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]

No it's BS. I have the same issue and been trough a billing cycle. Support say its related to billing cycles but I don't think Three understand their own IT.

[ASelhi1]

Hi, my pairing issue doesnt seem to even have an error code. It says "There's a problem" and underneath it says the same in smaller writing. When I first tried to connect, it said it was "Activating" for 3 days with no improvement. Then I restarted the process and removed the add-on. I began to get this error after that. Since I have tried adding and removing the add-on a couple times. I have restarted the watch multiple times and there no improvement. I left the add-on on my account till the bill cycle went on and the issue still remains. I have talked to Live Chat and once they said that the issue was fixed, I just had to wait 4 hours. But again there was no improvement. I have removed the add-on so that I am not paying for the service that I am unable to use. 

In total, I have had this error for almost a month now. Please help. Atleast if there was an error code, I could relate to some of the posts on here but my error page lacks that too.

[MarkP]

Hi, so I have exactly the same issue, after a web chat, which ended with me being told it was an issue with the watch, sent back to Apple, surprise surprise...No fault.

So today I phoned and asked for the pairing add on to be removed, done, although for some reason it's still showing the 6 months free add on, on my account. And the watch is still showing as "activating" even after a re-boot of both phone and watch.

My plan is to wait until the next billing cycle, then try adding it again (if its still showing "activating" at that time, I will unpair and repair my watch.

If this doesn't fix the issue I will be leaving Three, as I spent nearly £600 on a new watch to replace my wi-fi only series 7 Apple Watch, specifically because Three said they finally support it.

Just for info, the watch worked fine initially, it was only after my contract ended and I switched to a sim only 24 month contract that the problem arose.

[Martzd]

Finally working! After a month.

had to waiting until next billing cycle and gave them a call, the activated the add on and 30mins later it worked. Hopefully it would solve all the problems for u guys. 

[PC]

Hi, is your watch still paired to your iPhone? 

[PC]

Hi, is your watch now paired and working with iPhone ? 

[Gary]

Hi still can’t connect I was promised which I then upgraded to new 24 month contract as promised it would work but it doesn’t I feel let down as no one is contacting me I’ve just been let down been here with three since 2007 please I need help or I will have to cancel contract and will have to move to a different provider which I definitely don’t want to please can you get me some desperately needed help 

[Johnno]

Oh dear. This looks like gross incompetence. I’m buying an Apple watch and wanted to pair it to my three number. I’m locked in to May 24. If I get it from O2 I’ll use it independently but it’s such a poor service. I used to joke ‘a fourth person must be in the cell’ when anything didn’t work. Is this why three don’t actually do pay monthly watch deals because they actually don’t work on their cheapo Hutchison network …… 

[ces1966]

Hi! I have just spent hours on the phone with Three's technical team member who tried to help me sort out the same "E53305" error message. He walked me through resetting processes -- we did it three times (!) with no success in setting up the mobile device connection. Finally, he informed me that a colleague of his in your team has advised him that I should be contacting Apple Support instead! HELP please!

[ediplomat]

Hi, I have 2 watches and phones and have same E53305 for 3 weeks.