Anyone work for '3' or know how they operate?

Silaqui

Hi there,

My b/f recently had his LBM and when going through his things, we found that he owes £225 to 3 Mobile. For whatever reason, he hasn't paid them anything for quite some time BUT his phone is still fully operational.

His ordinary contract cost is £36 per month; looking at the arrears, there is obviously about 6/7 months worth of unpaid bills on there.

My thinking is that if he offers to set up a direct debit to pay about £80 per month for the next 6 months, this will clear the arrears as well as paying the monthly contract cost to keep the phone operational.

In anyones experience, will 3 accept this? Or are they likely to just cut him off anyway if he brings it to their attention? I know he's the one who hasn't paid and I'm not making excuses, but surely it would be unfair to do so as they allowed a £200 bill to build up without taking any preventative action.

Any thoughts please?

Thanks,
Sil

OneADay

Could be fraud - might be someone else's account is being billed for the contract?
Did he ever make a payment or was there a failed direct debit.
Is he getting paper bills?
Obvious way to deal with it is to tell them.

marksaver

If it's a correct bill, the phone will most likely be cut off after four months of none payment. Payment in full in advance is generally the only accepted method for clearing debts before they're 'passed on'.

Silaqui

Thanks both,

I know it isn't fraud - I think it's more that he's not been able to afford to pay in and so he just hasn't bothered and pushed it to the back of the drawer. However it is unusual that they haven't cut it off as it's been so long, if Marksaver is correct in saying that four months is generally the limit.

He rang 3 and they said that he wouldn't be able to have a payment plan that still keeps the phone working, but, strangely enough, he told them he'd think about it and rang off without making an arrangement, and even now they know he's in such arrears with no payment made, they haven't cut the phone off (good place for a confused smilie if ever I saw one!)

I've ordered a PAYG sim and he's going to save up for a couple of months to pay off the arrears and do it that way.

Thanks for the help
SIL