[Everything Goes]

Mobile phone company 3 may have as much as 60% of its customers leaving the service (Churn). This is a very serious problem for the bargain basment mobile phone company. Unsurprisngly these findings suggest that the customer-service problems that accompanied 3’s launch had not gone away. 80% of those with a 3G phone had either never made a video call, or had tried to only once.

If 3 contiunes to loose customers at this rate it will IMHO go bust. Anything over 50% means they are loosing more customers than they are gaining.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspap...612386,00.html

[lee18xx]

Hardly surprising!

[ScubaSteve21]

no shock there, my girlfriend will be adding to those figures once her contract ends in july

[craigmcshane2]

Yes I left this week after not using my phone for 3 months

[Steven L Hunter]

How can they tell though as Threepay customers will just chuck out the sim and wont use it but that doesnt mean they have left i mean they might not have.

I used to be on 3 but am now on easyMobile much better coverage and service.

[lalaland]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Unsurprisngly these findings suggest that the customer-service problems that accompanied 3’s launch had not gone away.

This is a shame.

I find that the Three network is great. The signal's spot on, the price is excellent and the tarrif I'm on matches my needs perfectly. So why if Three can get this right do they STILL get customer service so badly wrong???

Many of you on here will know from my previous posts on here that I often stick up for the Three network and am a very happy user, but I what I do admit is there customer service is one of the worst I have ever encountered, not just in the mobile phone market, but in any service that I have ever used!

I have in the past avoided calling customer services when I've had a problem because I know what sort of nightmare I am in for if I try to call them. They delay in answering my calls, the poor language barrier, it's all very annoying.

If I have a problem with Three I often rely on Google to find the answer to my query! This is outragous I know, but it's better than calling Three themselves.

I used to email customer services and thought I had found the answer to my problem, but this too is now slow and often gets a one email reply that doesn't completely answer your problem and offers no way to follow up the problem except to either call or send another email and start again.

The Three network scores a high 90/100 from me and has improved massively since it's launch. I am in my second year with them and may stick with them to be honest for a third, but customer service at Three gets nothing! Not even 1/100 and it's a shame. They have an excellent network with the best 3G coverage in the country and spot on tarrifs, so why shoot themselves in the foot by not looking after their customers with the customer service they deserve?

I can understand that Three is a company and that it needs to at least try to make a profit, but by cutting corners and using a foreign call centre that clearly cannot give a high enough quality of support that we have come to expect in this day and age they may be saving money in their employment, but it's at the customers expense and this in the long run will be their downfall.

It's time Three realised they have an excellent network and took a long hard look at their customer services. Look after your customers and they will be happy!

This is based on my own experiences and the experiences of those that I know on the Three network. We are all happy with the network, but we all dread problems arising because we know we must try to tackle the nightmare that is Three Customer Service....

Just as a note to this, I am going on a short break abroad at the end of this month and was wanting to take my phone with me, but the thought of talking to Three over the phone has put me off and I won't be organising international roaming. It's a sorry state when I don't feel I can ask my own phone network to give me roaming because I can't bear the thought of the difficulties I know I will face if I try to speak to them!

[jagger2k]

let hope people continue to leave so we dont have to put up with it again as for the crap phones will they be obiged to unlock them free?

[lalaland]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagger2k

let hope people continue to leave so we dont have to put up with it again as for the crap phones will they be obiged to unlock them free?

Not all phones on the Three network are crap.

My A1000 is spot on for what I need and doesn't seem to have the same problems as the LG or old NEC handsets.

[jagger2k]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lalaland

Not all phones on the Three network are crap.

My A1000 is spot on for what I need and doesn't seem to have the same problems as the LG or old NEC handsets.

sorry i was just thinking of the nec's

For me, it's all about the Customer Service. Even by 'offshore' standards, it's simply diabolical. They are robotic slaves to poor scripts, with no understanding whatsoever of the product or service they are supporting. It's sad but true.

I find everything else about 3 perfectly acceptable.

[Tadpole]

I trialed 3pay with an A835 which cost me about £65 in April 2004, the first four numbers I tried to call were all mis-dialled by the phone - including when I tried to ring my own home phone. I took it back to the shop and had it swapped, The replacement worked OK, but I only ever topped it up once.

I had the replacement A835 unlocked and now use it occasionally on Virgin Mobile (2.5G), although text message entry on that particular handset still baffles me to this day.

If my experience with 3 is typical, then I understand why people are leaving in droves.

[russellelly]

Well I'm on my second '3' phone, and I'll cancel it after my contract is up. With all these £5 line rental for a year deals, reverting to £30 after the year, having high churn is hardly surprising. I will keep my old SIM going when I cancel my current contract as it is so cheap (it's an old tariff).

It's a shame, becuase on the whole y experience with them has been reasonably positive. Customer service remains hell tho.

[lalaland]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tadpole

If my experience with 3 is typical, then I understand why people are leaving in droves.

The early handsets were just problem bricks, but they've also got some decent reliable handsets on their network too now, so this is less common.

The only let down for me at the moment is the beyond poor customer services.

If you don't have a problem or any reason to contact Three then it's great, as soon as an issue arrises then it's nightmare customer services time.

[aussiewantsaps2]

Im getting a LG8130 on 3, hopefully it will be OK?

[Elvandar]

I agree with the diabolical customer service. I've recently left Three, after being unable to send texts, not having calls connected, having calls dropped all the time. The customer service just trying to so a simple thing like cancelling was apalling. I was passed to 4 people altogether and had to go through the security questions each time.

I got my final bill yesterday and they charged me for the whole month, even for the time after the disconnection of my service. I called and got through to someone obviously with a script. Apparently, they send out another bill next month with the corrected figures on it and they don't actually take the final payment by direct debit. They will only accept the final payment by cash or cheque and then charge you £3 extra for it! I argued against it and called it a penalty fee, and they waived it. I just know that it will still appear on my final 'final' bill next month because they can't get anything right.

The customer service is very poor and I'm really not surprised that people are leaving in droves.

[lalaland]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aussiewantsaps2

Im getting a LG8130 on 3, hopefully it will be OK?

Should be, it's the earlier LGs that have the problem.

Ms Lalaland's LG is currently unusable and it's taken nearly two weeks to get a response from Three. They've now offered her a replacement or any handset as an upgrade, but this of course means another 12 months with them.

There are no decent handsets on their network that she wants aparantly. I like the A1000, but it's surplus to her needs and too big (ideal for me as I use it as a PDA too).

There's a Motorola flip that looks good, but no bluetooth! come on.................!

[dj9928]

I have a Motorola v975 on Three,excellent phone but a bit on the big side. I agree with all of the above,there customer service is pure sh$t,there coverage is OK although i've never seen my phone switch to 3g,its always on 2.5g and I drive around quite alot with work so 3g covergae is really bad,but then I dont even know anyone with a 3g handset to make video calls with anyway..

[ScubaSteve21]

i believe if there customer service wasnt as bad as it is they wouldnt loose all these customers.

they need to get a british based customer service team (and a big one at that) if they want to stay around

[dj9928]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steven21

i believe if there customer service wasnt as bad as it is they wouldnt loose all these customers.

they need to get a british based customer service team (and a big one at that) if they want to stay around

Totally agree,instead of a pack of chimps who sound like they come from some remote island of the coast of India..

[Mr Cable]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lalaland

.....There are no decent handsets on their network that she wants aparantly.....

lala, what about the two new Nokias? She not interested?

[kev]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StevenGray16

How can they tell though as Threepay customers will just chuck out the sim and wont use it but that doesnt mean they have left i mean they might not have.

I used to be on 3 but am now on easyMobile much better coverage and service.

IIRC pre-pay customers are counted as churning if they have not used the handset for 3 months or 180 days (depending on network).

[Steven L Hunter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kev

IIRC pre-pay customers are counted as churning if they have not used the handset for 3 months or 180 days (depending on network).

But one of my old sim cards have been unused for over 6 months now and is still not saying that its not recognised yet.

[kev]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StevenGray16

But one of my old sim cards have been unused for over 6 months now and is still not saying that its not recognised yet.

Same with a three year old Orange SIM, doesn't mean they have to be disconnected from the network to be classed as a non-customer.

[Quackers]

I love this bit in the artical

"Barely half of 3’s customers realised they already had a 3G phone; a quarter of 3’s customers said they had no interest in acquiring a 3G phone."

So some of 3's customers had no interest in getting a 3G Phone

Surely with the tarrifs being that cheap they intend to make the money from video calls and media, yet 80% of customers on 3 had never made a video call or only tried once... o dear.... looks like 3 is sinking....

[Mr Cable]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ripsaw82

....o dear.... looks like 3 is sinking....

Churn is still higher than any other network - not 60% mind, thats just stupid, but 3 still are the UK's fastest growing network.