Mi-Fi from Three - Cooling off period

liam_h

Hi all,

I'm looking into the Mi-Fi option from Three for my brother, primarily for gaming on Xbox Live.

I have several friends that I play online with that do use Mi-Fi with no problem, but I know it does also depend on how far you are from the tower and the signal strength.

He can get the 30 day rolling contract option I know, but the only problem is the initial outlay. If it doesn't work too well for him he can cancel it instantly which is the major advantage.

But I'm just wondering about the 18 month contract. Does anyone know if there is a cooling off period - I know there should be, but on their site it says it has to be unopened and no data used - kind of goes against the cooling off period doesn't it?

My question is, if he gets the 18 month contract and it doesn't really work for him, can he cancel in the 14 day period. Or would it be better to buy online and return it under the distance seller regs?

Thanks.

Buzby

Not 14 days, as the issue of coverage has nothing to do with the contract of service. He would be better advised to see what coverage is like with a 3UK handset first, than have to undergo the trials of complaining that the service is unsuitable. Data use over mobile is quite expensive when compared to other options, and I would say that entering into a binding contract for broadband by mobile is inadvisable, buy the dongle or MiFi unit outright new or S/h, then use PAYG for BB, for which 3UK offers the best value.

im-lost

theres no cooling off period, well there is but you cant 'test' the unit,
once its used you are locked in to the contract.

If anything, go for the £15.99 1 month 5gb rolling contract, go via quidco for
£24 cashback, which means the actual unit will effectively cost £26, oce quidco
pays out.

Once you receive the dongle, phone up and say you want to cancel the contract,
they will offer to upgrade you to 15gb at the same cost and still keep the 1 month
rolling contract, this way you have the device at a 3rd of the cost of the PAYG option,
have the highest plan they do, without being locked in to really long contracts.

TakeThis

For mobile broadband:

Go to Site Finder, click on the map and pop the relevant postcode in the box.
A map should appear, hopefully with some blue triangles.

You'll need to click on each of the blue triangles in turn, reading the details.
What you are looking for are UMTS masts under 'type of transmission' within 500 metres of the place of intended usage and the name of the operator. In your case, you are looking for '3'.

If it looks ok the next thing to do is to buy a 1GB data card from eBay or the like and to use that with the MiFi that you may have obtained using im-lost's advice. That way you would not have used nor activated the SIM package provided. So no way to fall foul of their 'Returns Policy'.

In order to be eligible to return your device under the returns policy you must not have used it to make or receive calls, texts or browse the internet. Similarly, if your device has been damaged since you received it, this guarantee will not cover you.

We hope you're happy with your new device, but just in case you’re not here’s our returns and exchanges policy.

New and unused.

If you want to return or exchange your device, it must be in “as new” and "unused" condition, without any damage or marks. It must be returned with all packaging, manuals, accessories and any free gifts that came with it.

That does not mean that you cannot use it, just the condition must remain 'as new'.

So follow my instructions and stick to their conditions and all should be fine.

Make sure that you order online.

TakeThis

im-lost wrote: »

theres no cooling off period, well there is but you cant 'test' the unit,
once its used you are locked in to the contract.

If anything, go for the £15.99 1 month 5gb rolling contract, go via quidco for
£24 cashback, which means the actual unit will effectively cost £26, oce quidco
pays out.

Once you receive the dongle, phone up and say you want to cancel the contract,
they will offer to upgrade you to 15gb at the same cost and still keep the 1 month
rolling contract, this way you have the device at a 3rd of the cost of the PAYG option,
have the highest plan they do, without being locked in to really long contracts.

Actually you can, using the method shown in my post.