Where to start? I have never felt the urge to write such a negative review until I had the misfortune of being enticed by 3's cheap mobile plans.
The advantage of 3 is that their phones and call/text bundles tend to be reasonably good value for money. However, the reason is that their phones are generally at the bottom/middle end of the range (in comparison with Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile) whilst their 3G and HSDPA coverage isn’t great. Where 3 doesn’t have its own base stations, it uses Orange’s 3G network. However, in my experience the coverage on Orange is invariably better than on 3.
3 promotes itself as the ideal network for mobile internet. It isn’t, largely because its phones aren’t up to scratch. The phones it offers on most price plans are ideal for calling, texting and MMS, but they certainly can’t compete with any decent Apple, Palm or HTC smartphones. On my phone (a Sony Ericsson), the internet would frequently disconnect or freeze. My wife is currently on 3 and has exactly the same issues but uses a different model of phone. 3 deny that there is any problem with its phones or the network in our area. Incidentally, I now
have an Orange phone which works fine 100% of the time.
Despite all of these downfalls, they are to some extent symptomatic of paying a fairly low monthly line rental for a decent bundle of calling minutes and texts. What isn’t excusable is 3’s complete lack of reasonable customer service.
All of 3’s customer service assistants are based in India. It’s virtually impossible to speak to anyone in the UK (once you’ve got a contact number, you’ll need the name of a 3 employee to get through). Whilst I have no problem with the customer service assistants in India, often they have to take the flack for failures that have been made in the UK.
In my case, 3 completely screwed up communications and billing.
Firstly, they cancelled a service called 3 Like Home which enabled customers to use inclusive minutes/texts when roaming on 3 networks overseas. This was going to be quite valuable to me, as I planned to use the facility in Ireland and Italy. 3 claimed to have informed me by text that the service would be cancelled, but they didn’t. When I learned of the cancellation of the service by reviewing roaming rates in other countries on their website, I asked that my contract be cancelled as they had changed the terms of the contract without my approval. They told me that 3 Like Home wasn’t contractual; it was a special offer and I had no right to cancel. They eventually conceded that I did have a right to cancel, but rather conveniently the right to cancel had expired a fortnight or so before I’d called them. Therefore, I couldn’t cancel because I’d called them too late. To add insult to injury, I was accused of lying by 3’s customer service advisor because I’d said that I hadn’t received details confirming that the service would be cancelled (which I didn’t).
Eventually, I asked to cancel my contract and pay a cancellation fee. 3 didn’t like this much, but eventually agreed to provide a PAC so I could move to Orange. I’d been informed that the final bill would be issued and payment taken via direct debit in the normal way. Ok, I thought. Seems very smooth...
How wrong could I be?
The first error is that 3 told me that the final payment would be taken via direct debit. This didn’t happen, but after 3 weeks or so someone from 3 called to inform me that they’d LOST my bank account details. I was asked to pay the bill over the phone. Since I didn’t like this arrangement, I asked to pay by cheque.
Once 3 had eventually sent me details of how to pay by cheque and a copy of the final bill, I sent the cheque off. 3 cashed it some nine days later. However, 3 didn’t apply it to my account, and a couple of days AFTER cashing the cheque sent a letter threatening to appoint debt collection agencies to recover the unpaid money.
This annoyed me, as it was only the second communication that I’d had from 3 telling me that I owed them money AND they’d already cashed my cheque.
To cut a long story short, 3’s customer advisors in India are still disputing that I’ve sent the cheque or that it’s been cashed (despite the fact that I can prove this from my bank). They won’t admit it’s their fault that the payment hasn’t been allocated to my account and can’t be traced, and are still holding me liable for the payment. They continue to call me asking when I’m going to be paying them and don’t seem to listen when I tell them that 3 has cashed the cheque.
I’ve written to the head of collections and credit at 3, and I’m awaiting a response. I am also considering whether to instigate a formal complaint against the company.
In summary, if you enjoy being treated with no respect by a company you’re paying in excess of £200 per year, 3 could be the network for you. Otherwise, I’ve used Vodafone, O2 and Orange in the past and (whilst none is perfect) can say that they’re infinitely better than the shambles that is 3.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Generous amount of inclusive minutes, reasonably good coverage for voice calls Disadvantages: Absolutely Awful customer sevice from foreign call centres who cant speak English Properly
jennyd60 09.05.2004 (09.05.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of 3 (Three mobile)
Advantages: Cheaper than BT, good customer service, excellent choice of tarriffs, flexibilty, good range of advanced add-ons. Disadvantages: You are surcharged for not paying by Direct Debit (!), occasion boo-boo by customer service, clarity of line not as good as BT (but see review) Mobile option doesn't include Three.
peterkinxl5 30.03.2005 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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