Got a reply from Three about the awful congestion along my commute.


Basically admitted one of the cells is quite badly congested but that they're going to do nothing about it! But that's ok as there is 4G in the surrounding areas, except the congested area!!! The area is partially covered by super-voice but i have to force my phone onto it every time i want a usable service in that area.

Needless to say i took up the advisor's offer of making a complaint.

No networks offers a certain speed or performance in every area you know, sometimes congestion is due to the technology and usage in your area and there isn't much that can be done, especially if they are rolling out more 4G in the future. They aren't always able to address congestion in all areas in the short-term and nether does your contract promise it.

Surely the idea of mobile data is to use it when you're in different places etc, some places will be congested.

This is not a short-term issue though. Congestion in this area was a problem when i left them for BT over a year ago, joined again to find out that it's still horribly congested. I deem their service is this area to be below an acceptable stand and as such i will be following through with a complaint and if needs be take it to the ombudsman should they not do anything about it.

I do not deem 0.5Mbps and dropped calls to be an acceptable level of service.

I'm now back down South. I am supposed to be in an indoor and outdoor area for 3 Super-voice. However, nine times out of ten, it just goes from weak 3G to Emergency only. The other one time, it connects to a fairly strong 800MHz service and happily sits there allowing me to use it. It's almost as if the device doesn't want to look for 800MHz signal.

I will be posting the results from my four operator signal test over the 6 hour journey later.

Enjoying your videos so far, look forward to your results. Three's coverage checker for 1800 and 800 is really inaccurate, more than it should be imo. You'd expect them to be marginally inaccurate as obviously prediction is not 100% accurate but Three's takes the biscuit.

That's what I found at my mates house last weekend with a Three PAYG SIM. The 800 is there, but you can't use it because the incredibly weak 3G keeps interrupting and being useless. I found one spot on the coffee table that always got the 800 4G (field test confirmed 800) and when you moved you went through No Service to 1 bar 3G that failed to make even a call to top up.

So 800mhz is pretty useless for anyone who is right on the limits of 3G.

Good luck with that as the contract says that the performance of the network will vary from place to place and as it's a mobile service it is designed to be used in a variety of different places. The ombudsman will rule on cases of no signal etc, but if you're getting 0.5Mbps I think you're on the road to nowhere and you're better off just switching when you can.

Where are you in your contract in terms of minimum term?
What is you want to get out of your complaint?

I am currently about 1 month into a new contract. I am hoping for a small recurring discount on my contract until they sort out the problem. Interestingly enough there is an ancient Orange 2G mast covering that area that still provides service but is still yet to be upgraded to EE/Three 3G yet.

The thing is this isn't just an area i occasionally go through it's an area i go through twice daily.

Go THROUGH! oh jeezus.

No chance. Let us know how you get on...

If we could all claim compo because an area we go through only has 0.5Mb/s speeds we'd all be on discounts. Read your contract!!

Thank you. The results are here: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...postcount=7285

I might do a video in time showing the masts I passed, speeds and other methodology.

You'd be surprised, i managed to get a discount for the same issue when i was in uni in South Wales. It too was an area that i just passed through on my way to uni. Gave me a recurring £5 discount until the issue was resolved about four month later thankfully! Ended up just installing a new street level mast near to the uni campus that too most of the load of the congested mast, or so i was told!

Most people don't get any sort of discount/combo because they never both to actually file a complaint, most seem to just moan on twitter which will obviously do nothing.

That is just a goodwill gesture, they may not keep doing that and the ombudsman wouldn't order that for an area you go through with speeds like that, personally I think your expectations are a bit high.

I may as well give it a go, got nothing to loose! Even if it did end up going to the ombudsman and i didn't win it would still cost Three £300 for the privilege. I won't be letting the issue slide, the complaint won't be resolved until they sort out the congestion. Even though Three say the area isn't due to be upgraded to 4G i still believe it will in around the next 6 months, EE has blanket 4G in this congested area and doesn't have the same problem.

I only changed back as i kept using up my 20GB data allowance on BT.

I do know that i'm fighting a loosing battle but i'd rather give it a go than just accept that service is going to remain that bad in that area.

Sorry but I think you're just being stupid and selfish there mate.

Selfish? Stupid? Being UNHAPPY WITH A SERVICE THAT I PAY FOR does NOT make me stupid or selfish. Idiotic comment.

None of the networks guarantee coverage or performance. If you can make a phone call that's about as good as you can expect as a minimum. Ultimately it'll be a lot of faff for nothing, especially if you're stuck in a contract.

I might as well try. Don't ask , don't get. Thine Wonk's comment wasn't necessary though.

That is quite a silly attitude to have. If you want Three to have the money to invest in making sure their network works then taking delight in them having to pay money probably isn't the best idea. It's a bit like how now the government fines Network Rail or Highways England and then expects them to improve the service.

The fact is networks can't guarantee service everywhere, they provide a reasonable level of coverage to 96/7% of the country's population. If you changed back then you knew what you were in for and you as the customer made a conscious decision knowing the circumstances, you can't say you were shortchanged or hoodwinked.

Yes but it gets a bit technical. Only if you are really interested

The problem, as you admit yourself, is that it costs 3 money and time to reply to your complaints, especially once you get the ombudsman involved. That might only be a few hundred quid but it is still a waste of money - and it certainly more than wipes out any potential profit they could make out of you - so why would they want to make you happy in the end? You're losing them money straight away, they'd be financially better off if you had never joined. (and then they may not want to let you out of the contract, because they want to recover those losses)

I think Mr. Wonk's comment was reasonable and accurate

I like the format, real world testing. With this kind of testing you can kind of see what Three are going for, coverage that lets you do things in most places rather than 100G a second speeds! Still impressive from Vodafone and unsurprising from EE to being number 1.

I've made my views clear and it's obvious some don't agree, personal insults and the like however are not necessary. Being dissatisfied with a service and actually deciding to do something about it does not make me stupid, nor does it make me selfish.

Since when did defending a wealthy company become the norm? I was also told this issue was resolved when i bought the contract in-store, i have no way of proving that however.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree since you clearly don't agree with how i'm going about making sure my complaint is dealt with.

Read your contract! you agreed to it.

Quote:
“Coverage
5.11 We’ll always try to make Three Services available to you. However, there
may be areas where you don’t have access to all Three Services or where
coverage is otherwise limited or unavailable. For more information about
coverage see Three.co.uk/coverage
Disruption to Three Services
5.12 Due to the nature of mobile technology, there may be situations when
Three Services aren’t always available, or the quality is affected and so
we cannot guarantee continuous fault-free service. For example:
(a) when we need to perform upgrading, maintenance or other work on the
Three Network or Three Services;
(b) when you move outside Three’s 3G or 4G service area while you’re on
a call (in this case calls may end) or using data (in this case, your
connection may be lost);
(c) when you’re in areas not covered by the Three Network. In this case,
Three Services relies on other operators’ networks, over which we have
no control; and
(d) because of factors outside our control, such as the features or
functionality of your Device, legal or regulatory requirements, lack of
capacity, interruptions to Three Services from other suppliers, faults in
other communication networks, the weather or radio interference caused
by hills, tunnels or other physical obstructions”

You are complaining about an area you travel through which only gives you 0.5Mb/s data service, on many networks you'd drop down to 2G only in some areas as you travel.

I stand by my comments as you effectively want to run 2 arguments which conflict each other, you moan that they haven't advanced as much as you'd hoped with 4G or upgrades, yet you want to scam them when they are meeting their contract obligations by consistently complaining in order to try and claim compensation, or to deliberately cost them £300 with the ombudsman even if you lose the case (extremely likely) therefore meaning they would make a loss on your account.

I stand by my comments, heck I'll repeat them...stupid and selfish .

Not all networks cover everywhere, and the range of the signals varies also, so unless the small probability of your receiving some token monetary compensation is what you are actually after then you are probably wasting your time.

I assume your car is fitted with a high-gain mobile antenna which you use to access mobile services whilst on the move, given your insistence on mobile connectivity wherever you are. If your car is not fitted with a said antenna, you will probably achieve a lot more by fitting it with one, than by contacting an ombudsman and requesting your mobile network operator upgrades all their masts.

I'm just going to ignore your rude and condescending comments.

Scamming them? - LOL
Selfish? - Nope
Stupid? - Nope

You make it seem like a load of legal jargon is going to stop me from complaining, well it's not. Ignore list is probably the best place for you, attempting to have any form of rational debate with you is already a lost cause. Going straight in with rude, condescending and judgmental comments isn't going to work for you.


I'm not asking them to upgrade all their masts, i just want them to sort out the issues in this area. They've had well over a year to sort it out from when i first complained to them about it, they probably were aware of it before i complained. It's not just the case that it "sometimes" becomes congested when there are events in the area etc, it is permanently congested in that area. I don't think i'm being unreasonable complaining about it.