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

[welsh_girl]

I bought a second hand  Apple watch for my daughter last year, paid for a pairing plan but it never worked. I just assumed it was too old  a watch. So recently bought a new watch Couldn't get it to pair, rang  up Three who said to do an online chat to get it resolved, - waste of an hour, as they weren't answering the questions I was asking and were working from a script it seemed, although they said they would cancel the plan and I should start again. Didn't work.  Tried going into a three shop - who couldn't help. Just tried doing it now and just got the E53305 error when clicking on set up mobile plan.  Just did a google to see if there's a solution and got directed to this chat of 56 pages! Has anyone managed to get their phone to pair! Thinking of just giving up and moving provider!

Can you help please @JonathanB ?

Not sure how so many people are being billed for a service that apparently can't be provided. 

[welsh_girl]

Hello

No response from @JonathanB .  I see @JohnD  is also sending DMs with potential solutions. Could you advise please John?

Thanks

[JonathanB]

Hi @welsh_girl,

Sorry I've missed your original post about this. I'll PM you now to get you in touch with some more help with getting the error escalated.

To view your private messages on the community, click on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages".

Thanks,
Jonathan

[AyoobL]

Hi I recently upgraded and I am unable to pair the plan to the watch, I have spent the best part of 3 days and a good few hours speaking to every tech support in 3, who pass me to pillar to post, eventually was told go to Apple !!!! !!!!

[JonathanB]

Hi @AyoobL,

This sounds really frustrating, I'll do my best to help.

With the "There's a problem error" this usually relates to issues with your My3 syncing up.

I'd check to make sure that you can access My3, and if you've recently received notice about a system update, make sure you've re-registered for My3 after we've completed this for you.

Special characters in some user's passwords have been associated with this error too, so you may find that changing the password, and swapping out any special characters, as well as making sure not to begin the password with a special character will help with this one.

You should also try clearing your Safari data in Settings, Safari, Clear History and Website Data.

If you've recently upgraded then you also need to wait till your next bill cycle has started before pairing. If you've tried all that and still aren't having any success with pairing please let me know.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Sonny]

When I try to activate the esim on ny Apple Watch it’s says “there’s a problem system error” I’ve tried to contact customer support but they do not help in anyway. 

[JonathanB]

Hi @Sonny,

With the "There's a problem error" this usually relates to issues with your My3 syncing up.

I'd check to make sure that you can access My3, and if you've recently received notice about a system update, make sure you've re-registered for My3 after we've completed this for you.

Special characters in some user's passwords have been associated with this error too, so you may find that changing the password, and swapping out any special characters, as well as making sure not to begin the password with a special character will help with this one.

You should also try clearing your Safari data in Settings, Safari, Clear History and Website Data.

Have you recently upgraded or changed your plan? If so you also need to wait till your next bill cycle has started before pairing. If you've tried all that and still aren't having any success with pairing please let me know.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[BenFromUK]

Three, you have now closed two support cases without resolving my issue. No, I am not going to go through the rigamarole of telling yet another support agent the same details all over again and sit here waiting for my watch to reset to factory settings for a 4th time.

I wish i had read this thread full of frustrated users before i decided to purchase an apple watch and pay for a smartwatch pairing plan, only to be faced with a "system error" every time i try to activate the mobile service.

I will sadly be returning my Apple Watch tomorrow as i simply cannot be bothered with this awful service anymore.

I trust you will do better for the rest of your customers and wish them luck.

[Tonyh28]

I am stuck on activating. It’s been hours. I’m still within cooling off. I only switched to three to sort my watch out but same crap as 02. Someone please help me. 

[Dov1978]

Has this issue any closer to being resolved? I was having issues with my Apple Watch Ultra and got into a spot of bother when unpairing didn’t work and had to Hard Reset the watch meaning I couldn’t unpair the e-sim before hand.  Now when I try to add the data plan I get the dreaded “E53305” error message. I’ve spent almost a full day’s worth of Live Chats with various agents with no joy and pulling my hair out going through the scripted self help questions. The closest I got to a fix was when one agent realised the issue and removed my 1 month rolling pair plan but it never worked because the 24 month pairing plan that replaced that was still linked to the watch and the next agent had no idea again and refused to remove that plan. I’m at the point of cancelling all my Three services altogether now unless I can get the is resolved soon