3 Data Modem "downgrade" from 3GB to 10GB

Yggr of Asgard

5 month ago I got myself the PCMCIA version of the 3 datacard on the than available price of 49€ plus 39.99€ a month.

In that 5 month I used it a lot (especially in Hotels in Ireland, UK and Sweden) it I always get a HSDPA. Just not at home funny enough where my 3 phone however works fine.

Now that there is the 10GB variant (which suits me as I get HSDPA where I need it) I tried to downgrade it, but no joy in 3 calls to the Center.

But after talking to a guy in the store today, he said, that after 3 month there should be no problem and to try again.

And there we go, they now "downgraded" me to 10 GB with NO additional cost (i.e. the 80€ price difference) at my next billing date. And yes I have a recording of the phone call to proof it

Twice in a day 3 surprises me, really going into a shop pays..

mobileplaza

3 customer care has to be the worst shower of cowboys i have ever dealt with!

Yggr of Asgard

mobileplaza wrote:

3 customer care has to be the worst shower of cowboys i have ever dealt with!

Yup, but the guys in the shop are just brilliant, if it would not be for them I would have left.

Sam Vimes

dublin-texas wrote:

Yup, but the guys in the shop are just brilliant, if it would not be for them I would have left.

i went in to the shop and asked them two questions and both of them were met with "you'd have to ask customer care". not that great tbh

Garth

Hm... I asked about this and was told the downside of the 10GB plan was no roaming and no sms.

culabula

Garth wrote:

Hm... I asked about this and was told the downside of the 10GB plan was no roaming and no sms.

There is roaming, but only in 3 territories (= no charges).

Yggr of Asgard

culabula wrote:

There is roaming, but only in 3 territories (= no charges).

Yes and it's only valid for the 3 HSDPA network, so in Ireland/other 3 countries you can't use the 10GB variant where there is no HSDPA network.

Also according to customer service you can't go from the 10 GB No Roaming ot the 3GB Roaming variant, only the other way arround.

culabula

dublin-texas wrote:

Yes and it's only valid for the 3 HSDPA network, so in Ireland/other 3 countries you can't use the 10GB variant where there is no HSDPA network.

Also according to customer service you can't go from the 10 GB No Roaming ot the 3GB Roaming variant, only the other way arround.

Again, I will be most interested to see what happens to my 3GB SIM when it migrates to the new tariff in 4 days and what exactly it can and cannot use.

I'm sure customer service did say that but I just don't believe them; I have yet to have a contract with a network where you cannot move to a more expensive tariff.

Sam Vimes

Are you sure about that? I dont think england has a hsdpa network at all. Itd be a bit crap if 3 stopped it from working in england even though the modem is capable of it


crap but not surprising. It sounds like exactly their style

culabula

Can anyone remind me what the three colours represent on the modem when moving between different data flavours? I knew this from when I had the Vodafone version but 3 do not seem to have included advice on this in their manual and I have now forgotten.

culabula

Commander Vimes wrote:

Are you sure about that? I dont think england has a hsdpa network at all. Itd be a bit crap if 3 stopped it from working in england even though the modem is capable of it


crap but not surprising. It sounds like exactly their style

I agree: I cannot see my datamodem ceasing to work in Belfast in 4 days time when I move to the new tariff, no matter what they say. 3UK have not turned on their HSDPA network yet, except in parts of London, although it is apparently coming in 2 months time.

Urban Weigl

culabula wrote:

Can anyone remind me what the three colours represent on the modem when moving between different data flavours? I knew this from when I had the Vodafone version but 3 do not seem to have included advice on this in their manual and I have now forgotten.

Blue means you're within 3G coverage, pale blue means you've got HSDPA. Green means GPRS. Not sure what you'd get if you were within EDGE coverage.

paulm17781

culabula wrote:

I'm sure customer service did say that but I just don't believe them; I have yet to have a contract with a network where you cannot move to a more expensive tariff.

3 do seem to have an issue with allowing you to move from prepay to postpay on the same sim yet allow move from postpay to prepay. Is this not technically the same thing?

I've been with 3 for 18 months now, their customer service really is awful, I don't mean the people answering the phones, I mean the bizarre policies, no online top up, no porting to post pay, no web texts. I'm sure there is plenty more to add.

It's an awful shame, their pricing is excellent but their service level is woeful.

Yggr of Asgard

culabula wrote:

I agree: I cannot see my datamodem ceasing to work in Belfast in 4 days time when I move to the new tariff, no matter what they say. 3UK have not turned on their HSDPA network yet, except in parts of London, although it is apparently coming in 2 months time.

Please let us know what happens to you.

The webpage says: "..on 3 networks abroad (HSDPA) only."

Where i stay most frequently in the UK (Reading) I always got HSDPA, so maybe i just am lucky.

culabula

paulm17781 wrote:

3 do seem to have an issue with allowing you to move from prepay to postpay on the same sim yet allow move from postpay to prepay. Is this not technically the same thing?

I've been with 3 for 18 months now, their customer service really is awful, I don't mean the people answering the phones, I mean the bizarre policies, no online top up, no porting to post pay, no web texts. I'm sure there is plenty more to add.

It's an awful shame, their pricing is excellent but their service level is woeful.

I don't see why; it's postpay tariffs in both instances.

They do seem to be technically inept and have very few facilities compared to the other three networks. At the same time, webtext, especially in the generous allowances on offer, is, in my experience, fairly unique to Ireland. 3 Ireland is mainly run by the bods in the UK for the time being and they probably have no interest in/are aware of what the rivals offer here. They probably think it's the same as the UK.

culabula

dublin-texas wrote:

Please let us know what happens to you.

The webpage says: "..on 3 networks abroad (HSDPA) only."

Where i stay most frequently in the UK (Reading) I always got HSDPA, so maybe i just am lucky.

I will indeed.

I understand that you are just within the HSDPA limits at Reading (my UK geography is not good) but I have also just found out that there is some HSDPA in Manchester too.

I just returned from a long weekend in Cork where coverage was extremely patchy except in Cork city itself. From Ceannt Station to the midlands most of the coverage was (as I now know from the lights) 3G and rarely HSDPA. I cannot see owners of the datamodem being denied access to this long stretch of 3 coverage -it would render the yoke almost useless.

paulm17781

culabula wrote:

I don't see why; it's postpay tariffs in both instances.

Erm... What?

culabula wrote:

They do seem to be technically inept and have very few facilities compared to the other three networks. At the same time, webtext, especially in the generous allowances on offer, is, in my experience, fairly unique to Ireland. 3 Ireland is mainly run by the bods in the UK for the time being and they probably have no interest in/are aware of what the rivals offer here. They probably think it's the same as the UK.

This is their big problem. I probably wouldn't use the webtexts a lot but people do want them. Topping up online is something people use too, especially now that you have to pay surcharges in most shops. They seriously need to get their act together, perhaps a little market research wouldn't be a bad thing.