3 Network

flyswatter

I'm thinking of getting a phone with 3 Ireland soon. The main reason for this is the free windows live messenger. Also the text prices look decent. Can anyone give some feedback on 3 as a network? Are you satisfied with them? Also if anyone can recommend a good phone available on 3 that would be great. I'm swaying towards Sony Ericsson at the moment.

Sam Vimes

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055153263
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055115306
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055229036
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055228401
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=233786&page=79
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055224323
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055222063
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055151838
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055220359
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055223484
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055221624
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055219104
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055212177


people have had some problems. all but three of those are from the past month. the older ones were hand picked for being especially bad

Blaster99

Yes, satisfied.

x in the city

dear god you will regret your actions for the rest of your life young man.......

jahalpin

I've been with 3 for over 2 years and I've been very satisfied with the service.

The contract prices are very reasonable and they include calls to UK numbers as well as Irish ones

I've only have to call support once and this was to get my phone repaired, which was handled very professionally.

The Nokia 6120 classic is a very good phone, it is like a lighter, smaller version of the N73 (only has 2 mp camera though)

rymus

whats the story with the free call credit offer? Wasnt able to motivate myself enough to get the new phone in Jan so is there any possibility that the deal will be extended into & beyond feb? Or.. has anyone bought a 3 pay phone in the last couple of days and successfully gotten their free credit?

Walkman

I'm also a happy 3 customer. Ya they made a balls up the their broadband and customer serivce could be better but as a network I am very happy with what counts to me: price, coverage, roaming..:D

Sam Vimes

jahalpin wrote: »

I've only have to call support once and this was to get my phone repaired, which was handled very professionally.

pretty much anyone who says they're satisfied with 3 says they've only had to call them once or twice. they're great when everything's working but if you have a problem that's not on their script, be it the internet not working or the phone having caught fire in your hand, they'll just tell you to take out the battery and wipe the sim card over and over again until you give up calling.

if your problem was related to their services in some way (e.g. internet not working), your phone may not even have needed repairing. if you look in the first link i posted, you'll see that they kept on saying over and over again that they wanted to log my phone in for repair even though i said that dozens of people had reported the same problem, it had started for everyone on the same day and it was the same in both of my phones.

GekkePrutser

I was not satisfied when I was with them (which I no longer am). The last drop was that there was no way that I could get one of the addons activated due to a problem on their website. After a long list of totally unrelated things I had to try they wanted me to try another person's (3) simcard in my phone and then trying to buy the addon. I wouldn't do this, who would let me buy an addon on their account which they don't need (and thus costing them money?).

They refused to help me if I didn't do this and said I would have to send my phone in for repair even though it was clearly a problem with their 'My 3' customer service website.

Anyway Commander Vimes has linked my post if you want to read the details, it's the 6th one from the top.

I'm glad it was only a phone on the side for me and not my main phone that I was reliant on. Imagine having to send it in for a few weeks because they are having a problem with their website?

It's a shame, voice-wise their network is fine and their roaming agreement with Vodafone (non-3G only) ensures good coverage. I noticed that their data capacity is getting better again as well. But if you have a problem then you're really stuck. Their callcenter people are totally clueless and are using the same script for every problem. (Which is a script that might fix 1 or 2% of real-world problems). And they flat-out refuse to take your issues to their second-level staff.

You may not think that their customer service is important. Well, wait till you need it

god's toy

I am happy with them and found support to be fine. (wife too)

jimmycrackcorm

I find them the best value network. Fortunately I don't have to call customer service and i use them for the cheap calls and best data service.

I've had better experiences with customer care in other operators but then they didn't offer the feature set that Three has.

pyramuid man

Fly swatter.
I am afraid you have come to the wrong place for an unbiased opinion on three's services and products.
Unfortunatly, there seems to be a radar here that when ever someone mentions three Ireland in here it is almost instantly someone waiting to bash them without hesitations.

If you want to find out what they are like, buy a threepay handset and see how you like the service. I am a customer with them since around this time last year and have not had any major problems.

Bluefrog

pyramuid man wrote:

Unfortunatly, there seems to be a radar here that when ever someone mentions three Ireland in here it is almost instantly someone waiting to bash them without hesitations..

This is not a question of 'radar' nor some kind of anti-Three conspiracy. The negative postings here regarding Three are simply down to one thing - abominable customer service and a data network setup that verges on the comic.

Three are basically the Ryanair of telcos. However, Ryanair as far as I know, haven't had a crash yet.

Sam Vimes

pyramuid man wrote: »

Fly swatter.
I am afraid you have come to the wrong place for an unbiased opinion on three's services and products.
Unfortunatly, there seems to be a radar here that when ever someone mentions three Ireland in here it is almost instantly someone waiting to bash them without hesitations.

If you want to find out what they are like, buy a threepay handset and see how you like the service. I am a customer with them since around this time last year and have not had any major problems.

the "3 network in ireland" thread i posted above was the first one on this forum before they even launched. If you have a read of that you'll see i was one of their biggest fans and i recommended them to everyone. And they had good customer service when they started. Then they started with the ridiculous policies that could never be changed, lies about unlocking codes etc etc etc. Then they sacked their scottish customer care and moved it to india and to quote the emperor: "their journey to the dark side was complete"

my opinion of them was gradually changed through ridiculous policies and declining customer care until it was finally eliminated by moving to india and giving them one script to solve every problem. There is no conspiracy here

constitutionus

flyswatter wrote: »

I'm thinking of getting a phone with 3 Ireland soon. The main reason for this is the free windows live messenger. Also the text prices look decent. Can anyone give some feedback on 3 as a network? Are you satisfied with them? Also if anyone can recommend a good phone available on 3 that would be great. I'm swaying towards Sony Ericsson at the moment.

from what ive heard it depends what you want out of your phone. all i use mine is for videoing and text messaging in ireland.

if thats all you do then 3 is the best place to be as its dirt cheap with even video messaging costing only 5c to every network. ive been with them for about a year and a half and while ive had problems with the phone ive none with the customer service.

if you want to do add ons, surf the net and roam over eastern europe however you will have problems. i was in hungary in oct and there was no service available there. it didnt bother me as i intended to use my phone as a camera and video recorder there and didnt want to ring anyone but 3 DONT have a good roaming capacity outside the usual countries in the EU and its worth remembering. in their defence it IS up on their website.

couldnt tell you what phone to get but ive had sony erricsons before and always liked em. i got the nokia 6288 recently (as my 6280 packed in just after a year) which pretty much has the best video function you can get outside of the N95 and is very cheap considering ya get 100 quid free credit (albeit spread over 10 months )
the only thing that bothered me was i went through 3 handsets that were damaged before getting the one i have now so have a look in the box before ya head out with it and while you can transfer your number to 3 if you get a new phone you have to use the new sim card to get the free credit meaning you'll effectivly have to change your number when you upgrade down the line (unless you intend to just use the new number for a year and then swap sim cards )

all in all though im happy. moving to em has saved me a fortune

oh one other thing, theyre not on bank machines. if your going 3pay like me you have to buy vouchers in shops to top up. a small thing but i know it pissed off one of my mates who liked the convienence of slappin on a tenner when getting his wages.

jimmycrackcorm

Yeah - I forgot that sending video messages for 5c is a really cool feature on 3.

Incidentally, you can now get a free €30 from 3 for porting your number over. Actually they advertise that you get it if it takes longer than 3 minutes - so free €30 then.

x in the city

Im with CV here, I had no problems with 3 at the start, a few years ago with a simple nokia 6680 and 3 customer service in bonny wee scotland,

then it all went pete thong when they transferred all their crap to india or whatever, i am not the slightest bit racist but after that everything with downhill at an alarming rate.

a mod closed my last thread and said how sad am i referring to my contract finally expring, well im about as sad as the people who posted messages on a 10000 page thread on this site about 3 ireland.

theres no conspiracy, its just unbelievable poor service, i said it once and i will say it again, they are just milking us.

for instance. getting my n73 unlocked-

contract up, paid up all my bills etc. phone them up, and they warble on about paying 25euro or something and waiting 21 days for code, what balls,

eventually after alot of effing and blinding i got it unlocked for nothing.

now tell me would o2 or voda mess around like this?


as the last poster mentioned in fairness if you just want texts and calls three seem ok but if you got problems or want data bundles (which are a joke) then you are well and truly screwed.
but if you want cheap calls and texts and superior roaming theres meteor.

right?

three are a disgrace at the moment as nothing seems to work as it should, data bundles, broadband and skype (which was meant to be in a different league compared to their broadband stuff, but of course they screwed up that also)- ditto everything they offer is a sham....!

so its just simply false advertising at the end of the day.

Walkman

x in the city wrote: »

a mod closed my last thread and said how sad am i referring to my contract finally expring, well im about as sad as the people who posted messages on a 10000 page thread on this site about 3 ireland.

The OP is not interested in or mention the USB modem (an example of "3 bashing" on this site)


for instance. getting my n73 unlocked-
eventually after alot of effing and blinding i got it unlocked for nothing.

You must be so proud of yourself for f**king and blinding like that

now tell me would o2 or voda mess around like this?
Yes a mate of mine I was with Vodafone and had to wait for 3 weeks for an unlocking code for k800i


data bundles (which are a joke)
Joke?? what is a joke about their data bundles??

X, your feelings about 3 are clear in every post, but I'm afraid you never seem to paint a balanced picture so you just end up looking like a disgruntled customer, am I right:rolleyes:

D.S.

3 as a network is fine. I have been with 3 for over a year and find they offer good coverage and an above broadband service. Customer service is v poor but you can solve most mobile issues out these days via the internet. Price is reasonably good.

Which network you go for though is dependant on what you want from a mobile provider. If it's purely price, stick with meteor. If it's purely coverage/customer service/reliability - pay the higher rates for O2/Vodafone. Personnaly, I went with 3 because I get my work mail on my phone, and I use skype and msn to contact my girlfriend in the UK and it's saving me a fortune on that front.

Black_Knight

Ive been with 3 for about 3 years now. Never really had any problems with them as far as there service goes, but unlocking and such off 3 doesnt happen (unless you do it yourself). You have to pay for the rest of your contract to unlock their phone.
There coverage is brilliant, ive never been without signal. Cant really think of anything wrong there.
If your interested in a Sony Ericsons i have a k800i for sale here, its unlocked from 3 and unbranded so maybe not what your looking for.
150 is the asking but thats only because if I say something lower like 130 then people will start offering 100 and I cant sell it for that.
Anyways, if your interested let me know.
Cheers

flyswatter

Cheers for the responses everyone. Black Knight, I will have to decline your offer as I ended up buying a new k800i on........wait for it....o2. Thanks anyway. While certain elements of 3 were attractive, the stories of bad customer service really put me off 3. Sure, I mightn't have ever needed their customer service but I didn't want to take that chance! o2's new experience offer seemed attractive so I stuck with my old network. Just to put something in perspective, someone I know had a problem sending any mms messages on o2. This was promptly fixed within minutes after calling o2 customer service on a Sunday night. Impressive methinks.

flyswatter

Cheers for all the responses guys. I can safely say you helped my decision. Black_Knight, I will have to decline your offer as I ended up buying a new k800i (great phone btw) with......wait for it..........o2. While certain elements of 3 were attractive I was put off by all the bad stories regarding their customer service. o2's new experience price plan seemed decent so I stuck with my old network. Just to put things in perspective, someone I know was having problems sending any MMS messages with their o2 phone. This was fixed within minutes after calling o2 customer service on a Sunday night. Impressive, methinks.


EDIT: Oops, double post!