Do 3's dongle SIMs expire ?

I guess this question really belongs in uk.telecom.broadband.mobile or
uk.telecom.mobile.broadband, but ....

I have a 3 PAYG dongle which I use occasionally, and the initial 3 months
of data will expire shortly.

I can't find anything in 3's T&Cs which says they'll terminate the service
if I haven't topped up or used it for <N> months, but I don't imagine
that they keep SIMs active for ever. Or are 3 different from the other
mobile companies ?

On Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:35:45 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Benham
wrote:
>
> I guess this question really belongs in uk.telecom.broadband.mobile or
> uk.telecom.mobile.broadband, but ....
>
> I have a 3 PAYG dongle which I use occasionally, and the initial 3 months
> of data will expire shortly.
>
> I can't find anything in 3's T&Cs which says they'll terminate the service
> if I haven't topped up or used it for <N> months, but I don't imagine
> that they keep SIMs active for ever. Or are 3 different from the other
> mobile companies ?

They didn't terminate my dongle service at the end of my
initial three months. AFAIK, you simply lose any unused
data allowance at the end of the subscribed period and can
add a new day or month via your My3 account when on PAYG.
I've left the dongle for several (~4 months) with nothing on
it and I can still top it up via My3.

--
John W

On Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:47:33 +0100, John Weston wrote:

> On Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:35:45 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Benham wrote:
>>
>> I guess this question really belongs in uk.telecom.broadband.mobile or
>> uk.telecom.mobile.broadband, but ....
>>
>> I have a 3 PAYG dongle which I use occasionally, and the initial 3
>> months of data will expire shortly.
>>
>> I can't find anything in 3's T&Cs which says they'll terminate the
>> service if I haven't topped up or used it for <N> months, but I don't
>> imagine that they keep SIMs active for ever. Or are 3 different from
>> the other mobile companies ?
>
> They didn't terminate my dongle service at the end of my initial three
> months. AFAIK, you simply lose any unused data allowance at the end of
> the subscribed period and can add a new day or month via your My3
> account when on PAYG. I've left the dongle for several (~4 months) with
> nothing on it and I can still top it up via My3.

Ah, that's good news then. Thanks.

"John Weston" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:35:45 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Benham
> wrote:
>>
>> I guess this question really belongs in uk.telecom.broadband.mobile or
>> uk.telecom.mobile.broadband, but ....
>>
>> I have a 3 PAYG dongle which I use occasionally, and the initial 3 months
>> of data will expire shortly.
>>
>> I can't find anything in 3's T&Cs which says they'll terminate the
>> service
>> if I haven't topped up or used it for <N> months, but I don't imagine
>> that they keep SIMs active for ever. Or are 3 different from the other
>> mobile companies ?
>
> They didn't terminate my dongle service at the end of my
> initial three months. AFAIK, you simply lose any unused
> data allowance at the end of the subscribed period and can
> add a new day or month via your My3 account when on PAYG.
> I've left the dongle for several (~4 months) with nothing on
> it and I can still top it up via My3.
>

Silly question, but how? I have one but can't get it to accept my top up.

On Thu, 14 Jul 2011 11:14:21 +0100, nemesis wrote:

>
> Silly question, but how? I have one but can't get it to accept my top up.

Speaking from memory, since I don't want to top mine up just
yet, I'll step through the procedure up to the actual buying
the data allowance:

Log into your My3 account via https:/my3.three.co.uk and
check the mobile number is your 3 dongle number (not your
phone's number, if you have one). You can do this using the
dongle with no allowance on it, since the "My3" pages are
free pages.

Click on "Check My Balance" to check if you have sufficient
credit. If not, you'll have to add funds via one of the
approved methods.

Choose the data allowance you want - 500MB for a day at
£2.99 (it was £2...) or 1GB for a month at £10, 3GB at £15
or 7GB for £25. The pay for a day is from the time of the
top-up to the end of the next day, e.g. between <48hrs and
24hrs. Click Next.

The payment method option is now offered (Account credit,
Credit/Debit card or Voucher). Selecting how you are going
to pay is followed by the Payment authorisation screen, then
the confirmation.

You should now see the data allowance added to your dongle.
I've done this half way through a presentation so can vouch
for the practically immediate availability of the data
purchased.
--
John W

"John Weston" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 14 Jul 2011 11:14:21 +0100, nemesis wrote:
>
>>
>> Silly question, but how? I have one but can't get it to accept my top up.
>
> Speaking from memory, since I don't want to top mine up just
> yet, I'll step through the procedure up to the actual buying
> the data allowance:
>
> Log into your My3 account via https:/my3.three.co.uk and
> check the mobile number is your 3 dongle number (not your
> phone's number, if you have one). You can do this using the
> dongle with no allowance on it, since the "My3" pages are
> free pages.
>
> Click on "Check My Balance" to check if you have sufficient
> credit. If not, you'll have to add funds via one of the
> approved methods.
>
> Choose the data allowance you want - 500MB for a day at
> £2.99 (it was £2...) or 1GB for a month at £10, 3GB at £15
> or 7GB for £25. The pay for a day is from the time of the
> top-up to the end of the next day, e.g. between <48hrs and
> 24hrs. Click Next.
>
> The payment method option is now offered (Account credit,
> Credit/Debit card or Voucher). Selecting how you are going
> to pay is followed by the Payment authorisation screen, then
> the confirmation.
>
> You should now see the data allowance added to your dongle.
> I've done this half way through a presentation so can vouch
> for the practically immediate availability of the data
> purchased.

Thank you, I have done that with my second dongle. But I had credit left on
it
My first dongle was out of credit and that is the one that refuses me access
to allow the top up to go through. Not that I'm worried that much as I only
use the dongle for three months in twelve.
No bigee to me, but I just wondered if I could top it up after the existing
credit had run out without using a credit/debit card which I have neither.