Crap service rant....

So today i popped into Nottingham and visited a three store looking for a basic ( ie old fashioned non smart) pay as you go phone, only to be told that they wont let me have one unless i take out a sim only contract with it ( sales assistant points to sim only deal poster on wall)
I asked if i could have it on pay as you go, and was told only with a sim only deal as per the board, then phone in question was the Samsung S5611 Utopia and the only way they could supply pay as you go phones was with a sim only deal - should i wish to use it on pay as you go I would need to visit a pound shop and buy a three sim card there and use the pay as you go sim with the sim only deal. I asked them So you dont do pay as you go phones, and was told only with a deal ( points at sim only contract board )

You should have asked for the Manager, it's obviously crap advice.

S5611 is £39.99 on PAYG.

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devi...=0&colour=Grey

Sounds like a classic case of "I'll sell you whatever makes me more commission".

When I last went into a store asking for a PAYG SIM they tried to convince me to go on contract but weren't too fussed about giving me what I wanted

I'd either buy it direct from 3 online or print out the page proving its existance, show it to them and demand that they sell you what you want

Three stores are really bad for this they are just as bad as phones4u were

I asked in a three shop how much the Samsung S6 was on PAYG, the assistant said they didn't do it on PAYG

Why didn't you just go to the Three website and check? It's £599.99.

http://www.three.co.uk/Samsung/Galax...Black_Sapphire

You could even have done it instore and shown the salesman .

I was in town and saw the posters in the Three store advertising it, so thought I'd pop in and ask.

Bookmark the page (or print it out) and go back and educate the salesman in front of his manager.

It's probably his manager that's giving the staff pressure to sign up customers to contracts rather than PAYG

£545 on amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-SIM-Free-Android-Smartphone-Black-Sapphire/dp/B00UPCKMNI/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_4

That isn't the european model though - it might have different 4G bands and you might have hassles if you need a warranty repair.

I thought Samsung started a thing where the phone would not work unless a local SIM was used to "activate" the phone, is that still the case?

I wasn't doing a price comparison, just answering the OPs post about the S6 on PAYG in a Three Store .

That happened with the Note 3. I'm pretty sure they backtracked when loads and loads and loads of people complained about it.

I think it's still in operation, from the S5.



http://www.androidcentral.com/heres-...sung-galaxy-s5

I haven't seen anything to say it has changed with this years models.

I thought the OP was the thread starter, the Opening Poster? But thanks for your answer

It's still there. There is a leaflet in the box explaining the lock.

You must make a continuous phone call of at least 5 minutes in duration with a SIM from the region to remove the lock.

That's shocking Didn't know they did region locks to prevent grey imports.

You see they said that with the Note 3 and it turned out that making a long call made no difference: the phone did not work outside the EU.

What is point of buying latest phone at £600 and then using pay and go. Pay and go is for light users mostly or those who cannot trust themselves not to run up large bills.

For £600 you could buy a moto g and run it for 20 months in a 25 monthly sim.

Because 3's PAYG is actually quite good, with the bundles that they offer - unlimited data and all the minutes and texts you could want, which is more than suitable for a high end phone. Even the non-bundled rates are nice - 3p/min, 2p/text, 1p/MB

Plus it keeps one advantage of buying phones outright, that you can move networks or plans when you want, you aren't tied into a long expensive contract if money gets tight

Why ask me and not biggyt who was considering it?

Maybe he wants to be on PAYG and doesn't want a Moto G? Not everyone is happy with an old budget handset....

I am on a sim only contract with ThreeUK already, so wouldn't be using it as PAYG. I don't really want to change my Nexus 5 at the moment. I was just curious.

Err I don't understand why anyone would buy a High end device on Pay as You Go even if you want use it that way as the price won't be any different. Though Three does have there devices unlocked.

Samsung S5611 is a good non smart phone very long battery life plus the added benefit of not being a android phone so Google and the government can not track you,