# Three mobile / 3 mobile



## CadetStimpy (1 Nov 2007)

Hello,

Just thought I'd share my experiences with 3 mobile, in case anyone else was thinking of joining them.

I'd had a work mobile with Vodafone for years, but since leaving the job in September I signed up with 3 after comparing all the different tariffs from O2, Meteor and Vodafone.

3 Pay Monthly 400 seemed a good fit for me, as they had no roaming charges in the UK and other countries with a 3 network, and their per text message charge was the lowest around - 9c inc VAT. I also signed up my partner with 3, and we'll get free 3-3 calls to eachother. I wasn't too bothered about all the 3G stuff - video calling etc.

So far so good, we've had two bills from 3, and it seems to be right tariff for us. My partner's bill is quite a bit less than her corresponding Vodafone bill.

Now the downsides:
- network coverage can be iffy, where there's no 3G coverage you should still get text/voice coverage
- even with text/voice coverage maybe 1 in 5 calls just don't connect at all
- cant view your bill online (but you can view it on your phone apparently)
- their customer support is based in India, all very helpful and polite, but they had fun working out my northern accent 

But the biggest downside of all is that I can't send SMS texts to some international networks. Apparently 3 do not yet have network agreements in place with all networks. For example, I have friends in France with SFR (Vodafone) - I can't text them! They can text me, but I can't text them. 

Here's a list of the networks that 3 has the agreements with:
[broken link removed]

I have to say this was news to me - I naively assumed that in this day and age, you could SMS from any network to any network, but apparently not. 

Of course this was detailed in the T&Cs which I didn't bother reading before hand - duh! I guess they'll be adding more and more networks as time goes by, so I'm going to hang on in there.

Anyone else had any problems with 3?

Cheers


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## Artois (1 Nov 2007)

Hi

I found it next to impossible to get them to transfer my old phone number to my new 3 phone. For a while i had a new 3 number and had to wait days, ringing them twice daily to persuade them transfer my 086 number to 3.

Most of the media stuff is of little use on a daily basis however you can easily check your bill. The media stuff is nearly always available around Dublin.

The worst thing about 3 becomes apparent when your phone breaks. 3 sim cards do not work in any other  phone so when your phone breaks 3 will arrange to take and return your phone within 3days, only problem is generally they don't supply a replacement phone. No phone for 3-5 days is a real pain.

I have had contracts with both o2 and meteor and i would have to say 3 is way ahead in that its cheaper and you always have talk & text coverage. They are excellent if you wish to call your mates in the uk or wish to visit the uk as the calls cost the same.

I have not discovered the fact that you cannot text some networks but i'd imagine that this would be very frustrating.


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## mell61 (19 Nov 2007)

As someone interested in moving, can you tell me if 3 have the online free webtexts (I currently use the vodafone ones occasionally)?
As a SMS and talker only (don't need all the other bells and whistles), i'm  happy with the set up they are advertising, plus the cash back offer looks good (but i'll be nabbing the Eu50 not Eu100 as I won't commit to the higher rates on bill pay).


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## gipimann (19 Nov 2007)

mell61, if you're looking for online webtexts, O2 offer 250 free per month to any mobile in the world (unlike Vodafone which offer online texts to Irish mobiles only).

I switched from vodafone last year, and save a fortune on texts to UK mobile numbers!


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## Crunchie (19 Nov 2007)

mell61 said:


> can you tell me if 3 have the online free webtexts.



No, they don't.


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## RMCF (19 Nov 2007)

I appreciate that people tend to only post on sites like this when they have something bad to say, but can I just add my positive view of 3.

I was with various providers for years in NI, likes of O2 and Orange mainly.

I found them very expensive and eventually decided to switch to 3 about 6 months ago as they were offering excellent deals (£15 per month for life, with 75mins talk and 600 texts).

So far I have found their service excellent - equally as good as any other provider I have ever been with.

And their big bonus is that you are allowed to roam to RoI without incurring any roaming charges, so I can head to Dublin and still use my inclusive texts/mins.

Never have any problems with signal either.

And recently my other half got a 3 mobile broadband service - again far cheaper than any other. This was bought in NI yet she works in Dublin and is able to use it there all week as if it was in NI, becuase if you are on the 3 network they don't care and let you roam free. Could not imagine the other networks allowing this.

So I am sure there are plenty of other happy 3 users out there - don't be scared by all you read.


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## Glenbhoy (28 Nov 2007)

Yeah, I've found it excellent as well, but then I'm another border hopper too - 3G is quite good too, the only thing is I can't get the 3G going that often up north, still, highly recommend it.


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## Crunchie (28 Nov 2007)

I discovered today that it is currently not possible to call a Tesco Mobile (089) number from a 3 phone. 3 Customer Service say that they don't have an agreement with Tesco and couldn't give a date when they might. Tesco are aware of it but it is possible to call a 3 phone from a Tesco number. 

While this will probably affect only a tiny number of people I would have thought there would have been an obligation on the networks to allow users to communicate between them.

I'll ask Comreg


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## some1gr8 (18 Dec 2007)

i have 3 bill payphone from 2 years, no problem with the C.service or signals, very cheap as compared to O2, vodafone etc and no doggy HIDDEN cost, free msn messengers, news weather etc and download any new songs for only 1 euro to you mobile phone, and you can call customer service any time of the day as compare to other networks(only day time)

but its very hard to get 3 phone unlocked, use anyother simcards in 3 phones, use 3 simcards in non-3G phones etc (2G-3G network problem) and sometime once in two/three months you might not be able to make call for 5-10 mins(network problem),but it does not happen very often,


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## aircobra19 (18 Dec 2007)

Have ye tried Skype on 3?


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## Humpback (18 Dec 2007)

some1gr8 said:


> and no doggy HIDDEN cost,



Can you please elaborate on this? What costs are you referring to?


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## lfcfan (3 Jan 2008)

Just spent 20 mins on the phone trying to cancel my 3 contract. Even if I pay the cancellation charge I still have to wait a month before I can move my number. 3 are full of crap. My bills have been higher then ever since I've been with them, they have no online facility, no free online texts, they now charge for downloading premiership goals, you can't use a SIM free phone fully on their network, their customer services are brutal and to top it all off, they don't allow landline texts to get to your phone. The second I can, I'm off to Vodafone or o2.


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