Remember Bob Fuller....

[3GScottishUser]

He was the chap in command at 3 UK for the first few years of it's existance.

He supported the 'Walled Garden', Videocalling, Video on Demand (Football Goals etc), and Mobile TV.

What a poor range of revenue streams all of those turned out to be. It's hard to imagine now how anyone could have got the whole 3G business model so wrong!

Enter the present CEO Kevin Russell and we now have 3 UK abadoning all links with GSM, playing the Internet access card for all it's worth and offering a product range as wide as any other mobile operator.

What a difference one individual can make.

Shame Russell has not seen fit to address the customer service issue as yet. Changing the focus of the company's product offerings and collaborating with others has delivered major improvements for 3's published results. UK call centre support for contract customers could be the key factor that might put 3 UK on a level playing field with others.

Can Russell deliver or are his hands tied re offshore support?

[Hands0n]

I would say his hands are tied or he would have brought the primary CS back here long ago. However, they are doing a whole lot of customer engagement. Their Twitter channel is busy and very interactive. Their web relation team is highly professional and take the time to help resolve issues. That is not to say that the Indian call centre is not always there to screw things up.

I hold a certain hope that now they're turning in a profit that there may be some scope to bring a larger part of their customer service back into the UK. There can be no one at Three who is unaware of how deeply unpopular their Indian call centre is.

[Hands0n]

Oh, and Bob Fuller was a total plonker.

[Ben]

Ah, poor Bob. I'm sure he executed the strategy well, but a visionary he was not. Three's early days were certainly an example of how not to launch a mobile network and any new entrants in 2012 would do well to heed their mistakes!

Three are currently having to support their biggest downfall, outsourced CS, with lots of peripheral CS. Glasgow is still going strong, and Business customers use it exclusively (big tongue sticky-outy to you all), and as Hands0n says Twitter is phenomenally good, but there are holes. The contact forms on the site rarely yield a response in my experience (the new Business customer one never does! I had to go to Twitter!), and email responses take almost twice as long as the stated 10 days.

I still think coverage is an issue though. Three need 3G800, or a partnership with a 3G900 network. It's just not happening. Right now they're in the lead, but Vodafone and O2 are surely massive threats now.

[wings911onfire]

3 bringing their call centre business offshore is a good thing in terms of customers paying lesser coz in india its 10 heads for the price of 1 if people are prepared to shell out more they have their way ... 3 has been giving credits to customers all around the uk and has spent almost 2 million pounds just giving away credits... shows how gracious kevin is.people get credits for even damaging their fones when they blame 3 for it even when 3 doesnt manufacture mobile fones.. customers at times racially discriminate advisors for such issues... people who damage their mobile fones as STUPID questions such as ... how could i have damaged my mobile fone whe i didnt damage it??? then y does a damage indiacator on the fone prove it was damaged..if someone doesnt use your fone how could he/she tell how a fone is damaged..i find it ridiculous!! another person says my son sat on the fone and cracked my display and it is covered under warranty and finds it ridiculous as to why a damaged handset in not covered under warranty...lol!!! there are over a 100 instances to support that the cntact centre in india does know what is being done and what neds to be done... if someone looses their mobile fone and has usage after loosing it... it is not 3 responsibility to refund a customer 90 quid for their carelessness for firstly loosing their fone and then blaming a company for not refunding it.. a police complaint can be lodged to track down the user and then ask for a reimbursement from the user!!!
lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hands0n]

Hello Wings911onfire, welcome to Talk3G. I will have to take issue with pretty much everything you have just posted on here, although it is very welcome for you to do so.

Let me just set my own cards on the table. I do not believe that Three's off-shore customer service have the faintest idea of what the words "customer service" actually mean. Furthermore, I do believe that the off-shore customer service teams wholly demonstrate that lack of awareness and understanding. In a word, I believe they are incompetent.

... people who damage their mobile fones as STUPID questions such as ...

Now, that very statement there is very revealing. Why is a customer considered "STUPID"? They may not be in full possession of the facts, details or requirements. That just means that they have insufficient information. It by no means makes them "STUPID". And you see, there is the problem with the Indian CS that Three use. They all appear to consider the customer "STUPID" and therefore they tend to abuse and patronise the customer. When they find that they cannot do this, or the customer does not respond to being so patronised or abused, they will disconnect the customer. So the customer has to call back and repeat their issue all over again to the next call center person they speak with - even though Three's CRM should have details of the previous call recorded. The likelihood is that the CRM record has not even been filled in by the previous call centre operator.

The problem
The problem with Three's off-shore call centre is that it pure and simply does not work well enough. There are enough stories told of Three's off-shore CS exhibiting extraordinarily incompetent behaviour, from being over-optimistic about network coverage, refusing returns within the 14 day period, being unable to resolve simple issues, mishandling the bank Direct Debit instructions of customers and having a very aggressive, almost abusive, retentions team who make the most ridiculous propositions to customers who just want to leave the network and go elsewhere.

There is even a 20-minute video on YouTube that records one classic example of the retentions operator refusing the give the customer their PAC. Instead the off-shore operator made the customer endure 40 minutes of what amounts to pure abuse and frustration. One has to wonder what the particular instruction is that is given to the retentions team - because that very same tale is repeated over and over again on the forums and Twitter.

I am sorry if it is difficult and painful for you to read this but the Three off-shore customer services has established its own reputation since 2003, and it is very bad one indeed. It is rotten to the core and the sooner that Three close it down, or stop using it and bring the customer service back into each country that Three operate in the better.

You see, I actually like very much the Three network and the products that they sell. I also like very much the UK team who have been managing customer fall-out on Twitter. Fall-out that is directly caused by the off-shore call centre. And so, in my own dealings with Three, I strictly control my exposure to the company.

For example, I will not give Three my main mobile number, that remains with Vodafone. I will not commit to anything more than a SIM-only deal for 30-days or, at a maximum, of 12 months. I will not purchase any hardware from Three that is not well-supported by the manufacturer (i.e. Apple) or which I would be happy to throw away if it goes wrong (i.e. MiFi). Because to try and get a remedy by Three's customer services would drive me insane with rage. My own historical experiences are mirrored to this day by others who record their experiences on the Internet for all to see.

That says to me that, since 2003, Three's customer services are as bad as ever, they have learned nothing, they are incapable of improving and they are just as likely to be as bad for the next ten years.