Skype on 3. Free! Whats the catch?

xtremepoizn

Thinking of switching to 3 for MSN Messenger and Skype as its advertised as being free to use. What is the catch here? Was looking if they require a monthly top-up or internet charges etc but can't find anything.

Also can anyone brief me on the 3 services? Good, Bad, Ugly? Pros, Cons?

Whats the best mobile from 3s selection for Skype and Messenger preferably under 200 euros. If the cheapest is perfect then I'll go for that.

I'm on vodafone and quite happy but wanted to use MSN Messenger & Skype if it is actually free!

Thanks

EDIT: Did a search and got my answers sorry! Might still need general 3 and handset advice.

lassykk

steer as far away from 3 as you can... in fact run as far away from 3 as you can

worst customer service i have ever encountered... including NTL!!!!!!!

if you never ever have to ring them you might be OK to switch to them

paulm17781

The catch is that you have to become a 3 customer. This is fine when it works but stressful when it doesn't. I have been a customer for 3 - 4 years and am now looking around as 3 do not deserve my money.

jimmycrackcorm

The 900 i saved last year on my mobile bill after moving from meteor was well worth the slightly worse customer care. It's also worth remembering that if the other networks provided the same level of technical functionality as 3 then their customer care would be poor. As it is basically all they have to deal with is billing issues and not technical for the vast majority whereas 3 phones are more oriented to data use.

Quint

xtremepoizn wrote: »

Also can anyone brief me on the 3 services? Good, Bad, Ugly? Pros, Cons?

3 pushed me so far that it was the first time I ever cursed on the phone to someone that wasn't my mate. And I deal with a lot of annoying people on the phone!
Terrible, I wouldn't (and didn't) take a free phone off them.

towel401

3 are OK if you use your own phone (stay away from their branded sh!te) and you never have to call them. you can install the skype app on a regular S60 handset i think. someone in here posted links before?

but you have to call them to switch off voicemail, the standard GSM feature to cancel diverts isn't good enough for them.

also no skype-out. only skype to skype calls i think

Walkman

Skype out has been available since mid december.

1sttimebuild

Why is everyone so down on Three I've been with them since they launched in 2006 having been with vodafone before. I've never had a problem get a free upgrade delivered every year and anytime I've called the customer service they were good to deal with or if I requested a call back on the website I got one without delay.

Is it just the broadband side of things that has given people such a bad impression?

Sam Vimes

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

It's also worth remembering that if the other networks provided the same level of technical functionality as 3 then their customer care would be poor. As it is basically all they have to deal with is billing issues and not technical for the vast majority whereas 3 phones are more oriented to data use.

I've heard that point made before but i completely disagree with it for the following reasons

1. If they're more oriented towards technical services they should train their staff that way. It shouldn't be an excuse
2. unless the problem is with one of their own services like skype or planet 3, they really only have to keep the bits flowing to your phone, same as any other network
3. if they're so geared up for these things they should be well practised and should get them solved very quickly but my experience has been that all the other networks and pretty much anyone else (including my pet cat) is better at solving these issues. Everyone else seems to be better at it despite these issues only being a small part of their job
4. the problems i've experienced and most of the problems i've seen people having are not related to all this technical stuff that only 3 has, it's stuff like billing issues, messing up porting, that multiple text problem won't go away because they blame it on every other network in the world (just back from a holiday and a mate got a text over 200 times) etc etc
5. the problem with them is mostly that they refuse to admit that there might be anything wrong at their end so they force you to do the same basic troubleshooting steps that you know won't work over and over again and refuse to escalate things because they seem to be afraid to. So the problem is not so much that they don't know anything, it's that unlike other companies they won't admit they don't know anything and get the required help from the people who know. They instead make you run around in circles until you give up

Sam Vimes

Walkman wrote: »

Skype out has been available since mid december.

Something that doesn't seem to have been mentioned is that skype out is only allowed to non irish numbers. Unless that's changed?

Mylow

Sam Vimes wrote: »

Something that doesn't seem to have been mentioned is that skype out is only allowed to non irish numbers. Unless that's changed?

Thats correct, and if you roam into NI you cannot use SkypeOut to call UK numbers. I have been with Three since March 06, going onto Pay As U Go with them at end of contract as I dont think range of phones and cost are competitive anymore.

You could look at using something like PrettyMay Call Centre (US $200)to overcome the issue with calls to Irish numbers. Though you would need to have PC running 24/7. I am looking at using it with an 02 Clear Sim (I would need to be inThree/3g coverage area to use Skype) free calls to my SkypeOut landline number, then I can call anywhere in EU with my Skype sub. I did consider using Skypechan on Asterisk box, Pretty May is more intuitive, plus you can share it with family, 3 concurrent call etc.

drunkmonkey

Sam Vimes wrote: »

They instead make you run around in circles until you give up

I never thought you were a quitter:pac:

Walkman

Sam Vimes wrote: »

Something that doesn't seem to have been mentioned is that skype out is only allowed to non irish numbers. Unless that's changed?

They do have to make money somehow :-)

jimmycrackcorm

Sam Vimes wrote: »

I've heard that point made before but i completely disagree with it for the following reasons

1. If they're more oriented towards technical services they should train their staff that way. It shouldn't be an excuse

   
   Good point except the other networks don't seem to be much better for technical data support, it's just that not as big a percentage of their users use data services otherwise we'd be hearing more complaints.
   

2. if they're so geared up for these things they should be well practised and should get them solved very quickly but my experience has been that all the other networks and pretty much anyone else (including my pet cat) is better at solving these issues. Everyone else seems to be better at it despite these issues only being a small part of their job

Not me experience with O2 and Meteor.

[*]the problems i've experienced and most of the problems i've seen people having are not related to all this technical stuff that only 3 has, it's stuff like billing issues, messing up porting, that multiple text problem won't go away because they blame it on every other network in the world (just back from a holiday and a mate got a text over 200 times) etc etc

That's not limited to 3 though.

[*]the problem with them is mostly that they refuse to admit that there might be anything wrong at their end so they force you to do the same basic troubleshooting steps that you know won't work over and over again and refuse to escalate things because they seem to be afraid to. So the problem is not so much that they don't know anything, it's that unlike other companies they won't admit they don't know anything and get the required help from the people who know. They instead make you run around in circles until you give up

That's true. I lived with an issue myself for a time but it still wasn't enough to justify the extra almost €1000 over the year. It's just as well that the 99.5% of the time everything is ok makes it ok to put up with the customer service.

At the end of the day, CS is not great but none of the other networks can touch their packages.

Sam Vimes

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Not me experience with O2 and Meteor.

I suppose everyone has their own experience and that hasn't been mine. Eg I had an problem a while ago where i couldn't receive mms and the woman said that the problem was i had the wrong phone selected on the website. Sounded like total bs to me but it turned out she was right. Apparently if you have a phone selected that's not compatible with mms the network doesn't attempt to send it

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

That's not limited to 3 though.

No of course it's not, every network has these issues. My point was that you said if other networks had as many technical services we'd see more complaints but my experience has been that the issues are often nothing to do with the technical services, eg the all too frequent problem of "forgetting" to cancel direct debits for months after people leave while swearing they have been cancelled

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

At the end of the day, CS is not great but none of the other networks can touch their packages.

when it comes to the internet i'd agree. That's why i have a second phone on 3 just for that. But how good a package is depends on your usage and personally my bill would quadruple and so would my girlfriend's if i switched. That and i wouldn't trust them for my main phone