what's the 3 network like

Snakeeyes21

dehaani wrote: »

I used to sell mobile broadband contracts in Currys, 3 was our biggest earner and had the most prominent deals so admittedly was selling twice as many units as the other networks put together.

3 was also the biggest pain for us, the number of complaints and cancellations was ridiculous. I left Currys a year ago so things may have changed since then.

I'd estimate that we dealt with network service and coverage complaints for as many as 50% of our 3 sales, most of them within 14 days of the sale and invoking a cancellation. Of all the other networks, I can only recall two complaints and they were for technical glitches on T-Mobile's dongles. The T-Mobile complaints were resolved after a quick phone call to activate the equipment on the network.

To be honest every network has black spots and it seems like you were based in one of them.

I think the more important question is why you were knowingly selling services on 3 when they were clearly not suitable for that area?

It speaks volumes about the caliber of sales staff and customers in currys, the staff sell anything as long as they get their commission, and the customers have clearly not done their homework

dehaani

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

I think the more important question is why you were knowingly selling services on 3 when they were clearly not suitable for that area?

We had an issue with a couple of sales outwith the stated coverage area, after then we stressed the importance of checking coverage prior to the sale. This was important not only because of the obvious customer service aspect but also because there was a nearby village with no ADSL (loads of people wanting to get online) which was in a blackspot and the time it would take to arrange a cancellation was very wasteful and costly.

No one in their right mind would knowingly sell the service to customers in the blackspots, it would create a good few days of work for them to cancel it.

The issues I'm referring to were relating to customers within a full coverage area (our town).

dehaani

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

It speaks volumes about the caliber of sales staff and customers in currys, the staff sell anything as long as they get their commission, and the customers have clearly not done their homework

Currys staff DO NOT receive commission.
Their customers generally do not do their homework, it was often frustrating to have to teach people how to use the products they bought. It was also frustrating to have a potential broadband sale and have to turn it down for lack of coverage. Another problem which was almost exclusive to 3; the other networks covered the previously mentioned blackspot but the slightly higher price put people off.

Oneday77

dehaani wrote: »

Currys staff DO NOT receive commission.
Their customers generally do not do their homework, it was often frustrating to have to teach people how to use the products they bought. It was also frustrating to have a potential broadband sale and have to turn it down for lack of coverage. Another problem which was almost exclusive to 3; the other networks covered the previously mentioned blackspot but the slightly higher price put people off.

Currys staff used to receive commission. They now get a team bonus based on store profit margins to target ratio. Therefore the highjer profit items tend to get pushed and aren't always qualified for the customer. I know very well how it works, I spent 7 years working for the DSG group and spent a lot of time clearing up after bad sales, I tried to be the good guy, for no thanks.
Retail .....R.I.P. long live any other job

dehaani

Oneday77 wrote: »

I spent 7 years working for the DSG group and spent a lot of time clearing up after bad sales, I tried to be the good guy, for no thanks.
Retail .....R.I.P. long live any other job

I spent 6.5 years at Currys and much the same, I would strive to be helpful and upfront with customers but it's a thankless job and when the recession killed off the bonuses, I left.

BTW, most of the staff in my branch were part timers and couldn't care less about their negligible share of the bonus. They only pushed a sale to avoid getting a bollocking from the manager.

Clearing up after a bad sale wasn't the only problem. Having to explain to a customer that *they* are the problem, not their new TV or laptop is usually quite difficult. In my current job, people can return TVs and laptops for a full refund at any time during the warranty and we don't even try to verify the fault!

happywarmgun

Had my personal phone on three for about three years now. Often walked around with my work Orange phone and my personal three phone on me at the same time. So as a direct comparison I would say that both are generally superb coverage, and both have occasional blackspots. I certainly would not say that I suffered from blackspots with one network more than the other.

Three has been cheaper for me, by some measure.

Things that MAY put me off would be:

- Customer service is variable and based overseas (though can't report the horror stories other have on this thread)
- They don't have the sexiest phones at the moment.

Other than that I would say go for it.