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

[lostintransit]

I have the same issue with the add-on stuck at 'pending' can you PM me what to do? 

[Kadrong]

I have been a Three customer for 10 years and recently, one of my contracts was due for upgrade. I upgraded to an iPhone 14 with an iWatch series 7 GPS & cellular - the guy on the phone mentioned he would discount the smartwatch pairing addon which I believe is £7. On the 17th of September 2022, I received the devices however due to it been my birthday I opened it on the 18th. I went through the normal process of setup with the phone and watch then proceed to the mobile service setup of the watch. Since the 18th of September until yesterday, the mobile plan was displaying ‘activating’, over 20 calls to Three support and over 20 different excuses and none can find a solution - over half of everyone I spoke to from Three support don’t know what a Smartwatch pairing addon is and most suggested that I install the watch app on the iPhone which actually came with the iOS. I believed Three Support got tired of my calls and decided to removed the addon in the middle of the night because I woke this morning to find that the addon were removed and the watch app displaying “Your Three account is not eligible to enable mobile service on your Apple Watch. Contact Three for more information” I am seeing that if Three can’t fix its issue, they either passed you around, blame other companies (in this case 4 staff mentioned it was Apple problem) or wait until the middle of the night to disconnect the service or feature.

[StephR]

Hey Kadrong, thanks for joining us here at Three Community.

I’m so sorry you’ve had such a hard time getting your Apple Watch set up, that’s such a pain. It's super disappointing you've been left feeling passed around and let down. We'll do all we can to fix that here, and help move things forward for you.

Due to a system limitation, a small number of customers have been unable to activate Smartwatch Pairing until the next bill date after they upgrade. It sounds like this could be what caused the initial issue.

Have you had a bill generated since your upgrade was processed? Your bill date is the same day your allowances refresh.

Have you been in touch since seeing that 'Your Three account is not eligible' message? If so, what was the latest update you were given?

Let us know, and we'll figure out the next step towards getting this sorted.

StephR

[Kadrong]

The billing date is on the 1st of October but I don’t see why Three create a service to be active after a payment date especially when the customer has already in possession of that service due to knowledge.. this creates anxiety.. it further seems as if no one know what to do or say because everyone saying different things.. there are currently 3 escalations and no one bother to call.. 25 phone calls and two chats and it seems everyone in three can write a book filled with excuses.. now the watch can’t even connect to the three login page after the reset of the addon and even though I was told this morning that the addon was reset and active - I can’t even see it in the three app.. such a broken system which seems to be selling the last item on the shelf knowing it isn’t working

[Pred]

Did you get this working? Seems like every single person has the same thing

[StephR]

Thanks for getting back to us, Kadrong. 

It's not that we've created the service to work this way, but instead a technical limitation that's impacting a small number of customers. This isn't the expected experience, and I'm really sorry it's delayed your use of the cellular features of your new Apple Watch.

To fix this, please wait until your next bill date, then unpair your Apple Watch. Once that's done, you can start the pairing process again from scratch using the smartwatch app on your new iPhone 14. 

This has obviously been a really disappointing experience for you, so I've also dropped you a PM with a little more information on how to report that. 

Thanks again for sharing your experience here on Three Community. Do let us know how things go, we're keen to make sure this is sorted for you.

StephR

[Kadrong]

So my next billing date was today and as the image attached show.. same problem. How long will Three lead it’s customers down this long dark road of false promises and incorrect solutions?

 

[Gary]

I like a fool have been through 4 billing cycle’s and was promised it would work so I’m lost as being disabled in wheelchair with one lg I just want to go out with Watch and leave phone at home and not lose it please some guidance is needed 

[Kadrong]

And as usual no one seem to bother.. the call centre is a case of stress

[Kadrong]

It is clear that Three has ran out of excuses on this issue.. according to another staff of Three “the smartwatch pairing service is full active and pairing on your watch” got a list of steps to follow (none of which work). The addon isn’t displaying on My3 account and showing that I have no addon active or available but was told that there is one on the account.. Three now came to the conclusion that the issue is Apple which seem to be at end of their script. I have now come to the conclusion that Three Network doesn’t have the facility or expertise nor the technology to offer this services to its customers but developed a strategic marketing plan to pull customers in with this overbearing promises in offering iWatch mobile services when it failed to deliver on this promise. I will be taking this matter to the ombudsman.. here is three trying to convince me that there is an addon and that it is active (check chat logs) and is fully paired when there are no addons.. this is a mockery of someone who has supported this network for over 10 years