Using 3 abroad

TonyD79

Hi has anyone had any experience with their 3 Bill pay phone in Oz and New Zeland. I know they have three in Oz but they mention nothing on their website of even offering a service in New Zeland.

I took my 3 phone with me to South America before Xmas as it said on their website they offered roaming in Argentina which turned out to be a joke when I got there and my phone really only worked for 2 weeks of my 9 week stay.

I have the add on whereby I can ring three numbers for a free( besides the 5 euro!). Will this apply in Oz?

I have asked all these questions before I left for South America in the three store in grafton street but got very vague replys and dont trust their "expert knowledge" after my south american experience!

Sam Vimes

your phone will work in oz just like in ireland, ie your add ons will work as long as you're connected to the 3 network but they don't seem to have a roaming agreement in nz

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Walkman

There is no roaming agrement for pre pay or bill pay in New Zealand, in Oz you will have to be on the 3 network for the 3LikeHome to work otherwise you will have to pay the standard international charges.

BN123

I brought my 3 Bill pay phone to OZ with me and i could not connect to the 3 Network with it. When i did a manual search for the 3 Netowrk i got every Network in OZ except for 3. 3's customer service wouldn't help me they kept telling me i wasn't in a 3 coverage area. At one point they told me 3 didn't have any coverage in Melbounre. Jokers!

TonyD79

How was the coverage on the east coast? just gonna do the east coast from sydney to cairns but if their coverage is only in the odd place I might not bother and revert back from bill pay.

robinph

3 Oz and 3 UK have roaming agreements for New Zealand.

3 Ireland do not have any roaming agreement for New Zealand. I ended up taking another unlocked phone with me and then getting a Vodaphone sim in the airport when I landed.

TonyD79

Just arrived in Syndey and the only network I got was 3Telster...I was able to access my internet which I thought you could only do when connected to three.I since rang 3 on a billing enquiry and they say that that is not a 3 network? They also have charged me 40 euro for voicemails & a 14 minute call( called to cancel my voicemail) to their customer care while on the 3 network in London Heatrow airport. This is an absolute joke!

Walkman

TonyD79 wrote: »

Just arrived in Syndey and the only network I got was 3Telster...I was able to access my internet which I thought you could only do when connected to three.I since rang 3 on a billing enquiry and they say that that is not a 3 network? They also have charged me 40 euro for voicemails & a 14 minute call( called to cancel my voicemail) to their customer care while on the 3 network in London Heatrow airport. This is an absolute joke!

I have used 3 like home in the uk many times and in italy and denmark without problems. Make sure your phone is on the 3 network before making calls as even if you manually pick it your phone might automatically roam onto another network if the signal is stronger. As for australia you can easily check their coverage by going onto the 3 Australia website. When you say 3telstra do you mean that or 3 and telstra?

TonyD79

It connects to 3telstra..only other options are telstra and a few others but not 3Austalia. From what I read online 3telstra is 3 but then their customer support say differently. 3's OZ website says I have coverage but doesnt tell me what the network name will show up. I have incurred 70 euro on call cahrges over xmas when I was in the UK when I was on the 3 network when making/recieving calls. Does anyone know who I can go to to complain about this as 3 are beyond a joke.

Walkman

What add on lets you call 3 numbers for free?? I have never heard of this?

Sam Vimes

on the old tariffs it used to be that on the higher ones 3 calls were free but on the lower ones you could buy a 4 euro (or maybe 5 as he says) add on to make them free. I don't think it's available anymore though

Walkman

Sam Vimes wrote: »

on the old tariffs it used to be that on the higher ones 3 calls were free but on the lower ones you could buy a 4 euro (or maybe 5 as he says) add on to make them free. I don't think it's available anymore though

Cheers Sam, I read the post wrong, I thought there was an add on to get 3 individual numbers and call them for free? Your free 3 to 3 will only work when you are calling from ireland.

Sam Vimes

Walkman wrote: »

Cheers Sam, I read the post wrong, I thought there was an add on to get 3 individual numbers and call them for free? Your free 3 to 3 will only work when you are calling from ireland.

Oh right so you thought he'd be able to call the numbers of 3 of his friends for free

Oh the confusion

drunkmonkey

Walkman wrote: »

What add on lets you call 3 numbers for free?? I have never heard of this?

I think he means he can call 3 numbers for free, as in unlimited free 3 to 3 calls.....it used to be on talk 200 or below....

I had to read it twice...:)

BN123

TonyD79 wrote: »

It connects to 3telstra..only other options are telstra and a few others but not 3Austalia. From what I read online 3telstra is 3 but then their customer support say differently. 3's OZ website says I have coverage but doesnt tell me what the network name will show up. I have incurred 70 euro on call cahrges over xmas when I was in the UK when I was on the 3 network when making/recieving calls. Does anyone know who I can go to to complain about this as 3 are beyond a joke.

Exactly what happened to me Tony. My phone always connected to 3Telstra even though i was in a 3 Australia coverage area. They kept telling me i wasn't in a 3 area with my irish phone. My 3 Australia phone had full 3G coverage in the same area. 3's support kept telling me i wasn't in a 3 Australia coverage area and that i would have to pay roaming charges.

3 LIKE HOME is a joke. 3 are a joke i was a customer since 2005 thankfully i am no longer a 3 customer.

colagentile

Sorry to add to old thread but am having similar problems!

Managed to get my phone working in Melbourne, Australia after paying a bill and not being able to make a call for 5 months.
Search through the three.ie website to make sure I was on correct network for 3 Like Home and I found this:
==========================
How can I tell if I am on a 3 Like Home network?
When you are overseas, your 3 mobile should automatically select a 3 sister network unless you're out of the coverage area or if for some reason your phone doesn't lock onto the right network.
This is what will appears on your mobile when you are on a 3 Like Home network:
3 Austria 3 AT; 23210
3 Hong Kong 3 HK; 3; 45403
3 UK 3 UK; 23420
3 Italy 3 ITA; 22299
3 Australia 3 AUS; 3 Telstra; 50506
3 Denmark 3 DK; Denmark; 45403
3 Sweden 3 SE; SWE; SWEDEN; 24002; 24004
===========================
So I set my phone to 3Telstra as above. Rang home for 16 minutes and was charged €30. Emailed 3 customer service and they rang me back today and said this was not a 3 network and basically implied I was lying about what was on the website. Then the call dropped. I was charged another €15 for this "helpful" call.

Anyone else using 3 Like Home in Australia having similar problems?

They seem to be a complete joke!

k123456

As workaround , have you wifi on phone, if so use voipcheap, nimbuzz etc to ring home for free over wifi