Do I have grounds for breaking out of contract?

sandx

Since Xmas 2010, I have had a 24 month contract with 3 Mobile on the LG GW250 phone and since then it has kept freezing or switch itself off and will not restart unless I take out the battery and replace it.

I’ve taken it back to the shop 3 times for repair and once they said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I have even demonstrated the freezing issue to the store manager and she said that she could only keep sending it away for repair. Today it has just froze again, only a week after picking it up from the repair shop. This is looking like a 4th visit to the 'Not Interested' 3 shop!

This is so frustrating – now all I want is a phone that works! What use is this phone if it has just switched itself off?

I sometimes think I should bin this phone and buy the HTC Desire. But I have 17 months left of this rubbish at £25 per month! I feel they are in breach of contract and I want to get out of it or force them to issue me with a better phone.

Can anyone advise if I have a case? Or what should I do?

Guys_Dad

There are numerous threads on the same theme on this site. Summarising the replies -

1. There are 2 separate "contracts" that you have 1 for the handset and 1 for the airtime.

2. You have no grounds for cancelling the £25 per month airtime contract.

3. Under Sale of Goods, the reseller has to supply you with a working phone. You should have taken firm action sooner as there is some suggestion that 6 months after sale a supplier must have either sorted out the handset you bought, replaced it like for like or, if the replacement{s} failed again and again, changed the model.

You will receive advice from others on how to pursue the case with the reseller, but going in and demanding a replacement, making a nuisance of yourself, and writing to head office followed buy raising a claim under SOG via small claims court are your remedies.

In future, do not buy a contract tied to a handset - go sim-only and buy your own handset. That will give you the upper hand.

sandx

Hello, thanks for your response.

I'm afraid I haven't had much luck from the 3 shop. The manager in there just keeps telling me she can't do anything but send the phone for repairs. I have said it isn't good enough and that the phone isn't reliable etc but to no avail.

When you said I should get a new phone - did you mean the exact same model?The manager also said I won't get a new phone, only a reconditioned one.

I'm feeling really ripped off.

JimArnold

as said you need to make a nusiance of yourself

go in when they are busy make sure you have the discussion in the store so as many people hear about it as possible - these people live on commission if you make enough fuss and they feel they are losing other customers then a replacement will be found

I doubt if 3 head office will be much more helpful but you can try

You are not guaranteed a new phone but you should get one which is of at least the same spec

Simon_Wallace

If you've had it since Xmas 2010, I think it may have a busted flux capacitor :rotfl:

Good luck in dealing with Three, when thing's go well they're great, when they don't they are a nightmare.

Cheers
Simon

sandx

Well if it is a busted flux capacitor, the repair people aren't spotting this problem!

I took it back to the shop and had another big moan at the manager (different guy this time) and he was more sympathetic. Said he would be happy to change my handset BUT I didn't get the phone from them so I have to call customer services.

But he did advise me to tell them the full story and that I want a different handset maybe the Nokia N73.

Thanks for the advice - watch this space!

flyingscotno1

sandx wrote: »

Well if it is a busted flux capacitor, the repair people aren't spotting this problem!

I think you may have not spotted the joke- flux capacitor is a time machine a reference to Xmas 2010 which is 5 or so months away. Just in case you were going to tell the shop that!

ampletime

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

I think you may have not spotted the joke- flux capacitor is a time machine a reference to Xmas 2010 which is 5 or so months away. Just in case you were going to tell the shop that!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

sandx

Very helpful - thanks a lot!

Exhortation

sandx wrote: »

Hello, thanks for your response.

I'm afraid I haven't had much luck from the 3 shop. The manager in there just keeps telling me she can't do anything but send the phone for repairs. I have said it isn't good enough and that the phone isn't reliable etc but to no avail.

When you said I should get a new phone - did you mean the exact same model?The manager also said I won't get a new phone, only a reconditioned one.

I'm feeling really ripped off.

I know it isn't any consolation but a guy I know is currently going through a similar situation with O2 because of a faulty Blackberry (not sure which model). The difference with O2 - and with other networks - is after 3 or 4 attempts to fix the handset they will replace it. I'm not sure why Three don't do the same, it'd do their reputation a whole lot of good if they did.

loulou123

I had a similar problem with 3 last year. I had a SE phone which kept going wrong, to the point of there being no point in me actually having it as it was SO unrealiable.

It was "fixed" 6 times in the 1st 12 months of the contract, then it went completely wrong with just under 6 months of the contract left to run. I went in the 3 shop and enquired about upgrading early, they said they couldnt do this, so i sent the chief executive (think this was who i wrote to anyway) an email explaining that it had gone wrong this many times and now all i wanted was to upgrade early, as it was a waste of everyones time and effort and their money to repair a phone, that in just under 3 months i would be upgrading and never use again.

They actually saw sense in what i was saying and actually allowed me to start a new 18 month contract, from that date, with the phone and package i wanted (that was only meant to be available to new customers!) so in effect the remaining 5 months of my old contract just disappeared. The new phone was courried out and arrived the next day. I was actually very impressed with their service once i spoke to someone higher up.