Stuck with no service and unhelpful support on 1st trip abroad with Three - please help

mia123 · ‎09-08-2023

Dear community,

I am abroad (Netherlands), stuck without data services and unable to make calls or send texts. Really need help with getting this resolved.

This is my first trip abroad after joining 3 in June and going through a nightmare number port that left me without service for 8 days. I am on a pay-monthly plan, iPhone 13.

Spent almost 2 hours with Three support earlier today. They had me do lots of "turn it off and back on" cycles, set a spending cap on my account, and "refreshed the roaming services". To no avail.

That last bit seemed to make things worse. Whereas initially I had no data, but could at least receive texts and could see "4G" next to the signal strength indicator bars, now I only see the signal strength bars, no 4G or any other data service on any of the networks.

I was eventually abruptly told by the support person that they are upgrading the systems and to come back later - basically fobbed off. I can see that he then closed the case, even though nothing was resolved.

Super exasperated at this point, unable to get around as planned and have a voicemail about an important medical update that I cannot access.

Any help or guidance on how to get this sorted would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

mia123 · ‎09-09-2023

After an evening chat with Sohel from Support, my roaming is fully working - data, calls and SMS.

In case it helps someone, there were 3 problems with my account:

1. Spending cap was not set or set to zero (unclear); this was set to an amount to cover monthly bill plus expected roaming charges, with headroom to spare

This is where the first support rep left it, as explained.

2. Credit limit (different to spending cap) was set to £1. Because of this, the £2 daily roaming charge could not be applied, so there were no roaming services. This was instead set to about twice the spending cap.

This restored the ability to make calls and send SMS, but data still didn't work, no 4G next to signal strength bars etc. Until...

3. It was discovered that an international data roaming bar had been applied to my account! Once removed, data started working too.

I have no idea why the above settings were as they were on my account. I never changed any myself. It's been really disappointing to have had so many issues since joining Three, and to have experienced extreme inconsistencies and delays in the quality of support both times I really needed some.

That said - I am very grateful to Sohel, who persevered with troubleshooting multiple issues, and believed me whenever I said that things still weren't working and I'd checked various "obvious" settings multiple times. Totally different attitude and level of professionalism compared to what I'd experienced previously.

And thank you @MZone and @Paddiewack for your suggestions too!

View solution in conversation

MZone · ‎09-09-2023

Have you tried doing a manual roam and selecting the networks that come up manually rather than have network selection set as automatic. Also you need to have data roaming switched on on your iPhone. If you have signal bars but no 3G/4G/5G symbol sounds like the data roaming is switched off from my experience.

Paddiewack · ‎09-09-2023

Totally agree. If the situation at network end is all ok the issue is quite probably as stated by MZone!

Paddiewack · ‎09-09-2023

Could @JonathanB help this lady who seems to have tried everything?

mia123 · ‎09-09-2023

Hi Paddiewack - do you have any suggestions for things to check beyond what MZone suggested? Have checked all relevant phone settings & networks, cross-checking with husband's phone (fellow Three customer, and tech savvy), and nothing looks different. Tried multiple networks too, phone restarts...

I can receive calls and messages, just can't 1) make calls, 2) send SMS, 3) use data services.

Paddiewack · ‎09-09-2023

I honestly wish I did. I can hear the urgency and exasperation in your messages that’s why I’ve tagged a moderator who has access to engineers etc.You could try privately messaging him. Do that by clicking on your icon and selecting messages. I genuinely that’s genuinely wish you luck and wish I could help more.

mia123 · ‎09-09-2023

Thanks for your response MZone.

Yes, tried manual network selection, various networks. Mobile data is on, roaming is on etc. I'm actually with husband and son, both Three customers with roaming working fine, so we've cross-checked phone settings.

I'm unable to make calls or send texts (can receive them though), so it seems to go beyond just data services...

MZone · ‎09-09-2023

Sent you a PM with another route to try

mia123 · ‎09-09-2023

Have tried Support again, 24 hours after first contacting them.

Connected to the same agent as yesterday, who keeps repeating that "the system is getting updated, we don't have access to your account, request you to chat back with us in sometime". Same as 24 hours ago. Can't / won't say when the "update" will be done. Just keeps ignoring my requests to escalate or connect me to complaints, just so someone actually tracks my case (he closed the case without resolution). Just keeps politely telling me to go away and come back later. When pushed, says complaints have the same system update issue and so won't connect me.

Does any of this sound credible? A system update that takes 24h+ and knocks account access for everyone? Having gone through many issues with my number port a few months back, not sure what to believe.

Still stuck, feeling I'm on my own + have to plead with them just to have someone try and help 😞

sc1999 · ‎09-09-2023

The last time 3 were updating, a couple of weeks ago, they posted on some Web pages that some services may not be available. Those messages are not there this week. So are they doing a system upgrade or this just a convenient excuse.