The one plan 3 mobile

seanchambo1988

I am nearly at the end of a 24 month contract with 3 mobile. I have been on what as far as I can tell is the most expensive contract they do (the one plan, with the paid addition to tether). I have been very happy with the service I received, very fast broadband which allows me to watch anything through stream at HD 1080p and play any PC or XBOX game I choose. But having said that the problem I am facing now is that my contract is about to end and I am not happy continuing to pay the £44.78p a month (last months bill) after the contract ends. I had a long phone call this afternoon which led to me asking to speak to a supervisor about the situation and he said "After the contract ends unless I sign a new contract with 3 I will continue having to pay the amount I have been paying over the last 24 months, on a monthly rolling contract"... which I then replied "but haven't I been paying for the handset over the last 24 months?". If I am wrong please correct me but when you take out a contract with a mobile company you are agreeing to buy the phone over a period of time also???.. I just basically wanted some advice off someone in a similar situation. Mobile internet is my only available internet, broadband is not an option. And I also use as you can imagine quite a lot (this month 30GB). So should I stay with 3 mobile??? and basically be put in the position where I have to buy my own handset... or can anyone recommend another internet provided who will give me a high data allowance at a reasonable price?. I basically require about 30GB data a month and I could get bye with basically minimal call minuets and probably 400 texts a month...
Many thanks Sean

BadBehaviour

I have The One Plan too and use the free unlimited tethering as a replacement broadband.

Well, if you were paying for a mobile phone contract and broadband separately, you'd probably be paying the same; therefore I think £44.78 a month isn't bad for the two things combined, even if theoretically you've paid back the phone.

ste_wilko

BadBehaviour wrote: »

I have The One Plan too and use the free unlimited tethering as a replacement broadband.

Well, if you were paying for a mobile phone contract and broadband separately, you'd probably be paying the same; therefore I think £44.78 a month isn't bad for the two things combined, even if theoretically you've paid back the phone.

I agree. If you need the contract for the tethering as a replacement to broadband that is a very good price for what you use it for.

Considering that if you had a SIM only plan AND broadband you'd be paying upwards of £40 per month (firstly your broadband cost + phone line rental and then the price plan).

It would work out for you to stay on your plan and buy a SIM free handset. Yes, it would mean a higher outlay but you are getting a great deal; especially as you sound more than satisfied with your coverage and data speeds for gaming and streaming

Frozen_up_north

The One Plan is not available to new customers, existing customers can continue to use it for the moment, possibly for years. Three have kept some long since ceased deals running, such as their own brand mobiles with free Skype "forever" which don't need Three credit to use. We have two and they both still work fine on Skype.

£44.78 per month is way over the top for a One Plan. Existing customers on the 30 day rolling contract at one time paid £25/month, which reduced to £18/month. The One Plan included unlimited tethering at no extra cost.

I would try talking nicely to the Three people and see if they can offer you the plan on a 30 day rolling basis for £18/month. It's worth a haggle. There was a sales office in Glasgow, so it might be worth calling "as a new customer" rather than dealing with their call centre.

My One Plan is continuing on a 30 day basis at £18/month. It started as a 30 day SIM only for £25/month. When the cost dropped for new customers I asked if they would reduce my cost and they did.

BadBehaviour

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

The One Plan is not available to new customers, existing customers can continue to use it for the moment, possibly for years. Three have kept some long since ceased deals running, such as their own brand mobiles with free Skype "forever" which don't need Three credit to use. We have two and they both still work fine on Skype.

£44.78 per month is way over the top for a One Plan. Existing customers on the 30 day rolling contract at one time paid £25/month, which reduced to £18/month. The One Plan included unlimited tethering at no extra cost.

I would try talking nicely to the Three people and see if they can offer you the plan on a 30 day rolling basis for £18/month. It's worth a haggle. There was a sales office in Glasgow, so it might be worth calling "as a new customer" rather than dealing with their call centre.

My One Plan is continuing on a 30 day basis at £18/month. It started as a 30 day SIM only for £25/month. When the cost dropped for new customers I asked if they would reduce my cost and they did.

I still say that even at the price OP is currently paying, he'd still be getting a very good deal for what he uses The One Plan for.

The SIM only One Plan was way underpriced IMO to begin with. No other network offered or currently offers unlimited tethering!

ZhugeEX

The One Plan doesn't exist anymore.

Three's new SIM Only plans still come with Unlimited data for phone use and 4GB of data for tethering.

No network offers unlimited tethering anymore. As you're already on the One Plan your only option is to stay on that plan if you want unlimited tethering.

Otherwise you'll need to move over to one of Three's new plans with 4GB tethering, Vodafone with up to 13GB tethering, O2 with up to 8GB tethering or EE with up to 20GB tethering.

seanchambo1988

thanks for the quick replies... iv re-looked at my bill and can get it down about £5 a month by changing the ay I pay to direct debit.. which I should really have looked at earlier because over the 24 months iv been paying its cost me afew pennies I think.... when I spoke to three about getting a reduced rate I was not aware that they had given price drops to new customers. could you please give some specifics if you have any idea of the date they changed and the price drop would be greatly appreciated as it would help when I ring back and try again to get a reduced rate.. I started the one plan myself as a 30 day sim only contract and then moved to a handset contract. but I don't think anything I say will be able to help me the superior I spoke to was quite adamant that the price would not drop for me at all...

ZhugeEX

seanchambo1988 wrote: »

thanks for the quick replies... iv re-looked at my bill and can get it down about £5 a month by changing the ay I pay to direct debit.. which I should really have looked at earlier because over the 24 months iv been paying its cost me afew pennies I think.... when I spoke to three about getting a reduced rate I was not aware that they had given price drops to new customers. could you please give some specifics if you have any idea of the date they changed and the price drop would be greatly appreciated as it would help when I ring back and try again to get a reduced rate.. I started the one plan myself as a 30 day sim only contract and then moved to a handset contract. but I don't think anything I say will be able to help me the superior I spoke to was quite adamant that the price would not drop for me at all...

You just missed out. They changed the price plans on the 15th of July.

So really the only option is to stay on your current price plan at the current price point if you want unlimited data/tethering. You can try putting in a complaint but I think they'll just say you can only move onto a new plan with 4GB tethering.

Thankfully I got the One Plan on a retention deal ages ago at £12.50 SIM Only so I'm just staying on that.

seanchambo1988

yes you should stay with that £12.50 is very reasonable... I just got off the phone to a nice guy from the Glasgow customer relations place... after explaining my situation to him he has agreed to give me a discount of £10 a month which is a step in the right direction...

BadBehaviour

Well done

ZhugeEX

seanchambo1988 wrote: »

yes you should stay with that £12.50 is very reasonable... I just got off the phone to a nice guy from the Glasgow customer relations place... after explaining my situation to him he has agreed to give me a discount of £10 a month which is a step in the right direction...

That's good news. And better than what I was expecting the outcome to be.

Like I said, it's really up to you if you want to stay with Three and are happy paying that price. But no other network has anything similar to the One Plan with unlimited tethering. So for you I think it's good to stay on it.