Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen data mobile pairing with iPhone 13 Pro on Three Mobile,£16,120GB 5G pay month

[mrhaihoang]

I bought a new Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen (2024) watch, GPS/Celluar.  I set the watch up and it's paired to my iPhone 13 Pro.  When I went to 'Setup Mobile Service, Setup Mobile Service' in the Watch App on my iPhone yesterday, it said 'Activating for 8 hours'.  I then restarted both devices, received the same message last night. 

Today, I then un-paired the devices, re-paired and now receive this message today:

'There's a problem

'Please note that you can't progress to a new subscription as you already have n existing one which is still in progress.

I called Three support, spoke to on person for an hour, unpairing, re-pairing, checking the My Three app, the Watch app on my iPhone 13 Pro.  Spoke to another person from Support who asked me to 'Reset', 'Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings', then restart both devices, re-pair, receive same message when trying to 'Setup Mobile Service'.  They tell me they don't see anything on their end, no pairing tariff, etc.  All I am asked to do is wait and call back if the problem persists? 

Can anyone please help?

[mrhaihoang]

UPDATE: I received my EE SIM Card last week, scheduled the porting for Wed 18 December.  Three SIM stopped working, popped in the EE SIM, tested and the port on my number was successful.

I then called EE, asked them to update my account with new tariff. They weee able to do this within 5 minutes and tested logging into my EE account via the app and web browser.

I then activated mobile data pairing between my EE Mobile network iPhone 13 Pro and Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen. I received an error and was asked to call EE to resolve.

I called EE, spent roughly an hour on the phone. The support did some work on the backend, called me back, we spent another 15 minutes on the phone, I re-activated mobile data pairing and my Apple Watch activated in 5 minutes. That is the result I was expecting from Three, wasted countless hours and days of my life on and that EE sorted in 1.25 hours! 

[mrhaihoang]

Hello @PeteG 

Thank you for the response and suggestions.  I contacted the Support team several times and provided  both @JonathanB and your suggestions.  Everything I mentioned and suggested went in one ear and out the other.

My Case was escalated on 04 December 2024.  I asked to wait 7 days, a member of the 'expert' team would contact me to inform me when the issue was resolved.  7 days passed, I called Three and was told the escalated 'expert' team have no clue what the issue is and they were no closer to resolving the issue.

I submitted a complaint, asked to cancel my Three account due to incompetency, horrid service and support, and deplorable Comms on every level.

I received a PAC Code and have signed up with a provider who I used previously and provided excellent service, support, and comms.  I truly regret providing Three an opportunity for my business and time.

Thank you both for your advice and suggestions.  I hope you are able to help the numerous others out there that need help.

[JonathanB]

Hi @mrhaihoang,

Sorry to hear you're having trouble pairing up your watch. Is this a new phone and SIM you've taken with Three at the same time as the watch, or are you pairing the watch to an existing Three plan? It sounds like the smartwatch pairing service was removed from the account completely.

Customer services may be able to confirm this for certain as they'll be able to access the account, but it sounds like you may need to wait till your next bill cycle to set up cellular pairing if the pairing add on has been cancelled.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[mrhaihoang]

Hello JonathanB

Thank you for the Reply.  This is my first smart watch, bought brand new, from Very.co.uk.  I have an iPhone 13 Pro that's on a pay monthly £16 tariff.  I wanted to pair the new Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen to my exiting iPhone 13 Pro on my Three pay monthly tariff.

I was quite disappointed with the Three Support individuals, who were all clueless, read from scripts, and tried to pass the hot potato.  Several support technicians told me the issue was with Apple, the mobile may second hand and used, therefore likely had other tariff activations on it.  

I was told told to power off/on both devices and it would work in an hour.  I was then  told to power on/off both devices, wait for 24 hours and somehow it would magically work.  When I informed the support technician that it was 27 hours after I had initially tried to activate the mobile data, the support technician then let me know that I would need to speak with Apple or the third party vendor who I purchased the Apple Watch from (Very.co.uk).

I truly regret switching from EE to Three.  Whenever I spoke to EE, I was able to speak with Call Centres in the UK.  They were all helpful, knowledgeable, honest and upfront.

My next bill cycle was 04 December.  Yesterday, the day after my bill cycle started, I tried to activate Mobile Data again and received the following message, with the Three logo and Three heading:

There

There's a problem

E53304 - Smartwatch pairing cannot be activated - Chat to one of our team :-

From your Three phone 333.  From any other phone 0333 338 1001'

Apparently my issue is now being investigated by the Three Tech Team, which will take 7 days.

[mrhaihoang]

I also reset my My There password to only include lower and uppercase letters, numbers and no symbols or special characters.

[PeteG]

The error message you have received is normally indicating that there is something else happening on the account, preventing the request from going through. This could either be another request such as an upgrade or product removal, or it could be the pairing request but in a stuck state. 

If you could request that the support team check the account for any stuck requests or orders, and remove if needed, that should allow you to pair the watch. If the issue is that the pairing request is stuck, they can remove that too, however you would not be able to activate pairing again until 1 day after the next billing cycle. 

Pete. 

[mrhaihoang]

Hello JonathanB

Thank you for the Reply.  This is my first smart watch, bought brand new, from Very.co.uk.  I have an iPhone 13 Pro that's on a pay monthly £16 tariff.  I wanted to pair the new Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen to my exiting iPhone 13 Pro on my Three pay monthly tariff.

I was quite disappointed with the Three Support individuals, who were all clueless, read from scripts, and tried to pass the hot potato.  Several support technicians told me the issue was with Apple, the mobile may second hand and used, therefore likely had other tariff activations on it.  

I was told told to power off/on both devices and it would work in an hour.  I was then  told to power on/off both devices, wait for 24 hours and somehow it would magically work.  When I informed the support technician that it was 27 hours after I had initially tried to activate the mobile data, the support technician then let me know that I would need to speak with Apple or the third party vendor who I purchased the Apple Watch from (Very.co.uk).

I truly regret switching from EE to Three.  Whenever I spoke to EE, I was able to speak with Call Centres in the UK and not based in India.  They were all helpful, knowledgeable and honest.

My next bill cycle was 04 December.  Yesterday, the day after my bill cycle started, I tried to activate Mobile Data again and received the following message, with the Three logo and Three heading:

There

There's a problem

E53304 - Smartwatch pairing cannot be activated - Chat to one of our team :-

From your Three phone 333.  From any other phone 0333 338 1001'

Apparently my issue is now being investigated by the Three Tech Team, which will take 7 days.

If they are unable to resolve the issue I am switching back to EE and recommend that others do the same.