Went into the Three store in Richmond today...

So, you remember I had a tantrum with my main Three account last month? I used it in my MiFi unit thinking everything was fine. It was, until I hit a 2GB usage limit and ran up a £120 bill. My fault, my fault but I was seriously annoyed.

I was annoyed with myself, principally. But I chose to focus that annoyance on Three. Having had the account for 7 years, I wasn’t really using it. I’d been paying 30 quid a month for years. I was way, way out of contract. The experience annoyed the hell out of me. I expected Three to do something about it.

They didn’t, obviously. I didn’t complain loud enough. Come to think of it, I didn’t complain at all. Instead in a fit of emotional frustration (with myself) I phoned up and cancelled the account.

When the chap in India asked why, I mentioned that reason. He didn’t react to it for some reason. He just tried to sell me the same deal for £15 a month. Or something like that.

I refused his every-offer and cancelled the account. It was rather painful watching that extra £120 come out of my account last month.

Today, I walked into the Three store in Richmond to check the status of the account.

I’ve been fantasising — from a technology perspective, I should add — about resurrecting the account. I couldn’t remember when it was officially deactivated so I went into the store and asked the chap.

“Take a seat,” he said, “And I’ll have a look.”

Smart move.

I was already in the ‘buying zone’.

I’m thinking about buying an iPhone 4S, you see. And I’m thinking that perhaps I should have used that existing Three account for the 4S, given it was out of contract and given I have already budgeted for £30-something-a-month for that account.

The chap took my details and the number.

I could feel myself moving into the ‘yes’ zone, firmly, as I looked around the shop and found it empty. Just the way I like it when I’m trying to do a transaction.

My details appeared on screen.

“Right then,” said the chap, “It says here the line was deactivated on the 7th of October.”

“Ok,” I said.

I waited for a moment. I was waiting for the guy to ask something like, “So why do you ask, Sir?” or “Can we reactivate that for you?” or something like that.

At which point I was set to explode with commercial glee. YES PLEASE GIVE ME THE NEW iPHONE 4S.

However, the chap just stared at me. That’s fine. It’s his right. He delivered on my basic expectations — that was, to tell me when the line was deactivated. I was assuming he’d try and up-sell me though.

I thanked him and walked out the shop. I didn’t want to dangle my circa £1,200 custom in front of him too overtly.

I already have an existing account with Three — two, actually. I don’t necessarily need another.

Which brings me to the topic of the next blog post. Standby…