3 as a network...

Random

Your handset can call 999/112 without a SIM. 3 can't do anything to block this. As far as I know they're not legally allowed to either. Can you link me to this part of the T&C?

godskitchen

I can well believe what jimmycrackcorm is saying about Three's T&C's but you can make emergency calls with no sim, i have done it twice.

Sam Vimes

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

I've had Vodafone, O2, meteor and now Three. Threes coverage reminds me exactly of when I had Eircell in 1995. In Leixleip I had to reboot the phone to get it to pick up Voda 2.5 but in Monaghan, it would not pick up a signal.

I'm not talking about 3G coverage, three's 3G might be better than both O2 and Voda - hence I have three but I'm talking about people being able to call you or even possibly worse - not being able to make a 999 emergency call.

ciaranfo is right. there's nothing they can do to prevent emergency calls because the sim doesn't need to be in and the phone will connect to any available network

what 3 write in their terms and conditions is often different to what happens in practice

Random

godskitchen wrote:

I can well believe what jimmycrackcorm is saying about Three's T&C's but you can make emergency calls with no sim, i have done it twice.

You can also make them with the 3 SIM in the phone, even if it's inactive. It's illegal otherwise.

Bulmers

godskitchen wrote:

I find their coverage to be fairly good too but to be honest but its no big accomplishment on their part, the number of New masts they would have had to get permission and planning for would be minimal.

Voda/O2/Eircel or whatever they were called would have laid all the ground work, all Three had to do is come along and clamp their stuff on. Of course it cost them but there was/is nothing holding them back from expanding to most places the other networks are. It goes with out saying also that Three did not have to roll out a 2/2.5G network as they use vodafones, so again all they had to concentrate on was 3G.

I'll assume u live in Dublin, if so their notation is DUxxxx. 3 , or any operator for that matter will only react to a fault if they get numerous complaints from a certain area, unfortunately one is not enough and this goes for all operators too.

Are u sure it's the mast, how do u know, is there anyone else in the area with similiar problem on 3, could it be handset?

I personally doubt it's the mast / basestation, if there is an issue, they are fixed eventually.

godskitchen

Bulmers wrote:

I'll assume u live in Dublin, if so their notation is DUxxxx. 3 , or any operator for that matter will only react to a fault if they get numerous complaints from a certain area, unfortunately one is not enough and this goes for all operators too.

Are u sure it's the mast, how do u know, is there anyone else in the area with similiar problem on 3, could it be handset?

I personally doubt it's the mast / basestation, if there is an issue, they are fixed eventually.

Its the mast, I use a data card not a handset, It works fine everywhere else where there is Three coverage, I have line of sight to the mast and its 1 mile away on top of a mountain that is part of the second highest mountain range in Ireland. I am getting 14Kb/s downloads constantly,when it should be above 100Kb/s. I have 3 or 5 bars signal all the time, my pings are fine, the connection cuts out all the time, its unusable.

I do understand what you are saying about them not coming out to fix it unless more people complain, i live in a rural area and im pretty sue i am the only person using it for Broadband.

...............BUT thats not the issue really, why am i not able to talk to someone that can explain this to me? Why must I explain the problem to people in India every time i call, who think Ireland is part of the UK? Why are Three winging it in the Irish market, more so why are the Irish people tolerating it (even if it is only 1.6% of the market?)

I know I am not the only one who finds Threes attitude disgusting, illogical, and self defeating, everytime i call I am fobbed off with, "give it some time" BULL, if i ran my business like this I would homeless in less than a month!

Sam Vimes

godskitchen wrote:

...............BUT thats not the issue really, why am i not able to talk to someone that can explain this to me? Why must I explain the problem to people in India every time i call, who think Ireland is part of the UK?

i rang them the other day wanting to confirm the mms settings and he got as far as access point name and the conversation went like this:

indian: "access point name is three.co.uk".

me: "i'm not in the UK"

indian: "these are the settings for the phone sir"

me: "i don't want the english settings. i don't live in england. i'm in ireland"

him: confusion

then he told me that i'd got through to the english section somehow and told me to hold. more likely its the same people and he just hadn't been trained

godskitchen wrote:

Why are Three winging it in the Irish market, more so why are the Irish people tolerating it (even if it is only 1.6% of the market?)
I know I am not the only one who finds Threes attitude disgusting, illogical, and self defeating, everytime i call I am fobbed off with, "give it some time"

we're not tolerating it. a few people on boards are trying to get together and all go to 3 with our complaints. you with us?

jimmycrackcorm

ciaranfo wrote:

Your handset can call 999/112 without a SIM. 3 can't do anything to block this. As far as I know they're not legally allowed to either. Can you link me to this part of the T&C?

It's written in the booklet. I don't think it is illegal either no more so than if your eircom phone is disconnected you can't dial out on the emergency numbers either as effectively you don't have a line.

Sam Vimes

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

It's written in the booklet. I don't think it is illegal either no more so than if your eircom phone is disconnected you can't dial out on the emergency numbers either as effectively you don't have a line.

3 might somehow be able to stop you dialling out with one of their sims in the phone but without a sim it has no association to that network anymore. 3 can't possibly stop you making an emergency call if you don't have one of their sims in the phone.

still kind of dodgy that they might stop you with one in. i can imagine it now: "hang on mr. murderer while i take the sim out of my phone"

godskitchen

Commander Vimes wrote:

"hang on mr. murderer while i take the sim out of my phone"

At which point you discover three have glued the sim in place.............which they have been known to do.

JNive

would glueing the sim to the phone not invalidate the manufacturers warranty on your phone :-)

trixter

Commander Vimes wrote:

i rang them the other day wanting to confirm the mms settings and he got as far as access point name and the conversation went like this:

indian: "access point name is three.co.uk".

me: "i'm not in the UK"

indian: "these are the settings for the phone sir"

me: "i don't want the english settings. i don't live in england. i'm in ireland"

him: confusion

then he told me that i'd got through to the english section somehow and told me to hold. more likely its the same people and he just hadn't been trained

I noticed that the DNS server and proxy server for the prepaid data plan are in the UK. It appeared to me that they used existing infrastructure, and just built a bridge from ireland to england for it. That may have explained it a bit.

I am a bit upset though, I dont like locked phones, etc and I went from meteor to 3 where I was forced to purchase a handset I didnt want just to get internet, days later meteor has data plans. I could have stayed and not had to bother with it.

At least 3 is doing this - creating competition over data plans ... However scarse the competition is, there is some, which means that the consumer can get more choice and better prices, even if from a different provider.

Someone always comes in at some point and says "I can do that better for less money" and when that happens the consumer wins.

Sam Vimes

godskitchen wrote:

At which point you discover three have glued the sim in place.............which they have been known to do.

i heard that. don't know how true it is

trixter wrote:

I noticed that the DNS server and proxy server for the prepaid data plan are in the UK. It appeared to me that they used existing infrastructure, and just built a bridge from ireland to england for it. That may have explained it a bit.

well, no. the access point name here is 3ireland.ie. he was just calling out the english settings

culabula

godskitchen wrote:

At which point you discover three have glued the sim in place.............which they have been known to do.

Oi t'ink dat's an urban myt', loike.

trixter

Commander Vimes wrote:

well, no. the access point name here is 3ireland.ie. he was just calling out the english settings

I will try that, three.co.uk does work from my phone, I wonder if they are aliased or something. I want to know if there is a difference between the APN on 3pay vs billpay.

trixter

culabula wrote:

Oi t'ink dat's an urban myt', loike.

when I got mine the sim was not even in the phone at sale time, they sell them independant, and have kits they could sell without a handset if they really wanted to, but they dont (yet?).

culabula

trixter wrote:

I will try that, three.co.uk does work from my phone, I wonder if they are aliased or something. I want to know if there is a difference between the APN on 3pay vs billpay.

Hmmm, v curious. When I had problems in Italy, three.co.uk would definitely NOT work on my 3IRL datacard SIM (though the apn was working on my 3UK handsets).

testicle

godskitchen wrote:

At which point you discover three have glued the sim in place.............which they have been known to do.

As the phone and sim arrive in two seperate boxes (in the one package) i find this hard to believe.

Sam Vimes

testicle wrote:

As the phone and sim arrive in two seperate boxes (in the one package) i find this hard to believe.

it was never done in ireland. the rumour is that it was done abroad

legs11

i am havin a rip roaring time with 3,

the much talked about data bill for instance.

i think they have indeed waived it (again), i blocked their direct debits any way, they were not very upfront about it, but my phone tells me amount to pay is 0.00,

but i agree, their customer service reeks. they could have wrote to me (about bill), and they could also do a bloody usb modem.

Solair

Went into a 3 Store yesterday as my handset (W850i) is on the blink. I'm getting very poor sound quality from the phone's earpeice speaker. Everything sounds distorted.

I had phoned 3 customer care and after a 20 min conversation going through things that were not wrong with my phone they eventually suggested that I could drop into any 3 Store with the phone.

I got there and was immediately presented with "you need proof of purchase" I explained it was an upgrade phone and I don't have proof of purchase. The entire transaction took place over the phone and was charged to my mobile bill and I asked if she couldn't look my account up or contact 3 and verify that it was paid for. She said no. I even offered to give her ID (driver's licence, work ID, various bank cards --- I had no difficulty identifying myself to a level that would satisfy any Garda, never mind a stupid mobile phone company)

I basically didn't have time to have a row in the store and just told her to forget it and walked out.

Cannot believe the attitude that was taken by the person in the store. Every time I have any dealings with 3 directly either in person or by phone it is an utterly painful experience.

It's like they're great at selling and all enthusiastic until they get you signed up to a 12 month contract. Once you're signed up they don't give a toss what kind of patheticly poor customer service they give you.

There is absolutely no way I am renewing my contract! I am sick to the back teeth of being treated this badly. This company has taken a LOT of money from me over the last year and a bit and I really think they ought to be a little more careful about being nice to their bill pay customers. It's not like they've much market share to start with!

All I know is that the second my phone contract's up. I am out of there. I simply will not put up with this kind of crap.

I rang the 3 number back and once again after a conversation with someone who initially thought I was in the UK and couldn't understand anything I was saying and being forced through an incrediably long check list of "is it your screen", no it's the speaker, "is it the keypad"... "no I can't hear anything!!" "Did you reboot the phone".. "no it's the speaker" ... "is it the charger?" .. not it's the speaker (god it's frustrating!)

They eventually agreed to send me out a jiffy bag to send the phone back in.

They are ABSOLUTE MUPPETS!

godskitchen

Solair wrote:

I rang the 3 number back and once again after a conversation with someone who initially thought I was in the UK and couldn't understand anything I was saying and being forced through an incrediably long check list of "is it your screen", no it's the speaker, "is it the keypad"... "no I can't hear anything!!" "Did you reboot the phone".. "no it's the speaker" ... "is it the charger?" .. not it's the speaker (god it's frustrating!)

They eventually agreed to send me out a jiffy bag to send the phone back in.

They are ABSOLUTE MUPPETS!

This has also been my experience, I had kept my cool with the customer service staff as its really not their fault, but the last few times i have lost it with them as all the information on my problem is stored with the details on my account and all they have to do is look and read.

Its a crying shame that it seems the only way to get them or most companies to do what they should be doing is to shout and scream! I worked in retail for a long time and know how hard it is dealing with the public so always try to be friendly and calm with employees of companies...........but not with Three anymore.

Oh and its not just Irish people they have a hard time understanding, although born in Ireland I have an english accent, some would say well spoken, and i have to repeat myself over and over to them. :rolleyes:

testicle

Commander Vimes wrote:

it was never done in ireland. the rumour is that it was done abroad

Do you believe every rumour you hear on the internet?

Skary

Here is a thought... If you are all so "anti the indians" (which seems to be the main gripe) why dont you all write up a list of your problems and issues and fax it into their Head Office in Dublin so that an IRISH person can look at your complaints. Their Fax number is on their website. I really dont think that all your problems are going to be resolved by ranting to each other - all you are doing is adding fuel to each others fires. Someone made a comment about 77k customers and that they are lucky that they have 1 happy customer - to me, anyone I know that has been on 3 for some time all love it and are really happy with any service received - so it seems that there are a handful of unhappy people who are just ranting here - why dont you DO SOMETHING about it??? By all means if you think that picketing outside their HQ in Dublin is a mature way of solving all your lifes problems, then by all means do that - If I walked past you on the street I would probably laugh and feel sorry for you - but realistically , if you hate them that much and think they are disgusting and wouldnt trust them to "run a junk yard" then why are you all still on 3? Legs - you should be ashamed of yourself - downloading enough to entertain the whole of ireland for weeks on end - only to dispute it every month. Take responsibility for what you are doing. If you want to download 3 weeks worth of viewing in one day then get NTL or Eircom broadband - (oh wait - they are not as reliable/fast are they?)
One of you should get a job with 3 and SHOW them how to "run an efficient Business" GO ON... I dare ya...

Urban Weigl

Skary, I believe that was my comment about not trusting them to run a junk yard, let alone a mobile phone company. And I voted with my feet: I am no longer with 3. I now use Vodafone for work and O2 for personal, both of which seem to be able to provide me with a working service, unlike 3. In the future, I hope to switch everything over to O2, I'm just waiting for their 3G rollout and new pricing.

I am currently no longer a customer of 3, and that will remain so until they figure out how to operate a mobile phone network. I'm not holding my breath on that one.

JNive

When the O2 HSDPA service does eventually come on stream, there will be usb, datacard and router solutions available ( no idea on timescale btw, im just saying )

the router i believe will be selling for €149. Anyways i dont know anyone personally on 3, but from the reactions of people here, it certainly appears as though their customer service people are not well voiced on a) their markets and b) the technology behind the service they are supporting.

They are new to the irish market, but be aware, they are not new to the industry.

Sam Vimes

testicle wrote:

Do you believe every rumour you hear on the internet?

no i don't, just like i don't believe this one. i just said there's a rumour

culabula

legs11 wrote:

i am havin a rip roaring time with 3,

and they could also do a bloody usb modem.

Ah but they are dear Mr Legs, as I told you (and you wouldn't take my bet!).

It's in the latest catalogue....we should have it by the 13th. I will be posting info about it later today.

godskitchen

Skary wrote:

Here is a thought... If you are all so "anti the indians" (which seems to be the main gripe) why dont you all write up a list of your problems and issues and fax it into their Head Office in Dublin so that an IRISH person can look at your complaints.

Its not an issue with Indian people who work for three, at least not on my part, and i really don't think it is with anyone else on here. I grew up in London and many of my friends are Asian, i was even engaged to a Indian girl for three years ffs!

As for faxing head office, please read the thread before you tell us what to do, i ring Three HQ more than once a week leave voice mail, guess what? No response from them! all a fax will do is remind them of the 1990's when people used fax to communicate! This is the 21st century, i should be able to talk to someone on the phone!

I don't like what you have implied in your rant about what we should be doing as a group to solve our problem with three. i further more take issue with you thinking that people can just jump ship from mobile networks whenever they like, you don't know my situation, maybe Three Broadband is the only service i can receive as i live outside the mecca that is Dublin.

I just love people like you on the internet who spout off at people who have valid complaints about a service or lack of they are receiving from a company that does not value their money, I wish i could be like you and have all the answers to all the problems all of the time.

legs11

Why Dont Someone Print Out This Entire Thread,
Put It Into An Envelope And Post It To 3 Hq In Dub?

That Would Give Them Food For Thought, Or Then Again.............