“Hello, is that Eeee-wan Mak-Lee-od?” said a voice from rather far away. It felt like a call from India.
“Yes it is,” I answered.
“Hello I’m calling from Three, your mobile service provider,” continued the chap.
“Good afternoon,” I replied.
I listened to the offer.
“We’d like to offer you a discounted rate on anything you see on our website for you or your family members.”
Oh dear, I thought. Carry on.
“And we’d like to offer you a special deal on an iPad 2 which is available without any up front cost.”
I bet it is.
“Would any of these be of interest to you? If so I would like to go through the offer which will take 2 minutes of your time.”
I declined politely. I explained that I’d already got an iPad 3. I then said I was “OK” with my existing arrangements. [I actually purchased the new iPad outright rather than bothering to give the business to an operator.]
The chap thanked me for my time. I thanked him. We went on our merry ways.
This is the culmination of weeks of missed calls from the mobile number 0800 358 9766. After about 6 missed calls (and no voicemails) I did a Google on the number and saw various people describing it as 3 sales. Eventually after what feels like a month of missed calls, I managed to answer in person today.
It’s a fascinating look into how mobile operators work. No text messages. No emails. No. Telephone only.
No customer records of any note.
Indeed 3 probably think I’m a relatively new customer given the fact I churned (at their sales person’s instruction) to get the new iPhone 4S.
They haven’t bothered tracking my wants or needs beyond whacking me on to a must-call-n-flog sales list.
You can guarantee that a few moments ago my record was checked off the ‘possibility’ list and assigned to the ‘not interested’ list.
Tomorrow or sometime next week, the Sales Director at 3 UK will be receiving an activity report. In there hidden amongst the figures will be my record.
They’ll probably try and call me in 6 months or so just in case my circumstances have changed.
For the avoidance of doubt though, I’m certainly in the market to sort out my telecommunications and to spend a lot. Just not with 3 at the moment. I didn’t feel like volunteering — as I have done before — that I’d like to get another iPad or that I’d like an HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy SIII etc., etc. I’ve tried this before — but the rather nice sales people typically can only add new additional lines, not upgrade or add to existing accounts..
So there we have it.
Another record of my experience interacting with a mobile operator. I do like to record these for posterity.