Three misleading advertising - free laptop THINK AGAIN !

mancuk29

I have been looking for a laptop / notebook and am already a customer of 3 uk ... on their website they offer Free notebook and dongle ... pay for your data and we'll throw in a top of the range dongle and laptop ... excellent i thought ... HOW VERY WRONG WAS I !!

http://threestore.three.co.uk/dealsummary.aspx?offercode=24LP15G110

You get a "free" Samsung NC110 Laptop with 15gb data .... and the dongle for an amazing price of £31.31 per month .. well its not that amazing and the laptop certainly isnt free !!! you are signing up firstly for 24 months so the overall cost is £751.44 (£31.31 X 24 MONTHS) .

Also some clarification - the laptop your getting is actually a netbook (so they are wrong on this also) is £249 at Argos http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5086098.htm


Three say you pay for the data and you get the laptop and dongle for free however your actually not ...

Take away the laptop and look just for the same data package as a stand alone... (this must be the same surely as three are charging you on the laptop free offer ?) sadly three are misleading you as you can actually get the same data package with the dongle for £17.01 on the same 24 months contract.

http://threestore.three.co.uk/broadband/broadbandPlans.aspx?phonecode=PRMHUAE367

Which over 24 months will cost you ... £408.24 , you could then go out and buy the laptop yourself from argos and you would save yourself an amazing £94.20 (£408.24+£249-£751.44)

How can Three UK say that your getting the laptop for free when its actually costing you £343.20 ??? (£751.44 which is the 24 months at £31.31 - £408.24 which is the 24 months at £17.01)

I think this is a major breach of advertising standards ... what do you think ???

gjchester

No different to a free phone when you take a contract out. Buying anything free with a phone contract has never been good value. In a non technical sense no different to the catalogs of old where you paid more for the convenience of having small weekly payments for anything.

There is no charge for the laptop and the dongle is at a set price, there no reason you have to take this over the Argos route unless you want 24 months interest free credit.

As ever it's down to the customer to examin the deal, decide if they can pay the £250 for the laptop out up front, or they are willing to take this offer up, and then make an informed decision.

kai666

its no different to the "free" phones you get. compare sim only and contracts with phones over a 2 year period, and most phones work out very expensive if included in the contract

redped

Never forget that there's no such thing as a free lunch - that also applies to mobile phones and laptops. This should be taught in all schools, as it's amazing (frightening?) how many people don't (can't?) sit down and work out the real cost of a laptop, mobile phone, etc. before signing up for it - "oh look, it's the latest shiny phone/computer/camera, I have to have it now. Where do I sign?"

Hammyman

mancuk29 wrote: »

Which over 24 months will cost you ... £408.24 , you could then go out and buy the laptop yourself from argos and you would save yourself an amazing £94.20 (£408.24+£249-£751.44)

How can Three UK say that your getting the laptop for free when its actually costing you £343.20 ??? (£751.44 which is the 24 months at £31.31 - £408.24 which is the 24 months at £17.01)

I think this is a major breach of advertising standards ... what do you think ???

I think you've just finally woken up to what the reality of a "free phone" and "free laptop" and "free gift" has been on mobile phone contracts for the last two decades. It is only since the introduction of SIM Only contracts that people are able to work out the cost of these free items.

There is no breach of standards.

kier333

I agree in most cases you pay over the odds, however not always. Take me for example, i was paying 25 pound a month for a sim only contract on the one plan with three, i upgraded to a galaxy S2 and now pay 35 pm. i realise i am now tied into a 24 month contract, however i would have paid the sim only for the next 24 months. For me it was a no brainer galaxy s2 works out as costing me 240 pound.

grumbler

The question is why you were paying £25. Do you really need 3000 minutes while the same with 300 minutes is available for £15 at Three or even cheaper elsewhere?