Hands0n
23rd April 2006, 10:39 PM
Tomorrow, Monday 24 April 2006, I port away from 3 to T-Mobile with my new Flext 35 + Web N Walk (http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher?nmid2=ctl_pas_pp_details&nmid=pas_pp_plan_fl_paym_mixit_details&menuid=ctl_pas_pp_change_plan&ppid=923&pf=Flext+%2B+web%27n%27walk+plans) (unlimited surfing and email) and 25% discount for life [of the contract that is]. This provides, for £31.88, £180 worth of allowance to be used up at T-Mobile's prevailing Flext tariff which equates to 1,800 SMS or 900 Voice minutes - and anything in between the two. MMS is included in the mix, but Videocall is not (shame!).
My expiring 3 contract is a Talk & Text 600 (500 mins voice + 100 SMS) @ £30 with a Add Video Value @ £5 = total monthly cost £35. I have got on reasonably well with that particular tariff but occasionally have gone over my SMS and Voice minutes with the resultant heamorraging of money on 3's standard rate call charges!
The trade off is that I am not getting "unlimited" content downloads with T-Mobile but I am not getting any kind of "unlimited" Internet access with 3. I'd rather the Internet access than goofy content which I hardly ever used anyway. I'll miss the included 30 mins of Videocall (part of the Add Video Value pack) but then I get 50 mins on Vodafone anyway as part of my basic contract with them! So all in all, I see it very much as an improved level of service to me rather than an actual loss of any kind.
I don't know what I'll do with the wholesome £3.12 saving I'll be making on the difference between the contract prices :) It would have been significant had I not taken up Web N Walk - but that is one of the prime reasons I am switching to T-Mobile.
So what has life with 3 been like so far?
I'm not leaving 3 because I am in any way mad at them - I've been there, done that, got the scars from the Day-One adventure I had with them at their launch. Overall, 3 and their network service has simply got better and works for me almost 100%. There is nothing more I can ask at a practical or technical level. I'll not spoil things by giving my well-known opinion on 3's Customer Services. Lets save that for another time. They still have the potential to mess things up for me before we [completely] go our separate ways.
The 15-months that I have been on contract with 3 have been highly successful overall. I have been able to use the service for my business, something that I would have considered unthinkable prior to getting my feet wet with 3 for the second time. I spent the first five months evaluating the service as a personal calls only before giving out the number for business (it is a nice number with a distinctive pattern to it - hence my porting it, although it is not Gold). Only when I was truly satisfied that 3 could deliver a credible level of service did I move business over to it. I have not been disappointed or let down.
I like 3's portal, particularly My3 - the latter very much. My3 is an act to follow by the others - none of whom, in my opinion, come even close at the moment. Self Care is the future which really ought to be here right now! I can take or leave much of 3's content though - I am not a content person generally. But there is some good stuff on 3's portal including the [now] free News!
Life with 3 has, thus, been acceptably good. But then I have not suffered any technical, administration or other difficulties that have required my liaising with 3's Customer Services. Prior experience of my own, and reading reports of others, would suggest that such contact tends to lead to the ruination of the relationship between Customer and 3. And so, I am leaving them on good terms - and they say they like me also as I have been a reliable bill payer. Duh! That is surely what Direct Debit is all about n'est pas?
To ensure a successfull closure between this particular Customer and the 3 company they have a relatively simple series of steps to perform. These would be to
Successfully allow the port to happen tomorrow
Send me an accurate final bill
Take the correct amount of money owed using Direct Debit
Close the account down cleanly and not generate any further bills (which would ultimately end up in a bun fight between me, 3 and their debt collection agent).
Can they do this? We'll find out over the next 60 - 90 days! Because if they can, then the door is wide open to me returning to 3 at a future date. If they cannot ........ well .......... you catch my drift.
Fingers crossed it is then :D
My expiring 3 contract is a Talk & Text 600 (500 mins voice + 100 SMS) @ £30 with a Add Video Value @ £5 = total monthly cost £35. I have got on reasonably well with that particular tariff but occasionally have gone over my SMS and Voice minutes with the resultant heamorraging of money on 3's standard rate call charges!
The trade off is that I am not getting "unlimited" content downloads with T-Mobile but I am not getting any kind of "unlimited" Internet access with 3. I'd rather the Internet access than goofy content which I hardly ever used anyway. I'll miss the included 30 mins of Videocall (part of the Add Video Value pack) but then I get 50 mins on Vodafone anyway as part of my basic contract with them! So all in all, I see it very much as an improved level of service to me rather than an actual loss of any kind.
I don't know what I'll do with the wholesome £3.12 saving I'll be making on the difference between the contract prices :) It would have been significant had I not taken up Web N Walk - but that is one of the prime reasons I am switching to T-Mobile.
So what has life with 3 been like so far?
I'm not leaving 3 because I am in any way mad at them - I've been there, done that, got the scars from the Day-One adventure I had with them at their launch. Overall, 3 and their network service has simply got better and works for me almost 100%. There is nothing more I can ask at a practical or technical level. I'll not spoil things by giving my well-known opinion on 3's Customer Services. Lets save that for another time. They still have the potential to mess things up for me before we [completely] go our separate ways.
The 15-months that I have been on contract with 3 have been highly successful overall. I have been able to use the service for my business, something that I would have considered unthinkable prior to getting my feet wet with 3 for the second time. I spent the first five months evaluating the service as a personal calls only before giving out the number for business (it is a nice number with a distinctive pattern to it - hence my porting it, although it is not Gold). Only when I was truly satisfied that 3 could deliver a credible level of service did I move business over to it. I have not been disappointed or let down.
I like 3's portal, particularly My3 - the latter very much. My3 is an act to follow by the others - none of whom, in my opinion, come even close at the moment. Self Care is the future which really ought to be here right now! I can take or leave much of 3's content though - I am not a content person generally. But there is some good stuff on 3's portal including the [now] free News!
Life with 3 has, thus, been acceptably good. But then I have not suffered any technical, administration or other difficulties that have required my liaising with 3's Customer Services. Prior experience of my own, and reading reports of others, would suggest that such contact tends to lead to the ruination of the relationship between Customer and 3. And so, I am leaving them on good terms - and they say they like me also as I have been a reliable bill payer. Duh! That is surely what Direct Debit is all about n'est pas?
To ensure a successfull closure between this particular Customer and the 3 company they have a relatively simple series of steps to perform. These would be to
Successfully allow the port to happen tomorrow
Send me an accurate final bill
Take the correct amount of money owed using Direct Debit
Close the account down cleanly and not generate any further bills (which would ultimately end up in a bun fight between me, 3 and their debt collection agent).
Can they do this? We'll find out over the next 60 - 90 days! Because if they can, then the door is wide open to me returning to 3 at a future date. If they cannot ........ well .......... you catch my drift.
Fingers crossed it is then :D