Help required with Three Sim
A word of warning to anyone considering purchasing the Three mobile broadband sim.
I spent just over an hour and a half in an online chat with Three customer services today and the outcome was not good.
The background to the story is that I purchased 2 of the “Internet with Legs 24GB/24 month” sims from Amazon back in May 2022. I installed the first one in the car modem in November 2022 and it worked perfectly until it expired on 12/11/2024. I installed the second sim in the car the next day but it refused to connect to the Three network. I also tried it in a spare mobile phone and used a network info app to see if it could shed some light on what was going wrong but it couldn’t. It still wouldn’t connect to the network. So, I contacted the Three helpline via an online chat”
The first guy I spoke to asked me for the serial number of the sim which I gave him. After about 5 mins he replied that he couldn’t help me as the sim did not appear on his database as it had not been activated. His advice was to buy a new one!
As you might expect I told him that I found his advice unacceptable and asked to be put in contact with their customer services team. He said he couldn’t do that because I didn’t have an account with them and repeated his advice to buy a new sim. After much argument he asked me to wait while he spoke to his manager. After 5 minutes he said he was transferring me to customer services.
After another 25 minutes wait a customer services agent joined the chat.
I explained the problem again. His reply was that because there had been no activity on the sim for a period of 90 days the sim had been permanently deactivated. I responded by asking him from what date had the 90 days been calculated and he replied from the date of purchase! I asked how on earth he thought that was a sensible answer has they had no way of knowing on what date the sim had been purchased as it had been bought online through a retailer (Amazon). Surely he meant from the date of activation? He wouldn’t budge.
He went on to say that the “lnternet with Legs” sims were now discontinued and that they were now invalid and could not be activated. He told me to contact Amazon to ask for a refund! Seriously?
I argued that this must be a contravention of UK consumer rights. How can they sell a service but then withdraw that service without giving prior warning to the customer? His reply was they couldn’t give me prior warning because the sim had not been activated and an account set up
Next he sent me about 15 pages of text containing the T&Cs for the new sims that replace the “Internet with Legs” ones. These new sims are the ones Amazon are currently selling. In those T&Cs it says that Three have the right to permanently disable the sim if there is a “period of inactivity exceeding” a number of days. I can’t remember if it was 90 or 180 days. It then goes on to define a period of inactivity as being a period during which a “chargeable event” is not detected on the account e.g. a top-up purchase or the purchase of a data add-on pack, a call charge or a charge for sending a message. Totally unsuitable terms for a sim that is preloaded with 24GB of data and valid for a period of 24 months. I’ve got through 3 of these sims since I bought the car, never used more than 11GB of data in the 24 months they were active ( I don’t stream music ).
The agents final advice was that if I purchase a new sim from Amazon, activate it and create an account Three would give me a credit on that account equal to the purchase value of the sim. That credit could be used to top-up the sim if the data runs out during the 24 months
He totally refused to simply replace the non-working sim with a new working one as I requested.
My response was that I would contact Amazon to inform them of my conversation with Three and ask them to make these T&Cs absolutely clear on the Amazon site. I also told him I would contact OFCOM and trading standards to ask for their response on this matter. Too be honest I don’t think I can be bothered to do the latter, I’m awaiting delivery of a new car and the XC40 is going as a trade-in. The new car does not require a user sim, all data comes in via the car’s built-in sim. I’ll take this one on the chin but I wanted to make everyone aware of what happened and advise you to read the T&Cs (if you can find them
) very carefully before you buy anything.
Sorry this post is so large. Just had to get this off my chest. Thanks if you made it to the end…
I spent just over an hour and a half in an online chat with Three customer services today and the outcome was not good.
The background to the story is that I purchased 2 of the “Internet with Legs 24GB/24 month” sims from Amazon back in May 2022. I installed the first one in the car modem in November 2022 and it worked perfectly until it expired on 12/11/2024. I installed the second sim in the car the next day but it refused to connect to the Three network. I also tried it in a spare mobile phone and used a network info app to see if it could shed some light on what was going wrong but it couldn’t. It still wouldn’t connect to the network. So, I contacted the Three helpline via an online chat”
The first guy I spoke to asked me for the serial number of the sim which I gave him. After about 5 mins he replied that he couldn’t help me as the sim did not appear on his database as it had not been activated. His advice was to buy a new one!
As you might expect I told him that I found his advice unacceptable and asked to be put in contact with their customer services team. He said he couldn’t do that because I didn’t have an account with them and repeated his advice to buy a new sim. After much argument he asked me to wait while he spoke to his manager. After 5 minutes he said he was transferring me to customer services.
After another 25 minutes wait a customer services agent joined the chat.
I explained the problem again. His reply was that because there had been no activity on the sim for a period of 90 days the sim had been permanently deactivated. I responded by asking him from what date had the 90 days been calculated and he replied from the date of purchase! I asked how on earth he thought that was a sensible answer has they had no way of knowing on what date the sim had been purchased as it had been bought online through a retailer (Amazon). Surely he meant from the date of activation? He wouldn’t budge.
He went on to say that the “lnternet with Legs” sims were now discontinued and that they were now invalid and could not be activated. He told me to contact Amazon to ask for a refund! Seriously?
I argued that this must be a contravention of UK consumer rights. How can they sell a service but then withdraw that service without giving prior warning to the customer? His reply was they couldn’t give me prior warning because the sim had not been activated and an account set up
Next he sent me about 15 pages of text containing the T&Cs for the new sims that replace the “Internet with Legs” ones. These new sims are the ones Amazon are currently selling. In those T&Cs it says that Three have the right to permanently disable the sim if there is a “period of inactivity exceeding” a number of days. I can’t remember if it was 90 or 180 days. It then goes on to define a period of inactivity as being a period during which a “chargeable event” is not detected on the account e.g. a top-up purchase or the purchase of a data add-on pack, a call charge or a charge for sending a message. Totally unsuitable terms for a sim that is preloaded with 24GB of data and valid for a period of 24 months. I’ve got through 3 of these sims since I bought the car, never used more than 11GB of data in the 24 months they were active ( I don’t stream music ).
The agents final advice was that if I purchase a new sim from Amazon, activate it and create an account Three would give me a credit on that account equal to the purchase value of the sim. That credit could be used to top-up the sim if the data runs out during the 24 months
He totally refused to simply replace the non-working sim with a new working one as I requested.
My response was that I would contact Amazon to inform them of my conversation with Three and ask them to make these T&Cs absolutely clear on the Amazon site. I also told him I would contact OFCOM and trading standards to ask for their response on this matter. Too be honest I don’t think I can be bothered to do the latter, I’m awaiting delivery of a new car and the XC40 is going as a trade-in. The new car does not require a user sim, all data comes in via the car’s built-in sim. I’ll take this one on the chin but I wanted to make everyone aware of what happened and advise you to read the T&Cs (if you can find them
) very carefully before you buy anything.Sorry this post is so large. Just had to get this off my chest. Thanks if you made it to the end…
XC40 | First Edition | 2.0 D4 AWD | Bursting Blue | 19" wheels | Ordered 11/03/18 | Delivered 19th October 2018.
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Chris John
- Posts: 550
- Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:08 pm
The non activity on sims now appears to be the standard for most providers these days. I have a sim installed in a house alarm system and I have to put money into the sim every couple of months due to no activity on the sim.
Volvo XC40 T5 R-Drive Pro. Thunder Grey with lots of extras
That's interesting, I've just activated one of the new 2 year/24 GB sims. I had bought it to fit in the car, but when it was last serviced I was given another Vodaphone SIM (even though they had supposedly stopped issuing these last year), so I'm using it in the second SIM slot in my Mobile. Your explanation would explain why I've had a few emails regarding topping up my card! I will leave it for now and see what happens after 90 days, if they terminate it I may take forward through one of the consumer organisations suggesting that it is being mis-sold.
Why would I want to buy a data add-on pack when the card has 24GB and lasts for 24 months?
Similarly, why would I want to make a call or a text message when using it in a laptop or tablet?
It clearly states on the package that the SIM is for use in devices such as tablet, laptop, or mobile device, i.e. devices that could be used for calls and/or text messages, but not normally.
Why would I want to buy a data add-on pack when the card has 24GB and lasts for 24 months?
Similarly, why would I want to make a call or a text message when using it in a laptop or tablet?
It clearly states on the package that the SIM is for use in devices such as tablet, laptop, or mobile device, i.e. devices that could be used for calls and/or text messages, but not normally.
Ordered 24th February 2018: XC40, FE, T5, Crystal White, Lava Interior (additional black carpets), 19" wheels, mud flaps, Tow Bar, Polestar, was expected June/July, then 1st October.
Finally took delivery on 16th October 2018.
Finally took delivery on 16th October 2018.
Three were unable to provide me with the T&Cs for the Internet with Legs sim as they are now discontinued.
XC40 | First Edition | 2.0 D4 AWD | Bursting Blue | 19" wheels | Ordered 11/03/18 | Delivered 19th October 2018.
Read in the press this morning that O2 are pulling their version of the pre-loaded data sim too, as of 31/01/2025. All existing ones will cease to work on that date, users will have to apply for a refund for any unused data.
XC40 | First Edition | 2.0 D4 AWD | Bursting Blue | 19" wheels | Ordered 11/03/18 | Delivered 19th October 2018.
