Three Itemised Billing Charges (merged threads)

rev_henry

Bno wrote: »

Hey there, have read quite a few of the posts, some very helpful. Am trying to get out of my contract I took out Oct 2007 £20 Texter (previous Student Promotion).


Anyway, got a call back from the centre, had to speak to a guy in India, bit hard to understand, but never mind that, I think that was mostly down to my reception haha. Anyway, they said that I cannot get out of the contract without paying the cancellation fee as section 10 does not apply due to 4.1:


You can end the agreement for such variations as explained in Section 10. Subject to the above, you will not be able to end the agreement if such variation or increase:

1. is due to changes to the law, government regulation or licence which affect us; or

The guy said that the government have inforced this, so there is nothing they can do. I got him to confirm this.


Any suggestions on what to do next?

What? Thats the biggest load of cr*p I've ever heard! Try and speak to someone else about it.

bakerlad1983

If it was something the government have inforced, then am sure we would have heard about it on the tv or the internet before they decided to bring this out.I have cancelled my contract and today cancelled my OH contract as well. Both because of the increase in per minute billing. All they tried to offer me to stay was the same offers that they have on the net. guess we are not so valued enough to keep.

morfeus717

Sorry for the long post in advance:

You can end the agreement for such variations as explained in Section 10. Subject to the above, you will not be able to end the agreement if such variation or increase:

1. is due to changes to the law, government regulation or licence which affect us; or

The guy said that the government have inforced this, so there is nothing they can do. I got him to confirm this.


Any suggestions on what to do next?

In one of my (many) calls to '333', one of the agents did indeed try this, but I cut him short and told not to insult my intelligence by suggesting the government were telling them to charge First Minute Billing!

Its good that you have/ will have it in writing because if/ when you need to contact Otelo, it'll be amunition for your case against them.

The other times, they mostly used the fact that their 'price guide' had these changes on their website since 2007 (oct?); my original contract start before oct 07 but I extended my contract in may 08 - and was advsd that everything would be the same (VT500). They insist that since I upgraded, I accepted the new conditions (T&Cs + price guide).

Now my point to them is (unfortunately they would not have it; the 'managers' were particularly obtuse) that at no time did the agent who upgraded me mention a) change of terms, or b) refer me to the terms online/ or elsewhere and c) I DID NOT receive any terms with the new phone (only SE literature and a packing slip/ pick list). One of the CS 'managers' even suggested that it was upto me to ask for the terms if I had not received them with the phone - even though I was not aware that I should expect to receive them!

This begs the question; what proof do three have that I was aware of their new T&Cs+price guide? My original contract (which I signed instore CPW) took place BEFORE oct 07. My upgrade/ extension was done over the phone (nothing signed). If they produce a recording/ transcript, this will prove that the agent gave incorrect information which means the contract could be null & void; if they fail to produce said recording/ transcript, they have no proof I ever upgraded/ extended contract with any new terms (ok so they have a signature on the delivery note accepting the new handset, but is this enough? The signature is only to say that I am accepting goods - I don't know what they are until I have accepted them! [in fact, I don't think it was even me who accepted the package!])

Bno

I thought he was speaking a load of bull. I might try and email in, see what they say. I believe section 10 can be enforced, no matter what rubbish this guy said.

bakerlad1983 wrote: »

All they tried to offer me to stay was the same offers that they have on the net. guess we are not so valued enough to keep.

The guy said I could upgrade (which I don't want to do) and he offered me a more expensive contract but it was actually worse than what I have... oh dear

jasonwatkins

rev_henry wrote: »

I guess its not really the right thing to do from a moral perspective, but they deserve it after the way they're treating us all.

I wasn't actually that surprised I passed a credit check for Three because I was told at the time they were a company who weren't as stringent as the other ones.

I was, however, gobsmacked that I passed the Orange credit check though . Part of me doesn't want to add Three to the overall debt I've got, but then I keep thinking that if I'm hopefully going to get it written off in 8 months anyway .. i dunno ..

I think i'm going to keep trying with Three for the short term, maybe through Otelo and Ofcom, since i've been on to them today.

I think my approach has to be that when I upgraded to the M&M plan, I wasn't told that it was per-minute billing - which I actually wasn't. If I argue that Three made this detrimental change, and should have made a reasonable effort to inform me that I was switching from a per-second price plan to a per-minute price plan.

Or, thinking about it, could there be a case to argue that since the price plan I was originally on, which I think was video talk and text 700 was discontinued, as were the majority of those price plans, I had no choice but to change to a per-minute price plan - and I should have been advised of the potential detriment.

i know i'm clutching at straws really ..

davieg11

rev_henry wrote: »

In a way it is good to get an email like this as it clearly states their final position, which means OTELO can now get involved.
Looks like they're not budging, which is a joke, they're clearly in the wrong.

So do you think I can phone back otelo and say I have a deadlock e-mail, or do you think I will need a reference number or letter?

HWgirl

A quick update: I thought that I was going to have hassle because although I took out a £20 talker in SEPT '07 I upgraded to a £30 talker in NOV '07 (but I later had 3 downgrade me back to my £20 plan because they didn't inform me that I would have to pay tax on the £30 plan. Although they then made me pay tax on the £20 plan the thieving !!!!!s)

Anyway, I sent a recorded letter to Glasgow and emailed through their website and sent another email to their exec. office yesterday. I got a 2 minute phonecall from the exec. office today where they said I could cancel. They also said, "we could offer you a new plan if you want, but from your letter it seems you want just to cancel". I said yes once and asked for confirmation in writing which they are sending me. I then jumped for joy in the street. (hopefully the last time I ever do that)

THANK YOU to all the people who posted here as this thread was a great help. I'd say keep fighting the shysters over the Oct '07 thing as it's bloody ridic.

Also, JASONWATKINS, a Carphone Warehouse guy told me that Orange can suspend a customer's contract for 6 months if they got abroad. Maybe they do it under other circumstances too and you could ask them to do that as a favour?

For anyone who's interested here's the exec address (posted earlier as well I know but whatever): executive.office@three.co.uk

and here's the letter I sent too in case anyone's interested. (and which I've emailed to EVERYONE I know who's on 3) It says pretty much the same as everyone else's:

Following reciept of your letter dated 15th August '08 detailing the recent change to your call charges I have reviewed my last 3 months of bills (bill numbers: ***, ***, ***) and realised that as the majority of my phonecalls are under a minute long this change will be of detriment to me. I am therefore writing to give you thirty days notice to cancel my contract, as set out in my contract in parts 4, 4.1b(ii) and 10.1(d)


Please can you confirm as soon as possible that the contract will be cancelled after thirty days. I understand from the contract that there will be no penalty or charges for cancelling the contract.

Yours sincerely,

HWgirl


Good luck guys.

jasonwatkins

HWgirl wrote: »

Also, JASONWATKINS, a Carphone Warehouse guy told me that Orange can suspend a customer's contract for 6 months if they got abroad. Maybe they do it under other circumstances too and you could ask them to do that as a favour?

i'll certainly look into that - thanks.

Would need to unlock the V8 they gave me though since I gave them my old handset on the trade-in deal ..

studentdave

Here's where I am.

I emailed Executive Office on the Minute Issue and was told it was already in my plan.
Offered an extra 200 minutes/text (Mix n Match)
And I Accepted!

I'm reasonably happy with that. Though I would have preferred a Cancellation I'm transferring the Contract to a friend anyway. So its a win-win situation.

Its worth a try, even if its just for more Minutes

jasonwatkins

studentdave wrote: »

Here's where I am.

I emailed Executive Office on the Minute Issue and was told it was already in my plan.
Offered an extra 200 minutes/text (Mix n Match)
And I Accepted!

I assume you were already on Mix and Match then ?