3 signal not as shown in-store

jon81uk

This is one of those annoying ones, where if you bought online or buy phone you would have a 14 day cooling off period to return it in. But having bought in-store, there isn't really anything you can do, other than try to argue the service isn't what was promised.

boatman

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-complain-if-youve-been-misled-by-your-mobile-provider

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-keep-losing-mobile-phone-signal-in-my-home-what-can-i-do

Inner_Zone

Kim_13 wrote: »

With regards to testing via PAYG sims, there's, only so much you can check for free (an indication of how many bars there are.) Beyond that, one would need to top up with £5 or £10 to check network performance.

Indication will give you some indication as to whether or not there is a good enough signal to consider using which ever network. Even if you feel the need to top-up surly it's better to spend a little before committing to an expensive contract?

And as above some have a small amount of credit, free.

d123

boatman wrote: »

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-complain-if-youve-been-misled-by-your-mobile-provider

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-keep-losing-mobile-phone-signal-in-my-home-what-can-i-do

There’s a small spanner in those works.

Which say (in the link):

If your provider doesn't provide the service with what is deemed to be reasonable care and skill, then you’re entitled to terminate your mobile contract for breach of that agreement with no financial penalty.

However, you must check the contract first as some terms and conditions make allowances for the loss of service.

Three T&Cs say:

Our Network: We'll try to provide you with a great quality Three Network at all times within our coverage area. However, due to the nature of mobile technology, there may be times when Three Services aren’t continuously available or the quality is affected. Problems can happen if we’re carrying out maintenance work, if you're outside our coverage area, or if you're in a tunnel for example. See Sections 5.11 and 5.12 below.

Coverage and network speeds
5.11.1 We’ll always try to make Three Services available to you. However, there maybe areas where you don’t have access to all Three Services or where coverage is otherwise limited or unavailable or network speeds are slower than expected.

Disruption to Three Services
5.12 Due to the nature of mobile technology, there may be situations when Three Services aren’t always available, or the quality or network speeds are affected and so we cannot guarantee continuous fault-free service. For example:
(a) when we need to perform upgrading, maintenance or other work on the Three Network or Three Services;
(b) when you move outside Three’s 3G or 4G service area while you’re on a call (in this case calls may end) or using data (in this case, your connection may be lost);
(c) when you’re in areas not covered by the Three Network. In this case, Three Services relies on other operators’ networks, over which we have no control;

http://www.three.co.uk/cs/Satellite?blobkey=id&blobnocache=false&blobwhere=1400891403014&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs

Three may well still be cooperative, but it’s probably best if the OP doesn’t go in with an all guns blazing “I know my rights” attitude.

Kim_13

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Indication will give you some indication as to whether or not there is a good enough signal to consider using which ever network. Even if you feel the need to top-up surly it's better to spend a little before committing to an expensive contract?

And as above some have a small amount of credit, free.

Of course.

I would personally favour checking with friends or relatives if any visit, or going the online or over the phone route so as to have the cooling off period.

If anyone does want to test via PAYG sim, make sure to order online. Shops will happily charge you for a sim you can get free online.

Frozen_up_north

Another useful, but not guaranteed, coverage check is the Rootmetrics web site, or app. The results are from actual users, but will not show your coverage as building materials can have a huge influence on coverage into buildings, no network will guarantee coverage into buildings unless they install a site in the building.

baggers02

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Three can put out a small software update to certain phones (not the OP's) to enable their In Touch Wifi calling or you can use their app off the store. That said I'm sure I saw on here somewhere that one of the carriers is dropping the app although I'm not sure if it was Three or not.

http://www.three.co.uk/discover/three_intouch


Never trust coverage checkers.

As said above, you've got to go back to the store and sort it if you don't want to try the WiFi calling (it is free to install it).

Some handsets now have WiFi calling built in, no need for the app now - I used to use the intouch app but when leaving the house on a call started on wifi it wouldn't hand over to mobile network - built
in wifi calling hands over seamlessly. I using Android 7 on a samsung galaxy a3 2016.

Marky_babs

Thanks for the sensible replies, especially the InTouch info, not so much for the lessons in hindsight some chose to offer