so, just been looking at the iphone plans on 3. They seem to be very good value for money, the only thing that puts me off is the reputation of 3. Always heard bad things about reception/customer service/billing etc... If you are on 3 (or have been) what was your experience? Thanks in advance

I've been with Three about 4 years now - they're the only ones I can get a 3G signal with where I live. They're far from perfect but then none of the networks I've tried have been any better, and the biggest problem is understanding what the CS are saying on the phone as its not very clear and there's normally background office noise, but to be fair they do give very good deals and problems I've had have been sorted like my last one - took out a 24 month contract for £20pm with a free HTC desire - it said unlimited data with 1Gb fair use, then in June it dropped to 500Mb with no warning, so I complained and they've given me the £5pm 2Gb data add-on free for the length of the contract so I now have 2.5Gb pm.

i have also been with 3 for about 4 years, and i can report having no serious problems, the only time i did have a problem it was a handset fault, which they promptly picked up, fixed and delivered back to me within 48 hours, no problems with signals either, except when i have been in very remote places

Are 3 not increasing yours then? I got a text a few days ago saying it is going up to 1GB from 500MB.

As for the thread, I've been with 3 for some time on PAYG (only one with decent 3G coverage down here) and they've been fine. Only just started a contract with them, so we'll see how billing goes.

One problem is that they do something to their SIMs to make the phone hold onto a 3G signal even if it is dire (according to things I have read) and the GSM signal is much better, so I often have to force my phone onto GSM only in those cases. Not a huge deal though.

They didn't mention it going back up, just gave me an extra 2Gb free.

They do try and keep you on 3G as they have to pay for your calls if it roams onto 2G - when I was staying somewhere for 5 month's without 3 coverage it always went 2G and they wrote to me telling me I needed a 3G phone or they'd cut me off - soon sorted that issue though. Although I don't think it's in the sim, but in their own firmware - luckily my Desire was a sim free version they sent before they fiddled with it, so I have the option of 2G or 3G anyway.

As is mine (only a couple of weeks old). It seems to be unlocked and I don't have issues with flashing cooked ROMs or anything like that.

The opinion will change depending on who you ask.

Personally, I have been using Three 4 out of the last 5 years with no issues. Same for family members as well. We have another three contracts with them in our household. Some parts of the country have had some signal on the low side but nothing too bad. I also get speeds of around 2 Meg for the mobile internet which Im quite impressed with.

Customer Service has been OK for me as well. I have noticed recently that the retentions team are a bit more aggressive and persistent, nothing that can't be dealt with though, just carry on talking and they soon shut up and listen.

they are not a good network you get a very rude customer service a company that every month take to much money out or charges to much or they don't give you good signal this has happened to me and friends and fam i know who have been with them.

i was very impressed by there coverage but left them because of very poor cs. my friend has just gone with them and they charged him £40 for his first months bill should be £25 all they said was his unlimited did not start untill a full month had passed!!!!

I ported my number to them about a month ago, I moved away around three weeks later.

Firstly my tariff was wrong, missing my data bolt on.

Then I discovered an issue the network has with call divert - An issue I had three years previously too. Spent about an hour getting nowhere with their support team - They obviously don't know how to escalate calls to someone who actually understands the issue I was experiencing.

They also charge £1 connection plus 70p per minute for calls to paging services which on networks such as o2 and Vodafone are included in the minutes tariff.

The issues I had were mostly due to me using features of the network most people don't bother to use, but they should work and be reasonably priced.

I have joined three a few times, always end up leaving weeks later.

been with 3 for 2 years, never overcharged me, best signal and 3g signal in the area, faulty handset replaced foc in store and upgraded me with the minimum of fuss and knocked me £5 off my bill per month. i also have a mobile dongle half price for 18 months ( £5 for 1gb ) great signal strength where ever i have taken it.

cant fault em at all.

Another thing Ill add. Been using my Three contract with an unlocked iPhone 3G since March and not had any issues.

Been with 3 since about 2004, they have got better over time. The 3G coverage is the best of all the networks. I'm somebody that will resolve my own technical issues and check my own bill info etc so I hardly ever have to call them. I'm very happy and they are very good value for money if you bear in mind that the support is offshore and you are happy with that.

3 have improved a lot over the last few years and now is the time to join them, back in 2003 to 2006 the network was still new and under construction.

Remember how bad Mercury One2One was? It didn't cover outside London until around 1997 and even then it was still bad, so that means it was not possible to get a signal outside London for nearly 4 years after launch! By 2000 the network coverage was average and in basement flats and rural places as well as nightclubs, it was still crap. 2005, the same and 2010 they merged there 3G infrastructure with 3's and it is slightly better, even when you have decent 3G coverage the internet from T-Mobile is slower than 3 even though its same network.

And remember when Orange started(Built by the people who bring you 3 today), it wasn't that good until around 1998 when its network coverage expanded massively.

And then there is NTL Digital Cable, they should have completed there analogue upgrades by 2005, its now 2010 and still there are two/three major franchises still Analogue.

So sometimes you just need to give things time to roll out as it cannot be done overnight. and then you have people moaning about masts going up which also causes delay!

I went from Orange to a new Desire on 3 (free phone, 17 quid a month). Delivery, setup, billing and usage have all been trouble-free. The signal is fine too, much better than with Orange where I live. Having a phone without a load of mandatory junk on it is very nice.

Looking at various review sites I suspect that ALL the providers have a large set of customers with various grievances and customer service is generally very poor across the industry. Switching isn't likely to make things better, in fact that's when you end up having to talk to customer services...

You don't tend to see anything from those customers who just use the service from day to day without having any problems.