3 customer care strikes again

1huge1

i didnt mean for tri to take offence just thought crying on the phone to a customer care person is unnessecery but your situation tri seems to of been a lot worse than mine

and yes many times i have felt like punching them so theres no need for the sarcasm telefunktastik

EIN

Thirdfox

*cough* post a thread on the legal discussion forum asking for hypothetical answers to a hypothetical situation (do not actually look for legal advice) *end cough*

Sam Vimes

with reference to this thread:
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055018851


the lies haven't stopped just yet.

lie number 1:
the codes aren't available just yet. we're testing them to make sure they work with all phones.

lie number 2:
if your phone is unlocked, we can't guarantee that your phone will work with all of three's services.

somehow having your phone unlocked changes the firmware on it and makes stuff stop working. i told them i was ok with some stuff not working but i was told that if i want to get my phone unlocked, not only do i have to pay off the remaining months of the contract but i have cancel it.

1huge1

^^ you ever wonder who wrote up all these terms and conditions
and most importantly how drunk exactly were they

Cabaal

Commander Vimes wrote:

lie number 2:
if your phone is unlocked, we can't guarantee that your phone will work with all of three's services.

Total ****e, was using my Nokia 6680 with all three's features working perfectly fine for almost a week after I got it locked,

Sam Vimes

right so i phoned up again there and the policy was repeated to me. i explained that i'd pay off the monthly commitment to get the phone unlocked but didn't want to end the contract. i was of course advised that 3 cannot unlock a phone until the contract is coming to an end.

i got the girl to confirm that they are in fact capable of doing it now without ending the contract but they just won't do it.

what do people think? should i ask for supervisors and team leaders and mr hutchison himself and kick up a fuss until they give me the code or should i just leave it? would it be worth the hassle? though it is good craic chatting to them about how retarded their terms and conditions are and reminding them that i'm supposed to be selling these phones to people

krpc

Commander Vimes wrote:

right so i phoned up again there and the policy was repeated to me. i explained that i'd pay off the monthly commitment to get the phone unlocked but didn't want to end the contract. i was of course advised that 3 cannot unlock a phone until the contract is coming to an end.

i got the girl to confirm that they are in fact capable of doing it now without ending the contract but they just won't do it.

what do people think? should i ask for supervisors and team leaders and mr hutchison himself and kick up a fuss until they give me the code or should i just leave it? would it be worth the hassle? though it is good craic chatting to them about how retarded their terms and conditions are and reminding them that i'm supposed to be selling these phones to people

I know that it is easier to just let things go but in cases like this, if things are let go then it almost becomes "acceptable". This means 3 and others will continue their practices against others. I have heard the words "it is industry standard" a lot lately regarding the bad practices of certain networks in Ireland (in particular relating to Vodafone) and the only reason such things become industry standard is because the public allow it to be by doing nothing to prevent it or to turn it around. So, Vimes keep going the way you are. You're doing a fine job, especially in keeping us all informed about the lies 3 have been spurting out. If it wasn't for this thread I would not have known that there were others experiencing similar things that I have gone through regarding their unlocking codes!

rogue-entity

I rang up yesterday to get my 6680 unlocked. The girl at the other end said that was no problem, they could indeed unlock Nokia handsets. But she then told me that 3 would not unlock the handset until I requested to end my service with 3 which wouldnt happen until Jan 1st. I thought she misunderstood me, I told her that I didnt want to cancel my service with 3 that I had every intention of continuing to use their services. She said that 3 wouldnt unlock handsets unless a customer was canceling their service or upgrading to another handset. I thought this was odd and asked why. She told me that 3's conditions require that you use their sim card in their supplied phone. I told her that I just wanted to unlock it, that I would still be using my phone with my 3 sim card and that to the best of my knowlege 3 never had this requirement in their terms and conditions as I agreed with upon signing up. So my choice was, leave my phone locked or terminate my service with them and unlock my phone. What a load of bollix.

On the plus side, she told me that the N73 should be released here around the 17th to the 20th of December, although X-series wont be launched here until some time after christmas which I presume will be March 07 give or take. The problem that I have now is this, should I buy the N73 when it comes out or should I wait till the X-series thing is launched and buy it then?

The rep did confirm that 3's HSDPA network would be completed by Feb 07 which is some good news because X-Series depends on HSDPA IIRC. So it would seem that the N73 supports HSDPA although I had heard that the only HSDPA supporting Nokia is the N95 which is to be released globally in Q1 07.

Forgive me if I am wrong, but from what I have heard things are looking good for next year...

I may just give 3 another ring now and ask again about the unlocking, thier tech support staff are the only ones still taking calls at this time.

Urban Weigl

Neither the N73 nor the W950i support HSDPA. X-Series does not depend on HSDPA, it works fine on standard "up to 384kbps" UMTS. The HSDPA upgrade will initially only be useful for customers using data cards.

krpc

rogue-entity wrote:

I rang up yesterday to get my 6680 unlocked. The girl at the other end said that was no problem, they could indeed unlock Nokia handsets. But she then told me that 3 would not unlock the handset until I requested to end my service with 3 which wouldnt happen until Jan 1st. I thought she misunderstood me, I told her that I didnt want to cancel my service with 3 that I had every intention of continuing to use their services. She said that 3 wouldnt unlock handsets unless a customer was canceling their service or upgrading to another handset. I thought this was odd and asked why. She told me that 3's conditions require that you use their sim card in their supplied phone. I told her that I just wanted to unlock it, that I would still be using my phone with my 3 sim card and that to the best of my knowlege 3 never had this requirement in their terms and conditions as I agreed with upon signing up. So my choice was, leave my phone locked or terminate my service with them and unlock my phone. What a load of bollix.

On the plus side, she told me that the N73 should be released here around the 17th to the 20th of December, although X-series wont be launched here until some time after christmas which I presume will be March 07 give or take. The problem that I have now is this, should I buy the N73 when it comes out or should I wait till the X-series thing is launched and buy it then?

The rep did confirm that 3's HSDPA network would be completed by Feb 07 which is some good news because X-Series depends on HSDPA IIRC. So it would seem that the N73 supports HSDPA although I had heard that the only HSDPA supporting Nokia is the N95 which is to be released globally in Q1 07.

Forgive me if I am wrong, but from what I have heard things are looking good for next year...

I may just give 3 another ring now and ask again about the unlocking, thier tech support staff are the only ones still taking calls at this time.

Their terms and conditions actually state the agreement of the handset is between the owner of the handset and the manufacturer. 3 is not the manufuctuer and therefore have no right to be refusing to unlock handsets. Next time they say "it's in the terms and conditions", ask them exactly where. I bet the response will be "err, ehm, I'm not exactly sure but it's in there somewhere". Quite reassuring.

EIN

telefunktastik wrote:

I know that it is easier to just let things go but in cases like this, if things are let go then it almost becomes "acceptable". This means 3 and others will continue their practices against others. I have heard the words "it is industry standard" a lot lately regarding the bad practices of certain networks in Ireland (in particular relating to Vodafone) and the only reason such things become industry standard is because the public allow it to be by doing nothing to prevent it or to turn it around. So, Vimes keep going the way you are. You're doing a fine job, especially in keeping us all informed about the lies 3 have been spurting out. If it wasn't for this thread I would not have known that there were others experiencing similar things that I have gone through regarding their unlocking codes!

i waited an absolutely, unacceptable amount of time, to get my unlock code from 3, for my 6680... was months and months, and months,,,,,,, i moved back to vodafone, as i was sick of the service i received.

anyways, stuck with it and got the unlock code, after many many calls to them.... i definately wouldnt go back to 3.

whats the latest with vodafone? i hear there was a thread removed,
???

rogue-entity

Urban Weigl wrote:

Neither the N73 nor the W950i support HSDPA.

X-Series does not depend on HSDPA, it works fine on standard "up to 384kbps" UMTS. The HSDPA upgrade will initially only be useful for customers using data cards.

That is what I thought, but I was told different.

Good to know that X-series isnt HSDPA dependent, it was one thing i wasnt clear on and different people tell you different things. Customers who want to use their phones as modems will also benifit from HSDPA, which is what you could call poormans broadband

I should really get a copy of 3's terms and conditions and ring them and force the unlocking issue. Now I just need to decide if I should by the N73 early, or wait till X-Series is launched, assuming X-series will be launched after the N73 which is supposadly being released between the 17-20th of December.

krpc

EIN wrote:

i waited an absolutely, unacceptable amount of time, to get my unlock code from 3, for my 6680... was months and months, and months,,,,,,, i moved back to vodafone, as i was sick of the service i received.

anyways, stuck with it and got the unlock code, after many many calls to them.... i definately wouldnt go back to 3.

whats the latest with vodafone? i hear there was a thread removed,
???

There was indeed a thread removed based on boards.ie receiving a solicitor's letter. There has been no more information other than that.

The content of the thread related to the "Unlimited Data Bundle" that Vodafone offer. In short, it was advertised as unlimited however a limitation of 5GB was placed on the offer, however the limitation was internally set (i.e. it was not advised to customers, not in their contracts, not in the terms and conditions on the website). The thread had quite a bit of interest. One could only guess that the letter was sent to boards.ie as perhaps the company in question considered the thread to be bad publicity irrespective of the fact that all it did was discuss the reason why Vodafone were clearly falsely advertising some services.

A user has begun a similar thread however:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055022439

Urban Weigl

Vodafone insist that there is no 5GB cap, and as such the thread on boards suggesting there is was libellous.

After all, imagine you sold an unlimited product that was truly unlimited, and than somebody on a forum started claiming there was a limit. Would you not want that thread removed as well?

krpc

Urban Weigl wrote:

Vodafone insist that there is no 5GB cap, and as such the thread on boards suggesting there is was libellous.

After all, imagine you sold an unlimited product that was truly unlimited, and than somebody on a forum started claiming there was a limit. Would you not want that thread removed as well?

Oh, I agree 100% Urban_Weigl! The startling fact of the matter is there is a 5GB cap and they know it! They just don't want customers to know it as it completely ruins their whole "unlimited" advertising thing!! So suing, sending letters or whatever for libel when they know that the comments made are 100% accurate is ridiculous! It's like suing for something they already know to be true, they just don't want others to know it's true! Makes total sense! lol

Sam Vimes

latest development:

i heard of a new comreg regulation where a network is required to give an unlock code on request. spread it around by the way. i haven't got it completely confirmed yet but an o2 agent and a 3 agent both said it exists. on hearing about this regulation i immediately phoned three to ask for my unlock code and the guy was on his way to get it until i remind him of the whole "ending the contract" thing. he asked a supervisor and came back 5 mins later and said i still have to pay off and end my contract if i want the code.

i explained that if i end my contract, I've lost the money spent to buy out my contract and they've lost all the money i would have spent if i kept it (i usually go over my basic amount by about €15-€20). basically, just giving me the code is a win-win situation and making me end the contract is a lose-lose situation. the guy sympathised with me but told me there was nothing he could do. they all know its a retarded policy.

i told him I'd been onto comreg and they said i should give a formal complaint over the phone and get a reference number. so after 10 more minutes of him talking to a supervisor i got my reference number and i'll be onto them tomorrow. hopefully this policy will be gone soon if comreg do their job (not very likely)


another new development, my friend ended his contract with them two months ago. he got his last bill and assumed it would be taken from his account by direct debit as normal. but one department cancelled the DD before the other one tried to take the money. they tried to take the money and were denied. the procedure here apparently is to send another notification and two texts. the first notification he got was from a debt collector company who phoned from a private number and asked for his name, address, DOB and laser card details. needless to say he told them to f*ck off and phoned 3 later that day and told them the same.


and all the while, i'm supposed to be selling 3 phones

Elessar

Yikes, what a thread! I am considering switching to 3 as their call costs are cheaper than pretty much everyone else. I wont be going contract so what about 3pay? (pre-pay)

Surely if I buy a N73 or K800i from them AND sign up via 3pay then I am not under contract and they will give me an unlock code if I ever want to change companies?

neilled

You'll pay €27.50 if i recall correctly for an unlock code on prepay. I called up and got through to the indian call centre and yer one whacked the unlock code out for me no probs (k800i)

Sam Vimes

Elessar wrote:

Yikes, what a thread! I am considering switching to 3 as their call costs are cheaper than pretty much everyone else. I wont be going contract so what about 3pay? (pre-pay)

Surely if I buy a N73 or K800i from them AND sign up via 3pay then I am not under contract and they will give me an unlock code if I ever want to change companies?

on 3pay there shouldn't be a problem getting the code

Elessar

So I've got the K800i with 3. After only a few hours of being on their service, I've just found the 3G to be a glorified GPRS system with awful "entertainment" at stupid prices.

Worse is the lack of internet at all with them (not even WAP), and they restrict you to only going to sites that are on their list. Not even Gmail. To make it worse, you get an hour free each day, but that is one hour from when you log on, you can't log out and go back again later in the day. You have to pay.

Keeping in mind that the news, weather, full internet and wap is available from Meteor without the fancy graphics and (sparse) TV reports, I really think I will unlock this phone and go back to Meteor. Who are actually cheaper.

For anyone considering them, keep this in mind.

Sam Vimes

Elessar wrote:

So I've got the K800i with 3. After only a few hours of being on their service, I've just found the 3G to be a glorified GPRS system with awful "entertainment" at stupid prices.

this is true. they seem to think people will pay for father ted clips they've seen 100 times before

Elessar wrote:

Worse is the lack of internet at all with them (not even WAP), and they restrict you to only going to sites that are on their list.

its a money making scam. a few months ago the walled garden went down for a few hours through some technical error and people could get full access. i posted on here from the phone they put it back up but it shows that all the infrastructure is there and they are actively preventing the internet being sent to your phone

Elessar wrote:

Not even Gmail.

you can get gmail apparently but i never got it to work

Elessar wrote:

To make it worse, you get an hour free each day, but that is one hour from when you log on, you can't log out and go back again later in the day. You have to pay.

if you want policies that make sense, you picked the wrong network

Elessar wrote:

Keeping in mind that the news, weather, full internet and wap is available from Meteor without the fancy graphics and (sparse) TV reports, I really think I will unlock this phone and go back to Meteor.

iirc the k800 is network only unlock. if you're on contract then good luck.

Elessar wrote:

Who are actually cheaper.

yup, especially if you call mostly meteor numbers like i do. i'm waiting til march or so when the termination fee drops to an acceptable level and then telling them to fook off. in the meantime i'm annoying them about continuing the contract with an unlocked phone though

Cabaal

Elessar, you realise there's a cooling off period or something like 7 days from when you get the phone, if your not happy. cancel and return it

read your contract...

wirelessdude

thought it was normally 14days

neilled

And on a somewhat related note, a girl in three said they're about to launch x-series sometime next week. Mythree online account managment still seems to be some way off though.

Urban Weigl

neilled wrote:

And on a somewhat related note, a girl in three said they're about to launch x-series sometime next week. Mythree online account managment still seems to be some way off though.

She didn't know anything about pricing? Will it be the same as in the UK, e.g. €7.50 for Silver and €15 for Gold?

gunnerfitzy

Urban Weigl wrote:

She didn't know anything about pricing? Will it be the same as in the UK, e.g. €7.50 for Silver and €15 for Gold?

Hopefully it will be reasonably priced. 3 Ireland are now cheaper that 3 UK in regards to datacard tarriffs. They had to lower their prices to complete with Vodafone Data Unlimited. It will be interesting to see what the x-series pricing will be as there is nothing similar on offer in Ireland. In the UK t-mobile had something similar to x-series so 3 UK had to try price them out. With no Irish operator even close to offerings like x-series who knows what 3 Ireland will do regarding pricing.

richieg

I don't believe it will come that soon. I was in a store in Cork a few weeks ago and they said it would be Feb. I was in another in Galway a week ago and they knew nothing about it.

I'm sure the N73 and W950 will be a hefty price when they come out!!

Sam Vimes

wirelessdude wrote:

thought it was normally 14days

it is

GreenHell

Horror story of a thread. I'll be leaving 3 when my contract runs out, not at happy about the treatment I recieved when they sent me out a replacement phone and sim card, which I payed 50 euro, no problem there. However the replacement phone was a refurb and the charger "area" was fecked, wanted to change my type of phone after that and they would not allow me, so they sent me out another motorola (I will never in my life ever get a motorola again) which was also a refurb, none of the 3g settings are setup. Contract up in a month or 2 then good bye 3, your crap.