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

[Ruthless88]

 

I’m sad to see this is an issue for so many! 
My app also says Three “activating”. I’m onto my next bill cycle which was 2 days ago. Spoken to so many different people on online chat and nothing they have suggested works. 

[JonathanB]

Hi @Ruthless88,

I'm sorry to hear that you're also running into this error. We'll do our best to help. If you're already on your 2nd bill cycle since pairing and it's been stuck on this "Activating" message the whole time, we'll need to take a closer look.

I'll send you a private message with more info on how to get this escalated.

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

Thanks,
JonathanB

[JohnF]

Hi, I'm seeing something like this as well. Have just purchased my Apple Watch SE, and when I go to the steps for "Set up mobile service" in the Watch app, it brings up a panel with some loading dots, and then a "There's a problem" error modal. If I tap carefully I can actually dismiss the error and try to log in anyway, but I'm met with an empty page featuring a three logo in the header and a disabled 'Buy now' button.

Absolutely nothing findable in the My Three area to help work around this. Any ideas?

[JonathanB]

Hi @JohnF,

With that particular error, "There's a problem" and you've never paired an Apple Watch before, it may indicate an issue with logging into My3. Make sure that you can login normally from My3 on a browser or our app. This may also relate to an issue with some special characters being recognised in the password.

Try changing your My3 password, and attempt to pair again. In case this is still an issue I'll send you a private message that will direct you to more help.

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

JonathanB

[DJG]

Hi,

I'm also having this problem. Three was connected to my apple watch, but it would not connect to Three's mobile data. Tried unpairing and re-pairing multiple times over a long phone call with Three, but get the E53305 error every time I try add/re-add the plan.

[JonathanB]

Hi @DJG,

I've sent you a reply with info on how to get this escalated.

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

JonathanB

[DJG]

Thought I'd post this here so everyone else can see the journey so far:

JonathanB DM'ed me a link to contact the Three social media team so this problem could be raised with the right team. 

I spoke to a member of their UK staff who raised this with one of their tech teams and informed me that they'd be in touch within 72 hours.

The next day, I received a call from Three and the person calling didn't know anything about the problem. I'm not sure if it was down to a lack of knowledge or a possible language barrier, but he didn't seem to understand/take into account the things I was saying. Instead, he suggested that I unpair/re-pair my apple watch to my iPhone for a sixth time — this didn't fix the problem.

I spoke to this person on three separate calls in total that day so he could get additional information. I was then told I would receive a call within 7 days. I'm still waiting for this call.

This morning I received a text and email saying "Your query has been closed". Nothing has been resolved, I am still getting the same error and paying for a contract that has never been fulfilled.

This appears to be a problem with Three's esim system and how they pair devices on their end. If I use a sim from a different provider, I can see that I am able to get a functioning esim with them — no error screen.

I'm going to wait until the end of the 7 days call notice. Whether this gets resolved or I end up changing network provider, I will post an update here.

[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.