3 again - mobile addons do not work?

GekkePrutser

Hi Everyone!

I was just wondering if any of you guys are having the same problem I'm having with My 3 (3pay). I haven't used my 3 phone for a while because their internet was too slow but I noticed recently that the service is reasonably fast now and I can access all the sites I need to. Although I get charged 49c/MB because my addon ran out (it's been way more than a month since I used it).

So I tried to activate the 250MB addon (and the other 2 options for that matter) through 'My 3', but it keeps coming up with a My 3 page saying "This service is currently unavailable. Please try again later." Does anyone else get this too?

I tried it for about a week but it never started working. So I reluctantly called 3. I was set to just be friendly and go through all the silly things to try that they always want you to do, and then get escalated and hopefully get it solved (after 24 hours ) This is the way it went before when I had problems.

Here's the list of things they made me do:

• Go down to the 3 store (they just told me to ring 333)
• Turn off the phone, rub the sim card
• Try selecting the network manually
• Reset all the settings on my phone
• Try it numerous times after turning it on/off
• Try my sim card in a colleague's 3 phone

None of this worked. Obviously, as it is clearly a server-side problem in the My 3 server (it's got the My 3 logo on the 'not available' page so it's not my phone having problems getting a connection).

Finally they wanted me to try another colleague's sim card in my phone and then trying to purchase the addon to see if that works. I refused to do that, I can't ask my colleagues to spend a minimum of 6 euro on some addon they don't need. They couldn't give them a refund for it either.

They said I then had to go down to the store again and send the handset for repair. I asked them to escalate it to their technical department anyway but after the agent talked with the manager they said there was no way to escalate it without trying this first.

At that point I just hung up on them... It was the 3rd person with the same story and I was just too angry with their stoneheaded refusal to even look at my account settings.

Did any of you guys have the same problem and find a solution somehow? If I can't get this sorted I'll just cut up the sim card and sell the phone on adverts.ie.. I'm sick of 3 now.

hosi

LOL, that's one of the reasons why I chose 500MB add-on on Vodafone.

cgarvey

Jesus wept, that's horrfic.

Sam Vimes

cgarvey wrote: »

Jesus wept, that's horrfic.

that's pretty standard for 3 tbh

ianblyth

I've been having the same problem since 1st jan... happened before.. about 6 months ago.. but this time they can't seem to fix the problem..

GekkePrutser

ianblyth wrote: »

I've been having the same problem since 1st jan... happened before.. about 6 months ago.. but this time they can't seem to fix the problem..

Thanks for your response! It must be a server-related problem then. I've also only tried it in the last few weeks since the beginning of this month so it's probably the same problem. I wonder if this is the case for everyone or just some people (if it's everyone then they're bound to fix it at some stage)

I also asked them if they could just activate it for me over the phone (all I want is the addon) but that was completely impossible too.

It's strange though, a few months ago they weren't so reluctant to escalate the case if you asked for it (and then it would be solved pretty soon, except for the chronic capacity problems of course). I was hoping things were looking up because the capacity seems much better (it was pretty fast when I tried it).

But their support has become so much worse in the last few months. Every time you mention the technical team they totally go into defense mode and bringing up more (and even more far-fetched) things to try. I get the feeling they are penalized for escalating queries or something.

Edit: And thanks everyone else for your support! @hosi: I'm also on vodafone (RTG, it's my main phone in fact) but the only cheap data available to me is the vodafone live! AP (50MB/day for 1 euro) which I use a lot but I'd love to use direct IP data as well. The live! AP is heavily proxied. I did find a way to retrieve my email through it but MSN or IRC will never work.

jimmycrackcorm

From previous post I recall some people having success by asking 3CC to remove the add-on and re-activate it.

Bluefrog

Well to me this marks a new low for Three, not alone now can they not support customers' technical issues but now they can't even sell stuff to them - how they got their 3G licence here should make COMREG hang their heads in shame - obviously Three Ireland themselves have no shame.

foggy_lad

GekkePrutser wrote: »

Hi Everyone!

I was just wondering if any of you guys are having the same problem I'm having with My 3 (3pay). I haven't used my 3 phone for a while because their internet was too slow but I noticed recently that the service is reasonably fast now and I can access all the sites I need to. Although I get charged 49c/MB because my addon ran out (it's been way more than a month since I used it).

So I tried to activate the 250MB addon (and the other 2 options for that matter) through 'My 3', but it keeps coming up with a My 3 page saying "This service is currently unavailable. Please try again later." Does anyone else get this too?

I tried it for about a week but it never started working. So I reluctantly called 3. I was set to just be friendly and go through all the silly things to try that they always want you to do, and then get escalated and hopefully get it solved (after 24 hours ) This is the way it went before when I had problems.

Here's the list of things they made me do:

• Go down to the 3 store (they just told me to ring 333)
• Turn off the phone, rub the sim card
• Try selecting the network manually
• Reset all the settings on my phone
• Try it numerous times after turning it on/off
• Try my sim card in a colleague's 3 phone

None of this worked. Obviously, as it is clearly a server-side problem in the My 3 server (it's got the My 3 logo on the 'not available' page so it's not my phone having problems getting a connection).

Finally they wanted me to try another colleague's sim card in my phone and then trying to purchase the addon to see if that works. I refused to do that, I can't ask my colleagues to spend a minimum of 6 euro on some addon they don't need. They couldn't give them a refund for it either.

They said I then had to go down to the store again and send the handset for repair. I asked them to escalate it to their technical department anyway but after the agent talked with the manager they said there was no way to escalate it without trying this first.

At that point I just hung up on them... It was the 3rd person with the same story and I was just too angry with their stoneheaded refusal to even look at my account settings.

Did any of you guys have the same problem and find a solution somehow? If I can't get this sorted I'll just cut up the sim card and sell the phone on adverts.ie.. I'm sick of 3 now.

yes i have had the same problems exactly as described PLUS i had €37 taken from my credit because three do not inform customers when their add-ons are finished! the text to say my add-on was expired arrived 2WEEKS LATE:mad:

x in the city

3.....


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GekkePrutser

Thanks for all the replies everyone!

I had already asked them if they could just set up the addon on their side but that was also not possible.

Anyway, I've now given the phone to my girlfriend, she wanted a bluetooth-capable phone anyway. She can use up the remaining call credit and use it with her vodafone sim afterwards (I found a really nice guy in town who didn't mind making that possible for a few euro )

I'll just stick to the Vodafone Live! tariff for my on the go internet access. It's a lot more expensive (30 a month, I use it every day) but it doen't give me a stomach ulcer

AARRRGH

GekkePrutser wrote: »

But their support has become so much worse in the last few months. Every time you mention the technical team they totally go into defense mode and bringing up more (and even more far-fetched) things to try.

This would be the same technical team who didn't understand what firmware was or that phones have software on them. They sent me to Google to look up the answer to my question...

3 customer service is a waste of time.