevents them calling me with 'deals' as they pestered me persistently.

To be honest the Three deals are pretty amazing. Just look up their "One Plan". It's one of the only networks to offer tethering (using your phone as a modem) without a cap (most networks cap it at 500mb).

SIM only is about 16 per month, for thousands of mins, texts and all you can eat data.

I've been on Three for years and never had problems. I pay 8 per month for 700 mins, 150 texts and all-you-can-eat data. It was a retention deal and I'll never move off it unless I'm forced to.