Loyalty does pay :-) Thank you 3

[1000Killahurts]

Anyone else who has been with 3 from the start...

ie 3/03/03

...received the very nice call I got today from the exec office.

As part of their 5th birthday celebrations they are offering everyone who has stuck with them from the start a free birthday hamper including:

A new Nokia N95 8GB phone
Pay as you Go USB Modem
And "lots of other freebies"

Great news! And betert still I've only had my SE K850i for 3 months...

Due to be automatically delivered to all customers who ve been there from the start middle of next week.

I'll post on here the exact contents when I get mine.

But thank you 3 - nice touch - and just goes to show that customer loyalty does pay dividends sometimes

:-)

[peterkinxl5]

Well thats good news. It makes a change to hear something where a network has done something unexpectedly good and is acknowledged on the forum. It would be interesting to see a summary of your experiences since joining. I'm sure that you've been impressed with the improvements Three have made to their network and CS.

[Sicknote]

I have been with 3 since 08/03 and I wonder if you have to have been in from the very start ( fingers crossed you dont )

[pav]

I have been with 3 from the start, but just switched my number from contract to payg with them. I wonder if I will be lucky enough to get a present.

[Dr_Thurston]

Sounds good. I didn't start with them at the very beginning, missed it by a few days. Only problem is that I got fooled by some cold-calling gits who implied they were from 3 and then signed me up for a new account, losing any loyalty benefits I'd have got from the old one.

Hope you guys all get and enjoy your presents, wouldn't mind an N95 myself.

[bsrjl1]

Been with 3 since '02 as part of the Friends & Family trial. Haven't heard anything though....

[sanctusmortis]

Bah, I joined a year later...

Oh well, upgrade due end of April, so I'll content myself with a TyTN II hopefully

[Zhuzh!]

Do you know what number they called you from, as I had a missed call the other day?

[Stickermaster]

i want to know why i have not had a phone call offering an uprade

[1000Killahurts]

Hi Zhuzh

Yeah the number was 07782 *** ***. And there is one guy in the exec office dealing with it - **** ******

Wont be worth bombarding with calls because they are only sending out to people who have been there from day one. If your not one of them you'll run the risk of them just withdrawing the offer and ruining it for others.

And I'm still on the original tariff - Caboodle. £100 a month but basically everything included. Not sure if the tariff matters. Doubt it as every time i renew im told im basically one of the last people still on it.

Anyway my package will be getting sent out by courier next Wed so I'll let you all know whats in it.

Either way its something for nothing and another reason why Im happy to stay with 3.

And to Peter - my experience with 3 has been nothing but v positive. Yes over the 5 years I've had the odd complaint - thats only normal.

The network was poor back in 03 - I dont think even 3 would deny it. Poor call connections, echoey calls. This was made even worse by the huge first generation phones like the NEC 606. At first you thought you were the dogs with your new 3g until you actually had to be seen using an old 80s style brick again.

For the first year I only stuck with them as the value they offered was unbeatable - something that continues today. At the time their CS was streets ahead as well - obviously as a new network they had a lower that normal number of customers to staff and I used to receive courteous calls all the time. They were helpful and never over intrusive.

Second year in the phones were better - they started to get LGs which at the time were much better than the NECs. They also started chucking early upgrades at people making it easier to renew your phone at no extra cost and ensure that you benefitted from the fast evolving 3g technology. They remained top for value but the CS started to suffer a little - tho it was still better than any other company I had been with.

Over the next few years I stayed with them as they still treated me well as a customer. never have had any billing problems - or any disputes.

Their technology is still streets ahead of the rest today as we all know- x series is just the latest in a long line of ways in which they beat others hands down. Value remains unbeatable - not just in terms of free mins and texts but 3 from home etc.

Would I recommend them - totally.

And thank you 3 for the present :-)

[sanctusmortis]

I remember back in June of 2004 when I got my A925 that signal was the main issue - 3G was quite rare back then, and as such it could literally lose 3 bars in a metre. I also remember how cool video calling (which I've hardly ever done since) seemed at the time.

Having a free touch screen phone with internet capabilities and a Megadrive emulator didn't hurt, that's for sure

[1000Killahurts]

Apologies Pav - I forgot the forum doesnt allow the posting of names and numbers at the phone companies.

Feel free to call the guy who's details I posted at 3 to verify what I've set out above on behalf of the forum.

And as I say I will post the full hamper contents as soon as I get it next Wed.

I'll even post a pic of it :-)

[pav]

1000Killahurts Its a nice gesture from 3 to reward customers who have been with 3 from day one and if I had left the number on the forum it could as you said run the risk of the offer being with drawn if every one rang them up.

In the end I switched to payg just a couple of weeks ago. It looks like I should have held off for a bit longer before going to payg.

I started with the NEC e606, e808 and the Motorola A830 which spent a lot of time going back for repairs.

I notice that you are on the Caboodle tariff, I went on to the 3togo tariff instead and I was wondering if they are offering the loyalty to people on both tariffs or just the Caboodle one.

[1000Killahurts]

Yeah it will be interesting to see.

Can't believe I'm the only 3 user on this site to have got a call so far. There must be others.

I was told it was simply because 3 wanted to reward customers who had been with them from the start so that "we could celebrate their birthday with them as a loyal customer"

No mention given of my tariff - and I genuinely think its is just the time rather than the tariff as noone ever know what it is in a 3 store when I go in for upgrades. (Who can blame them it was discontinued 4.5 years ago). And I was told three years ago I was about the only person left on it when I upgraded.

So ... anyone else out there had this call. I cant be the only lucky one :-)

[Stickermaster]

talking of birthdays...anyone won that mini?

[treble99]

I would imagine you are probably the only Three customer paying £100 per month. What exactly do you get for that on the old Caboodle Tariff ?

[1000Killahurts]

Hi

The Caboodle tariff offers:

2,000 any network minutes (including 0800 and 0870/1 numbers)
250 video call minutes
500 text messages
120 picture messages
80 video messages
£150 downloads (originally unlimited - can still download as much of the non premium content I want for free. The £150 is just eaten into when I download music.videos etc).

I hammer my phone and make sure I get my money's worth

And whilst £100 may look a lot on the face of it - I never need to pay for anything else so I know how much my bill is each month.

Will I give the tariff up - probably over the next few years as other tariffs continually get more and more competitive but it all depends what 3 offer as I'm a diehard 3 fan (none more so than at this moment!)

[Zhuzh!]

If you are paying £100 per month its no wonder you are getting one!!

Think the rest of us can think on..............

[1000Killahurts]

Maybe maybe not zhuzh

Thing is as I say I really must be just one of a handful of people who are still on the Caboodle tariff so whats the point of them trying to get some goodwill by just handing them to a very select few

Time will tell just how far this offer is - but as I say I pay 100 all in.

How many people pay for a 25 quid contract and then end up paying 60 a month when pic messages, downloads, video messages etc are added on.

So id be interested to see if its just about the headline figure or not...

[peterkinxl5]

Got to admit I'm very pleased you've had a positive experience with Three. I'm certain that a lot of their older customers who ditched them back when they hit a rough patch are probably kicking themselves esp with a tariff like the Caboodle. I would say that for me Three have got it right esp with Coverage and Customer Service. Never ever thought I'd say that but it.s true. Whilst others have stagnated, Three have worked on their Achiles Heel or should I say Heels and now got a service to be proud of.

[Sicknote]

Originally Posted by peterkinxl5

Got to admit I'm very pleased you've had a positive experience with Three. I'm certain that a lot of their older customers who ditched them back when they hit a rough patch are probably kicking themselves esp with a tariff like the Caboodle. I would say that for me Three have got it right esp with Coverage and Customer Service. Never ever thought I'd say that but it.s true. Whilst others have stagnated, Three have worked on their Achiles Heel or should I say Heels and now got a service to be proud of.

Spot on
I am very happy with 3 and some friends of mine left 3 and went with voda but the first site they went on, the only people that had service was those on 3

[a_ukboy]

I've been with 3 since day one and i've not got the call either :-(

[1000Killahurts]

I wouldnt give up hope yet uk boy

They are only being sent out next wed/thurs so plenty of time to get a call yet.

Are you on a monthly tariff or PAYG?

And did you give up your KIT or CABOODLE tariff just so that we can try and work out who is getting them and who is not.

[a_ukboy]

Well i was given a phone NEC606 for £99 on the friends and family promotion they were doing, im still on contract but on the personal plan (copy of Flext 35)
I also think that i won't get it because altough i have been with Three since launch my account number changed about 8 months later, so towards end of 2003 because i lost my phone and Three wasn't able to just place a new phone with the same number on the original account, i was given a new account and new number, it took my 8 months of calls to 3 to finally get my original 3 number back as its quite a memerable number..

[1000Killahurts]

OK yeah that might be the reason if you dont get a call.

But If i also remember rightly the £99 friends and family promo came out say 3 months after they launched. If I'm right, that will also be the reason as its just those that have been there from day one ie 3/3/03.