SMS Codes FAQs
Check your balance and add-ons, get information on roaming and more.
Prepay users will see their top up credit balance. If your credit balance is lower than €5 you'll be unable to buy Add-Ons, and you'll need to top up again before proceeding.
Bill Pay users will see the current unbilled balance. This is the cost of the calls, texts, data etc that you've used since your last bill was calculated. If you're just paying part of your bill this month and want to see how much of the balance is outstanding, visit My3 online or open the My3 app on your phone.
Prepay users who wants to top up via SMS will need to first register a credit or debit card via My3 online (Click 'Top up now' and fill out the form - then complete a top up straight away to save your card details) or by dialling 1913 (follow the options for 'Top Up' > 'Top up using a payment card' and save your card detail).
Prepay user who've already registered a card and want to top up a friend via SMS. In My3 online you first need to add friends to your top up account. When you do that you can assign nicknames to your friends eg: "MarysPhone", "DadsNokia" and its these nicknames you'll need when sending the SMS request.
Please note: All Add-Ons are charged to your account, so Bill Pay customers will see these charges appear on their next bill, and prepay customers will see the cost deducted immediately from their current credit balance (be sure to top up first).
Any customer wanting to buy an Add-On, can use SMS to see a compatible list.
Start by sending ‘Add Text’ to 50272 to see which Text Add-Ons are available for you to buy.
This request will return a list of unique keywords for each text add on along with their expiry status and cost.
If the Add-On is recurring it will automatically re-apply, if its once off it only applies for a specific time and stops after that.
Eg: if you can buy the "500 International Text" Add-On, your request will return:
'Add INTXT500' for 500 Int Txt Recur EUR 20.0
Then you can purchase it by sending "Add INTXT500" to 50272, the €20 will be charged to your account and we will re-apply for that amount automatically after expiry.
Any customer seeking to remove an Add-On can use SMS to see a list of removable Add-Ons that are already on their account. Some price plans come with built in Add-Ons that are included in the cost of your price plan and these can't be removed.
Eg: Send ‘Rem Text’ to 50272
This request will return a list of unique keywords for removing each text Add-On.
Eg: if you can remove the "500 International Text" Add-On, your request will return:
'REM INTXT500' to remove 500 Int Txt Recur EUR 20.0
You can remove it by sending "REM INTXT500" to 50272 - you'll lose the benefit of the allocation straight away, and the Add-On will stop after expiry.
You can check your account status by sending "Everything" to 50272. This gives the following information about your account:
- Your plan name
- A list of all Add-Ons on your account.
Each list item will show the Add-On name, expiry status and balance of the remaining units.
Eg: Your plan is BeFree Talk. "Nat30Min": Expiry = Recurring, Bal = 30 Min. "Intxt500": Expiry = Recurring, Bal = 12 Text.
This error shows that the last request you sent failed. There are several reasons for failed requests depending on what you're trying to do. Please review these troubleshooting tips to see if you should try again or continue on another self serve channel (My3 Online, My3 app).
- Have you sent the right keyword to the right destination? You can use the 3.ie/sms website on your mobile phone to check that these details are correct. We recommend using the buttons provided on that website to send requests as its the easiest, quickest and safest way to get started.
- Have you topped up? You may need to top up first if buying Add-Ons.
- Have you registered your payment card or friends? You may need to if topping up via SMS.
- Are you eligible? You may not be eligible to see balances for plans / add-ons that you are not eligible to have (Eg: viewing a free data allowance if none has been applied). You may not be eligible to buy an Add-On if the same or similar Add-On was already on your account and has not yet expired. Expiry status usually appears as 'pending removal' if you choose to remove it before expiry date. This can block you from buying other Add-Ons. If you wish - you can login to My3 Online or use the My3 app on your smartphone to see expiry status messages, or to ask an agent for help.
- Are you authorised to send this request? You may not be authorised to request account information or ask for changes on a particular account. This is often the case if there is more than one user on a single account. Eg: if you are an employee using a phone number that belongs to your employer's business account. You can still make calls, send texts etc, but you just can’t make changes like managing Add-Ons or viewing balances.
Eligible Add-Ons are ones you can buy on a specific channel at present. This response can mean a system update is in progress, or that specific Add-Ons are being changed.
If you get this response you can:
- Try buying a similar Add-On.
- Try logging into My3 Online or the My3 app and purchasing the Add-On there.
- Open the My3 app's Message Us section to ask an agent for help.
Some Add-Ons are built into your price plan and can't be removed. If you see this response there are no Add-Ons on your account that can be removed via SMS request.
If you get this response you can:
- Try logging into My3 Online / My3 app and removing the Add-On there instead.
- Open the My3 app's Message Us section to ask an agent for help.
We are dedicated to providing support for any SMS error message that you might encounter when sending requests. Please get in touch if you encounter an unusual error.
- First check the community.three.ie website for any news. We update help articles there frequently and any other customers with similar issues can post about their experience. You can comment on those posts to join the conversation.
- You can also log into the My3 app and use the Message Us section to report unusual errors when sending or receiving SMS keywords.
- An agent will log the query with our technology team and message back via the My3 app as soon as they get a response. You'll receive a notification on your phone letting you know to check the app for responses. You can keep the conversation going until we satisfy your request.
This is the simplest and most effective way to report any errors in the SMS self service channel.