Three Mobile: worth moving to?

Seanchai

I'm with Meteor for over a decade but I find they are now more expensive than Three, whereas once they were the cheapest in the market. Three is offering a free Samsung Galaxy III, while Meteor is charging €99 for it (down from €149 a week or so ago). Now that I need a new phone I'm thinking Three could be a good alternative.

Some questions:

1) Does Three cover the entire state or is the service more patchy than other networks?

2) What is the Customer Service like?

3) Can I tether my phone data to my laptop with Three billpay?

Any feedback on Three and its service would be appreciated. Or if there is another player in the market that could be better value?

rebeve

Seanchai wrote: »

I'm with Meteor for over a decade but I find they are now more expensive than Three, whereas once they were the cheapest in the market. Three is offering a free Samsung Galaxy III, while Meteor is charging €99 for it (down from €149 a week or so ago). Now that I need a new phone I'm thinking Three could be a good alternative.

Some questions:

1) Does Three cover the entire state or is the service more patchy than other networks?

2) What is the Customer Service like?

3) Can I tether my phone data to my laptop with Three billpay?

Any feedback on Three and its service would be appreciated. Or if there is another player in the market that could be better value?

Be very afraid .

super_furry

Their prices are great but their coverage is less the impressive and their customer service apalling.

They have their own forum here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1367 where you can get an idea of the kind of problems people have with them.

Blahblah2012

super_furry wrote: »

Their prices are great but their coverage is less the impressive and their customer service apalling.

They have their own forum here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1367 where you can get an idea of the kind of problems people have with them.

I have to agree with u on that.

smokin ace

i have a galaxy s2 and moved from meteor to three nearly two and a half years ago and find them very good so much so 2 months after i changed over my wife changed to them as well we only had to ring customer care once in the two years when the network was down for two days and they were totally crap to deal overall
i would advise getting a pay as you go sim and trying it for a few weeks to see how you get on before signing any contract with them and by what some other boards users say about them they are very hit and miss but it worked out good for myself and the missus

Danger781

1) Does Three cover the entire state or is the service more patchy than other networks?

They don't have the greatest coverage across the whole island. I'm in Cork and have been with 3 for years now.. Happy out with no complaints.

2) What is the Customer Service like?

Shockingly bad. Worst I've ever dealt with. Based in India.

3) Can I tether my phone data to my laptop with Three billpay?
From three.ie
Tethering or use of your handset as, or the SIM in conjunction with, a modem is not allowed, except in the case of Three customers who have subscribed to a Three handset and Tablet bundle offering. In the event that we identify that you have breached this condition, Three reserves the right to suspend, modify or restrict your use of the Service or to withdraw your access to the Service at its absolute discretion.

darklighter

1) Does Three cover the entire state or is the service more patchy than other networks?

I split my time between Dublin City Centre & Drogheda. Never had a problem with call coverage but 3G is woeful. I also have a mobile modem which is beyond useless.

2) What is the Customer Service like?

What Customer Service? In fairness to the reps on the Talk to forum, they try but my god the service from India is shocking bad.

3) Can I tether my phone data to my laptop with Three billpay?
From three.ie
Not allowed but everyone does it

To be honest, the free phone is awful tempting & the all you can eat data. If you are lucky enough to live in an area with good 3G coverage & dont need to contact the call-centre, go for it. Get a prepay sim & try for a few weeks

Blahblah2012

Danger781 wrote: »

1) Does Three cover the entire state or is the service more patchy than other networks?

They don't have the greatest coverage across the whole island. I'm in Cork and have been with 3 for years now.. Happy out with no complaints.

2) What is the Customer Service like?

Shockingly bad. Worst I've ever dealt with. Based in India.

3) Can I tether my phone data to my laptop with Three billpay?
From three.ie
Tethering or use of your handset as, or the SIM in conjunction with, a modem is not allowed, except in the case of Three customers who have subscribed to a Three handset and Tablet bundle offering. In the event that we identify that you have breached this condition, Three reserves the right to suspend, modify or restrict your use of the Service or to withdraw your access to the Service at its absolute discretion.

Customer service atrocious. Need English and customer service lessons. Had one of their reps shouting over me on the phone last night.

Has three ever heard of the saying.. "The customer is always right?" Or even sometimes right?
Have as good as been told that my friends(am acting on their behalf) call drops and pathetically slow Internet access is a figment of our imagination!!! All their "DATA TESTING" shows no problems at all. Have even had call drops while on the phone to them..(I suspected they had hung up on me..but when I said this to them they said it was a call drop). Totally pathetic setup.

Three needs to bring its customer service department to Ireland. The jobs are needed here and the problem with the quality of customer service would without doubt become a thing of the past. They should in fact be obliged by law to base their customer service here in order to be allowed operate in Ireland.

Sebastian Dangerfield

As long as you dont need customer service theyre great. The day you do youll regret it, but overall the service they provide for the prices they charge make them the best on the admittedly rubbish Irish market IMO

Blahblah2012

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

As long as you dont need customer service theyre great. The day you do youll regret it, but overall the service they provide for the prices they charge make them the best on the admittedly rubbish Irish market IMO

None of the prices they had to offer me before came anywhere near the plan O2 put me on. My friend(on 3) got 350 units for €40 a month which is nowhere near the 500 minutes and 500 texts I got with O2(€30)as well as a way more than I need data allowence and free O2 calls and texts.

O2 customer service are generally Irish(or at least based in Ireland) and generally do everything they can to help.

evolutionqy7

Better than Meteor anyway. Happily enjoying all you can eat data

StaticNoise

1) Does Three cover the entire state or is the service more patchy than other networks?
Yes they do indeed. The service is as good as any other network. I have found their 3G/HSPA+ network quite reliable and fairly readily available.

2) What is the Customer Service like?
As previous posters have said, the customer service is run from India. However despite this being quite difficult to deal with at times, I wouldn't snatch you put it off. If you got a billing issue, pop into Carphone Warehouse or Three store. To be honest, I found that most issues can be resolved in the store. There are only a few things, such as day-to-day issues- should they arrive- that you will require a phone call for. It's standard call-center behavior. Every time you call you'll be treated like it is your first time. Yes, they keep records, but I offend them to be quite reliable. It is true that they are not always able to see what is going on (since they're not in the country and have no familiarity with the network), and this may frustrate you, but if you cast that aside and weigh up the fact that you don't need to call customer service very often at all, you're left with a very very good value of service. It is a pity that customer service bring the network's reputation down, but any time but I required a call back they have done so as promised and very promptly.

3) Can I tether my phone data to my laptop with Three billpay?
Tether away if you're on bill pay. It also must be said, if you're not using a Three phone running the 'stock' out of the box software you can tether on 3Pay too. Yes, it's not allowed, but many have done it and have not been caught.



They are very good network overall. Yes, they don't have the customer service like Meteor and others do, but if you weigh up the prices, you're getting a far better deal at a far better bang for your buck. I'm four years with them, and I am very happy indeed. You can also bet that you will get the newest 4G technology on the network once it becomes available, unlike any potential watered-down versions you'll get on Meteor PAYG.