3 - charging for text delivery receipts

nsabournemouth

johnnyj wrote: »

Now you are getting carried away.

I dont care about what delivery reports do and dont do.
The fact is they changed are contracts without enough notification. and think this is fine.
Even if they did give notice the contract will not be what you signed up for. so what legally is sound about it.

Simple black and white. there is no grey area. I dont care if I hardly use txt and my wife goes through 1000 per month. its purley principle. you should not be able to change any aspect of my contract. that I signed up for. period.

Where in your tariff does it say that delivery reports are part of it?

drbesty

There are no grounds for cancellation, it's an additional service, it's not something you have to use

Snakeeyes21

nsabournemouth wrote: »

Hit the nail on the head there. IF you choose so therefore it's an additional service.

Its currently an inclusive service in your monthly payments..

what 3 are trying to do is change it in to an additional paid for service.

I believe the terms and conditions are very clear as to what they class as an additional service ie a paid additional extra and sms delivery reports are currently not included in this. changing this to a paid service gives grounds to cancel if you will incur additional cost using it as you were before the change.

Im sure they will come back saying its an additional service so they can hide behind that clause, but they will have a hard job proving it if somebody wants to push further, their own wording rules it out of currently being an additional service as its not costed or billed as such.

but we could just go round in circles..

miniyazz

nsabournemouth wrote: »

Think some are getting carried away with this. It's 1p! What you will also find is that most people don't use text messaging as much as they do the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp or even BBM.

Not meaning this as a personal attack, but it is people with a mindset like the one you have just expressed who end up in thousands of pounds of debt. It's 1p? Yes, per delivery report. Which adds up very quickly. Suddenly that £25/month contract has turned into a £75/month contract, because I used all my included messages but didn't budget for an extra £50 of charges because it's only pennies.

nsabournemouth wrote: »

Hit the nail on the head there. IF you choose so therefore it's an additional service.

Well, no. I choose to use internet. It's turned off by default on my phone. It's also definitely not an additional service.

drbesty wrote: »

There are no grounds for cancellation, it's an additional service, it's not something you have to use

Just because I don't have to use it doesn't mean it's an additional service. See example above. Turning it off is a solution to stop being charged, it's not a solution to the problem at hand - being charged for a service previously provided for free. And that is the bottom line.


I've sent my own email to Three Customer Services formally notifying them of my wish to end the contract under Section 10.1(d) and may or may not hear from them in due course. I will also be writing to them via recorded delivery in case they conveniently 'lose' the email.

Tony5101

A couple of years ago when 3 withdrew their "3 like home" service (where you just used your minutes like you were at home, so long as you were on their network...in about a dozen countries etc...) I was able to cancel my contract.
I'd never used the service, but that didn't matter. The fact is it was part of their offering at the time I took out my contract. It wasn't explicitly defined as a part of my core offering or contract. It was something that they GAVE you.
I see this as being no different. If they introduce a charge for something that they previously GAVE you for free...that is a fundamental change - whether you use the service or not.
As this is a new charge, the correct instructions will definitely not have filtered through to the options on the scripts that the Indian customer services have. They are notorious for playing hardball on things like this, and try to send you in circles
My advice is to send your letter to the UK address stating that you wish to terminate your contract due to the introduction of these charges. Cite the correct contract area, and wait.
Send your letter registered, so there can be no doubt of it being received.
At the end of the day, you have a choice. Either accept the charge and live with it, or if you feel aggrieved about the new charge - do something about it!

gjchester

miniyazz wrote: »

I've sent my own email to Three Customer Services formally notifying them of my wish to end the contract under Section 10.1(d) and may or may not hear from them in due course. I will also be writing to them via recorded delivery in case they conveniently 'lose' the email.

Email cancellation won't be accepted, too easy to forge and delivery not guaranteed or even traceable.

Posting a letter is far better, however send it to the address on your bill. Not there head office, registered office, adress of the web or one you googled. Many companies outsource the incoming paper mail and scan it all. Sending it to the "wrong" official address only serves to slow it down as it's then got to be sent to the "right" address to be scanned into the system.

dave_dph

Does this charge apply to all tariffs? I'm on The One Plan (sim only) retention deal and haven't received any notification.

jimmysayshey

I haven't received any notification either, and I actually use this service!

JudasPriest

simax wrote: »

So IBM do mobile networks now?

Not particularly relevant, as a contract is a contract.

For something in a contract to stand, it must be a "prescribed term". Delivery report provision is nowhere in Three's terms and conditions of service, nor their Pay Monthly terms and conditions. They could charge for it, or take it away altogether if they wanted to. It stops no fundamental part of your contract working, you can still use minutes and texts.

It was functionality provided to paying customers, but not non-customers. It wasn't charged for outside of a PAYG top-up or agreed monthly charge when on contract, so can't meet the criteria of an add-on or Additional Service. And that's all that's needed - if changes don't relate to the changing of an add-on or Additional Service(as described by Three in their terms and conditions), and are of detriment to the customer, they are grounds for leaving the contract.

It's that simple, and it's there in black and white in their own terms.

miniyazz

gjchester wrote: »

Email cancellation won't be accepted, too easy to forge and delivery not guaranteed or even traceable.

Posting a letter is far better, however send it to the address on your bill. Not there head office, registered office, adress of the web or one you googled. Many companies outsource the incoming paper mail and scan it all. Sending it to the "wrong" official address only serves to slow it down as it's then got to be sent to the "right" address to be scanned into the system.

Thanks for the advice. As it happens, their automated email system confirmed delivery of the email. Still, I shall be sending a letter to the address on the bill by recorded delivery later today