Apple Watch pairing error

[JonathanB]

Hi everyone,

We've moved everything relating to Apple Watch pairing issues to this new conversation and will be providing all future updates as edits to this post, so that you won't need to go searching through the comments for these.

I appreciate these pairing errors must be very frustrating, especially for those of you that have been running into issues for several weeks now. Technical specialists are continuing to look into this, however based on what they've seen so far, this does not seem to be one overall fault that we can apply a blanket fix to.

With this in mind, please make sure you have followed the advice on the private message we've sent to each of you, this will ensure that your individual case has been escalated. We've originally sent these messages out a couple of weeks ago, so I'll double check that everyone that has commented has received these. You can find your community messages by clicking on your avatar in the top right of any page, then on "Messages".

Finally, please ensure you are following the Community House Rules when posting on the community, particularly points 8 and 13.

The private message mentioned above will put you in touch with a team that you can raise a complaint with should you wish to do so, any comments that share details of individual Three employees will be removed from the community.

JonathanB

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**Update 26/10/2022**

Hi everyone,

We really appreciate your patience whilst we've been working on this issue. I can't imagine how frustrating it is to not be able to take full advantage of your Apple watches.

As I mentioned last week above, the errors do not seem to be one overall fault that can be fixed immediately for everyone. We do need a specialist team to do some work in the background on your accounts. With this in mind, I'd advise the following:

• Make sure you've taken any action we've recommended on private messages to your community account. If you're experiencing these issues and we don't already know, please reply on this post so we can reach out.
• Do not repeatedly attempt unpairing and pairing, this may be interfering with the work done in the background. Please wait for a Three representative to contact you and advise before you unpair and pair again.

We've seen some great progress towards getting this sorted in the last few days, I'm hopeful that it won't be too much longer till this issue is fully resolved for everyone.

JonathanB

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**Update 17/11/2022**

 Hi everyone,

We’re really sorry that there’s been a considerable delay between updates on the errors with Apple watch pairing. As we’ve mentioned previously there is more than one error involved and specialist teams are working hard to address the root causes of these.

I assure you that all comments about this issue are read, and all feedback given is being escalated on a daily basis.

Whilst we’re working on this, we’d be grateful if you can do the following:

• If you’re new to this thread, please either private message me, or add a reply, and I’ll direct you to a team that can help further.
• If I’ve already sent you this information, please ensure you have spoken to that team.
• Please only unpair and re-pair your watch if directed to by one of our support teams as part of the troubleshooting and investigation of your issue.

I’ll provide another update soon.

Thanks,
JonathanB

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**Update 02/12/2022**

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your continued patience. We’ve seen some great progress towards resolving these issues since the last update. As I’ve mentioned previously there is more than one error involved, and for many of you, your bill cycle will also affect when you can successfully re-pair the service.

Here’s some general steps that should help with common scenarios we’re seeing.

• Ensure that you’ve registered for My3, without a registered online account and password set, the pairing will fail.
• There are some instances where special characters at the start of My3 passwords have resulted in an error. We recommend that you have a strong password that is a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters but avoid beginning the password with characters like /!”£$|\. My3 supports these, but it seems to be causing an issue when this info is passed onto the smartwatch pairing system.
• If you’ve changed your priceplan, upgraded, or are instructed to wait for your bill cycle to complete, you should wait till the day after your new bill cycle starts to attempt pairing. So for example, if your allowances refresh on the 1st, wait till the 2nd.
• Although individual smartwatches can be unpaired from your account, cancelling or removing the add on completely will delay being able to reinstate the service till the following bill cycle.
• As mentioned before, don’t repeatedly unpair and re-pair, the failed requests may cause further issues on your account that delay this being solved.
• I’m continuing to regularly check for anyone new on the thread, just send a reply or private message me, and I’ll link you in with a support team that can help get your specific error looked into and make sure you get the best advice.

Thanks,
JonathanB

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**Update 11/01/2023**

Hi Everyone,

As well as the steps on the last update, we're finding it helps to clear your temporary data from your iPhone before attempting pairing.

You can do this in Settings, Safari, Clear History & Website Data.

In case anyone is having trouble finding their private messages, click on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages". If you've posted on this thread, then you should have a message waiting from me with a link to a support team that will help.

Thanks,
JonathanB

[JonathanB]

Hi @DJG,

Thanks for updating everyone on how this is progressing. That's really disappointing to hear about your experience with the technical team, and I appreciate the message received isn't helpful, as it seemed to indicate that the issue was fixed, when it hasn't been yet.

I've passed on feedback about your experience on the calls, and with the text and email  received. Please let us know how you get on when you receive any further updates.

Thanks,
JonathanB

[DJG]

Got a text a 3:40 in the morning notifying me that I'm starting a new billing cycle.

Still no contact from any of the tech team, still having the exact same problem (E53305), still being charged for a service that I'm not receiving.

[MRG]

I am in the same position. I upgraded my three account and was not advised that this would disable the watch addin. I had no choice but to wait until my next billing cycle (3 weeks away and then retry as suggested and get the following unhelpful error.

I have spent hours on the phone to three having to re-explain the problem time and time again only to find from this forum that it is a known problem and I am not alone.

I have now been told I have to wait up to 7 days to speak to a specialist but I cannot just cancel the contract.

This really is an appalling service and nobody seems to care.

I have tried all of the suggestions on this forum and of course, none of them actually fix the problem.

Three are in danger of losing another long-term customer over this.

[avaughan78]

I’m having exactly the same frustrating problems. Online chat is next to useless. Can anyone help?

i replaced my Apple Watch and the replacement could not activate mobile data service. One of the Three reps removed the add on middle of March and now I’m stuck with “There’s a problem”.

 Jonathan seems to be able to move this on somehow? Has anyone managed to get out of this loop??

 Best,

Andy

[JonathanB]

Hi Andy,

I've sent a reply on your private message now, to direct you to more help with getting this sorted out.

You can find your messages by clicking on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages".

JonathanB

[JonathanB]

Hi MRG,

I'm sorry to hear that you've been facing these issues pairing since your recent upgrade.

I've sent you a private message that will direct you to more help, so we can ensure this is fixed for you. You can find your messages by clicking on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages".

JonathanB

[shneeble]

Hi,

Recently switched from PAYG to a 24M contract for the sole reason of being able to use my new Apple watch.

Incredibly frustrated that when I try to pair the watch through the Watch app I get met with a Three 'System Error'.

I can login correctly and it shows I have activated the Smartwatch £7 add on - but fails at the last step, every time.

Nobody in-store knows how to resolve it, and neither do the Customer service phoneline employees - totally unacceptable, especially since I was coaxed onto the plan by the member of store staff with absloutely no indication that this problem has been going on for months and seemingly affects every single user who has tried to do the same.....!

Please can you provide a solution to this. I am still in my cool off period and will have no hesitation in cancelling my contract and walking away if this cannot be resolved ASAP - I have been a three customer for over 10 years and dont want to change necessarily, but this is too much!

[Gary]

Cancel contact as nothing about this problem will resolve soon as three has no clue they just want your money and don’t care about customers with this problem 

so please cancel if you can and go to O2 as they have no problem with the cellular pairing 

[JonathanB]

Hi @shneeble,

I've sent you a private message to direct you to more help with this. You can find your messages by clicking on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages".

Thanks,
JonathanB

[Tom]

Hi Johnathan, really hoping you can help me. I’ve not been able to setup cellular on my Apple Watch Ultra. I just get an error message saying there has been an error with a three logo. No one on chat at my3 has been able to help. They just get me to unpair and pair again.