Terible phone quality-Terribly slow unusable data

[Dissatisfied]

I have been with three for about 10 years using PAYG, my family have also used them extensively. Since their merger with Vodafone, we all noticed that our call quality is absolutely terrible, you can barely have a call. The data is horrendously bad, see the 4G screenshot lower down, prior to all these problems it was much much higher than this, at least 60Mbps.

The phone often either does not ring or cuts off mid call.

The kicker is about 2 months ago I decided to go on contract, so now I am locked in, although I don't the service is fit for purpose so I am going to pursue getting out of my contract without fees.

So now we are resorting to WhatsApp calls over Wi-Fi where possible, which I don't need a phone contract for!

I have seen lots of reports about this and my family all have the same issue, so I am not going to waste my life on a chat for an hour being told to reset my phone etc, it's their network that is at fault and I am sure they will know it, despite what their network checker does, which appears to just report total outage and not barely useable service. 

[alfvon1]

I've just got a new Samsung Phone, I inserted the Three SIM card as usual but can't get more than a bar on the signal meter, and sometimes not even that. People call me and I can hear them but they can't hear me, from different parts of the UK, they say it's cracking or barely audible. Three has never had a strong signal across the country, from London to Liverpool, and I can understand it because they have the cheapest options, but now it has become unusable, so I'm thinking of moving to another network even if I know it will be more expensive. Phones are supposed to make calls after all, apart from all the wifi operation.

[PeteG]

Hello there.

It's disappointing to hear you're having issues. You mentioned getting a new phone, did you also change network? Or were you on Three already before the new phone? 

Pete.

[MichaelP]

Hello @Dissatisfied,

I am just following up on the issues you've shared here. Has the quality of calls and data remained poor for you? Have you had a chance to chat with customer services to discuss your complaint and other options, such as exiting the contract? If not, we can look at how best to help.

Thanks,
Michael

[JonathanB]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear that you've been having some issues with your connection in terms of calls and speeds.

Our Network Status Checker doesn't just report total outages, it looks out for various issues on local masts, but if we're not seeing anything in an area where you're having issues, this could come down to the overall coverage, or another explanation.

In terms of your complaint, if you'd rather not the team call you to pass security, you can find info to call or chat here.

In terms of the issues you're describing, I'd suggest to try resetting your network settings, this may clear saved Wi-Fi and Bluetooth data on your phone too, depending on your device and software, but it's also quite reliable for helping with settings issues, and will help narrow down if there is a local network issue.

For most Androids, you'll find this in Settings > System > Reset Options > Reset mobile network settings

On iPhones it's Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Dissatisfied]

The checker shows no issues, it only seems to report total outages, so waste of time, a tool to convince users there is nothing wrong with the system. I did file a complaint as I believe I should be able to leave the contract as it's not fit for purpose. I received a call from their Indian call centre, I could hardly tell what he was saying thanks to the poor voice quality. He was asking me for all of my personal information to validate me, seriously, I am not going to give any personally identifiable information to anybody, let alone a guy that called from an Indian call centre and tells me he is from Three.

I doubt it has anything to do with the 3g switch off, it's a voice AND data issue, and I have a 4G/5G phone, although 5G only works if I am really close to the tower, I am about 1.5 miles from one as the crow flies and yet I can't get 5G, it's not just me visitors who are also on three also have the same issue.

I suspect this is going to be a battle, which I am prepared to take on if they make me, after 10 years I'm done with them. I guess you get what you pay for, there's a new slogan for EE 

[Dissatisfied]

The checker shows no issues, it only seems to report total outages, so waste of time, a tool to convince users there is nothing wrong with the system. I did file a complaint as I believe I should be able to leave the contract as it's not fit for purpose. I received a call from their Indian call centre, I could hardly tell what he was saying thanks to the poor voice quality. He was asking me for all of my personal information to validate me, seriously, I am not going to give any personally identifiable information to anybody, let alone a guy that called from an Indian call centre and tells me he is from Three.

I doubt it has anything to do with the 3g switch off, it's a voice AND data issue, and I have a 4G/5G phone, although 5G only works if I am really close to the tower, I am about 1.5 miles from one as the crow flies and yet I can't get 5G, it's not just me visitors who are also on three also have the same issue.

I suspect this is going to be a battle, which I am prepared to take on if they make me, after 10 years I'm done with them. I guess you get what you pay for, there's a new slogan for EE 🙂

Btw Three sort you never ending problems on your web site, so many issues with it all the time. If you're going to give a link to somebody to come to the forum to reply, then at least make them log in first, not type a message, then force to log in on submit, losing the message, simple stuff.

[JonathanB]

Hi there,

Sorry for any confusion regarding Community notifications. I've tested this myself and when you draft a response whilst logged out, this diverts you to the login screen, and returns back to the topic completing the post when you sign in.

I can see you've responded three times in succession, with this being the 2nd of these, so I assume that the feature has worked as intended here too. If there is some sort of error please let me know what you're seeing though, happy to check this out further.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Dissatisfied]

The checker shows no issues, it only seems to report total outages, so waste of time, a tool to convince users there is nothing wrong with the system. I did file a complaint as I believe I should be able to leave the contract as it's not fit for purpose. I received a call from their Indian call centre, I could hardly tell what he was saying thanks to the poor voice quality. He was asking me for all of my personal information to validate me, seriously, I am not going to give any personally identifiable information to anybody, let alone a guy that called from an Indian call centre and tells me he is from Three.

I doubt it has anything to do with the 3g switch off, it's a voice AND data issue, and I have a 4G/5G phone, although 5G only works if I am really close to the tower, I am about 1.5 miles from one as the crow flies and yet I can't get 5G, it's not just me visitors who are also on three also have the same issue.

I suspect this is going to be a battle, which I am prepared to take on if they make me, after 10 years I'm done with them. I guess you get what you pay for, there's a new slogan for EE 🙂

[Anonymous]

Have you checked the Network Status Checker in your postcode(s) to see if there is ongoing maintenance or an outage?

Could the problems be related to the 3G switch-off by all mobile networks (not just Three) ?

But it doesn't sound like a good situation: both Three and Vodafone are saying that the merger should improve reception, data speeds etc, not the opposite......