Three UK and Nokia in the case of the non existent Accessory Pack

One of my phone contracts is up for renewal – I’ve had an itchy upgrade finger for a while now. There aren’t very many phones that excite me now, I’ve got a Samsung Galaxy S4, which is great, all of the other current Androids are about the same, or worse than that. I wouldn’t touch an iPhone with a shitty stick, but, after my little trial with the Nokia Lumia 1020 ended, I’ve missed the little blighter in my life.

See the thing is, I take a LOT of photos, anywhere between 200-500 a month, I LOVE documenting life and all its ups and downs. The 1020 has a 41 Megapixel camera, and I was really pleased with the photos that I took during my trial, Nokia are also constantly improving the camera software, with little geeky tweaks to push it further. The problem is, the operating system – Windows Phone – I find it nearly as abhorrent and annoying as iOS, whilst Microsoft are tweaking it and improving it, it’s, well – it’s not Android.

That said – I can think I can tolerate it, especially considering how good the camera is on the 1020. So – on Monday, I decided to pull the upgrade trigger and place my order with Three UK, my hesitation was eased slightly by the fact Three’s upgrade page mentioned the inclusion of an ‘Accessory Pack’. Usually these kind of freebies are crap, but these weren’t.. The pack included, the Lumia 1020 Camera Grip, a Tripod, the Wireless Charging Back and I *think* a Wireless Charging Pad. Put together around £150’s worth of freebie – something not to be sniffed at. I placed my order and the phone was due on Tuesday.

Tuesday came, as did the phone, but no Accessory Pack – I rang Three and got through to their hellish Indian Call Centre. After having to explain the story to two members of staff, I finally got to the bottom of it all – the Accessory Pack was for pre-orders only. He explained it was Nokia’s fault that they weren’t doing them now(!?). That’s fine – but why have mention on it on the site WEEKS after the phone has launched. It’s not shown on the normal ‘sales’ part of the site – but was definitely on the ‘upgrade’ part (which I can’t see any more as I’ve upgraded!)

I explained that I’d chosen that phone on the basis of getting the pack too, and as it wasn’t included the phone might as well go back and I keep my existing expired contract. The phone agent didn’t seem keen on me cancelling my upgrade, and then started to try and offer me deals and discounts on a Galaxy S4. I did explain I already had one, and had no interest in a second – but he was relentless – he even told me that I could have the Lumia for 14 days while I decided on the S4 deal. Eventually, he got told in no uncertain terms I wasn’t after ANOTHER S4. So, he moved on to trying to sell me an iPhone.

I got a little annoyed then.. I just wanted to return the fucking Lumia – he eventually sensed my displeasure and processed my return.

I was told I’d get an envelope to return the handset in, my account would revert to my existing plan, and I’d get a text to confirm this when I’d hung up. I’ve not received a text, and My 3 account is still telling me I’m a happy Lumia owner with another 2 years on my contract. Brilliant.

I moaned a little on Twitter to Three’s Support and PR team – as ever, they are wonderfully polite, but largely unhelpful. The best they could offer was that I should fill in the complaint form – I have. It’s all incredibly frustrating, because Three do really have one of the best mobile networks going – the service is extremely good. It’s just the customer facing aspect of it they suck at.

Hopefully I’ll get the phone sent back and I can put this little hiccup behind me and resume my status as a happy Three customer! We’ll see..