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[TheBoy]

Three claimed the best 3G coverage for my break away, so ordered a SIM with £10 PAYG credit on it, and a free SIM adapter, last week.

Turned up Thursday, but no SIM adapter, which was a problem, as they'd sent a nano SIM. Ages on phone to them, but they refuse to send one 1st class, saying it will be at least a week. Grrr, trip to Three shop in Banbury to get an adapter.

Arrived in Yorkshire, shoved the SIM in the dongle, nothing. Zilch. Thanks to Lazydocker and tunnie for sending me the APN details for me to double check, but still Zilch.

I find the three website works, so its obviously a credit problem, so reset the password to my account, and find out I'm right.

Back on the phone to them, initially they deny they'd made a mistake, and that I had no credit, and must have made £10 worth of calls. Tossers. Eventually, after going around 4 or 5 departments, they admit the cock up, and apply the credit.

It didn't last 48hrs, as now every attempt to use a web browser is met with a message that the SIM card is only for use in phones, and I need a dongle SIM. Helpdesk can't help, as they can only send a SIM to my home address, but I can get one from a Three shop.

So a trip to the nearest Three shop, absolutely stonewalled from the 2nd I walked in, because I wasn't interested in signing up to any contract, and they were not interested in the problem I was having, but would help if I signed up to a 12 month, £7.50 a month contract.

Back on the call centre, end up talking (at last) to a UK call centre, who informs me all three SIMs are identical (as you would expect), and that they just need to set that SIM to be marked as OK for dongle use, but the (usual) offshore call centre pillock who he put me through to denied it, and went back to stating I'd need a new SIM, which would be posted to my home address. *sigh*


What a shower of shits. I thought the O2 call centre mob were useless, but in several dealings with three in the last 5 days, I can't believe how utterly useless they are.

[plym ian]

too right their usless, try canceling a contract with them

also the fact you cant understand a bloody word and most of the call is asking them to repeat them selves

even the lot in the shops are just as you found out only intrested in signing you up to contracts, not for dealing with the problem

[Vamps]

Totally the opposite experience here, old dongle not working, my fault, not their's, though I did not know that at the time.....

Rang them up, told my dongle was to old, very friendly helpful guy in India, good English, in the end upgraded to new super dooper dongle, 10 GB a month, old one was only 1GB all for less than I was paying, now only £8.00 per month and works fine in North Yorkshire and at home, very quick, too........

New one didn't work either, found out to be me having switched something off on my laptop, eventually somehow managing to switch it back on again.....

[05omegav6]

It must be a call centre thing... the T mobile/EE one in India is unfathomably retarded, the uk one slightly more helpful, yet ineffective at the same time

At least their network works though

[the alarming man]

never ever again will I be with 3...I was ignored after they cocked up...in the end had to set Ofcom on to them....funnily they wanted speak once they got involved.....use bunch of oppsing idiots

[TheBoy]

Totally the opposite experience here, old dongle not working, my fault, not their's, though I did not know that at the time.....

Rang them up, told my dongle was to old, very friendly helpful guy in India, good English, in the end upgraded to new super dooper dongle, 10 GB a month, old one was only 1GB all for less than I was paying, now only £8.00 per month and works fine in North Yorkshire and at home, very quick, too........

New one didn't work either, found out to be me having switched something off on my laptop, eventually somehow managing to switch it back on again.....

I can confirm that on the North Yorks Moors, O2 has far better coverage, but 3's 3G coverage is better.

I suspect you had more joy because in essence, you took out a new contract. Or maybe I've just been desperately unlucky

[Vamps]

Totally the opposite experience here, old dongle not working, my fault, not their's, though I did not know that at the time.....

Rang them up, told my dongle was to old, very friendly helpful guy in India, good English, in the end upgraded to new super dooper dongle, 10 GB a month, old one was only 1GB all for less than I was paying, now only £8.00 per month and works fine in North Yorkshire and at home, very quick, too........

New one didn't work either, found out to be me having switched something off on my laptop, eventually somehow managing to switch it back on again.....

I can confirm that on the North Yorks Moors, O2 has far better coverage, but 3's 3G coverage is better.

I suspect you had more joy because in essence, you took out a new contract. Or maybe I've just been desperately unlucky

Whilst that may be true, I told them after they said I was a valued customer, that this was because I pay every month and maybe use it for 60 days over a year, so they score.......

[zirk]

Hmm, thats strange, as just bought a 3 sim from the Poundshop to do some speed tests before I renew my All You Can Eat 15pm Contrat with T Mob (mainly all data use). So with the 3 Sim bought £15 top up and went on there 1 month paygo Unlimited Data (APN is three.co.uk) worksa treat as a Data Sim, using as a WiFi Hotspot and did try the HSDPA Dongle as well, averaging 5 mbs speed, no restrictions at all.

[TheBoy]

Hmm, thats strange, as just bought a 3 sim from the Poundshop to do some speed tests before I renew my All You Can Eat 15pm Contrat with T Mob (mainly all data use). So with the 3 Sim bought £15 top up and went on there 1 month paygo Unlimited Data (APN is three.co.uk) worksa treat as a Data Sim, using as a WiFi Hotspot and did try the HSDPA Dongle as well, averaging 5 mbs speed, no restrictions at all.

Mine did work (for nearly 48hrs ) once they sorted out their credit cock-up, but now they are insistent that I cannot use what they class as a handset SIM in a dongle/Mifi/tablet, hence they have blocked it. Yet other parts of Three say that its not a problem, as I'm PAYG and not on a contract with a bundled data allowance.

One hand doesn't know what the other is doing.

[henryd]

It must be a call centre thing... the T mobile/EE one in India is unfathomably retarded, the uk one slightly more helpful, yet ineffective at the same time

At least their network works though

I'm with EE business so only get UK call centres,much better than my old orange contract 

[Andy B]

...
I'm with EE business so only get UK call centres, ....

If only us mere plebs had access to UK call centres. 

[zirk]

Hmm, thats strange, as just bought a 3 sim from the Poundshop to do some speed tests before I renew my All You Can Eat 15pm Contrat with T Mob (mainly all data use). So with the 3 Sim bought £15 top up and went on there 1 month paygo Unlimited Data (APN is three.co.uk) worksa treat as a Data Sim, using as a WiFi Hotspot and did try the HSDPA Dongle as well, averaging 5 mbs speed, no restrictions at all.

Mine did work (for nearly 48hrs ) once they sorted out their credit cock-up, but now they are insistent that I cannot use what they class as a handset SIM in a dongle/Mifi/tablet, hence they have blocked it. Yet other parts of Three say that its not a problem, as I'm PAYG and not on a contract with a bundled data allowance.

One hand doesn't know what the other is doing.

If you read there T&C they will tell you that tethering is only allowed on there One Plan, which works out at 'unlimited data' on 12 month Sim Only Plan at £20pm or £23 on there 30 Day Plan, all other plans are non tethering, and buying a tethering upgrade on them is a waste of time (1gb from memory) as it only gives you 1gb of tethering. Been using my PAYGO Sim now for nearly 2 weeks for Hotspot use no issues as yet, Have you tried using a different browser?, they may have logged your Browsers User Agent. 

[Sir Tigger KC]

I was with Vodafone for over 10 years, but switched to 3 in June for the unlimited data and all round better deal! 

I've phoned 3 customer services more in 9 months than I did in 10 years with Vodafone.   

[biggriffin]

With orange, and only get uk based call centres,mainly the Darlington one, mm

all orange paygo call centres are non English, if you kick up enough of a rumpus when on to an off shore call centre most will put you throgh to one here in blighty.

[Andy B]

.....
 call centres are non English, if you kick up enough of a rumpus when on to an off shore call centre most will put you through to one here in blighty.

Years ago I phoned an insurance call centre. After I'd repeated myself several times to different Indian operatives I insisted to be put through to some one in the UK. His thick Scouse accent was worse than the Indians to understand!