They won't let me leave Three contract even tho I suddenly have no signal in house!

CazGreg

I am SO worried and angry. I have an expensive Three contract. For the last few months I have had no signal in my house, garden and outside my house.

Three sent out engineers to the mast, checked everything they could. Eventually they said they could not explain why my mobile is useless in my house.

But they won't let me leave the contract! They won't even let me convert to Pay As You Go. Whoever I speak to, I reach a dead end.

I used to use my phone for work out and about (hence the expensive but necessary contract) but my circumstances have changed and now I ONLY need to use my mobile at home, so it is utterly useless to me. I am paying a lot of money, which I can no longer afford, for absolutely nothing.

Please can someone suggest what I can do??? I have tried and tried with the notoriously bad 3 customer services and have spoken to 'managers'. I'm getting desperate...

grumbler

CazGreg wrote: »

.... For the last few months I have had no signal in my house, garden and outside my house.

Three ...said they could not explain why my mobile is useless in my house.

So, is it in house only or outside as well? This makes a big difference.
If it's indoors only you are very unlikely to get out.
If it's outdoors, complain in writing as high as up to their head office.

Meanwhile try testing your sim with other handsets.

DUTR

CazGreg wrote: »

I am SO worried and angry. I have an expensive Three contract. For the last few months I have had no signal in my house, garden and outside my house.

Three sent out engineers to the mast, checked everything they could. Eventually they said they could not explain why my mobile is useless in my house.

But they won't let me leave the contract! They won't even let me convert to Pay As You Go. Whoever I speak to, I reach a dead end.

I used to use my phone for work out and about (hence the expensive but necessary contract) but my circumstances have changed and now I ONLY need to use my mobile at home, so it is utterly useless to me. I am paying a lot of money, which I can no longer afford, for absolutely nothing.

Please can someone suggest what I can do??? I have tried and tried with the notoriously bad 3 customer services and have spoken to 'managers'. I'm getting desperate...

If the handset does not work at home, what difference will it being on PAYG make?
Were their or other 3 users able to use their handsets in or around your home?
Sounds like a faulty handset, cell sites are not cheap to install or run, so it would not be in the network's interest to have a site installed and it not be working

CazGreg

I was only going to opt for PAYG if they really wouldn't let me leave any other way. A last resort - I know it wouldn't make a difference to the signal!
No, other 3 users have not been able to use their phones here either.
I have tried other handsets.
It is in the garden etc. as well as inside. Help!

Lady_Tara

Your circumstances sound very like mine - I have been with 3 for around 6 years, all worked fine, but in around March this year (2 months into a new contract) I lost my signal inside the house. I've been into the Store, on the phone to Bombay weekly where they've given me lots of excuses like mast maintenance, try new SIM, handset etc - all of which seem to be excuses - I have had a brand new SIM, I've tried other handsets, other family members on different networks get a signal inside the house - the only thing that has changed is my signal.

By the looks of it from searching on the internet, it looks to me (although I am far from technical!) as though they have stopped sending a 2G signal from the nearest mast to me. They have admitted that it stopped in March, but said it shouldn't have made any difference, and won't let me out of my contract.

I am at my wits end, as I've got nowhere going into the shop, I struggle to get any sense out of the call centre people and don't know what I can do, except pay another 18 months for a phone I can no longer use.

gjchester

Lady_Tara wrote: »

I am at my wits end, as I've got nowhere going into the shop, I struggle to get any sense out of the call centre people and don't know what I can do, except pay another 18 months for a phone I can no longer use.

Unfortunatly no mobile company guarantees a signal, and especially inside a building. There are too many variables in the constructions that may block a signal for them to have any level of assurace.

It's not what you want to hear but this is stated in the terms and conditions you agreed to when you signed up.

If theres no signal outside a house then theres a slighlty difference case, especially if a mast haas been decommisioned, but you'll be very lucky to get any fix or resolution inside a house.

DUTR

Lady_Tara wrote: »

Your circumstances sound very like mine - I have been with 3 for around 6 years, all worked fine, but in around March this year (2 months into a new contract) I lost my signal inside the house. I've been into the Store, on the phone to Bombay weekly where they've given me lots of excuses like mast maintenance, try new SIM, handset etc - all of which seem to be excuses - I have had a brand new SIM, I've tried other handsets, other family members on different networks get a signal inside the house - the only thing that has changed is my signal.

By the looks of it from searching on the internet, it looks to me (although I am far from technical!) as though they have stopped sending a 2G signal from the nearest mast to me. They have admitted that it stopped in March, but said it shouldn't have made any difference, and won't let me out of my contract.

I am at my wits end, as I've got nowhere going into the shop, I struggle to get any sense out of the call centre people and don't know what I can do, except pay another 18 months for a phone I can no longer use.

You make a very valid point, 3 essentially is a 3G service and where 3G is not available the service would roam via 2G, as 3G coverage increases or for commercial reasons, the roaming agreement may have been ceased, now then, many modern handsets are 2g or 3g capable and switch between the 2 technologies automatically, however this switch does not always occur (I'm on O2 and in the past the 3G has been off and the handset would not function until it was manually switched to 2g only), so it maybe worth switching the handset to 3g only (UMTS) . To be fair I have purchased a Wildfire on 3 for use at work and where I cover is rural but yet my 3 handset has worked fine. So it may be worth a try switching the handset to 3G only and seeing how you get on .

Lady_Tara

DUTR wrote: »

You make a very valid point, 3 essentially is a 3G service and where 3G is not available the service would roam via 2G, as 3G coverage increases or for commercial reasons, the roaming agreement may have been ceased, now then, many modern handsets are 2g or 3g capable and switch between the 2 technologies automatically, however this switch does not always occur (I'm on O2 and in the past the 3G has been off and the handset would not function until it was manually switched to 2g only), so it maybe worth switching the handset to 3g only (UMTS) . To be fair I have purchased a Wildfire on 3 for use at work and where I cover is rural but yet my 3 handset has worked fine. So it may be worth a try switching the handset to 3G only and seeing how you get on .

Hmm thanks, I will try that if I can work out how to

Interestingly I have found some people have managed to get out of their contract stating by quoting the relevant part of their T&C's: “5.10 There may be situations when Three Services are not continuously available or the quality is affected and so we cannot guarantee continuous fault-free service:
(c) when you are in areas not covered by the Three Network. In these cases Three Services relies on other operator’s network where we have no control.“
As you know, the Orange 2G signal is no longer available in urban areas such as xxxx, where I live, meaning I am no longer able to use my phone in my home, which does not receive a 3G signal.
Under the following clause, you have promised to cancel my contract without penalty when a detrimental variation is made to my agreement.
“10.1 You may end this agreement in the following ways:
(d) Within one month of a detrimental variation to your agreement… (a Cancellation Fee will not be charged).”

I may as well try a letter to the Chief Exec and see if I get anywhere...:cool: Its worth a try for you too OP as we both had a signal previously...

Guys_Dad

I can certainly recall some posts on this forum saying that they had successfully persuaded 3 to cancel their contracts as a result of the 2G signal arrangement coming to an end.

I also recall that 3 were pretty easily convinced but I am not sure if the MSE members had to go to the executive office.

It is worth your while trying some searches on this forum to read up the success stories. Just try a few different search phrases.

Lady_Tara

DUTR wrote: »

You make a very valid point, 3 essentially is a 3G service and where 3G is not available the service would roam via 2G, as 3G coverage increases or for commercial reasons, the roaming agreement may have been ceased, now then, many modern handsets are 2g or 3g capable and switch between the 2 technologies automatically, however this switch does not always occur (I'm on O2 and in the past the 3G has been off and the handset would not function until it was manually switched to 2g only), so it maybe worth switching the handset to 3g only (UMTS) . To be fair I have purchased a Wildfire on 3 for use at work and where I cover is rural but yet my 3 handset has worked fine. So it may be worth a try switching the handset to 3G only and seeing how you get on .

Ooh very pleased with myself, just found how to do this - I've changed it from Dual to UMTS. I will keep an eye on my signal strength, but so far I've got 2 bars whereas usually I only get 1 or none! Fingers crossed! Thanks for that info, I'd never have known :T