Monday, June 14, 2010

Me and Three

I just love the wonderful logic of some organisations and companies. Take Three for example. I've just recently bought a Mi-Fi with a rolling contract at £5 for 1Gb of data. Not a bad deal as far as I could see and this way I get to connect any device to the internet rather than just a 'phone or portable computer or my favourite new gadget, the iPad!

Anyway, I thought it might be rather simple to add the new SIM to my existing Three account for the dongle I bought a year ago. Not so. I called customer services, got passed around a few times and eventually I lost the will to listen to more music and hung up. A job for another day I decided.
Then the letter arrived. It welcomed me to the network and introduced "My3" as "the best way to keep track of what you're spending."

You can access this facility over the internet, but you need a three 'phone to receive the text message that gives you the link to set up the account. I've been down this road before, last year in fact, but I hoped things had changed. But wait, something new, here's a "what to do if you don't have a Three 'phone". Wonderful I thought, just what I need. Things have changed!

Visit the webpage, enter your mobile number and we'll send you a link. Great. So I do just that. Wait a minute, it doesn't like my number, it's not a Three number. Well of course not, I don't have a Three 'phone! Okay, so I try the number from the new Mi-Fi. Works a treat. Number accepted, link being sent. Wait a minute, where exactly are you sending the link.

The penny drops.

The link will have been sent to the number I've just entered. The one for which I don't have a 'phone and can't receive text messages through because.... I don't have a Three 'phone. Arrgh!

The last section of the letter asks, "Any Question?" Yes, I've got questions!

I think it will have to be plan B, but that is a job for another day!

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