“Free skype calls for life”... (or not).

RupertRoker

Some forum users may have purchased phones from Three a while ago under the impression that they were going to receive “free Skype calls for life” which then didn’t happen.

I purchased one of the phones affected by this issues (one of the original INQ phones) on the back of promises that I would receive ‘free Skype calls for life’.

I’ve been trying to get this problem sorted out with Three but I’m not having much luck. (They are not admitting that they’ve done everything legally wrong).

If I can’t get them to agree to fix this problem or compensate me I intend to bring a case in the small claims track against them and I’m looking for other people who’ve got the same problem who would like to join me. I’m very confident that what Three are doing isn’t legally right.

The argument that I’m intending to run is:

(1) The promise of “free Skype calls for life” has contractual force because of Section 14(2b)(a) and s14(2)d) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (which relates to adverts being incorporated into the contract of sale).

(2) That any assertions that they make that they have a contractual entitlement to not provide anything other than voice, texts and data services is wrong because section 3 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 which provides that a company may not "claim to be entitled... ...to render a contractual performance substantially different from that which was reasonably expected of him." (and the ‘reasonable expectation’ of anybody buying a INQ phone/skype phone etc was to ‘free Skype calls for life’.

Therefore I think that I and other similarly affected consumers are entitled to compensation. I would suggest that the cost of finding alternative performance (i.e. getting the benefit of ‘free Skype calls’) is probably the best option to go for. I’m still trying to work out precisely what this works out to in pounds and pennies but I think this should at least be the cost of a new phone that Skype works on and the costs of providing data services to that phone to use Skype.

If anybody would like to join me as a co-claimant that would be really good and would probably concentrate Three’s mind a little. If you’d rather not be a claimant yourself but just want to know how I get on so that if I do get compensated you can ask Three to give you the same settlement let me know.

Just to be clear and to avoid any confusion later on. I’m not a lawyer, I’m not a claims handler and I’m not offering to fight your case for you or provide a legal service. I’m a law graduate and consumer rights professional. I’m doing this in my own time and off my own bat. If you’ve got the same problem as me I’d like to give you the opportunity to join any case I bring against Three as a co-claimant in the small claims track, I’m looking to do this with people rather than for them (though I can sort all of the paperwork/statement of claims etc. out and then confirm that anybody that would like to join me is happy with what I’m saying for everyone). I’m suing in small claims because then Three can’t ask me to pay their costs even if we don’t win. As I’m not a lawyer or claims manager I won’t be taking a cut of any compensation that Three offer or are ordered to pay in relation to anybody elses part of this claim.

If you’d like to contact me, in the first port of call please message me through the MSE forums.

I’d also be be very interested to hear from any lawyers who would like to help me with this as I think that for the right law firm this could make an excellent case for a Group Litigation Order.

Thanks

Rupert Roker

toddy89

Hi Rupert,

Forgive me if you have gone down this avenue with Three previously (and assuming you would still rather sort this issue out of court...)

In your post it doesn't specify exactly how you have tried to sort the issue out with them- but if it helps at all (or at least makes sure no-one posts similarly) you can contact the Executive Office of Three on 0843 3733330. This is based in Scotland and to my knowledge, about the highest level you can go. Alternatively, the CE of Three is David Dyson and his email is David.Dyson@three.co.uk.

I'd assume if anyone would like to be aware of impending legal action, it would be him.

thegoodman

As far as I know the small claims won't work.
Also if you win 3 need to refund the cost of the handset, no more.
By doing this you are no worest off then before getting the 3 phone.

RupertRoker

Hi toddy89,

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I've exchanged a number of e-mails with Three. Most recently: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdyp3d2rhreearz/e-mail%20to%20and%20response%20fromThree.pdf I've also spent a total of a few hours on the phone to various departments trying to get a satisfactory answer (the best offer so far is £20 off the cost of a phone).

An e-mail to Mr Dyson's office might be a good idea, thanks for giving me the e-mail address.

RupertRoker

Hi thegoodman,

There are a number of things to consider when trying to work out what the entitlement to damages would be. Any exclusion or limitation clauses that Three attempt to rely on are likely to be very relevant here.

As a general rule, a contracting party is entitled to expectation damages to restore them to the position that they would have been in if a breach had not occurred. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damages#Breach_of_contract_duty_-_.28ex_contractu.29) In this case I would imagine that Three will attempt to argue for a different measure of damages, such as reliance damages, which would essentially be the original purchase price of the phone that you are referring to.

At the end of the day though the most appropriate measure is something for the court to decide (and there are also other considerations, such as the fact that some of the claim could be forward looking to damages that will occur as a result of the breach but haven't yet occurred). Still, a refund would be a good place to start!

Thanks

sparky93

f the service skoot or whatever its called has stopped, then why is it i put a spare brande new unused sim, into my nokia n95 with the "threeuk skype" app on it, and it works still? phone and app is 2 years old

toddy89

RupertRoker wrote: »

Hi toddy89,

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I've exchanged a number of e-mails with Three. Most recently: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdyp3d2rhreearz/e-mail%20to%20and%20response%20fromThree.pdf I've also spent a total of a few hours on the phone to various departments trying to get a satisfactory answer (the best offer so far is £20 off the cost of a phone).

An e-mail to Mr Dyson's office might be a good idea, thanks for giving me the e-mail address.

Having gone through your email it'd be fair to say that you are dealing with, at the best instance, a manager or so from their overseas centres. As you said, an email to Mr Dyson's office would make it at least far more apparent, assuming the foreign office A) doesn't really understand the laws stated, and alerting the individual directly affected by legal action. My suggestion would be to still call the Exec office, as they (from significant experience in the industry) are far, far, far more efficient and logical than the rest of the CS from Three. Be sure to have some sort of reference number from the normal CS line where possible.

Let us know how you get on.