phone blacklisted (3 mobile) :(

AnnaC88

Hi!

I bought an iphone 4 in december from 3 mobile. After a couple of months my service was suddenly cut off.
I spoke to a rude customer services advisor on the phone and was told my phone had been reported as stolen and had therefore been blacklisted. She didn't accept that I had bought the phone and made it quite clear she thought I had stolen it! She said she couldn't help me any further and to go to the store from which I bought it.

After and hour and a half in the store it turns out when I bought the phone there was a woman next to me buying the same phone. My details were registered with the phone in front of me but when the sales assistant went to put it through the till he picked up the other womans my mistake. So my details are registered with her phone and her mine. She had her phone stolen and when she phoned to get it blocked they blocked my phone instead.

So! The problem has been identified but not solved. 3 keep saying because of the 'severity of the investigation that has to take place' it keeps getting past from one department to another. In the meantime I am left with a phone that is completely out of action and i'm still paying for it.

What to do!?!

Any help appreciated

smartphone

I think you have pretty reasonable grounds for a refund on any service you haven't received because of the phone being blacklisted, as it wasn't your fault - was it a 3 store you bought it from? However bear in mind, that 3 are only required to provide service, the handset is in effect a free gift from the store for taking out a contract. It may be worth speaking to the store as it is their error that has caused the issue.

NFH

Give Three seven days (or another reasonable period of your choice) to remedy the situation, pointing out that time is of the essence, given that you are without the goods or service that you have paid for. Tell them that if they fail to unblock your phone within your stated period, you will buy a brand new SIM-free phone and claim the cost back from Three given that they failed to exercise reasonable care and skill in breach of Section 13 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.

grumbler

smartphone wrote: »

However bear in mind, that 3 are only required to provide service, the handset is in effect a free gift from the store for taking out a contract. It may be worth speaking to the store as it is their error that has caused the issue.

It is '3' who erroneously blocked the handset and it's their duty to sort everything out with the store after the problem was identified. The fact that the handset was 'free' (everyone knows that it was not actually) is irrelevant. If the problem is not solved the OP can easily sue the store for the market value of the handset plus for the trouble and inconvenience they caused.

AnnaC88

Thanks for replies. I actually bought the phone for £400, and also have contract of £35 a month that a carried over from a previous phone.

Buzby

It also goes without saying that withholding payment (under contract) will reflect on your credit file, so whilst it is up to 3UK to solve the mess they created the fact you got to the bottom of it now requires a resolution quickly - but you may need to write to their admin offices by Recorded Delivery (123 St Vincent Street, Glasgow) demanding service restoration OR a replacement handset.

NFH

AnnaC88 wrote: »

Thanks for replies. I actually bought the phone for £400, and also have contract of £35 a month that a carried over from a previous phone.

£35/month is a huge amount if you paid £400 for the phone. Assuming you're no longer in a minimum contract period, you should reduce this to a cheap SIM-only contract in the region of £15/month.

AnnaC88

Told the situation is nearly resolved but will take another 24 hours. That will make it over a week with no service due to 3's mistake. They are phoning back to discuss reimbursing me, what do you think is a reasonable amount?

Gordon_Hose

A reasonable amount would be to the value of the service you've been without. So if you've been without service for a month then £35, 2 weeks £17.50 etc. Also, if you've accrued out of pocket expenses due to the loss of service like having to use your landline to call mobile numbers instead of any free minutes you would have used on your contract, you can ask them to reimburse you for those as well.

Anything on top of that would be down to the discretion of 3.

Personally I'd make a fuss about leaving them at the earliest opportunity due to their incompetence. It might make them sit up and notice a bit more.

NFH

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

A reasonable amount would be to the value of the service you've been without. So if you've been without service for a month then £35, 2 weeks £17.50 etc.

No, that's insufficient. The OP should also receive something for the distress and inconvenience as a result of Three's failure to exercise reasonable care and skill; I would suggest pushing them for £50. If you take something like this to the small claims court, you can be awarded a payment for distress and inconvenience in addition to the amount by which you are out of pocket.

Gordon_Hose

lol @ distress and inconvenience. It's a phone, not their right arm.