Is this 3 contract good value or not?

heggied

I'm currently on a PAYG with Tesco mobile (paying around £15 per month, although it varies) and I'm looking for a change, mainly because I'm a bit bored of my pretty crappy Samsung phone, and also I'm wanting to save a wee bit of cash into the bargain.

I got an email from 3 with this offer (http://threestore.three.co.uk/dealsummary.aspx?offercode=18M500D157) and I was wondering if it's good value or not. On face value it looks OK to me; there's £32.50 quidco cashback on that 3 package, which makes the contract around £11.70 per month over the 18 months.

My two main concerns about it are:

1 - Three - are they any good? I've heard mixed things about them, but then I've heard mixed things about pretty much every mobile supplier.

2 - 18 month contract - if it's OK, then I've no probs, but I don't want to get stuck paying for something that's rotten for 18 months.

Anyway, opinions or advice from knowledgable MSEers would be gratefully appreciated.

David

Proc

Well it's a cheap deal and good value for money.

3 are fine until something goes wrong - then you get through to off-shore call centres, speaking to people in broken English, and the calls are heavily scripted/prompted by computer. If your problem doesn't fit in their drop-down list of faults, then they won't fix it.

I made the mistake of going to 3 a few years back, when they first launched, so that some friends and I could do video-calling. It was a terrible experience, and from what I hear nothing has changed.

Basically, cheap deal, cheap service. You get exactly what you pay for. You may be lucky and never have to speak to them in which case you'll be fine. It just depends on whether or not you want to run the risk.

I'm with Orange now for my personal phone, and even though the deal is far from cheap, I can't fault the service.

heggied

Thanks for the opinions. Another thing I should add is that I live up in the Outer Hebrides, which makes my choice of provider a bit more limited. Orange coverage here is really patchy. O2 and Vodafone are OK. I've no idea what three's is like, although their coverage map seems to think it'll be OK ...

philnicandamy

Hmm I wouldnt trust the coverage map really....we tried that a while ago with three to be told the map showed great coverage but when we got the handsets neither could get a signal....and I live in a city centre

Mr_Rossi

Have a look here to see what masts are in your area http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/
Click on the map, zoom in until you see the blue triangles and you'll find out where they are and who owns them.
All the networks own coverage maps are unreliable and general.

heggied

Thanks Mr. Rossi - try as I might, I can't find a single three mast anywhere in the area. O2 and vodafone, yes. 3, no. Which I think answers my question.