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Three quality issues
DatabaseError
Posts: 4,161 Forumite
in Mobiles
I have 4 phones on contract with 3, 2 of which were only taken out 17 Dec last year and the other 2 are about 12 months into another 18m contract.
We've been with 3 for 6 or 7 years , and have generally been very happy with both the coverage and the price, however just before Xmas the service disintegrated, with us unable to hear the other party when making or receiving calls.
The other party apparently hears us clearly, but we hear a disjointed version of what they're saying, for example "hello, how are you today" would be heard as " lo ou ay" which is no good.
Initially I tried phoning 3 using their phone (333) guessing, incorrectly, that they'd keep that line clear, but I was unable to what what they said so gave in...and xmas was here...
When trying to make calls I get frequent "connection error" and "network busy" messages, this is from my home address, with a full 5 bar signal showing on the phone and the 3g symbol lit showing that coverage is also available to me. When the number does ring even the ringtone breaks up. This has been experienced on 4 handsets, 2 of which are brand new, so is extremely unlikely to be a handset problem.
Just after xmas I contacted 3 using my home phone and they assured me netowrk upgrade works were happening in my area (though not listed on the engineering map that I can no longer find), and it would be fixed within a week, it wasn't so I contacted them again and got 2nd level support and a variation on the same story, this time a transmitter was faulty and they were working to fix it, and a promise to call me back in 1 week to confirm it was all fixed.
The following Saturday I got the call, and nothing had changed. they apologised and refunded 2 weeks tariff on each phone (not the time I'd been without working phones, but a gesture nonetheless). A week later the same and another 2 weeks refunded. Last week another call to ask how thins are, and I explained that I've had enough, the issue isn't that I'm not paying for the contracts, my big problem is that I AM paying landline charges and I'm unable to make of receive calls when out, my BT phone bill has been a flatline for months, now I have to use it for everything
2 of the contracts, the most recent, are for my children, who do use them for text messaging so I'm not as bothered about moving them if we can't get the problem fixed, but my wife and my phones still have around 4-6 months left to run, I have explained in no uncertain terms that if the issue isn't resolved by the end of the week I will be moving the numbers to another network, and I do not expect any penalty charges as they are apparently unable to provide a service at my address.
Any suggestions? I do appreciate that we've have very bad weather recently, and I live on top of a hill, so if there really were engineering problems the weather wouldn't have helped, but I have reached the limit of my patience, our eldest children have left home, and we do visit them, but we also use phones a lot to keep in touch, as they have mobiles not land lines this is getting expensive.
We've been with 3 for 6 or 7 years , and have generally been very happy with both the coverage and the price, however just before Xmas the service disintegrated, with us unable to hear the other party when making or receiving calls.
The other party apparently hears us clearly, but we hear a disjointed version of what they're saying, for example "hello, how are you today" would be heard as " lo ou ay" which is no good.
Initially I tried phoning 3 using their phone (333) guessing, incorrectly, that they'd keep that line clear, but I was unable to what what they said so gave in...and xmas was here...
When trying to make calls I get frequent "connection error" and "network busy" messages, this is from my home address, with a full 5 bar signal showing on the phone and the 3g symbol lit showing that coverage is also available to me. When the number does ring even the ringtone breaks up. This has been experienced on 4 handsets, 2 of which are brand new, so is extremely unlikely to be a handset problem.
Just after xmas I contacted 3 using my home phone and they assured me netowrk upgrade works were happening in my area (though not listed on the engineering map that I can no longer find), and it would be fixed within a week, it wasn't so I contacted them again and got 2nd level support and a variation on the same story, this time a transmitter was faulty and they were working to fix it, and a promise to call me back in 1 week to confirm it was all fixed.
The following Saturday I got the call, and nothing had changed. they apologised and refunded 2 weeks tariff on each phone (not the time I'd been without working phones, but a gesture nonetheless). A week later the same and another 2 weeks refunded. Last week another call to ask how thins are, and I explained that I've had enough, the issue isn't that I'm not paying for the contracts, my big problem is that I AM paying landline charges and I'm unable to make of receive calls when out, my BT phone bill has been a flatline for months, now I have to use it for everything
2 of the contracts, the most recent, are for my children, who do use them for text messaging so I'm not as bothered about moving them if we can't get the problem fixed, but my wife and my phones still have around 4-6 months left to run, I have explained in no uncertain terms that if the issue isn't resolved by the end of the week I will be moving the numbers to another network, and I do not expect any penalty charges as they are apparently unable to provide a service at my address.
Any suggestions? I do appreciate that we've have very bad weather recently, and I live on top of a hill, so if there really were engineering problems the weather wouldn't have helped, but I have reached the limit of my patience, our eldest children have left home, and we do visit them, but we also use phones a lot to keep in touch, as they have mobiles not land lines this is getting expensive.
Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant.
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Comments
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shameless bumpUtinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant.0
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If you phone is set as Dual mode or 3g mode, try turning it to GSM mode. If you have a weak 3g signal it will use that instead of a better GSM connection.
If that does not help, ring up Three and ask for a engineer to be sent out to your area to check the quality as it is poor, probably dropping data packets.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
DarkConvict wrote: »If you phone is set as Dual mode or 3g mode, try turning it to GSM mode. If you have a weak 3g signal it will use that instead of a better GSM connection.
If that does not help, ring up Three and ask for a engineer to be sent out to your area to check the quality as it is poor, probably dropping data packets.
You can't do that on 3 branded phones - the feature has been removed.
I had similar problems as you when I was with 3. Frequent connection errors, very garbled sound when on a call etc etc. Luckily I was using my own sim free phone, so I could freely switch to GSM only mode, which fixed the issues completely (the GSM network is supplied by Orange). 3s 3G network is just junk IMO, especially in built up areas where it is oversubscribed.0 -
my nokia 6500slide i have under network
Dual Mode
UMTSUtinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant.0 -
Your missing option 3. GSM.
You can switch to 2g for a better signal then See poster above.
All you can do is contact Three to get the signal in your area looked into, and if they refuse contact consumer direct for legal advice.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
they are adamant they are repairing the local transmitter, though I have full signal on all 4 phones.
started looking at the alternatives as i expect to be moving the contracts to another network..might even get a better deal taking 4 phones over?!Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant.0 -
UPDATE:
Just got off the phone to three. They assure me "One of the local transmitters has been fixed" but I haven't noticed an improvement
They have agreed to allowing the 2 'old' accounts to leave without penalty (both have around 4 months contract to run), and the 2 new accounts, taken 17th Dec 09 can be cancelled without penalty, but the handsets+accessories must be returned (at 3s cost).
I now have PACs for 3 of the accounts, the 4th is in my wife's name, so she needs to speak to them to arrange it.
All seems very fair, so now I need to find a good deal taking 4 phones to a network that's going to work where i liveUtinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant.0 -
As the contract subsidises the phones cost they usually want them back if the signal drops out.
Worth checking that the 2nd hand value of the phones is less than the contract length remaining, otherwise you could pay to leave and just sell the phone.Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies0 -
DatabaseError wrote: »they are adamant they are repairing the local transmitter, though I have full signal on all 4 phones.
started looking at the alternatives as i expect to be moving the contracts to another network..might even get a better deal taking 4 phones over?!
A phone that shows a signal but can't make/recieve calls means the network is oversubscribed. Nothing can be done to 'fix' this other than putting up more mobile masts. So whatever 'maintenance' they are doing is just fobbing you off.0 -
The most likely cause for this will be a spike in the number of mobile broadband users in the area, i would be willing to bet the issue gets worse between say 5pm and 10pm and if you tried at say 6am to make calls they would be fine, 3 is commiting to expand the capacity of its network and today put it's 10,000th UK mast online and will have 14,000 by the end of 2010. Don't assume its just 3 who has this issue, there are plenty of signal issues around for T-Mo, Orange, Voda etc.0
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