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Three network PAYG - free roaming? Really?

To paraphrase their own marketing slogan "it sucks".

On the widely broadcast claim that the Three network didn't charge for roaming abroad (including Spain) I bought a PAYG SIM in June for a planned trip in August. Only instead of storing £20 cash credit on the account which would have lasted until activated as a package, they converted it to their All In One 20, which would have expired at the end of June.

I phoned and they said they realised the mistake and would rectify it. They didn't. So come August, I checked my balance which was nil and phoned again. They agreed another 'mistake' had been made and said they would activate the All In One 20 for the remainder of the month. I received all the required activation texts from them and so didn't look any further.

9th August, in Spain - no network access. - Checked account, no credit balance OR All in One 20. I'm on holiday. So rather than spend another 40 minutes of my holiday asking them to fix the problem yet again I thought I'd spend another £20 and claim it back on my return to the UK, believing Three would be reasonable. I activated that £20 top-up immediately and I could use my phone. All good.

As it turned out I didn't need my phone for what I thought I would which was mainly for data streaming. So hardly any of the service was used and I continued to use my Tesco/O2 service which was faultless, it just offered me less data transfer 1GB as opposed to 12GB from Three.

So what should have cost me £20 for my sim and roaming in Spain, actually cost me £40. I thought it's obvious. Anyone can see I'm out of pocket and Three have profited by another £20. But no, not Three.

As far as they are concerned they are prepared to credit the PAYG account (which I no longer want) with £20 for the credit I should have received on 1 August, but because I used the £20 top-up from 9 August (however minimally and which I wouldn't have had to buy had they honoured their promise on 1 August) I am liable.

A £20 SIM has cost me £40. No roaming charges, but what a nice profit for Three.

I've no idea who else might have been caught out like this but it's a warning for anyone else who might be tempted. I only realise too late that I could have paid Tesco a little more than my £7.50 month for a similar package and also avoid roaming charges. I did an online chat with Three 'customer services' to prove all of this if anyone cares to see a copy.
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Comments

  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    Normally you convert the credit to be an add-on.
    Is it now automatic?
  • I can't fully remember how that was done as it was back in June, and I remember the 'it sucks' marketing blurb saying I could buy a SIM and keep the credit until it was required. I'd not done it before as I have a pay monthly with Tesco.

    However the point of this is an agreement was entered into. It was not honoured twice and has cost me an additional £20 which isn't being returned. Seems to me that Three are walking very close to a legal line or even crossing it. I'm sure a consumer expert can explain our PAYG rights in these circumstances? Sure it's only £20 but there is a principle and if it's happening to others I'd like to know.
  • I'm not sure where the OP is coming from, plenty of folk use Three PAYG to roam with "feel at home" and don't appear to struggle with their requirements in order to use it.

    I have had issues with loss of coverage, loss of data (for an afternoon) and a foul up moving a PAYG number on Three to a Three contract... In several cases I was offered compensation without needing to ask.

    We use "feel at home" a lot in Spain on our contract phones and it works well, although the data rate is often hopeless, at least it's free and means we don't have to worry about extra expense.

    I am not a Three fanboy, but I've found them reasonable to deal with.
  • BushBaby_QC
    BushBaby_QC Posts: 17 Forumite
    edited 19 August 2016 at 11:25AM
    That's fine, glad you've had a good experience but I've clearly NOT had the same experience. It's quite clear where I'm coming from, I've paid Three £40 where I should only have needed to spend £20 and they refuse to reimburse me in cash. Credit on the account is no good to me because I have no intention of using their services any longer. Please read fully before commenting.
  • kingrulzuk
    kingrulzuk Posts: 1,330 Forumite
    That's the reason why I use something called free WIFI when im out of UK :)
    What happens if you push this button?
  • Please read fully before commenting.
    I think you missed the point of my response. The majority of forum users who roam with Three on PAYG appear to have no issues. I'm sorry you seem to have lost money on topping up then finding your call credit vanished, but it's not an issue that's been raised on here much, if at all.

    As per my post, I've found Three are reasonable to deal with and have credited me either with money into a PAYG number for loss of service, a free month on my contract for fouling up a change from PAYG to contract, a 50% reduction in a call charge when my OH accidentally called an overseas number and ran up a bill of around £25 when there should have been a spending cap, £10 credit for an afternoon of lost data access...

    I don't understand why they seem to not be helpful to you over the lost credit where you haven't made any calls.
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    Forumite
    As per my post, I've found Three are reasonable to deal with and have credited me either with money into a PAYG number for loss of service, a free month on my contract for fouling up a change from PAYG to contract, a 50% reduction in a call charge when my OH accidentally called an overseas number and ran up a bill of around £25 when there should have been a spending cap, £10 credit for an afternoon of lost data access...

    I don't understand why they seem to not be helpful to you over the lost credit where you haven't made any calls.

    Hopefully the parts I've bolded will make it clear why your experience is of no relevance to the OP. OP isn't looking for ANY of those solutions ... OP wants £20 refunded in cash/to the bank. ;)
  • I can't see Three giving a cash into bank refund, but might top up his PAYG SIM card with a refund without much fuss (as experienced by me on several occasions).

    The issue could be user error, as I pointed out others on here using Three's feel at home on PAYG aren't reporting problems.
  • You assume I want to continue using Three. If they had paid me back, no fuss I would have had no problems storing cash on the card for future use even considering the amateur hour mistakes from their Customer Services.
    But I have a Tesco Pay Monthly account which gives me better coverage where I live and work and feels better overall. And now I also find out Tesco has it's own 'feel at home' type experience. So why do I need Three as well? No thanks. £20 for a month is what I intended and £20 it should be - not £40.
  • kingrulzuk
    kingrulzuk Posts: 1,330 Forumite
    You assume I want to continue using Three. If they had paid me back, no fuss I would have had no problems storing cash on the card for future use even considering the amateur hour mistakes from their Customer Services.
    But I have a Tesco Pay Monthly account which gives me better coverage where I live and work and feels better overall. And now I also find out Tesco has it's own 'feel at home' type experience. So why do I need Three as well? No thanks. £20 for a month is what I intended and £20 it should be - not £40.



    Good Luck :beer:
    What happens if you push this button?
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