New 3 Feel at Home countries

[Avalon]

I have a friend here in Portugal is very happy using his F@H allowance and reckons it is a good service.

As a new user nobody told him about the time (2 month?) limitation for continuous use overseas. He is now just approaching the 2 month point so it will be interesting to hear his experiences. i will report back.

Any update on this? We have just moved to Portugal (Lagos) for the winter and we both have 3 contract SIMs. We need our UK mobile numbers to work - and carry on working - so we can be contacted from the UK while we are here. If our SIMs are going to turn into pumpkins at midnight after 2 months then we will need to make a plan...

The irony is that I don't really need the 3 Feel at Home data facility as I have a local MEO SIM in my (dual SIM) phone for 4G data and just use the 3 SIM for voice and text.

 

[Mistroma]

The point of this rather long post is to point out that things tend to go downhill and stay there once Three pick up a Feel at Home rule infringement.

Three cut off service in Spain last year without any warning but had said we'd be OK after April 2017 when the 12 month roaming ban expired. Not terribly confident as Three were pretty inconsistent with explanations.

We planned to avoid Three outside UK this year and turned the phone off on 19th April and switched to an O2 SIM before leaving for Spain. The SIM was replaced on 20th July for 5 minutes to send a single SMS from France and swapped back to O2. This was well after the date Three said would be OK and was only done to keep the SIM active. On 26th Oct. the SIM was switched back to Three just before boarding a flight from Italy back to UK. It was turned on for a couple of minutes, wouldn't connect to a network and was turned off until back in UK.

An online check showed that roaming had been disabled again so I called Three. The guy couldn't grasp the problem and kept trying to sell a top up to fix the problem. He then said that roaming was enabled but backtracked later when I insisted that it still showed as disabled when I checked online. Then he explained it was because I'd been in a Feel at Home destination for more than 60 days. I persuaded him to check further and he said he'd call back later. Nothing happened until I'd called again and explained it to a young lady who also said it was overuse in a 12 month period. At least she did seem to understand that this was silly after my third or fourth repetition of the fact that the SIM had only been in the phone for 5 minutes over a 6 month period. The first Three guy did call back because my second call had flagged in his system but he only asked how roaming was working now. Well it isn't but we are back in UK for a few months, so not an issue for 2016. Still waiting for him to call back with some more details.

The only explanation so far is that Three assumed we were in a Feel at Home location for more than 2 months because our last UK use was on 19th April and then the SIM was used once in France 3 months later. Of course they can't prove this assumption. I'd be fine if the phone was stored in UK or even with me in a non Feel at Home destination.

I suspect that Three will eventually tell me that the ban wasn't due to expire until after July. One explanation could be that they re-enabled roaming early as a goodwill gesture when we were back in UK over last winter. We got a text a week or so later to say roaming would be disabled and that did happen. Three said that their system would keep disabling roaming every time they enabled it. I now suspect that it had the effect of extending the ban for another 12 months, great goodwill gesture.

This isn't an issue for me as I no longer use Three for roaming but would like to understand their rules and logic (if any).

 

[nigelmercier]

New info on buying a SIM from a friend...

Three 12GB data SIMs currently £22.99 on this website:

https://www.mymemory.co.uk/SIM-Cards/3/3-PAYG-4G-Trio-Data-SIM-Pack-Preloaded-with-12GB-of-Data

and £22.99 on eBay from same source

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-3-PAY...d-with-12GB-of-Data-Three-Sizes-/371598351562

(Sometimes eBay has the cheaper price so best check both)

Or you can phone them on 01534 789922 (St Helier) and pay by plastic.

Cards take well over a week to arrive. Mine came from Switzerland

 

[ripvan1]

But are these affected by 2 month limit ?

 

[nigelmercier]

But are these affected by 2 month limit ?

Probably, but the answer to that is simple, see #22.

 

[Avalon]

Probably, but the answer to that is simple, see #22.

In #22 you suggest

"Perhaps the solution is to buy two SIMs and post one back to someone in the UK after two months."

However this is not helpful if you wish to retain the same phone number for incoming calls.

 

[nigelmercier]

This is a data SIM.

 

[Avalon]

This is a data SIM.

Yours may be. The 3 SIM in my phone is a voice and data SIM. Currently it works for both voice and data (using Feel at Home) in Portugal where I will be until next spring. I'm not particularly worried if data roaming is discontinued as I can use a local data SIM for that in my dual SIM phone.

What I would like to know is whether the operation of my SIM as regards VOICE and TEXTS will be affected by any arbitrary limits imposed by 3 on overseas stays. Can anyone advise me regarding this? Thanks.

 

[DaveRo]

What I would like to know is whether the operation of my SIM as regards VOICE and TEXTS will be affected by any arbitrary limits imposed by 3 on overseas stays.

See Mistroma's posts. If you infringe the Feel at Home limits they disable roaming - it won't connect*. And you can't opt out of FaH. So if you intend to be abroad in a FaH country for longer than the FaH limit, don't use 3 at all.

*Information probably wrong at time of writing, and will change without notice.

 

[nortada]

Any update on this? We have just moved to Portugal (Lagos) for the winter and we both have 3 contract SIMs. We need our UK mobile numbers to work - and carry on working - so we can be contacted from the UK while we are here. If our SIMs are going to turn into pumpkins at midnight after 2 months then we will need to make a plan...

The irony is that I don't really need the 3 Feel at Home data facility as I have a local MEO SIM in my (dual SIM) phone for 4G data and just use the 3 SIM for voice and text.

Worked well while he was here but has now returned before the 2 month limit so nothing conclusive.

 

[VicMallows]

Probably, but the answer to that is simple, see #22.

I have (QTY3) '3' PAYG data sims ready for a long trip to Spain. One sim is already in use, but others are unused. I tried to find out if they needed to be first activated while still in the UK (which obviously starts the 12 month clock ticking), but the only answer I could get from '3' was "well, we don't know, but probably safer to activate before you leave"! Not really an issue, and will just hope that they DO reactivate on return to UK if any do get locked under the 2 month rule. I don't have anyone to post back to who would be able to activate them in UK.

(Incidentally, my cards arrived from Switzerland in just 2 days)

 

[nortada]

I have (QTY3) '3' PAYG data sims ready for a long trip to Spain. One sim is already in use, but others are unused. I tried to find out if they needed to be first activated while still in the UK (which obviously starts the 12 month clock ticking), but the only answer I could get from '3' was "well, we don't know, but probably safer to activate before you leave"! Not really an issue, and will just hope that they DO reactivate on return to UK if any do get locked under the 2 month rule. I don't have anyone to post back to who would be able to activate them in UK.

(Incidentally, my cards arrived from Switzerland in just 2 days)

My experience - they do need to be activated and roaming selected before you leave the UK.

There is still a theory (yet to be confirmed); when in a F@H country, if you remove the SIM card for more than 24 hours you will disable F@H and thus conserve your annual 2 month entitlement?

 

[Mistroma]

My experience - they do need to be activated and roaming selected before you leave the UK.

There is still a theory (yet to be confirmed); when in a F@H country, if you remove the SIM card for more than 24 hours you will disable F@H and thus conserve your annual 2 month entitlement?

I'm still trying to find out if Three cut off roaming because I'd sent a single text in Spain after 3 months outside UK and simply turning the phone on again 3 months later in Italy. The only reason given so far was "breaking Feel at home 2 month limit". The SIM was not in any phone apart from sending one SMS from Spain and putting it back it immediately before boarding a flight from Italy to UK.

So no guarantee removing the SIM will always work as Three seem to apply their rules rather randomly.

 

[Mistroma]

I finally had a reply from Three regarding removal of roaming service on my phone (as per post #62).

Extract from their reply:
After the SIM card connected to “Bouygues Telecom” in France on 20th July, it was not connected to any network again until 26th October, when it latched back onto our UK systems. It is assumed on 19th September, the SIM was still being used abroad and so this would equate to two calendar months use allowed in any 12 month period.

Since we cannot show you were not abroad for this time, I’ve re-activated your international roaming, but I can see this is the third time we have done so.

I need to confirm it will not be done again.
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Just to be clear, Three is a UK based mobile network and our products and services are intended to be used as such. Any additional international services we provide are at our discretion.

This all came about because I made a total of 2-3 calls abroad in 2015 when I was in Spain & Balearics for most of the summer, though I did return to UK mid. summer for a couple of weeks.

Strike 1: OK, I was in a Feel at home destination for more than 2 months, their own support staff said it would be OK to use credit and not Feel at Home add-on. Only a few calls and full roaming charge paid so not exactly taking unfair advantage of Feel at Home. Still, it was technically against their rules and I was cut-off with no warning.

Strike 2: Three re-enabled roaming as a goodwill gesture once I'd returned to UK and almost immediately turned it off again because I'd infringed Feel at home rules within a 12 month period. I had not actually left the UK again but it seems that their system spotted my earlier infringement. I decided not to turn the phone on outside UK until mid. 2016 at earliest.

Strike 3: The SIM was removed whilst still in the UK this year on 19th April and only put back in on 20th July to send a text and keep the SIM active. Three obviously consider that a SIM sitting in a drawer is benefitting from Feel at Home and so turn off roaming after 2 months.

Now they say roaming is back on again because we can't prove you were abroad for more than 2 months. However, we are in the huff so won't enable roaming again as this is the third time it has been disabled. Anyway, we don't really need to provide the service as we are UK based, it's only done if we feel like it.

I'm expecting Three to turn roaming back off again while I'm still in UK or if I leave the UK for a couple of days.

So anyone using Three cannot rely on roaming by simply removing their SIM or turning the phone off for a short period. Mine was off for 2 months and again for 4 months and Three still disabled roaming. Total roaming use between November 2015 and July 2016 consisted of a single text.

 

[nigelmercier]

After the SIM card connected to “Bouygues Telecom” in France on 20th July, it was not connected to any network again until 26th October, when it latched back onto our UK systems. It is assumed on 19th September, the SIM was still being used abroad and so this would equate to two calendar months use allowed in any 12 month period...

So the bottom line is to reset it as soon as you return to the UK.

 

[Mistroma]

Couldn't do that Nigel, not possible to re-enable online and Three initially denied it was disabled. It was showing as disabled online and wouldn't connect when SIM put back into phone prior to boarding flight back (turned on by accident for under a minute). Three then admitted that roaming had been disabled but took a bit of escalation and prodding to come up with the reason.

Once Three disable roaming it's a 12 month ban even if it's been disabled for a silly reason such as "using it abroad whilst it was turned off and we don't actually know that you were in a Feel at Home destination for more than 2 months".

 

[colind3782]

After watching this lengthy thread for the last couple of months, I've come to the conclusion that it really isn't worth the hassle.

 

[nortada]

After watching this lengthy thread for the last couple of months, I've come to the conclusion that it really isn't worth the hassle.

Agree, I have given up on F@H and got a NOS 4G Mifi, pay-as -you-go 15G over 15 days for €15 or to put it another way a Gig a day for €1 a day.

 

[Mistroma]

Agree, I have given up on F@H and got a NOS 4G Mifi, pay-as -you-go 15G over 15 days for €15 or to put it another way a Gig a day for €1 a day.

Yes, same here. However, we kept it for use at home as it is our best option when back in UK. Only problem with that was having roaming cut-off when we used it once to make certain our SIM remained active. The only problem with that is the 12 month ban means we can't do the same next year to keep it active. I think that doing a top up instead after 5 months should work to keep it active.

Three's logic below is pretty hilarious though. i.e. Not connected to any network (so by definition not being used) therefore still being used abroad (weird).

After the SIM card connected to “Bouygues Telecom” in France on 20th July, it was not connected to any network again until 26th October, when it latched back onto our UK systems. It is assumed on 19th September, the SIM was still being used abroad and so this would equate to two calendar months use allowed in any 12 month period.

I don't believe that the 2 month limit applies to non-Feel at Home destinations. Does that mean I'll be OK if I visit one of these and don't use the phone rather than travelling to a Feel at Home destination and not using the phone there?

 

[DaveRo]

I don't believe that the 2 month limit applies to non-Feel at Home destinations. Does that mean I'll be OK if I visit one of these and don't use the phone rather than travelling to a Feel at Home destination and not using the phone there?

I suspect the answer ought to be yes. When you turned it on in France, Bouygues would have contacted Three UK. If you had roaming allowed Three would record the SIM as roaming at Bouygues, tell Bouygues to accept the registration, and Bouygues would register it as a temporary subscriber. That situation would persist until the phone registered with another network. It that interval Three knows where to route incoming calls and Bouygues knows to bill Three for calls and data.

If you went to a non-FaH country and turned the phone on Three should know that FaH roaming had stopped.

It seems to depend on Three's definition of the word 'use'. If you don't want to 'use' the phone abroad, remove or disable the SIM to stop it registering with a foreign network.