Cancel 3 mobile contract

spleencheesemonkey

All,

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

I've been a long term customer with 3 for my mobile contract, and after finally having enough of their terrible customer service I decided to move to a different provider. Cancelling my contract however seems to be much more difficult than I could have imagined!
I spoke with a "customer service" representative and requested to cancel my contract on the 24/08/10. After having to request this FIVE TIMES in one telephone call before they said that this will be actioned, I presumed that they had finally got the message and that my contract would be cancelled on the 23/09/10, having given them 30 days notice as per their terms and conditions.
Having ignored numerous calls and voicemails from them in the following week, offering me shiny new handsets and reduced rates if I renewed my contract with them, I finally made the mistake of answering my home phone and connecting with a 3 representative on 03/09/10.
To my surprise the chap offered me a £180 voucher that could be spent at Currys "to buy a playstation that you can play with your friends on" if I were to continue my contract.
When I asked "isn't it a bit late for that seeing as I cancelled my contract with you last week?", I got the response that my request was "still being processed". Needless to say, I was livid. After being VERY assertive with him, I told him to cancel the contract immeadiately from the date that I originally requested. After getting off the phone to them, I immeadiately cancelled my direct debit with them, presuming that they would charge me for 5 weeks rental (due to their delay in cancelling) instead of the 4 as per the date I originally requested it.
Long story short; Today I have received my final bill from 3 stating that my account was closed on 30/09/10.
My question is this: If I requested to cancel my account on 24/08/10, 30 days notice should take me up to 23/09/10. Should my final bill show an accound closure date of 23/09/10 or do contracts such as these revolve around whole calendar months?

rev_henry

No, I think you're in the right. The t&cs from memory (unless they've changed) state 30 days. Getting them to sort this out however is another matter entirely.

Money_Grabber13579

You should never cancel the DD though. You could yet end up with worse problems...

serious_saver

Three do this sneaky thing where they only make significant changes to you account on the day of your new bill cycle. I've been trying to change to a cheaper deal and my bill cycle starts on the 6th of each month. Because I asked to change my deal yesterday it means that I have to wait until 6th November to get cheaper rate. It's very VERY annoying!

They probably began processing you cancellation on the same day that your last bill was processed and gave you 30 days from then.

Just to make it more confusing . . . the first day of your bill cycle is different from the day that payment is taken.

spleencheesemonkey

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

You should never cancel the DD though. You could yet end up with worse problems...

I would much rather cancel my DD and make a credit/debit card payment when the amount to pay is finalised, than go through the hassle of trying to get any money back from that organisation of monkeys. It's frustrating enough trying to get to speak to somone within customer services who will take ownership of any problem.

I would do exactly the same if it were BT, British Gas and many others on a long, long list of other companies. It's almost expected that they will balls up your bill in one way or another. IMHO, doing it this way gives them the incentive to actually deal with your problem.

I digress:
Serious Saver - so do we think that they are entitled to cancel my account later than I thought they should have done? Any further opinions are welcomed.

PARIS_5000

spleencheesemonkey wrote: »

All,

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

I've been a long term customer with 3 for my mobile contract, and after finally having enough of their terrible customer service I decided to move to a different provider. Cancelling my contract however seems to be much more difficult than I could have imagined!
I spoke with a "customer service" representative and requested to cancel my contract on the 24/08/10. After having to request this FIVE TIMES in one telephone call before they said that this will be actioned, I presumed that they had finally got the message and that my contract would be cancelled on the 23/09/10, having given them 30 days notice as per their terms and conditions.


I would never cancel a contract with three on the phone because

Having ignored numerous calls and voicemails from them in the following week, offering me shiny new handsets and reduced rates if I renewed my contract with them, I finally made the mistake of answering my home phone and connecting with a 3 representative on 03/09/10.
To my surprise the chap offered me a £180 voucher that could be spent at Currys "to buy a playstation that you can play with your friends on" if I were to continue my contract.
When I asked "isn't it a bit late for that seeing as I cancelled my contract with you last week?", I got the response that my request was "still being processed". Needless to say, I was livid. After being VERY assertive with him, I told him to cancel the contract immeadiately from the date that I originally requested. After getting off the phone to them, I immeadiately cancelled my direct debit with them, presuming that they would charge me for 5 weeks rental (due to their delay in cancelling) instead of the 4 as per the date I originally requested it.
Long story short; Today I have received my final bill from 3 stating that my account was closed on 30/09/10.
My question is this: If I requested to cancel my account on 24/08/10, 30 days notice should take me up to 23/09/10. Should my final bill show an accound closure date of 23/09/10 or do contracts such as these revolve around whole calendar months?

I would never cancel a contract with three on the phone because their call centre is very bad and you will have no proof of the request.

I have had two contracts with three and I have always cancelled in writing so that I have proof. I would never ever cancel a direct debit until they send the final bill because this is a breach of their terms and conditions.

PARIS_5000

rev_henry wrote: »

No, I think you're in the right. The t&cs from memory (unless they've changed) state 30 days. Getting them to sort this out however is another matter entirely.

The terms and conditions state at least 30 days in other words you can give more than 30 days notice as long as it is at least 30 days.

Money_Grabber13579

spleencheesemonkey wrote: »

I would much rather cancel my DD and make a credit/debit card payment when the amount to pay is finalised, than go through the hassle of trying to get any money back from that organisation of monkeys. It's frustrating enough trying to get to speak to somone within customer services who will take ownership of any problem.

In that case, you would much rather not be able to get credit for the next 6 years due to a default on your account? Not a wise move...But I understand why people think they have to do it. Sometimes companies just don't listen.

spleencheesemonkey

Just to let you guys know that 3 chased me after I cancelled the DD and attempted to get me to ring them back on a chargeable telephone number which I refused to do. I calculated the difference in what they were trying to collect, against what I thought should be charged due to their incompetence and they closed my account at the reduced value.
No further action required. Power to the customer.
I wouldn't hesitate in doing the same again.