[eTheRidge]

Hi guys!
First I'm new here so "Hi'ya".

Anyway back to business...

I used to be on Three and left to Vodafone, however my wife has been with Three for about the last 2 years.

I left Three about 1 year or more ago because of calls dropping and when people tried to call me it would go straight to voicemail.

However I have noticed the overall quality of Three vastly improve over the last 6 months and have just gone back to them.

I can say that the service is good and the only minor gripe I have is the Indian call centre.

I have noticed a lot of bad words about Three in this forum but surely there must be some points you guys like about them or you would have left for other networks?

[Ben]

Hello, welcome to Talk3G!

Yes, Three have improved the quality of their service leaps and bounds, though areas still exist that are technically poor.

However, the majority of ill-will still seems to concern the Customer Services operation. For those who don't have to call the experience can pretty rosey, but for those who have a problem which Three is then unable to rectify it can quickly become a nightmare.

But it's certainly not all doom and gloom - I'm sure that after venting their frustrations here, Three users feel much calmer ;)

Good to have you around, keep us updated on how your renewed experience progresses!

[Hands0n]

Hi eTheRidge - Welcome to Talk3G and for raising such an interesting first posting.

Firstly let me say that while there is still a lot of flak being aimed at Three (not only here but in any forum you care to visit) it has to be accepted by the majority [I would hope] that they have vastly improved from their early days. Days that were entirely predictable to anyone who has been through this before.

The gripe that you mention has persisted to this day, and is the major source of frustration for any of 3's Customers who are driven to frustration and sheer exhasperation by the antics of 3's Customer Services who are, in evidence, anything but! It is to 3's utter shame that they have done little to nothing to address the shambles that is their India-based Customer Services. Things will inevitably go wrong, it is how any mobile operator's Customer Services handles the issue that is the means by which that company is judged as value or worthless. 3's CS is continuing [to this day] to bring them way too much bad feeling - and the sooner they realise that the better. It is costing them on their bottom line!!

Technologically 3 led the way into 3G in the UK - and the others have followed as surely as they would for such an outlay of their licences. But the others did not have to get up and running a new and untested [on such scale] national 3G network. And so 3 had to deal with all the issues and troubles associated with such a logistical and practical nightmare (anyone who has worked on building any kind of national or international network [of any kind] will understand completetly).

They made all the mistakes that everyone else has and will in the future make. They also resolved the issues as quickly as anyone could reasonable ask of such a mamouth task. In the three years they did well to the point where [it is my experience] they have a rather solid 3G offering in place, with the fall back to the O2 2G network when appropriate. In a nutshell, 3 built the premier UK 3G network - will the other operators meet and/or exceed 3's standard? Who knows, it probably will not matter if or when that happens - we'll just have five networks to choose from, and that cannot be bad from a Customer point of view.

I think that you'll find that overall there is a general satisfaction with 3 as a technology deliverer, as a content provider in many cases, and as a catalyst for much of the downward movement of tariff pricing and bundling. The others have followed. And I hope that many of the views on 3 in Talk3G are balanced between the extremes of excellence and downright direness. Because it is in between that balance that you'll find the relatively happy 3 users who maintain their subscriptions with them (I am one, for example) while, maybe, holding contracts with one or more other operators for sound reasons. Mine, for example, is that 3 do not have sufficient International coverage for me, so Vodafone (who do) get part of my business.

In any debate about 3 or any of the others there will always be some extremes of opinion or actuality - some contributors are more vocal than others :) But on balance, I do hope that it is apparent that this is merely a reflection of how any mobile operator cannot please all of the people all of the time (oh how they wish!).

So what handset did you choose to go back to 3 with? And are you finding your renewed aquaintance with them fulfilling your expectations? Me? I'm waiting for 3 to get the N80 out and I'll be handing them another 18 month contract, if they insist!

[3g-g]

I think what Three have done for the UK market has to be applauded. They turned up and shook things up a bit, it made the other 4 take note that they couldn't just sit back and get all comfy, as they had been getting. I'd like to see 3 come up with something new and inovative again, at the moment T-Mob are the network of choice, IMO, for value currently. What Three have to their advantage is being new, I imagine that their whole backhaul is brand spanking new, and probably running nowhere near capacity. They've now dipped their toes into the big data swimming pool with the "interweb additions" they launched a few months ago... and I think it'll be them that offer the 1st standard set price data price plan for all you can consume, well maybe limited to 20Gig or something, but it'll be a flat £25 or similar.

Three's UMTS network is a good network, it's a shame that they've got to fall back onto a GSM operator still, however, to get to where they are now and in only 3 years must of involved a hell of a lot of work. If you live, work and socialise in areas that 3 serve well then I don't think you'd ever have a problem with them. The only downfall seems to be the CS, maybe that'll change in the future, who knows!

[3GScottishUser]

Some interesting comments and in the fast paced market that is mobile phone networks there can be no place for sentimentality.

3 launched over 3 years ago promising a leap forward in technology with huge customer benefits. Videocalling, Video Downloads, Music on the move, E-mail etc etc. They dumped that approach after just 3 months when the high spenders they initially targetted refused to buy the horrible early NEC and Motorola handsets on offer.

They repositioned themselves and became the 'cheap' voice and text network. That was OK but the new technology just did'nt deliver the basic services that mobile consumers now take for granted and that sub-standard relibility has been hammered on Watchdog and by the consumer press.

In 2005 3 woke up to the fact that thy could not sell or float the business on the back of cheap voice and texts alone and introduced bundled video tarriffs. Massive dealer commissions translated into consumer incentives with 1/2 price line rental in abundance and it was (and is still) possible to get a free phone on a 12 month contract with inclusive calls and texts for free!! Of course the internal figures writeoff cashbacks as dealer subsidies over many years and the inclusive video receipts (which is what they need to convince anyone to invest) become instant revenue statistics. Fine as long as the deals are good value and provide what customers really want.....or until others decide to offer better options.

I wont be going back to 3 as I have had my fill of their 'customer experience'. I have moved on primarily to get decent call reliability and some professional customer support and I am now convinced that can only be achived on an integrated network (GSM/UMTS). I doubt is that factor will change until 3 and the rest complete UMTS rollout to the same coverage levels as GSM and that will be up to 10 years off.

So what is the current market situation? 3 have about 1.7 million contract customers and about 1.5 million on pre-pay. Not bad for 36 months but I suspect they have been given a pretty free reign by the rest as they knew the problems with the technology problems would be to their advantage and did'nt need to put the boot in. Now with 5% of the market 3 are 'fair game' and MVNO's are now cheaper for pre-pay and T-Mobile, Vodafone and 02 have taken the gloves off on contracts. T-Mobile and 02 offer twice as many inclusive contract minutes for £35 a month than 3 do now and their deals are equally tempting. 3 force customers to buy content in their most prominent packages and that is now making them more expensive. To get a free Nokia 6280 you have to commit to a VTT700 contact on 3 at £35 a month whereas you can get the same phone from Vodafone now on a £25 a month contract with STC and other benefits.

Did 3 really shake up the market in the UK? Maybe, but the cost of mobiles and services have been falling in other countries with fewer networks. I suspect even if they had not appeared we would still be enjoying cheaper calls etc simply because we have 4 other multinationals pitching for our business.

Where to now for 3? Did the ex 3 Marketing guru Gareth Jones see what was coming and jump at the right time? T-Mobile investing 1.5 billion over 18 months in the UK has to be really bad news for 3 and the strength of 02 and Vodafone (utterly unblemished by 3's arrival) has to be a consideration. France Telecom may have got things less than right as of late in terms of Orange but I'm sure they will bounce back with a vengence when they rebrand Wanadoo and get involved in fixed line convergence.. The main consideration for 3 in the UK must be when will they be able to sell their product on a par with the rest and in so doing come out with something to show for all the effort? That question must haunt 3 executives in the UK and Hong Kong daily as the cost of retention and acquisition spirals due to increasing competition. Slight of hand like 'WePay' where they tried to take the focus off increased calling costs by providing inbound call bonuses will only dupe folks for a short time and the bundling of contract video services could now be making 3 a poorer proposition than their compeditors.

What will 3 be remembered for? Promising too much too soon? Poor products, poor network, poor reliability. The walled garden approach? Offshore customer service,Restrictive pre-pay schemes and glued in SIM's. Video calling and video downloads, Music and entertainment, pioneering video mailboxes and customer video upload fun stuff. I'm sure it'll be a mix of all of the above and I'm also sure that in 12 to 18 months we will be writing about 3 UK in the past tense.

[eTheRidge]

Hi - thanks for the intresting replys.

Umm yes I totaly arrgree with you regarding the customer services side.
I wonder if I register as a business I get access to a UK call centre, I notice there is a 9 to 5 business support number.

I've gone with the Nokia 6280.


On another note what I would really like to see hear in the UK is PoC (Push to talk) services, Orange are starting to offer this on their business packages but at a VERY high cost.

Anyway I hope you all have a good weekend.

Jase.

[crowfield99]

You can have Push to Talk on a normal Contract or PAYG as long as you have the right phone. I can use it on my N70 - only problem is I have friends, but they dont have Push to Talk on phones and some are not on Orange.

[eTheRidge]

Hi.

WOW, how is this billed? per push (if you catch my drift) or does it come out of your data use?

J

[crowfield99]

Per push - to what I remember its 20p a go.