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3 have terrible service!

Great, so now I'm going to end up with a huge bill for data usage on a voice plan? Think I'll be taking a trip to the three store tomorrow to get them to check it out as I can't face the overseas call centre again. Failing that I'll try the UK tech support line mentioned earlier in this thread.
:mad:
 
Just called the number mentioned previously.

Got a very helpful chap who confirmed my account had been set up. All I had to do was enter 3internet into the APN field under Settings/Cellular Data.

Have managed to get a 3G signal fleetingly, but my house is on the edge of the network's range (I have wifi at home and only need 3G while commuting).

Will try again tomorrow when out and about. :)
 
Still unable to use 3G!!!!! I have to admit it was very difficult in setting up the account. I had to phonetically say EVERYTHING!

Even putting in that APN setting didn't help :(
 
My microSIM arrived today, but I'm not doing anything with it until I read some evidence that Three have sorted themselves out.

Can you activate in-store?

You'd have thought they would have invested in the Apple system for on-iPad activation - they know how **** their Indian helldesk is.
 
Following up: I got online last night 2 hours after phoning the no I mentioned above. I got about 3M at my home according to speediest x.

Is the speed above average in the uk?
 
freeman24 said:
Still unable to use 3G!!!!! I have to admit it was very difficult in setting up the account. I had to phonetically say EVERYTHING!

Even putting in that APN setting didn't help :(
Click to expand...

Ohh u don't have to enter anything to go online.. But I found that restarting the iPad work if ur sim is activited.
 
I cancelled under the direct debit guarantee and called Orange was put through to a UK call centre and was online in 5 minutes after a thirty second call.

Three had the iPad contact for the first time and still managed to screw it up!
 
Posting this on the A720 using 3's network (I'm not driving BTW!).

Seems pretty fast on initial evidence. I'm sure in time I'll forget the pain of setup. :)
 
God, I just called to try to activate my Three microSIM.

It literally sounded like there was a riot going on in the background of the Indian call centre.

After three attempts at spelling out my name phonetically (eg "So that's Juliet Oscar Hotel November, Sierra Mike Indigo Tango Hotel - and what is your last name?"), and being asked three times "So what is the package that you have purchased?", I threw in the towel.

Jesus wept, what a way to run a railroad.
 
Yeah their customer service is indeed crap. As for the service I live in London and the coverage is great. Though I did not buy the broadband package with the iPad. I had a 3 gb broadband dongle package for £7.50 a month and just cut the sim down to micro size and it works great.
 
Hang on in there Seamaster!

Hang on in there Seamaster! My name is not the most easiest either, and it took me the best part of 45 mins to get set up. The agent (thats being polite) was next to useless, constantly getting my address details wrong (how do you spell 30 sir?!) and thinking I had a dongle no matter how many times I said I had a microsim, not a ZTE. Was close to giving up also, but suddenly it was all over and I now have service. Still, I'm thinking of sending off a nasty gram, things like this shouldn't be this hard to do in this day FFS. I just hope it's been setup OK, although it all looks right from the my3 link.
 
...what country are you trying to setup this coverage in - the UK?

I'd be really nervous about giving my personal info to people who could be doing who knows what with it... good luck getting your service worked out.
 
J&JPolangin said:
...what country are you trying to setup this coverage in - the UK? I'd be really nervous about giving my personal info to people who could be doing who knows what with it... good luck getting your service worked out.
Click to expand...

Yes, the UK. Nothing about my interactions with Three has inspired confidence that I want to be giving my financial details to their agents in offshore call centres, I'm afraid.

What a shame. They have a potentially unique offering for iPad users, given the quality of their network coverage and the value of their tariff. All totally let down by an abysmal customer service front-end.

If I've learned anything from this débâcle, it's that we're better off sticking to the network operators prepared to invest in Apple's proprietary system for activating and managing a data plan on the iPad. Anything less is doomed to be a painful compromise, at best.
 
I registered with them earlier. I don't seem to be getting any data though even though they said it would take up to 3 hours. It's Noe been about 10 hours and nothing. Tried putting that APN in too.

I tried to registered on the my 3 thing and it says the phone number for the sim isn't recognised.

No idea what's going on with it
 
f34r said:
I registered with them earlier. I don't seem to be getting any data though even though they said it would take up to 3 hours. It's Noe been about 10 hours and nothing. Tried putting that APN in too.

I tried to registered on the my 3 thing and it says the phone number for the sim isn't recognised.

No idea what's going on with it
Click to expand...

I got a call from the cancelations department in Glasgow who set everything up by adding data until the next billing date, and then changing my tariff. This means that until 3 July the service is costing me a fiver as they've credited my account!

It's much easier dealing with a British call centre! I'm now set up on Three getting about 5mbps - faster than my actual home broadband! (I live in a big town but about 10 miles from the telephone exchange so only get about 1.5mbps!
 
Useless, called 3 4 times today and still no luck. Woman kept asking me for the Imei number and other stuff from the iPad. She kept asking me if my iPad was the 10gig version :eek:


It also seems if you get sent the 1 gig Tariff sim then you can't chamge your mind and ask to be connected to the 10 gig option.

Tried calling that 0843 number but the automated service keeps asking me for the sim phone number and when i punch it in it says its not correct then transfers me to India. Got feed up and asked them to cancel the whole thing.

Will have to stay with O2 for now.
 
12gb Three sim from Ebay with up to 12 months to use it in. £35. Top up with £10 for 1gb when used up or £15 for 3gb. No phone calls or things to sign. No Mumbai people to talk to. Sim took 5 mins to cut to size. No problem.
 
I was considering going back to three for a MiFi. Looking at this thread reminded me of the trouble that I had trying to cancel my 3 dingle and my wives voice contract. Maybe I can survive without 3G.
 
Can you have a microSIM activated in a 3 store? (And, equally importantly, a contract cancelled there?)

That might be one way round the apparently insurmountable hurdle of having to sit through a bad episode of Mind Your Language every time you try to do it by phone.
 
Seamaster said:
Can you have a microSIM activated in a 3 store? (And, equally importantly, a contract cancelled there?)

That might be one way round the apparently insurmountable hurdle of having to sit through a bad episode of Mind Your Language every time you try to do it by phone.
Click to expand...

Are there still any Three stores or do they only sell online now. Our local town had one but it closed a few years ago.
 
Update: There is a local store. I just Googled it and gave them a call. Unbelievably, they cannot activate in-store - even they have to call the Indian call centre themselves. The chap I spoke to there was half-heartedly apologetic about this, and offered the compromise of battling the Indians on my behalf if I could no longer face it myself.

Staggering. :rolleyes:
 
Seamaster said:
Can you have a microSIM activated in a 3 store? (And, equally importantly, a contract cancelled there?)

That might be one way round the apparently insurmountable hurdle of having to sit through a bad episode of Mind Your Language every time you try to do it by phone.
Click to expand...

The shop just does the contract and hands over the box. Everything else is 333 from a handset - which was one of the problems with the dongle I used to have. How do you ring a number from a dongle? Eventually they charged me three months charge and we parted company, even after I paid them they kept coming back asking for more money.
 
Ah, to hell to with them. Service is more important than price.

As was pointed out higher up the thread, if this is the carry-on you have to endure to get signed-up, imagine what it will be like when you're trying to cancel! :eek:
 
Seamaster said:
Ah, to hell to with them. Service is more important than price.

As was pointed out higher up the thread, if this is the carry-on you have to endure to get signed-up, imagine what it will be like when you're trying to cancel! :eek:
Click to expand...

To cancel a contract with Three is like trying to cancel a contract you made with the devil!! They are the last people in the world I would ever have a contract with again. But for PAYG they are actually easier to use than all the other providers.
 
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