Three 321 SIM charges increase 200% to 500% from 16 Feb 2021

Wisefool

According to a text I received today, Three will increase prices of the 321 call charges as follows:

Calls 3p/min to 10p/min (333%)

Texts 2p to 10p (500%)

Data 5p/Mb to 10p/Mb (200%)

There was no explanation in the text or Website of a justification to explain such unbelievebly huge increases.

Bit of a bummer for me as I have credit of over £50 credit which would no doubt not willingly be refunded when I move to a new supplier!

Yorkshire_Pud

Me too. A search finds that they increased the tariff for new customers in February 2020 and now they are bringing in existing customers so it’s not so much  a price increase as such they are just killing off the old tariff to encourage adoption of payg bundles. It’s how these firms reward their customers. Remeber carphone wharehouse did a similar trick with their fresh tariff in 2008 when it skyrocketed to 25p a minute calls. Got my credit/money back via Paul Lewis at the guardian? Or was it the independent? and a personal call from the ceo of CW and £35 compensation as they had refused to refund but it turns out that was unlawful. I was cheap in them days!

Regret topping up my account now!

Usual mantra, move and don’t have too much credit because sooner or later they are going to pull the deal.

sprocket1

I had the text today.  I'll leave when I have used up my credit.  I hardly used anything under the old rates, which made it cheaper than those like 1 p mobile that require an occasional top up. 

getmore4less

What a pain going to have to find a new cheap option. 

The bundles don't for us they are too big.

Might get away with a data reward for data and use the 321 for incoming only. 

alanjones60

Im on the 321 tariff also,but with the data sim,200mb free a month. No text for me yet. If it does go up,iv got a o2 sim with the 321 rates,il swich to that 

droopsnoot

That's annoying, Three were about the cheapest PAYG. I put £10 on just before the first lockdown, and hadn't started using it until just before the end of the second one, so I'm pretty much the definition of "low usage". Although even at 10p/min, it's still cheaper than the EE PAYG I came off, I think that was around 35p/min.

Wisefool

So, I've just finished a rather long,slow and painful chat with Three... in short the price rise was repeatedly denied:

• "don't believe such news"
•  "There has been no such increase"
• "I have seen the account and can see that we have not send you the text."  (the text BTW came from the same official number Three has used to communicate with me since the account was open, including top-ups).

It was only following my dogged persistance that eventually the operator conceded that this price increase is genuine "oh, but is does not apply to add-on packages" she shared as if that solves the issue  (!)

My experience (twise now) is that persuing a complaint with Three via online chat is fruitless.  I will complain in writing as I did so successfully last time I had an issue with the company.

Thank you Yorkshire_Pud, I too will persue my claim to get a refund of my substantial credit so that I can move to another supplier.

Yorkshire_Pud

Wisefool said:

So, I've just finished a rather long,slow and painful chat with Three... in short the price rise was repeatedly denied:

• "don't believe such news"
•  "There has been no such increase"
• "I have seen the account and can see that we have not send you the text."  (the text BTW came from the same official number Three has used to communicate with me since the account was open, including top-ups).

It was only following my dogged persistance that eventually the operator conceded that this price increase is genuine "oh, but is does not apply to add-on packages" she shared as if that solves the issue  (!)

My experience (twise now) is that persuing a complaint with Three via online chat is fruitless.  I will complain in writing as I did so successfully last time I had an issue with the company.

Thank you Yorkshire_Pud, I too will persue my claim to get a refund of my substantial credit so that I can move to another supplier.

The basic premise for a refund is you bought the credit with the prevailing 321 credit and then they changed the tariff to your detriment so you want a refund. Chances are they will say no and there may be small print to say they can levy higher rates. I don’t think I got a refund of my fresh credit as such, I got £35 compensation/goodwill and was left to use up existing credit at the new higher rates. It was only Paul Lewis’s intervention, access to the top brass that changed the outcome.

Tokmon

Wisefool said:

According to a text I received today, Three will increase prices of the 321 call charges as follows:

Calls 3p/min to 10p/min (333%)

Texts 2p to 10p (500%)

Data 5p/Mb to 10p/Mb (200%)

There was no explanation in the text or Website of a justification to explain such unbelievebly huge increases.

Bit of a bummer for me as I have credit of over £50 credit which would no doubt not willingly be refunded when I move to a new supplier!

Why do you have such a large credit when presumably you don't use the device much?

getmore4less

I have low use mainly data 
 do a mix of top ups(for the free data) and daily 50p data bundles when I know I need more than a few MB.
Try to keep the credit under £10.

jsmith9

Have a look at 1pmobile (uses EE network)...

1p Mobile: everything you need to know (uswitch.com)