3 is the cheapest, but is it best

tillson

In response to lawlorlane's question. (Sorry only just seen your post) A 3 USB dongle could be the answer to your Broadband problem. If you can obtain a reasonable signal at your home then you should get reasonable download speeds.

I took the plunge and signed up to 3 last week. So far excellent covereage and download speeds. I have taken out their 300 mix and match (£15 /month) with X Series Silver add-on (£5 / monoth) I use the phone as a USB modem for the odd sneaky peek at the web (Sending this message via it now). This is against their T&Cs so if you wanted to regularly use the phone as a modem you would need one of their Broadband add-ons (£10 / month broadband lite) or the dongle thingy (£20 / month I think) The disadvantage of the dongle is that you pay £20 an month and don't get any phone call time.

quidsinquentin

Handset Nokia: 6630

Location: South Yorkshire

Ease and reliability and connection: always been great no problem at all

Any other problems: dire company - wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them. had three contracts now, always been stiffed by company on prices, same happened to friends/family. Would not use anymore.

tillson

"Any other problems: dire company - wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them. had three contracts now, always been stiffed by company on prices, same happened to friends/family. Would not use anymore."

Hi

Could you expand a bit more on the above? I have just taken out a 3 contract and I am very pleased so far. I just wondered what your experiences were so that I can be on the look out for any pitfalls.

Thanks

Tom

gromituk

They are no worse than anyone else. You get bad experiences with them all, such as my partner who was promised a renewal deal on the phone by O2 who for thee months kept direct debiting at the old rate, despite being called every month about it.

quidsinquentin

tillson wrote: »

"Any other problems: dire company - wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them. had three contracts now, always been stiffed by company on prices, same happened to friends/family. Would not use anymore."

Hi

Could you expand a bit more on the above? I have just taken out a 3 contract and I am very pleased so far. I just wondered what your experiences were so that I can be on the look out for any pitfalls.

Thanks

Tom

My first contract with 3 was for cashback (this is really Carphone Warehouse), which ended up with me £150 out of pocket - but I'm going through small claims court for that.

I then got a 'renewal' deal from 3 for 18 months contract, with only last two months to pay, at something like £43 or slightly less. I took it out, then found out it had miraculously changed to £53. No-one at 3 could explain that to me, except to say that the original offer had been for £53 (it wasn't - I wrote all the details down.). They also said they would assist me with the problems with CPW once I had taken out the new renewal contract - then they decided they couldn't.

The contract then crept up in some way or other so that I ended up paying around £60-£70 (can't remember final figure), but the entire contract I'd been underusing my minutes and texts. £70 for 18 month contract isn't bad at all, but it was the constant changing of figures that got to me.

At the same time, my OH had a very similar contract, and hers was far worse. Our son had the original contract with CPW/3 and had put on 'extras' (unknown to us). When my OH took over the 'renewal' contract, even though 3 knew about the changes in name, etc, they kept on the extras. She should have paid £38 for an 18 month contract (v.good on the face of it), but ended up paying £120-ish.

There's a lot of other minor stuff too, but too long to put in here.

TBH, Virgin are as bad if not worse, but at least you got an english call centre with them to sort things out. 3's are all asian and the language barrier - to me - was pretty bad.

digitaltoast

quidsinquentin wrote: »

My first contract with 3 was for cashback (this is really Carphone Warehouse), which ended up with me £150 out of pocket - but I'm going through small claims court for that.

You'll be lucky if you win that - they are VERY sneaky - fail one, and you fail the rest.
For example, on my very first one (one of the small "starter" repayments), I filled it all in, then was folding it, and noticed one little box right after the small print on the back of the form you fill in, for date. Had I missed that, I'd be down by £280.
It is also HIGHLY recommended to spend the £5 to get it Special Delivery, then at least if they stiff you, you can claim it through the Post Office.

gromituk

digitaltoast wrote: »

It is also HIGHLY recommended to spend the £5 to get it Special Delivery, then at least if they stiff you, you can claim it through the Post Office.

Erm no. You will only be able to claim the value of a few sheets of paper. You need to take out the consequential insurance as well. And I've no idea how hard it would be to make that policy cough up - it could well be easier to go to Moneyclaim Online on the strength of the bills being posted recorded delivery.

Sue_S

I took out a contract with 3 a couple of weeks ago and so far I'm delighted. The customer service is excellent, I had a couple of queries and emailed 3, I had a call from CS within a couple of days, problems resolved.

The reception is very good and Planet 3 is a good addition.

All in all an excellent experience so far.

Inspired_2

Just renewing my contract with T-Mobile - current contract is Flext 20 (£20 pm for 100 mins/text) Initially they offered the same deal for £10pm instead of £20. I looked at the 3 website and found a 300min/Text deal plus phone for £15 pm so I called T-mobile back and they matched it..
Good Luck...

jnm21

gromituk wrote: »

Erm no. You will only be able to claim the value of a few sheets of paper. You need to take out the consequential insurance as well. And I've no idea how hard it would be to make that policy cough up - it could well be easier to go to Moneyclaim Online on the strength of the bills being posted recorded delivery.

gromituk, reading through just one page of this thread, this appears to be one of many unhelpful/factually incorrect posts you have made.

On the subject of recorded delivery, there are many reports on the internet of companies being left a list to sign with their mail - they sometimes seem to 'forget' to sign them, especially the offices handling cashback claims. If you fall victim of this, when you call/email RM to get proof of delivery (to use in your court claim), you'll be told recorded delivery is not a guaranteed service - come back two weeks after the item was sent then we'll 'investigate' - the likely result will be a refund of the postage cost &/or 6 stamps.

On the subject of requesting a PAC code & giving 30 days notice, you can & I feel should - I have done it 3 times now - on one occasion, it was the ace up my sleeve when a fone company claimed my letter did not arrive - strange how I had their letter giving me the PAC code when the letter which requested it & gave notice did not arrive! You should however be aware that they may try to wriggle out of your notice to quit if the PAC is not used (there is no contractual basis for this though).