3 - charging for text delivery receipts

bazmobile

Many thanks to Snakeeyes21, JudaPriest and the other posters who have been providing better support than Three in attempting to resolve this issue. Snakeeyes, I think I may have been one of the culprits who used your template to raise my initial issue with Three's Executive Office. I received a response and had several subsequent emails/calls with a chap at the Executive Office. They were trying to do everything over the phone, but I insisted on email to have a proper trail, which I'll attach at the end of this (sorry its a bit long).

Three did attempt to offer a solution by crediting my account with a fixed amount - representing the average monthly cost of SMS delivery reports incurred on my account to date. I told them that this was not fair, as I could still incur costs due to this change if my usage for any future month exceeded the average they calculated. After rejecting this offer, the Executive Office advised that this was their final position, and would be issuing a letter to this effect with the details of the Ombudsman for Mobile services. I have today submitted a claim to via

EMAIL TRAIL>>>>

From: XXXX
To: Executive Office
Subject: RE: XXXX; Mobile # XXXX
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 20:37:18 +0100


Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Mobile Number XXXX

I am writing to you in response to a text message I received from Three on Monday 23rd May 2011. This message states:

Text delivery reports will cost 1p per report from 06th June 2011.

This is a clear contravention of section 4.1 (b) of the terms and conditions of our agreement. In this section Three commit to informing me of any variations to my package likely to be detrimental to me at least one month in advance. This variation is clearly of detriment to me as Three are now charging me for something which was previously free. As you can tell from my account history, this service is very much utilised, so implementing a charge for this SMS facility would increase my monthly payment.

In addition this section continues to explain that I am entitled to end the agreement as a result of such variations. Under section 10.1 (d) if the agreement is terminated for this reason a cancellation fee will not be charged.

As a combination of section 10.1 (d) and the breach of section 4.1 (b) on Three's behalf, I am eligible to end our agreement with no cancellation fee. I would like to officially cancel with contract with our mutual consent, and would appreciate your prompt action to facilitate porting my number to another provider (i.e. provision of a PAC).

Your urgent attention to this matter is required, so that I can port my services to another provider before your new charges for existing services come into effect.

Kind regards,
XXXX


Subject: Your Recent Email
Date: Tue, 31 May 2011 16:48:28 +0100
From: Executive Office
To: XXXX

Hello Mr XXX


Thanks for getting back to me today, I did try and return your call but I kept being diverted to your voicemail.

I’ve had a chance to review your case about the 1p charge for text message delivery reports, as you’ve advised you feel this breaches the terms and conditions of your contract with us and would like your account cancelled without charge.

I understand as you previously received this service for free, you feel the charge which is being introduced is a change to your agreed package.

I’d ask you to review section 4.1 of our terms and conditions, as within this section it states you can end the agreement for variations such as those detailed in Section 10. It then goes on to advise the following:

"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 license which affect us; or
2. relates solely to Additional Services; or
3. relates solely to add on(s) (if applicable to you). In such circumstances you will not be able to end you agreement but you will be able to cancel the add on(s) by giving us 30 days 'written notice'."

I’d like to discuss this in more detail with you and feel this would be best done over the phone. You can call me at the Executive Office on 08433 733330 (5p/min landline, other networks may vary). We’re open Monday to Friday, 9am until 6.30pm.


Thank you again and hope to speak with you soon.


Colin McKenzie
Three Executive Office


From: XXX
To: Executive Office
Subject: RE: Your Recent Email
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2011 08:51:13 +0100

Good day Colin,

I tried to contact you yesterday but you were unavailable - I will try again at 9:00 am, however I would rather our conversations to be via email, so that I have a proper trail of what is being said, in the event further action is necessary.

I have reviewed our contract several times since receiving the initial text from Three, and again last night. I am still in the belief that this is a change to the SMS service which is covered by our agreement, and such a change is subject to my acceptance or rejection. Per our contract, if I am not satisfied with the terms and conditions of any changes to the contract, then I am allowed to cancel without penalty.

You have highlighted 3 points in your email below, but fail to provide an explanation of how any of these apply to the issue at hand. I cannot accept that any of these are applicable to the change being implemented by Three as SMS/MMS delivery reports are not Add-Ons nor an Additional Service by the definition laid out in the contract.

I look forward to your response soonest, as I need to cease this service by Friday 3rd June 2011 - prior to the changes coming into effect on Monday 6th June 2011.


Kind regards,
XXXX


From: XXX
To: Executive Office
Subject: RE: Your Recent Email
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 10:50:09 +0100

Good day Colin,

I've been looking forward to your correspondence regarding our telephone conversation yesterday - especially since I need to terminate my contract with Three prior to June 6th 2011.

To recap what we discussed: -

• I highlighted Three's definition of Additional Services and Add-Ons to show that the SMS/MMS delivery reports did not fall into either category. The definitions from Three's T&C: -

Additional Services: additional or supplemental services for which a charge is made in addition to the fixed periodic charges for your Package or Add-on(s) (if applicable).

Add-on: For Pay Monthly Customers means: an additional credit which may be bought for specific supplemental services (as detailed in the Price Guide and other customer documentation).

• In response, you advised that it was a service which was previously free, but now there is a charge. I highlighted that this was the root of the issue, i.e. changing the services providing under our agreement - which then gives me the option to continue with the contract or cancel without penalty.

• You then advised that in these circumstances Three was willing to calculate my average usage of the SMS/MMS delivery reports for the last 5 months or so, and to credit my account with this fixed amount for the duration of my contract. While grateful for the gesture, I politely refused to accept this offer, as the credit amount is fixed, which means that I could still incur charges for this service if my usage spiked beyond the calculated average.

• We ended the call with you promising to send an email detailing our conversation. You also volunteered to provide the details of the regulatory ombudsman for me to take this issue further.

From my perspective this is a clear cut case of a change to our contract, so again I would appreciate you facilitating my cancellation (and providing a PAC) per section 10.1 (d) of your T&C.

Please note, from June 5th I will not be available on mobile number # XXXX - as I fear that using the service after your change has come into effect would be taken as my acceptance of the changes. If you need to contact me after this date, please use mobile # XXXX.

Kind regards,
XXXX


Subject: Your Recent Email
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 15:57:43 +0100
From: Executive Office
To: XXXXX


Hello Mr XXXXX

We spoke today about your contract, which you’ve asked to be cancelled without penalty due to the introduction of a 1p charge for text message delivery reports.
I’ve explained the decision to charge our customers 1p for delivery reports has been taken in an effort to maximise the efficiency of our network.

This price change actually relates to non-core services. Your phone contract is based on a package consisting of inclusive minutes, texts and data allowances. Delivery reports are not part of your contract, so they don’t form part of our terms and conditions. Due to this, you won't be able to cancel your contract without penalty if we opt to vary these services.

In an attempt to resolve this with you however, I offered to review the average number of text messages you send monthly and then apply a credit each month to the end of your contract to cover the costs.

You declined my offer and asked that I either end your agreement or provide you with our final position by email, which I agreed to send to you.

After reviewing your account details I called you back, as your account is registered with an iPhone 4 which doesn’t have the delivery report feature, so you wouldn’t be directly affected. You advised you’re aware of this already, but use a PAYG SIM card in the iPhone and your contract SIM in a Nokia E71. Once again you asked for our final position to be provided and stated you won’t be using our services after Monday 6 June.

As I’ve explained already, if you do still want to cancel your contract mid term by requesting your PAC, then you’ll be asked to pay the applicable cancellation fee through our customer service team. Our customer services can be contacted by dialing 333 from your Three phone.

I understand this isn’t the reply you were looking for, but this is our final position. You can take this email to Ombudsman Services: Communications for them to review independently on your behalf. They can be contacted by phone on either 0330 4401614 or 01925 430049. You can also email them at [EMAIL="enquiries@os-communications.org"]enquiries@os-communications.org[/EMAIL].

I hope I’ve clearly explained our final position on this matter.


Thank you.
Colin Mckenzie
Three Executive Office

SingleSue

Don't think they like me...been with them ever since they started on a contract and I didn't even get sent the original text advising about the charge coming in!

Mind you, it won't impact on my usage as I have delivery receipt turned off, with the amount of texts I send during the March to October period, the constant pinging of my phone would drive me barmy!

dulcificum

Good luck guys, hope this works out. Please do keep us updated.

As for those who haven't complained yet, PLEASE PLEASE write to OTELO.

miniyazz

I finally got Three to process my request for a letter of deadlock today. They told me it would take up to 8 weeks to reach me so I submitted my complaint to the ombudsman without it today.



PS, you don't have to get beeps when you get a delivery report.. when I have it enabled all it does is give each message a report that I can access when I click on the message, in case I'm wondering whether it's been delivered or not. So unobtrusive, but there if I need it.

gjchester

dulcificum wrote: »

Good luck guys, hope this works out. Please do keep us updated.

As for those who haven't complained yet, PLEASE PLEASE write to OTELO.

Otelo will not accept complaints if you haven't at least tried to work it out with your provider.

credit-card-tart

miniyazz wrote: »

I finally got Three to process my request for a letter of deadlock today. They told me it would take up to 8 weeks to reach me so I submitted my complaint to the ombudsman without it today.

I got my letter in 3 days, although it reads...

Please accept this letter as confirmation we're now in a position of deadlock about the change in delivery report pricing.

You can contact Ombudsman Services: Communications to escalate your concerns. Their telephone numbers are 0330 110 1614 or 01925 430049. They will be in a position to independently review your complaint if you make contact with them.

Makeandsave

My complaint has gone to the Ombudsman services

miniyazz

credit-card-tart wrote: »

I got my letter in 3 days, although it reads...

Well if it reaches me in three days, so much the better

bluetimone97

Is this happening on all three contracts, I have 4 contracts and have not received notification on any of them?

kingofherts

Hypothetical question

Instead of charging for delivery reports, 3 or any other network decide to stop offering them altogether. Would you all still be clamouring to cancel the contracts trying to claim it's detrimental and against the t&c, seeing that there has been no price change

I'd like to see peoples answers