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Legal advice please?
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Hi,,, im hoping someone can briefly help with what my rights are with a big problem that has arisen with my mobile phone company.. its a bit of a long story so ill try and keep it brief..
about 6 weeks ago i knew my old 18 month contract was comming to an end but i wasnt sure when,, so phoned up to see when i would need to cancel it.... to be met with the news it was up at the end of that month.. at which point the advisor started trying to get me to take a new contract on.... which i said i wasnt sure about as i wanted to look around at other network deals,,,, to cut it short,, he ended up offering me a package to good to resist.. also bear in mind i have 2 account (one my wife uses) and was upgrading both..
2x 4gb N95 nokias on the following tarrif.. ( i agreed to take these after being told 3 had stopped selling the 8GB N95 phones due to so many faulty returns they were making a loss, that was my first choice of phone,,,, but after hearing that i accepted the standard 4gb version, this was a complete lie by the way.. every operative i spoke to after was happy to sell me the 8GB phone when i phoned up pretending to be a new customer....))
300 xnet mins
300 3 to 3 mins
25 photo messages
25 video mins
150 txts
£5 free downloads from the three website
30meg internet usage
£10 loyalty discount off each account (should be £25 so down to £15)
plus if i signed up on THAT day... a further 200 texts would be added free to each account
good eh?? i thought so too and took the deal
phones come... no 4gb memory cards as told.. so i phoned up to see where they were,,, only to be told that none were being provided... i explained i had been told i was recieving 2x 4gb phones... which i obviously hadnent.. they fobbed me off as a misunderstanding on my part... so i asked what else i had "misunderstood" about the deal oferd me...
Turns out i had no 30meg free internet a month, and no 300 3 to 3 mins... which annoyed me as the internet was 1 of the main reasons i had took the deal.. and had STRESSED to the salesman about it definatly being part of the deal... definitly no misunderstanding.. so after being passed from pillar to post.. they refused to find out the truth saying thet i couldent prove anything, and when i asked for them to listen to the voice recordding of the call they said they couldent as they were taken at random, and had no way to check!
i took it as high as i could.. but gave up after even head office refused to do anything... and just accepted the fact i had been lied to, but still had a pretty good deal so i would swallow my anger and accept it..
a few days later i get a letter confirming my new tarrif.. clearly stating that it would ne the VTT tarif 500, at £25 a month... with a £10 loyalty return making it £15 every month... but no mention of the 200 free texts... so i phoned up again... 3 differnt people i phoned to make absolutly sure i had the same story from each... and they all said yup the 200 txts were there and would start when the new contract commenced at the end of the month..
so the new contract stars and i get my first bill for my phone.... as expected... £15, but no txts,,,,,, another phone call... they dont know why there not added but will do it manualy now... they will be added from the next month..
now where it goes really bad... i get my second bill a day or so later...
the 200 free texts are there... but the bill is for £25.. not £15 as i was told,, and as my letter stated.. so another phone call ensues..
Now there saying that the tarrif is £25, the texts are another £10 bolt on... and there refunding me £10 loyalty to only cover the cost of the 200 texts bolt on!
So even though i have a letter STATING my tarrif is £25... with a 10 quid loyalty discount making it £15 a month... there refusing to honor it.... telling me i have to now pay £25... i even said i dont need the 200 extra texts.. ( i sent 9 last month) and i just want what the letter states... the standard tarrif with nothing "free" or "added" , and ill pay the £15 a month but they refuse to do it... they even admitted that the letter they sent is wrong... and what the advisor told me is wrong... but still refuse to budge!!
What initialy turned into a great upgrade deal... has turned into a nitemare... and im expected to foot an extra £360 over the next 18 months to cover THEIR mistakes?? im so angry !
surely if i have written proof of what my contract is they cant refuse to honor it saying the letter is wrong ????
Frankly im amazed at the level of incompetence.... as far as Three are concerned.. there sales team can offer customers the moon to get them to sign new contracts,,,,,, then just lie and say these things were never offerd.. or up the price of the tarrif,, and i as a customer have absolutly no way of proving what was promised me... even when im holding a letter from them!!
please can anyone tell me my rights as im not letting this one go without a hell of a fight...
thanks for bothering to read all this,,, i know it goes on a bit ;/
about 6 weeks ago i knew my old 18 month contract was comming to an end but i wasnt sure when,, so phoned up to see when i would need to cancel it.... to be met with the news it was up at the end of that month.. at which point the advisor started trying to get me to take a new contract on.... which i said i wasnt sure about as i wanted to look around at other network deals,,,, to cut it short,, he ended up offering me a package to good to resist.. also bear in mind i have 2 account (one my wife uses) and was upgrading both..
2x 4gb N95 nokias on the following tarrif.. ( i agreed to take these after being told 3 had stopped selling the 8GB N95 phones due to so many faulty returns they were making a loss, that was my first choice of phone,,,, but after hearing that i accepted the standard 4gb version, this was a complete lie by the way.. every operative i spoke to after was happy to sell me the 8GB phone when i phoned up pretending to be a new customer....))
300 xnet mins
300 3 to 3 mins
25 photo messages
25 video mins
150 txts
£5 free downloads from the three website
30meg internet usage
£10 loyalty discount off each account (should be £25 so down to £15)
plus if i signed up on THAT day... a further 200 texts would be added free to each account
good eh?? i thought so too and took the deal
phones come... no 4gb memory cards as told.. so i phoned up to see where they were,,, only to be told that none were being provided... i explained i had been told i was recieving 2x 4gb phones... which i obviously hadnent.. they fobbed me off as a misunderstanding on my part... so i asked what else i had "misunderstood" about the deal oferd me...
Turns out i had no 30meg free internet a month, and no 300 3 to 3 mins... which annoyed me as the internet was 1 of the main reasons i had took the deal.. and had STRESSED to the salesman about it definatly being part of the deal... definitly no misunderstanding.. so after being passed from pillar to post.. they refused to find out the truth saying thet i couldent prove anything, and when i asked for them to listen to the voice recordding of the call they said they couldent as they were taken at random, and had no way to check!
i took it as high as i could.. but gave up after even head office refused to do anything... and just accepted the fact i had been lied to, but still had a pretty good deal so i would swallow my anger and accept it..
a few days later i get a letter confirming my new tarrif.. clearly stating that it would ne the VTT tarif 500, at £25 a month... with a £10 loyalty return making it £15 every month... but no mention of the 200 free texts... so i phoned up again... 3 differnt people i phoned to make absolutly sure i had the same story from each... and they all said yup the 200 txts were there and would start when the new contract commenced at the end of the month..
so the new contract stars and i get my first bill for my phone.... as expected... £15, but no txts,,,,,, another phone call... they dont know why there not added but will do it manualy now... they will be added from the next month..
now where it goes really bad... i get my second bill a day or so later...
the 200 free texts are there... but the bill is for £25.. not £15 as i was told,, and as my letter stated.. so another phone call ensues..
Now there saying that the tarrif is £25, the texts are another £10 bolt on... and there refunding me £10 loyalty to only cover the cost of the 200 texts bolt on!
So even though i have a letter STATING my tarrif is £25... with a 10 quid loyalty discount making it £15 a month... there refusing to honor it.... telling me i have to now pay £25... i even said i dont need the 200 extra texts.. ( i sent 9 last month) and i just want what the letter states... the standard tarrif with nothing "free" or "added" , and ill pay the £15 a month but they refuse to do it... they even admitted that the letter they sent is wrong... and what the advisor told me is wrong... but still refuse to budge!!
What initialy turned into a great upgrade deal... has turned into a nitemare... and im expected to foot an extra £360 over the next 18 months to cover THEIR mistakes?? im so angry !
surely if i have written proof of what my contract is they cant refuse to honor it saying the letter is wrong ????
Frankly im amazed at the level of incompetence.... as far as Three are concerned.. there sales team can offer customers the moon to get them to sign new contracts,,,,,, then just lie and say these things were never offerd.. or up the price of the tarrif,, and i as a customer have absolutly no way of proving what was promised me... even when im holding a letter from them!!
please can anyone tell me my rights as im not letting this one go without a hell of a fight...
thanks for bothering to read all this,,, i know it goes on a bit ;/
0
Comments
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Typical 3 from what I hear!
Possible options:
1) Have a look on their website's customer complaints service & follow that as far as possible. Make sure you keep a copy of all correspondence (date/times etc)
2) Write to the MD of the company/Head of customer services and CC it to Trading standards saying misrepresentation/unfit for purpose etc.
3) Write to Ofcom if no reply.
4) Cancel your direct debit (I'd double check this as you may find yourself liable later) and when they start calling you to pay up- which they will- explain all and they have no choice to sort out- worse case scenario- they take you to small claims court for unpaid debt- and if you've got the evidence the judge will just throw it out and make them pay your costs (likely).
I'd also recommend you take the names/dates/times/extension numbers/team numbers/call centre location etc of all people you speak to. Be calm, reasonable and persistent and escalate as far as you can, and you should find your problems resolved (imho).
Also, make sure you tell them to write notes on your account of everything that happens- as if it does go to court- you can ask for disclosure.
* Also, go to one of their stores and try hassling the manager for info!
Good luck0 -
BTW- what I just wrote in no way constitutes legal advice!
You'd have t go to a lawyer for that!0 -
I'd suggest emailing them - state the offer that the sales person offered you & ask them to confirm by email, with a follow up by letter, what you are on & if they are prepared to honour the offer the salesperson offered. If they say no, inform them that any payments you allow them to take are being allowed by you "in protest" (can someone confirm that that is the correct legal term?) & call OFCOM (see http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/mobile/company/porting/?itemid=286222).
As said by the other poster, get as much detail as possible about every communication - I'd record the calls if your phone can!
For info, I had an interesting first experience (roughly):
web site request sbject 'call me' - can you send the phone I ordered earlier this morning today instead of tomorrow (as I originally requested) please?
Msg on my phone - call us on 333 from your handset or 0870 [crackle] [crackle] [ends]
Later call - would you like to discuss now? [not much point at 18:00 but be polite] yes. Your order is coming up as incomplete. [You don't say!]
Phone arrived on the originally requested day - no issue with that, but they missed the brownie points & the dealings with the far away call centre, in pigeon English, over a crackly VOIP line, has me scared about future contact.
Good luck & let us know how you go!Certain OTT members have caused me to add this disclaimer: all advice given is free of charge & as such should be taken to be IIRC (as I don't spend hours researching all answers :eek: )!0
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