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

[Ortho5200]

Unfortunately the private message link to raise a complaint does not work doesn’t work for me. I am now stuck in a 24 month contract without the service Three continue to advertise 

[danbrown83]

I found this online and emailed them. I did get a response asking for my phone number so someone can get in touch. I just want Three to allow me to terminate my contact so I can get working with another network. 

CEO - Robert Finnegan

Chief Commercial Officer and in charge of the customer care teams - Elaine Carey 

[gbailey141]

I have also messaged these 2. Robert I had no response from. Elaine advised someone would contact me within 1 working day. That was 2 days ago!!!

[Pintonet]

I'm now back to constant E53305 errors

What a joke

[Angove93]

Hi Guys,

Wish I seen this tread before I decided to stay with three and add my Apple Watch to my sim only plan.

I purchased a new Apple Watch 2 weeks ago and upgraded my sim only plan with an Apple Watch add on. When setting up my watch I selected the mobile service plan and waited for the activation. After 2 days of being on the activation stage I phoned 3 to see what was going on. They told me that things were taking longer than normal and to wait.

After a week of waiting I then contacted 3 again and they said they are having issues with Apple Watch setups and I would receive a text with what's going on. I received no text.

Today is now 2 weeks after first trying to activate and I still have the issue. I phoned this morning and I was told to phone Apple as there was an issue with my Apple Watch. After unpairing and repairing my Apple Watch with Apple tech support and various hardware checks, my watch turned out fine and was then sent back to 3.

As I write this, I'm currently on the phone with Three and after refusing to accept that I need to speak once again with apple (as apparently my watch needs pairing again), I have now been told there is a technical issue with the add on and it needs to be canceled and a request for the add on . This like many others now falls into the "next bill cycle" before this can happen. I have been "guaranteed" that this will fix the issue, but after reading many comments on this thread, it doesn't sound like this will fix my issue.

3 really need to get their act together with this as its an absolute joke. Its not the advisers/tech support fault they don't have any training on the product or service that 3 are charging for. Surely this can't be right? Lets see if this reactivation of my add on works. fingers crossed!

Matt

[danbrown83]

I've experience the same issues as most of you and now just stuck stating activating. I recently joined Three due to their 5G coverage and signed up for 12 months, what an error that was! I now have a £850 watch and can't use one of the main features. 

Has anyone taken this to the Ombudsman yet as they are not letting me cancel my contract.

[LE60LAD]

Hi Jon, 

Don't know if you have a dedicated team working on this. I have spoken to 4 service agents now about this and still I have an on going problem like many others in this thread. 

When I got my new Apple watch a few weeks ago I did try and add the Mobile service to the watch but I had just renewed my contract and had added the smartwatch pairing add on a few days prior in anticipation that all would work from the off - sadly not. 

I have had a mix of E53305 - You already have a paired device Chat to one of our team errors and just a screen that says There is a problem without any E code attached. 

Today ( 1 day after my billing ran ) I asked an agent to remove the add-on and to re-add it again - now on my account I see the following - previously it was just one of these 

• Smartwatch Pairing 1m (active)

• Smartwatch Pairing discount - 6m (active)

And I still can not get the data side of things onto my watch 

In all the years I have been with Three ( more than 10 years ) I have never had to contact customer service as many times over an issue like this. Its quite frustrating really and now I can see why eSim has not been implemented further on the network. 

How do we go about resolving this as I now beginning to feel I should have just kept my non cellular Apple watch and not upgraded it to have cellular as I have now invested in something that I fear will take years to implement like it has taken for Three to get to this stage. 

[JonathanB]

Hi @LE60LAD,

Welcome to the Three Community,

Thanks for sharing these details of the errors you've been encountering. I'm really sorry to hear that you've also been running into these errors. There is indeed a team working on this, I'll send a private message to your community account so that we can get this escalated to them, and gather some more account specific info.

JonathanB

[Scuzzie2k]

Why has no one contacted me?

[JonathanB]

Hi @Scuzzie2k,

You can view your messages on the community by clicking on your avatar image in the top right, then "messages". Here's a screengrab:

If you're viewing on a phone browser, it'll look slightly different, but it's still the same steps. The avatar appears in the top right of the page and then select messages from the options that appear.

Hope this helps,
JonathanB