Three Mobile down – customers STILL struggling to use phones after massive outage yesterday
THREE mobile customers are still unable to use their phones more than 24 hours after a mass network outage hit thousands of phone users.
Yesterday, customers were unable to make or receive calls and texts or access the internet due to a lack of signal, leaving many furious.
The network provider told The Sun that is has fixed the issues for the majority of customers but a small number may still be experiencing problems.
Phone users began complaining about a problem around midnight on Wednesday but it wasn't until 9am on Thursday that Three officially acknowledged it.
Customers raged that they were unable to use 4G with some, such as taxi drivers, complaining that it was affecting business.
Three are yet to confirm whether they will compensate customers or offer refunds for the inconvenience.
Can I claim compensation if my network goes down?
YOU may be able to claim compensation if you’re not getting the level of service that you have been promised, according to regulator .
You will need to give your provider a "reasonable opportunity" to fix the issue before escalating your concerns though.
Where repairs take much longer, for example it takes longer than usual to access a mast site, you may be entitled to a refund or compensation.
If your provider fails to repair fault by a promised time, or you’re unhappy with how long it is taking to fix it, you should follow their formal complaints procedure.
You will be able to find these on the provider's website or through their customer services team.
If your problem is still unresolved after eight weeks, you can escalate it to an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.
To do that, you’ll need to ask your provider for a “deadlock” letter that you will have to show one of the two ADR schemes approved by the watchdog - and .
Your provider will be a member of at least one of them. You can find out which one by using the .
At the moment, the network says that it is focusing on getting everyone's service back up and running as normal.
In the meantime, you can submit a complaint to Three explaining why the service hasn't performed as promised.
You can do this via the provider's official complaints procedure here or via the customer service desk.
It's not just Three mobile users that have been affected either - other providers piggyback from the network.
To try and claim compensation from either FreedomPop, iD mobile, Smarty or Superdrug Mobile you'll need to go to them directly.
If your phone still isn't working, Three advises that you try the oldest trick in the book - try turning it off and on again.
If that doesn't work, you should switch your phone on to airplane mode before turning it off again.
While the solution was successful for some people, many frustrated customers are complaining that the issue is ongoing.
Three hasn't specified what has caused the outage, which isn't uncommon as the reason is often considered market sensitive.
How to complain to your mobile provider
WE'VE put together the complaints pages of the networks affected by the recent Three's network outage. Here's how to complain:
- FreedomPop
- iD Mobile
- Smarty
- Superdrug Mobile
- Three .
Anything from a software glitch to a faulty mast can cause havoc for some mobile users.
Three's outage comes less than a year after nearly 25 million 02 customers were hit by a 4G network meltdown, causing mayhem for phone users across Britain.
Earlier this week we reported how Vodafone announced that it won't charge customers after a roaming outage saw users billed up to £10,000 by mistake.
A Three spokesperson told The Sun: "Our engineers have worked overnight and are continuing to iron out a few remaining issues from a technical perspective.
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"While voice and text have returned to normal, unfortunately a small number of customers may continue to experience intermittent issues with data.
"To help with the process we advise our customers to turn their phones off and on or turn airplane mode on and off, which will in most cases resolve the issue by resetting your phone’s connection to the network.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to our customers."