Three - Cancelling a new contract

andyhigg

Hi new user here looking for a bit of advice. It is quite a long story so I will try and keep it down to the minimum!

Last Wednesday I decided I would like to get an iPhone 4S on Three and checked their website for coverage in my area. It said the coverage was good.

Next I went to the store to purchase the phone. I was advised that the phone would go live within 3 hours which happened as mentioned but when that happened and to this day, I cannot get any network coverage what so ever in my house. If I go into my garden I may occasionally get 1 bar for a few seconds.

I phoned customer services at Three who agreed with me after doing checks and advised me to take it back to the store.

I took the phone back the following day and the store refused blank to accept it saying its against store policy and it wasn't their problem.
They didn't seem to want to help and when I asked them to clarify the situation by speaking to customer services they said they didn't speak to them in any way.

After some pestering they did fill in a returns from online and gave me a paperwork copy saying the returns department would contact me within 24 hrs which never happened.

I phoned the store again to chase up who then said they would speak to customer support and get them to get back to me (This is odd in itself as previously they said they don't have any contact with them)

Someone then phoned me back advising me to take it back to the shop and I had to explain the problem all over again. He then contacted the store who denied giving me any paperwork and basically called me a liar.

At the end he said someone from networks team would contact me within 72 hours to help me further. I don't have any faith in Three resolving this and I just want to of the contract.

I hope they do appreciate my situation and do the honourable and right thing and cancel the contract this week. In care they don't, What rights do I have seeing as I can not get any coverage and am only 4 days in? Where and whom do I speak with to take this further seeing as Three are reluctant to help me?

Any advice appreciated.

gjchester

andyhigg wrote: »

Next I went to the store to purchase the phone. I was advised that the phone would go live within 3 hours which happened as mentioned but when that happened and to this day, I cannot get any network coverage what so ever in my house. If I go into my garden I may occasionally get 1 bar for a few seconds.

Unfortunalty you have no rights to cancel it. Anything in store has no cooling off period, unlike phone or web sales

Also no network guarantees coverage inside a building.

Three offer a exchange period (not a returns period) so you could try and exchange it for a different phone provided you have not used it, and Three are strict in that "use" means anything turning it on counts as using it. Even opening the cellophane on a iPhone counts as being used.

Sorry this is not what you want to hear, all you can do is appeal to their goodwill.

andyhigg

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

If I cannot get any signal in my property or garden despite the fact their website is advertising good signal then surely this is deception?

I would never have taken the contract out if the information on their site was more accurate.

If I cannot use the phone then how can they claim to be providing a service?

daleski75

unfortunately if you sign any credit agreement in store then like gjchester has already said there is no cooling off period and no way out of the credit agreement with 3.

Your options are to see if you can find anyone else to take over the agreement for you or to sell your iPhone 4s and use this to pay towards the early termination fee.

3 may waive the vat for you bringing down the price a fair bit.

grumbler

I think there is a cooling off period for credit agreements. However, this was a service supply agreement, not a credit agreement.

andyhigg, next time get a free PAYG sim card to check the reception before buying a long and expensive contract. Now you can only keep complaining to Three, then to the ombudsman. Some people did manage to have the contract cancelled on the grounds of poor signal by complaining to '3' executive office.

Toe-Jam

There is no cooling off period, but the sale of goods act says the item must be fit for purpose. In this case it was indicated by all information made available to you that it would work at your property, and it doesn't.

You have effectively been misold your contract.

The terms and conditions of 3 say
10.2 We may end this agreement in the following ways:
(c) No network access or 3 Services. We may end your agreement if we no longer have access to other operators’ networks which we need to provide 3 Services, or if we are no longer able to provide 3 Services due to factors beyond our control or because we cease business.

You can cancel your contract. I cancelled my Orange contract for this very reason. They dragged their heels but gave in eventually.

grumbler

What you quoted says "We", not "You".
However, misselling is definitely the way to go: http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/telecoms/sales/mis-selling-mobile-phone-services/

gjchester

Toe-Jam wrote: »

You have effectively been misold your contract.

Depends, did the OP specifically ask if it would work at his home at time of purchase or just go on the web predictions which clearly state this is predictive and not guaranteed on the web page and make his own choice. If he didn't ask it's not really a case of being missold.

Three's maps say at the bottom "Although we try to make our maps as accurate as possible, the information is only a guide and doesn't guarantee service availability in a particular location. If you'd like more detailed coverage information, please call us on 333(free) from a Three mobile, or 0843 373 3333 (national rate) from any other phone."

The "beyond our control" means for example if a mast is damaged and cannot be repaired for whatever reason, not because there was no coverage from the start.

The Three Exec office may help but it would just be a good will gesture.

andyhigg

Three have agreed to cancel the contract.

Result! Thanks anyway guys for all the responses.

daleski75

Excellent news on that front and I would suggest spending a few quid on some pay and go sim cards as a definitive way of checking coverage in the area's where you go.

SnowTiger

andyhigg wrote: »

Three have agreed to cancel the contract.

Result! Thanks anyway guys for all the responses.

Good result! I live in a fairly rural area and surprisingly 3 offers the best coverage at my home, followed closely by T-Mobile. O2 is usable, but doesn't offer 3G coverage. Orange and Vodafone are no where to be seen.