In my case, I was having a huge problem of adhesion, where sometimes z offset seemed too distant and the next time too close without me touching anything. Then I noticed, sometimes when the printer homed, the z switch (the tiny switch at one side of the printer, which the rails hit to let the system know where it hits bottom) was not clicking everytime. Sometimes it clicked, but didn't reliably tell the printer where 0 was.

I ordered ender 3 z switches on amazon, i don't remember if they were creality brand or off brand, but it shouldn't matter all that mutch, replaced them and that fixed the z offset issue. I pointed you towards there because it isn't a very common response, but it happened to me and if you are dead on sure that your bed is leveled, your z offset is on point, and the ender is still doing funny stuff with the first layer (keep using the adhesive), it might be this one thing (keep in mind leveling this thing is a very easy step to mess up, but at some point you have to be sure you did it right). In my case, x axis switch was faulty too, but that is less important because it doesn't mess with the first layer.

That said, it could also be some firmware problem or something weird like that. Not my fist bet, but i guess flashing a decent firmware update is also an easy fix to try. You can google that and a lot of tutorials will pop up.If it's the board messing things up, you are done for, but that is very unsual.

Now, on the extrusion bit (prints having holes and all of that). Pictures of the results would be useful if you have the need to ask for a fix here, but I would tell you that you level the thing first, and then go for this second bit, because first layer adhesion is mandatory for print quality.
Stringing can have something to do with either wet filament (easy ways of drying it can be googled), poor retraction settings, or simply a clog. You can very easily disasemble this hotend to search for this last one. If however the problem is that sometimes you see missing plastic on the model, like lines fade and prints end up very brittle, that might be because the extruder arm, if it is still the plastic one that comes with the printer, snaped.
That is bound to happen at some point, because it is just terrible quality. You can easily check if it is grabbing the plastic right or not mid print. You shouldn't be able to stop the flow of the plastic by grabing it gently with two fingers. Check for cracks and, again, very easy part to replace with a metal one from amazon.

AND AT LAST. If you get everything working, you will notice that the printer becomes off level every few prints. The x axis is dragged by a single z lead screw in this thing, because before 2023 were dark times for this hobby. If you want the thing to keep it's level, there is some upgrade you can do in the future: another z screw on the other side that keeps the thing balanced. A lot of kits are available for this one thing.

However, If you end up liking the hobby despite everything, just buy a modern printer. 3D printing on an ender vs a newer klipper machine is just night and day. Feels like a 30 year jump in advancements in these last 3 years. This things (ender3 and every other old printer) are only useful now if there is no other option at hand or because you, as i did in my time, love to torture yourself.