Three (3) SIM Deals - Be Aware

[Alan de Enfield]

This thread :

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=67700&page=1

 

Has sort of lost its way a bit, and is possibly not totally relevant to what I want to say anyway.

 

On the 8th June my Son & Daughter-In-Law (on my recommendation) went into Three to buy a SIM only package, I had suggested the One-Plan at £20 per month. Their primary usage would be for tethering and very limited use for calls / texts.

 

They decided that as they did not need 2000 minutes a month they would save a few pounds and get the £15.90 "Ultimate Internet Sim" with 'all you can eat Data' and 600 minutes - when they returned home I asked if the Data was for tethering to be told "yes its unlimited, it says so in the contract"

 

To cut a long story ........

 

After all of the comments / observations about Three on the above thread I looked closely at the package they had purchased to find out it DID NOT include tethering, it included all the 'phone' could "eat"

 

After breaking down in tears about the huge bill they will have run up (downloading HD Netflix films at about 20-30 gig each) I got them to get off back to the shop.

 

Having checked on the website that you can make returns with no penalty up to 14 days (ie Tommorow)

 

They have just come back all smiles :

 

The contract has been cancelled (under the 14 day rule)

The new "One Plan" has been activated and backdated to the 8th June so any data they have used (loadsa Gigs I reckon) will be put down against their 'new contract'

 

So - to all the doubters out there

 

1) There is a company that responds to customers mistakes in a friendly, sympathetic & helpful way.

 

2) The "One-Plan Sim Only" (as of today) is till available with 2000 minutes, 5000 texts AND UNLIMITED DATA TETHERNG

[nb Innisfree]

This thread :

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=67700&page=1

 

Has sort of lost its way a bit, and is possibly not totally relevant to what I want to say anyway.

 

On the 8th June my Son & Daughter-In-Law (on my recommendation) went into Three to buy a SIM only package, I had suggested the One-Plan at £20 per month. Their primary usage would be for tethering and very limited use for calls / texts.

 

They decided that as they did not need 2000 minutes a month they would save a few pounds and get the £15.90 "Ultimate Internet Sim" with 'all you can eat Data' and 600 minutes - when they returned home I asked if the Data was for tethering to be told "yes its unlimited, it says so in the contract"

 

To cut a long story ........

 

After all of the comments / observations about Three on the above thread I looked closely at the package they had purchased to find out it DID NOT include tethering, it included all the 'phone' could "eat"

 

After breaking down in tears about the huge bill they will have run up (downloading HD Netflix films at about 20-30 gig each) I got them to get off back to the shop.

 

Having checked on the website that you can make returns with no penalty up to 14 days (ie Tommorow)

 

They have just come back all smiles :

 

The contract has been cancelled (under the 14 day rule)

The new "One Plan" has been activated and backdated to the 8th June so any data they have used (loadsa Gigs I reckon) will be put down against their 'new contract'

 

So - to all the doubters out there

 

1) There is a company that responds to customers mistakes in a friendly, sympathetic & helpful way.

 

2) The "One-Plan Sim Only" (as of today) is till available with 2000 minutes, 5000 texts AND UNLIMITED DATA TETHERNG

Well that's not how I read it, it says in there T&C's that....

 

Only joking.

[Nickhlx]

Good Info there Alan ! No doubt will save a few some heartache !

 

 

Nick

[john6767]

Again, thinks for the info Alan.

 

What I can't immediately see though is logic as to why Three have chosen to offer the unlimited tethering on sim only but not on a contract phone, but as least we know that is actually the case as it stands today.

[Alan de Enfield]

Again, thinks for the info Alan.

 

What I can't immediately see though is logic as to why Three have chosen to offer the unlimited tethering on sim only but not on a contract phone, but as least we know that is actually the case as it stands today.

 

To me the whole package is incomprehensible - offering 'lower content,' packages for more money for example, but as I said before - "I'm OK Jack !!!"

[Grace and Favour]

Well done Alan, both for your guidance to offspring, a successful conclusion to their situation, and for posting the results (and link) here.

 

And just to reinforce the critical point - It's the One Plan sim only annual contract that gives all one can eat data (and tethering)

[Richard10002]

Well done Alan, both for your guidance to offspring, a successful conclusion to their situation, and for posting the results (and link) here.

 

And just to reinforce the critical point - It's the One Plan sim only annual contract that gives all one can eat data (and tethering)

And NOT The One Plan monthly contract, (which costs £23 per month).

 

Mobile phones involve confusion pricing at its worst

[Ally]

Sorry,confused....is the sim only/all you can eat, a sim that can be used in a dongle, or only in a phone? Our 3 store said you can't use it in a dongle (which is what we want}

Edited June 21, 2014 by Ally

[Nickhlx]

Does good service on 3 cellphones mean good service on data - i.e. do they use the same carriers for phone and data..

 

I have a particular need at a possible new home location which has bad landline broadband, (1 MB) and was considering using the annual package and tethering, but only if I can "test" the service first with a cellphone on 3..

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

[john6767]

Sorry,confused....is the sim only/all you can eat, a sim that can be used in a dongle, or only in a phone? Our 3 store said you can't use it in a dongle (which is what we want}

In a phone.

 

Does good service on 3 cellphones mean good service on data - i.e. do they use the same carriers for phone and data..

 

I have a particular need at a possible new home location which has bad landline broadband, (1 MB) and was considering using the annual package and tethering, but only if I can "test" the service first with a cellphone on 3..

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

I always find that the signal is better on the dongle than phone, I use a dongle as a back up when I can't get internet on my phone. Both on Three. So if the internet is good on a phone on Three, I would say it would generally be better on a dongle.

[nb Innisfree]

Does good service on 3 cellphones mean good service on data - i.e. do they use the same carriers for phone and data..

 

I have a particular need at a possible new home location which has bad landline broadband, (1 MB) and was considering using the annual package and tethering, but only if I can "test" the service first with a cellphone on 3..

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

It's been my experience that we get more reliable reception on our mifi data only sim than on our 3 sim in our independently purchased smartphones (Galaxy Note and iphone 3gs)

 

My guess is because phone sims are throttled back more than data only sims. Be interesting to see if the latest all you can eat sims are throttled much.

[Guest]

Again, thinks for the info Alan.

 

What I can't immediately see though is logic as to why Three have chosen to offer the unlimited tethering on sim only but not on a contract phone, but as least we know that is actually the case as it stands today.

When this came up before I asked a similar question and the suggestion was that they heavily subside the cost of the phones so are already being 'generous' and don't want to be doubly generous by providing you with a subsidised phone and let you tether with it aswell.

 

How true that is I don't know.

[john6767]

When this came up before I asked a similar question and the suggestion was that they heavily subside the cost of the phones so are already being 'generous' and don't want to be doubly generous by providing you with a subsidised phone and let you tether with it aswell.

 

How true that is I don't know.

I don't think that is true with Apple devices, but perhaps with Android, but then you can buy some very cheap Android phones out there.

 

For example

 

iPhone 5c 16G on nearest new plan to One Plan £39pm + £20 up front, = £956 over 2 years

 

SIM only One Plan 12 month contract £20pm = £480 over 2 years

 

therefore you have paid £476 for the phone if you have the contract with the phone.

 

Apple store for the same phone unlocked is £469

 

So there is no subsidy, in fact you pay £7 more from Three if you go for those packages, if you went for a lower package with less call at £36 per month you would save £65 by having a contract phone. In both cases you would have got a contact that does not have unlimited tethering.

 

So as of today I don't think the phone subsidy argument is true to any great extent, and the sim only plus buy the phone works best if you want internet usage.

[Alan de Enfield]

The One-Plan Sim Only

 

I have relatively low expectations / requirements speed-wise as all I use the internet for is Forums. ebaying, googling stuff etc, I dont down load or watch films or have any huge usage. Monthly usage over the last 7 months is just over 20 gig per month.

 

Living in a very bad area for land-line broadband I have never failed to get a faster speed on the boat than I could at home (before I cancelled the land line)

 

The only place I have had a "red x" (signifying no connection) was on the pontoon at Gunthorpe (and there was no TV signal either). Whenever I've had a phone signal (even half-a-bar) I've had broadband connetion.

 

At home now and getting just over 4Mb/sec when on the land-line we got 1mb/s tops.