Three mobile contract- advice and insight needed please

saboo

Hello everyone. I don't know if this in the right forum, but I desperately need some advice.
Last Thursday I bought an iphone on a three "one plan" contract for 24 months, from a Three retail shop. The salesperson ran a check on several postcodes and confirmed that coverage was "amazing" in these places. As well, the sales person had insisted I Three had a 'missed call alert' service, which upon ringing customer services, appears non existent on Three.

When I got home, my employers warned me about Three's patchy coverage and suggested I put the Three simcard into my work issued iphone and leave the Three iphone unopened.
I have spent the last few days using minutes, text and data on this Three simcard. I live in a fairly urban area and found the coverage to be appalling, with dropped calls.

Can anyone advise me, if I have just used the simcard and not opened the Three iphone up, do I have a chance of returning and cancelling (or even exchanging for a pay as you go phone, as a forfeit).
I am looking at the Three returns policy but I can't post the link on here as I am a new user.

Specifically it says that purchases can only be exchanged instore if the device is "as new" and not "used", with their definitions being:

Used' we mean making or receiving calls (both voice and video) or texts or browsing the internet from your device. If you've bought an Apple device from us, this includes removing the cellophane wrapping or registering your device to iTunes by connecting it to a computer.
'As new' we mean that the device, packaging, manuals, accessories and any free gifts that came with the device must be complete and free of any damage or marks.

My employers say that whilst I have made and recieved calls, but as I didn't make calls from the Three device (ie iphone), that it does not count as used. They also say that the Three simcard is not the device, packaging, manuals or accessories but is a perishable digital good that doesn't have diminishing value and can be reissued for a nominal fee. Is this right or just gibberish from my work?

Even if Three won't accept a straight refund, can I exchange it for say a pay as you go product and just be rid of them? Or am I stuck for 24 months on this hellish network? I rang customer service for an unrelated matter and I have to say it is the worst mobile customer service (they pass you from one department to another for a minor questions).
Looking at other peoples Three issues, are you limited to complaining about your home postcode or can it be where you regularely use your mobile? Can the fact there is no missed call alert despite being told so by the salesman, is this an arguable point?

Please please can someone shed any light on this. I have had to carry my vodaphone around as an emergency phone. This evening we had an emergency and I couldn't even call 999 from the Three phone and had to to do so from my voda. In the hospital the Three siginal kept going up and down. I have never seen this before (I have seen no bars but not up and down every few seconds).

I have written down the locations and times of all the calls I have had problems on and produced a google map. I admit that there have been times I made long healthy phonecalls but at times when I couldn't ring and I used my emergency vodaphone instead. Internet coverage has been mostly great and I used it briefly for tethering and also emails. But again there are places where it slowed to a halt and my dithering old voda smartphone had a perfect coverage.

I have a few more days before it is Day 7. Please any insight would be greatly appreciated. I have searched the forums but I cannot find posts about my situation of not using the actual phone but using the simcard.

Thanks!!

Sarah

columbiana

I haven't heard of anyone on the same situation before, but reading the returns policy I fear you may be out of luck.
Three are notoriously stingy when it comes to returns, so it will really be a case of appealing to their better nature.
Have you checked the coverage map online to see what the coverage should be like? I fear the fact that you have used the sim to make calls may prove that there is network coverage, so you might find that they wont allow the return for this reason.
Its certainly worth a try though, but remember that you dont have any right to return if it was bought in store unless you can prove that there is no coverage, so you will have to be really, really nice to the advisers in store to get anywhere!
Good luck, hope yo manage to sort it out.

saboo

Thanks for your reply Columbiana. You are right, the more I read about them, the more stingy they appear. I suffered signal loss for large sections of city blocks but then had half decent coverage in others. The online coverage maps show full coverage for these areas and in store the more detailed maps showed nothing but Three mobile masts swamping these areas.
Even if I can't get a refund, but I can get an exchange - is it an exchange for the value of a 24 month contract+upfront cost of iphone, or is it just the upfront cost of the iphone?
Either way I will keep all updated on how it goes with Three retail and hopefully serve as a warning beacon to others who need their phones to be reachable for work.

Thanks
Sarah

columbiana

Im afraid it is likely to be just a straight handset exchange. If its an iphone though, it may well be worth asking if you can maybe take a cheaper handset and therefore a cheaper contract... or as the handset hasnt been used you could see if you can persuade them to swap for the cheapest sim only deal and give the phone back? That way even if you are stuck with it at least it wont be as expensive...

saboo

A good point, hypothetically with persuasion could you swap a 24 month contract for a sim only 30 day rolling contract? Or am I just in lala land here?

MissKeith

From the Three website :

Wheredidyoubuyyourdevice from?

3Store.

If you’ve bought or upgraded your device in a 3Store we’ll only be able to offer you an exchange. You can exchange your device within 7 days (starting from date of purchase) provided you haven’t used it and it is in an ‘as new’ condition (see above). If you bought an Apple device from a 3Store and removed the cellophane wrapping you won’t be able to exchange it.


An exchange is just a device exchange, they won't allow to to switch tariffs or move into a sim only. Unless they offer you a gesture of goodwill, I'm afraid you're stuck with it.

saboo

MissKeith, thanks for your reply. Yes it was a 3store and thanks for clarifying by what an exchange means.
What I'm confused by is, I read in other posts and also on consumer right sites, that Three offer a seven day cooling off period. It's some persistently written across the internet but I see no mention of in Three T&C's.

columbiana

What you have probably seen is the distance selling regulations which state that you can return most items bought online/over the phone within 7 days. This doesnt apply to things bought from a shop as you have had chance to examine them before you buy, so this probably wont work.
Having said that, it cant hurt to try. As i said before though, you dont have any legal right to return, and will be relying purely on goodwill.

cgk1

The phone and network are completely separate - you might be able to get them to take the phone back (I doubt it) but I can't see on what you've said how you would be able to get out of the contract.

Notmyrealname

saboo wrote: »

Can anyone advise me, if I have just used the simcard and not opened the Three iphone up, do I have a chance of returning and cancelling

No because you bought from a store. The right of cancellation only applies to "party not present" contracts.