3G mobile broadband-want to return and cancel

jonty1970

I was offered mobile broadband (i already am on a contract with 3g for my phone) £5 a month for 1 gig downloads.
It is rubbish. I can't do anything useful with the internet as it keeps going slow or freezing. It is not my PC as that i quite new.
Sometimes I can't even get online.
I rang to tell them I wanted to send it back and cancel and they said I can't, as I have used it and gone online.
Obviously I had to, to try it out and find out it is no good.
They won't budge and accept it back. I don't want it as it is no good and I speak to different people on the phone who tell me different things.
If I cancel, they will charge me for the whole 18 months.
I have 14 days don't I, to be able to send it back as I agreed to buy over the phone and still have a few days left.
It really is useless to me.
Thanks for any help!

jonty1970

Will just add, they did agree to send me an address label to send it back, but that didn't turn up. I think they are putting me off, so I go over the 14 days.
I have been on the phone and they have hung up on me too, even though I am always polite.

fifitrix123

Here is the Chief Executives office number hope it helps! It is also in the UK!!!

They are usually quite helpful....

0870 7330295

millie

When I was away on holiday recently in Lynton Devon I could not get a signal at all so I phoned them. There was no coverage in that area, I gave them the postcode of the place we were moving onto the week after, they said that there was limited coverage there too. We were going to a third destination after that and I was told there would be no coverage there either. The person on the phone told me I should cancel the contract as I was not getting the service I was paying for. I pointed out that I had, been on the contract for several months and it would be too late to cancel. I was told that it was not too late. I have not cancelled because most places that I have been to it works very well it a chance I take when I go on holiday. It did work fine in the second location on that holiday and at £5 per month its worth it to me when it does work.

jonty1970

Thank you for the replies.
Sending it back and they will have to chase me for the money. Complete waste of time.

BillTrac

jonty,

my wife recently got 3 USB unit, and although she does not need to the T & Cs do state that to cancel within 14 days the unit must not be used

best of luck with this

Bill

HelenYorkshire

Can anyone find the 3-mobile T&Cs online?
I'm considering cancelling after several months of useless "service". Has taken them months to even accept that there is a problem - dongle currently in for repair so we shall see.
Tried searching for e.g. cancellation terms but the eejit on the "live website help" tried to sell me a phone then sent me to the website T&Cs :mad:

Sonnyboy9601

I bought, through Carephone wharehouse, a 3G Mobile broadband.
I wanted to return the item and cancelled the contract, due to the fact that it doesn't work properly in my area, but Carephonewharehouse told me that is not possible because there is no 14 day cancellation period with 3G, the return period is of 3 days only.
Now i checked the contract and on the terms and condition there is nowhere writen such an condition, one point say clearly 14 days cancellation period money back,
on the front page of the contract there is a little square with the following sentence "3 do not offer '14 day change of mind' or 'exchange'"
can this be considered a terms and condition of contract, is there anyone else that encoutered same kind of problem?

christopher

I don't believe they're allowed to do that - they're bound to operate within the rule of law, just like every other company. To me that "3 do not offer '14 day change of mind'" clause is more like an unenforceable EULA than a binding contract, it wouldn't stand up in court. (imvho, ianal.)

HELS

I too was sold a 3 dongle by Car PhoneWarehouse who insisted it would work at my postcode. It didn't and I had terrible trouble getting contract cancelled. They pretended they had cancelled it but I continued to be billed. To cut a long story short, I wrote to Andrew Mein, 3's chief exec and voila! apology and instant cancellation with nothing to pay.
Now have a Vodaphone dongle which is excellent.

walmergreen

I ordered a 3 modem thingy to give me mobile internet. When it arrived the next day it didn't work correctly. I rang 3 and talked to a techy expert who manually configured the modem and the internet just flew! I was really impressed. However, the 3 techy chap (Indian) told me that manual configuration is OK but the system should really operate automatically. He also told me that you really have to be within 1 mile of the aerial to get 3G. OK in big cities but not a lot of good elsewhere. As 3 cover 80% of the population......that's 80% of where the bulk of people reside, then the system is not a lot of good when used in urban areas where the aerials are not so dense. He advised that I send it back and everything went as it should.

My view is that where you have a good signal at home and use it for a while then it is still not being used for the purpose that it was purchased ie it is purchased to be used as mobile broadband. If it can't do that, then it should not be advertised as such. It's a great system, but the advertising people have run away with themselves and people are being caught out, and being lumbered with something that doesn't do what they purchased it for. One for the Regulator I feel. If Carphone Warehouse are insisting that you keep it just because it works at your home then they are neatly missing the point that it is supposed to be 'mobile broadband' and if it isn't then it should be sold as such.
Alex