There have been a number of tweets and posts flying around the social sphere about this phone. I’ve had great fun reading the rumours about what you all thought Google and Samsung were bringing to your fingertips. It’s been an exciting run up to today, and I can now confirm that the Galaxy Nexus will be coming to Three (I wanted to tell you sooner, promise!).
First things first, it’s what the Android-lovers among us have been waiting for. Yes, you guessed it -the Galaxy Nexus is the first Android Smartphone to come on Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) version of the operating system; also known as 4.0. This makes the phone super quick and even offers panoramic image capture.
There are plenty of exciting features on this phone but the thing that really makes the Galaxy Nexus stand out for me (apart from the super slim keyless and curved design – I told you there’s too many things to choose from!) is the HD screen, it has Samsung’s new HD resolution super AMOLED technology. The colour on this screen is incredibly vibrant, it’s got great outdoor visibility and the wide viewing angles really take this Smartphone to the next level.
Take a look at our sneak peek video and let me know what you think. Does it live up to all your expectations?
EU chiefs pledge to reduce roaming costs...
why is the Galaxy nexus One plan £41 when the new HTC One X plan is £38?
Surely as the HTC One X is the new release, quad core phone, with double the memory, a better camera and the Galaxy Nexus has been out 4/5 months.
Shouldn’t the Galaxy nexus One plan have dropped by now? to around the £30 mark.
@Rednus – Afraid there are no plans to launch a Three Skype app. What issues are you having the the official client app?
Hey any news on the Three’s skype app. The official app is really bad…
I have to say that I’m utterly disappointed with the early upgrade offers with three, basically I’m better off taking a new contract on the galaxy nexus than updating my current one early to get it. makes you wonder about their priorities, customer retention? or new customer acquisition?
such a good network, the customer service is a total let down.
@ Kieran – It’s completely unlocked
Is the Galaxy Nexus on three locked or unlocked? I’m nearly sure that all Nexus phones come unlocked no matter what network but I want to double check this.
@Tahir Ahmed – We’re really sorry you weren’t able to get your Nexus on the 22nd and there’s been some confusion about your delivery date. I’ve passed all your feedback on. If your phone doesn’t arrive today, let us know and we’ll look into this for you.
@Nitsy – All feedback is passed on to the various teams, who we work closely with. The deals you are offered by the team on 333 are the best they’re able to give and we aren’t able to influence this. Deals do change and I’m afraid as with most companies we aren’t able to say when new offers will be running in advance.
Purchased a nexus on payg on Saturday with website stating a delivery date of 22nd. never came, delivery delays until Friday. Still no confirmation email for friday’s delivery and the sales advisor said he has no idea whether the phone was in the warehouse yet.
Stunningly poor customer service.
Why are you advertising and selling a phone you do not have? Why don’t you (Three UK) realise that with ridiculous delivery times of ‘anytime between 8.30 and 5pm’, it takes the arrangement of people and schedules (i.e. taking annual leave / asking someone not to leave the house until a delivery arrives)?
Oh and I am not allowed to cancel my order and purchase elsewhere. I have to wait until my phone arrives, order a return bag and then wait for someone to collect it.
I can’t believe how bad an experience this has been. Never, ever again.
Hi Moderators
Another quick comment
Johanna you mention that as social media team you are not able to change the plans. This I can understand. Could you please pass our comments to the people who have the say on plans, so that they could understand the frustrations all the existing customers are facing.
Just to let you know all our comments have not been totally directed at you (the moderators) as such but they are definitely directed to the overall organisation (which you do fall under) however they are specifically for the people who are making decisions about plans.
Best
Hi Moderators
I am very surprised that a paragraph of my previous comment has been removed.
I understand that the following is your policy:
No commercial messages.
We won’t publish any comments that appear to be promoting a non-Three product or service.
However what I wrote was an indicator to Three as to what one can achieve without even being a customer for 6 years with a another network.
Anyhow this is a minor matter what I would love is the answers to my previous comments.
Best
@Mo. Bility – Good spot, we think we have an answer for you now… The messaging vibrate control is within Messaging app settings – the devices team just tested that, and it worked fine. So, the messaging settings don’t follow the default silent/vibrate settings, they are separately defined within the Messaging app itself.
@Vinay – Thanks for taking the time to feedback your thoughts and experience. I’ve passed on your comment to both our retentions and retail teams. I’m afraid as we’ve said to other customers upgrading on here, the team at 333 and in-store will offer the best deals they can and we (the social media team) don’t have the power to change deals offered, but all feedback is useful and we’re constantly evolving our plans and packages for both new and existing customers.
Hi Moderators
I fully agree with the sentiment expressed by many who are trying to upgrade and after the previous call a while back where i gathered no upgrade discount and the same was reiterated by three store a few days back when i popped in enquiring about an upgrade.
If i move to another network I will get a cashback via quidco or similar schemes like topcashback etc.
Even three themselves would give me a cashback if I came via quidco. All I would need to do is use the well known tactic of asking for my PAC code and moving it to a PAYG contract with another network and after a few days come back to Three via quidco etc and get a cashback of £109 per oneplan contract. I have to oneplan contracts (monthly) at the moment after finishing my HTC desire contracts recently. Obviously quidco passes on a portion of what they get, so three would be paying quidco a lot more than 109£ per contract. Wouldnt it be worth the hassle for three and upgrade customers so that they can remain with three if they were offered the £109 discount and three saves on the extra that goes to the likes of quidco instead. Both three and the customer would gain if upgrade customers got a discount instead of moving elsewhere.
More over orange gives discounts to employees of many employers like the NHS. Similarly vodafone gives many employees of some employers a discount. They offer presently 20% discount to nhs staff and loads more employees too for sirect customers. See https://www.vodafone.co.uk/vodafone-uk/campaigns/employee-advantage/?cid=rdr-711-01 So if i go to vodafone / orange i get 20% discount on contracts worth more than 20£ a month which is a good savings. The discounts are applicable for new and upgrade customers and upto 5 family members too. Does Three have any similar competitive offers???? These discounts are well advertised over at moneysavingsexpert.com forums and other places on the net.
Every other network i can get unbranded handsets from third parties like carphonewarehouse, phones4u etc etc and get competitive offers compared to network direct. With three it is the opposite, if i want an unbranded handset and go to the same third parties to get a three contract, the same oneplan is costlier than on three network website. Why would anyone in their right minds get an unbranded handset with three network in these circumstances when there are better offers by other networks for the same phones.
Some feedback about your three shops. A couple of days ago i went to whiterose shopping centre (leeds) and visited various network shops there including thirdparty stores like carphonewarehouse etc. Almost all the shops the reps come to you wanting to sell and explain everything even when they find out i might not buy that day. But three store there is in stark contrast, the reps didnt want to get off their backsides in front of the computers at the back of the shop. Some rookie who didnt know anything was up front and poor chap was going back and forth for every question to ask them at the back of the shop. Enough said for customer service. I felt sorry for the rookie salesperson getting absolutely no support from the bums sat on their backsides at the three store at whiterose shopping centre at leeds a few days ago.
Looking more and more like it is time to move on from three. You do a good job on the blog but unfortuately the same cant be said of your stores or 333. Am waiting for written confirmation about the nhs dscount from vodafone and orange before moving on as looks like i wont get any discount for being with three for more than 5y with 2 contracts with 2 oneplan contracts presently on a monthly renewal basis. PAC code time in the next few days I guess. 20% discount is too much to ignore from vodafone and thats for new and existing customers and 5 of their family too as can be seen from the link given by me above and one can get it over the phone or online or at the shop at vodafone. If any such scheme exists at three then please let me know.
Does anybody know why the Nexus doesn’t do vibrate only notifications? I have tried but its just not working, I don’t like my phone ringing, I like it on vibrate but for some unknown reasnon(s) Nexus has vibrate option but doesn’t work.
Andy, Will & Ricardo
I put forward the exact same arguments when I last spoke to the sales rep. As you mentioned parrot answers is all I received. I get a feeling we are wasting our breadth. Though I hope not, as a customer for 6 years I was expecting better and still am.
Just to add an answer to the question of what has changed in the 18 months that the existing customers can’t get specific suitable deals?
My answer to that is the cost of handset has nothing to do with the plans, I get a feeling it is the greed of making customers pay more money for things which will never get used and keep us in a contract for two years, is dictating these terms. It comes down to higher profit and galaxy nexus proves to be the perfect excuse to achieve this aim. The desire was almost the same cost when it was released. It was also the top of the range as nexus. So the points about desirableness and expense prove to be redundant.
I am going to repeat myself and would like to ask this question again, are these the only deals that will be available for existing customers? Are things likely to change with time? If so in a week possibly as it was with the Desire? or has a hard line been drawn with the current deals?
[info removed by Mod - check our comments policy]
Look forward to your reply
@Andy- good points well made. I also got a Desire brand new and unbranded as part of my upgrade. this was just after release and I was delighted. Now I am less enamoured and will obviously consider my options elsewhere as 24 months @ £34-40 per month is to much for me.
@mods- well, now you have heard from a few of us who share the same concerns around upgrade prices and the lack of customer loyalty flexibility. the ball is in your court.
I totally agree with ricardo and Will.
The reponse I got was this the phone is new and expensive, but the HTC desire isn’t. I agree, but it was 18 months ago when I got it on it’s first day of release!!
When it comes to the factors for offering the price I would have thought I’d have been in a good position.On the One Plan, already out of the 18 month contract, being with you since your very first awful £400 NEC phones, have 2 accounts under my name, one which was had bills of several hundred pound per month last year …I had words with the wife about that
then upgraded her plan.
I also agree with paying an upfront cost. I’d be much happer paying less per month with an upfront cost than £34min. It’s a large commitment with the current job market – I don’t know what I’ll be doing in 2 years time. I know I may pay a similar amount over the contract life, but I’d like some control of that. Other networks do seem to offer this, as have you in the past on upgrades.
@sedge Thanks for taking the time to respond to me. You say that ‘The Galaxy Nexus is one of the most advanced smartphones to be released this year, and when we’re dealing with devices that are so cutting edge (and often expensive), we won’t always be in a position to differentiate our offering for new and existing customers.’
I don’t disagree that the phone is expensive. However, when I upgraded to my current HTC Desire (April 2010), it was the most desirable and expensive smartphone available. I still managed to get a good deal and stay on my existing tariff. So, what has changed in the last 18 months? Because £40/ month over 2 years for the One Plan is not going to do it for me!
@Sedge
“…I’d be happy to arrange another call with our upgrades team if you’d like to talk through your options further…”
Thank you for your availability in talking with us about this. I think that not only Will and nitsy and myself and a lot more people in this posting in this blog would like another call with the upgrades team to discuss options… but, and this is an important but, if it’s to tell us what we already know, ie the prices for new and existingclients are the same, then there is no point. That will just irritate us further.
This is not about us wanting to have the latest phone for nothing. This is your loyal clients (us) expressing their disapointment for not getting anything out of that loyalty. What really strikes is the lack of flexibility… why not offer plans with some upfront cost for example?
Also allow me to quote on another part of your comment;
“When a customer comes to upgrade we do consider a number of factors to help us reach a reasonable offer. The plan you’re currently on, the plan you want to move to, the new smartphone you want and how far you are into your current contract term are all important.”
Not really, not in this case at least. We are all existing customers and the response we got was the same, NO special offers for existing customers. Plain simple, your representatives are not looking at any history they are just offering the same prices (of course they are just doing their job and what they were told to do)
I sincerely hope Three reviews this policy for the benefit of its customers and at the end of the day Three itself which is just one among many competing for the UK mobile market. Don’t drop what makes you different from yout competitors and made us choose you.
@ Will – I’m sorry we haven’t been able to offer you an upgrade on the Galaxy Nexus that you’re satisfied with. When a new smartphone arrives on the market we do our very best to offer it at the most competitive price we can to both existing customers and people wanting to join Three. There is no cut and paste template and each new device is treated differently. The Galaxy Nexus is one of the most advanced smartphones to be released this year, and when we’re dealing with devices that are so cutting edge (and often expensive), we won’t always be in a position to differentiate our offering for new and existing customers. When a customer comes to upgrade we do consider a number of factors to help us reach a reasonable offer. The plan you’re currently on, the plan you want to move to, the new smartphone you want and how far you are into your current contract term are all important. I’d be happy to arrange another call with our upgrades team if you’d like to talk through your options further?
@ Will and others
Totally agree with the upgrade comments for the Nexus. I also have the HTC desire and got this on 18 month contract when it first came out on an upgrade deal after being with 3 since they first started. I paid fee for handset and had hope to do same but not an option now apparently
I had orginally wanted to upgrade to the HTC sensation and agreed a deal for this at £17 / month but AYCE doesn’t allow teethering despite being told it did twice on phone i asked on here and hence the order was cancelled when three rung and admitted they were wrong. I then heard about the Nexus so decided to wait despite already having a PAC code.
When Three started taking orders I rung upgrades to be told that i couldn’t have one and they wanted me to have the Galaxy Europa so as you can imagine i laughed and promptly asked for a PAC code. But apparently i will have now lost my £25 loyalty discount (which wasn’t transferable to new tarrifs) so will defo use it this time
Since then Three have rung several times offering me the Nexus at £35 a month which is the same for new customers.
I am actually glad i didnt jump into the Nexus anyhow has there seems to be a few problems with such as volume muting so am now waiting for other networks to show their hand. I qualify for O2 open discount through work and Virgin XL £8 per month disociunts so currently looking at low £20s
To be honest i am fed up with the parrot trained off shore customer service calls and am currently ignoring them
‘That is very disappointing, it seems like existing customers are as valuable as new customers, fair enough, if that is the line Three is taking then so be it. I’ll give it a few days to see if the situation changes but I get a feeling it’s not going to. I will most likely have to take my business elsewhere’
@nitsy I totally agree with you (and a previous poster) on this. I took an HTC Desire 18 months ago for £50 upfront and remainined on my existing tariff (talk and text 500 for £18/month approx). I was very happy with this.
Fast forward to now and the idea of a loyal (since 2004!) customer being offered something similar seems laughable. It appears that it is the new customer price or nothing. I don’t see why, because the Desire was equally as high-end (and expensive to purchase SIM-free) on release and yet I was able to get it for a small fee and on very reasonable tariff.
Maybe I’m just moaning, but I wonder if the mods will read this and respond as to why Three appear to have changed their tune on this? I would be interested to know if any other long term customers apart from Nitsy have experienced similarly inflexible responses from Three.
@ Shyam Avvari – I’ve just checked in with our Skype team, you need to download the Skype app from the Android Market as the app you’re using isn’t compatible with the Nexus.
Hi Sedge.. just removed and re-installed the app, but to no joy.. still the same.. i am using Skype_0.10.0.14_hutch_live.apk
Thanks
@ Shyam Avvari – Great to hear you’re enjoying your new Galaxy Nexus
Have you tried deleted and reinstalling the app?
I got my nexus galaxy yesterday from three. Surprisingly three has not added anything to the phone. Not even a logo let alone the apps.
Happy with the phone so far. Only one problem is that three’s skype app does not work. Keeps crashing. Hopefully will be sorted out soon.
Thanks three.
Hi Sedge
That is very disappointing, it seems like existing customers are as valuable as new customers, fair enough, if that is the line Three is taking then so be it. I’ll give it a few days to see if the situation changes but I get a feeling it’s not going to. I will most likely have to take my business elsewhere
Best
@ Nitsy – These are the tariffs for existing and new customers.
@sedge
Thanks for the reply.
Not sure if it answers my question though, are these the only deals which will be available for existing customers or will there be more in a week?
@ Nitsy – Just to confirm, the Galaxy Nexus is available on our network, you can find the price of each tariff here.
@ricardo – Hear Hear Brother
I was called yesterday to change my contract to a much discounted plan which offered me excellent things. Whilst I wait for this phone I took the option as it was saving me money. I requested that a Three Sales Representative give me call when the phone is launched to provide me upgrade option as a valued customer. So far so good.
Today I get a call to suggest that the best option available is the Internet option. What is the point. Why call me when all there is available is a 24 month contract at £34 I can get on the internet as a new user.
I remember this was the case when HTC Desire was initially launched. I, after days of going back to Three managed to get an option which suited my needs and I paid a little upfront for the device.
A question, this phone is properly being launched tomorrow, would the sales representatives have more options available for long time Three customers? Is this reason why I haven’t been given any other options, the launch hasn’t happened fully as yet, i.e. all packages have not dripped through yet? If this is the case then I don’t mind waiting a little. If this is not the case then I would be very disappointed in Three. I’ll reserve that judgement for a few days or until your reply
I have 14 days before I can get out of 12 month rolling contract which I took on faith that there will be better options available in a few days.
Look forward to your reply
@Andy – Hmm that’s not correct, so apologies you were given the wrong info
LOL, just phoned to pay an early upgrade fee and then get a price for the nexus, to be told the nexus is not avaliable as an upgrade so i will have to take out a new contract instead, hmmmmm maybe not eh!
@andy – It seems all of use are on the same boat. This is very, very disappointing
Three is NOT offering special conditions for upgrade clients. The same prices are being offered to existing and new clients.
According to the customer representative this is so “everyone can benefit”… should read Three can benefit. I can hardly see how I can benefit from doubling the length of my contract and more than triple my monthly payment, specially in the current conditions.
I also bought an HTC Desire for 18 months with a small upfront cost. At the end of it I choose to stay with Three to on a flexi contract for 12 months which I thought was a good enough situation because I could upgrade at any point. Now I discover that the offers are what they are…
@andy – Sorry you feel that way, but I really can’t discuss upgrade options for individual accounts. If you would like me to arrange a call with customer services to discuss this in more detail, please let me know.
@ricardo
Just phoned c.s. to upgrade to the Nexus, and was offered the £34 deal (as can be seen online for brand new customers), so it seems they could be limited to what they offer us loyal customers. Slightly disappointing as my current phone is the HTC Desire which hasn’t had its version of Android updated for far too long.
Yep, I too was offered just the same offers as on the website.
Very different to when getting my HTC desire 18 months ago. Not great when the person says “you’ll nearly be paying the same as you do now” when I’d go from £25.50 to £40 per month. At the time my HTC desire on an 18 month contract was only £17. I know this phone is a little more (About £50-£60 more retail price), but that rate is far too much in comparison.
18 month contact plus £50 phone cost was £356
By 18 months (with 6 months conrtact still to pay) on the cheapest £34 tariff would be £612
Both offers on the first day of the phone being on three also.
@Jason Ovenden – I’m afraid the winners have been selected and notified. Sorry you didn’t win and better luck next time.
@Jason Ovenden – Yes it is!
@ricardo – I’m afraid we don’t have access to any account details here so I’m unable to look into your account to see why you were offered this deal. You would need to discuss this with customer services. I will pass your comments regarding the sales team to our guys in retail.
@Kieran – It’s best for you to go into store and discuss this with them. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
I’m currently a Three customer on The One Plan with over a year left. If I wanted to buy this phone, could I walk in to a Three store and buy it for £499.99 (as per PAYG price) without having to top up? Would be be able to get a discount at all?
No worries Kaz. My first attempt at a cheesy poem if you can call it that. Have a nice day
Ok. I need some clarity here regarding the pricing of the nexus.
I’ve just contacted your customer services to inquire about my upgrade options, your representative limited himself to offer me the exact same deals you announce on the website. He was particularly insistent with the 40 pounds a month one…
The conclusion is that you are NOT giving better conditions to existing clients on upgrades. The prices for whoever wants to upgrade are the same as the ones from a new customer that walks in into a store. That is very disappointing.
Can any of the mods either confirm or contradict this?
Second you have to give better training to your sales guys. After some discussion he offered me a Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S for 25 pounds a month, not before guaranteeing that it is AS GOOD AS the new Nexus. Really? If they are so similar why are you selling one for 25 and the other for 40 pounds? A sales pitch that doesn’t make any sense to any client on the other side of the line. All you are achieving is to piss off customers. Totally unnecessary.
Hi,
Seeing as its launch day for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on 3Three, it’s it now available for people to upgrade?
Thanks
Jason
Hi,
Where can we find the details of the winners for the Galaxy Nexus competition and I thought it said the winners will be notified via email on the 18th but you state that they have already been notified.
I entered yesterday but my entry was waiting for the moderators to approve my entry, can you tell me if it went through as it said that entries were still valid for the 16th but when I checked this morning it was still waiting to be approved.
Please can you explain…..?
Thanks
@vinay – I don’t think we ever received this entry, unfortunately the competition has closed and the winners have contacted. Sorry for any confusion caused and I’m sure there will be more competitions coming soon. p.s. Like the poem
since i cant seem to find the post for the competition for the galaxy nexus, i will post it here anyway since i took the effort of writing something cheesy. Hope you consider this as my entry to the competition! Entry as below …
“I am no poet
But Sedge, Kaz and Johanna got me to write this cheesy Sonnet
About the Samsung Galaxy Nexus debuting on Three
In the hope I could win a tasty ice cream sandwich gadget
So here’s me singing this racket
Hoping to see you guys blogging via this gadget
A HD screen to watch a snap of Sedge, Johanna and Kaz!
With an MHL port to see them on a Samsung TV I hope to win in time!
Or instead use the USB OTG feature for watching some movies from a flash drive
Or just use All Share if Three doesn’t throw in the free MHL OTG cables!
Need I say I will explore the enterprise features by Julian
Getting software updates faster from google will no more be a chore
So galaxy nexus will you be mine if the gods of Three blog so divine
Then you will be mine until the next gadget comes along the line!
“
I am pretty sure I saw a competition posted on this blog saying last date of 17th nov for winning 3 galaxy nexus phones, but came to post my submission now and the competition post has disappeared!!! Cant seem to find it, is the competition cancelled?