Three - We need to speak to you about changes to your plan

Frozen_up_north

A friend on a £15/month One Plan has just been offered all you can eat minutes and 4GB of data for £14/month on a 12 month contract (normally £21/month). He didn't have to ask for a PAC or struggle to get the offer. In addition, Three said it was an offer to him personally and didn't apply to anyone else who received the letter...:D

It appears that Three are offering a £7/month discount to One Plan customers who receive the letter, and wish to take up one of their existing plans. The choice of plan may be limited to something similar to your current data/mins use.

On a rather disturbing note, he was told that if he wants to leave he will be charged the remaining days from the 30 days notice date on his letter at the equivalent of £15/month, then whatever days are outstanding when "he gives them 30 days notice" :rotfl: at the equivalent of £30/month. Something doesn't add up with that one as it's Three that are giving him notice of "accept an increase, or leave" and are clearly wrong... Anyone else experienced this nonsense from them?

idave

Sigh... They offer discounts on all their plans, but not on their all-you-can-eat plan. Tried the complaint route, to no avail.

I think hiking the price from £15 to £30 for any sort of service is immoral. Is there anything that can be done to stop this?

joeluken

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

It appears that Three are offering a £7/month discount to One Plan customers who receive the letter, and wish to take up one of their existing plans. The choice of plan may be limited to something similar to your current data/mins use.

On a rather disturbing note, he was told that if he wants to leave he will be charged the remaining days from the 30 days notice date on his letter at the equivalent of £15/month, then whatever days are outstanding when "he gives them 30 days notice" :rotfl: at the equivalent of £30/month. Something doesn't add up with that one as it's Three that are giving him notice of "accept an increase, or leave" and are clearly wrong... Anyone else experienced this nonsense from them?

Each offer is different. I was offered the £28 plan for £17 on a rolling monthly contract so that's more than £7. I also got a credit applied to my account for the hassle caused.

As for the 30 days notice and price increase that sounds about right. Three is giving 30 days notice of a variation to your terms i.e. a price increase/new plan that takes effect in 30 days from the dates shown in the letter. It is not a notice of contract termintaation so it down to the customer to take action.

If you don't accept the new terms you must give Three 30 days notice as per the contract terms. If by the time you give notice your 30 days notice period crosses into the start of the new terms you will be billed for any days in the new billing period at the new price. If your notice conincides with you billing cycle start you won't pay anymore than the 30 days at the old price because you won't cross onto the new terms. My letter arrived and I gave notice to coincide with my billing cycle to avoid the proposed charges. I asked them to convert by contract to PAYG after the 30 days as this also gave me time to consider my options to stay or leave without being hit with the new terms.

joeluken

idave wrote: »

I think hiking the price from £15 to £30 for any sort of service is immoral. Is there anything that can be done to stop this?

Sorry it all appears legite and in line with our contract with Three. I assume you're outside your minimum term so your options are try to negotiate a better deal before the poposed plan kicks in, accept the proposed terms/plan which will happen by default on the date provided by Three or leave your existing contract by giving Three 30 days notice.

Bear in mind if you plan to leave when you give your notice will determine if you will be charged for some days at Three's proposed price plan.

Kim_13

Similar seems to have happened on most/all networks, because no one wants to offer truly unlimited data any more. giffgaff's unlimited data was £10 until November 2012, it's now £20 and not even unlimited (because of speed restrictions after 6GB of use.) It's just that Three's customers have escaped the increase for longer, because they only closed deals to new customers rather than pulling everyone off of them.

It's not nice but I think it only becomes immoral if someone's letter is received on such a date that they have no way to get out of the contract without crossing into the new terms.

joeluken

Kim_13 wrote: »

Similar seems to have happened on most/all networks, because no one wants to offer truly unlimited data any more. giffgaff's unlimited data was £10 until November 2012, it's now £20 and not even unlimited (because of speed restrictions after 6GB of use.).

Not only is the speed restricted to 256Kbps (between 08:00-24:00) after 6GB it is also generally very slow to unusable during the daytime before that and tethering stops after the 6GB is used. Anyone with a decent data service from Three will probably find giffgaff really poor in terms of data speed, data reliability and the restrictive amount relative to Three.

Also don't forget that on giffgaff if you actually use a certain amount of data or a certain amount in too short a time (giffgaff won't provide details but based on customer feedack it seems to be around 12-15GB in month or more than 1GB in an hour) you will be banned from repurchasing its allways on goodybag.

sam1970

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

A friend on a £15/month One Plan has just been offered all you can eat minutes and 4GB of data for £14/month on a 12 month contract (normally £21/month). He didn't have to ask for a PAC or struggle to get the offer. In addition, Three said it was an offer to him personally and didn't apply to anyone else who received the letter...:D

I took exactly this deal two days ago for £12 so your friend's deal is not great..and I did not need to haggle alot

ladymarmalade222

Update...what a bloody nightmare!

I called the number on the letter which went through to the overseas call centre who was just reading from a script.

She kept trying to sell me 8gb plans which she could give me for the fantastic price on the 3 website - no discount whatsoever, just kept repeating what fantastic benefits 3 were giving me:D

I explained my usage had been low (even though they could see December I used 21gb) the past few months as I had been poorly so hardly left the house so used broadband but my usage would be changing and I wanted to be on the safe side. It was like banging my head on a brick wall.

She lied and said there was nobody she could pass me through to regarding making a complaint and they don't have a complaints department:rotfl: then when she had exhausted trying to get me to take an 8gb plan she said would transfer me to the complaints department, then she cut me off:mad:

I finally got back through to the overseas call centre, then to the Scottish advisors who took my details regarding a complaint and confirmed they could not offer me any loyalty discounts as they were not available and only the website offer was available of £25.
I mentioned family members had been offered the £17 deal and he said he could not understand it as head office have specifically said no discounts.

So he has taken my complaint, I have asked for a letter replying to my complaint so I can look at my options. I have given 30 days notice and revert to PAYG to consider my options.

I took on two more contacts for my son and partner a while back so once they have come to the end I will be cancelling due to the way this has been dealt with. Shocking service #makeitright my backside! This has got to be a huge PR blunder as it has been all over social media and the news.

Right I am going to calm down and have a brew:beer:

joeluken

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

Update...what a bloody nightmare!

I can only imagine your frustration. :mad:

Maybe be luck of draw be but they defo still offer disccounts and I've heard the "head office said" crap before.

I just checked online and my new plan is showing in the "contract and phone" section. The "Your minimim term finishes on" remains unchanged i.e. same 2014 date as promised and there's a credit showing as well. There's also an "add-on" showing for free 3 to 3 minutes so everthying is as dicussed during the phone call with Three. As soon as my current One Plan allowance reaches its 30 day cycle I'll be on this plans allowance.

The only thing I needed to change was the "control your spend" setting as this wasn't an option via the web site on The One Plan (spend was capped by calling Three). One of the options wasn't blocked so I could call 0845 and premium rate services etc so I changed the setting and blocked this straight away.

Looks like Three is planning to freeze price for 5 years if the deal with O2 happens - http://news.sky.com/story/1635669/mobile-giant-pledges-o2-three-price-freeze

Maybe this is the reason they're trying to push people to pay more.

ladymarmalade222

I cannot understand it..talk about treating customers fairly?

I cannot see me receiving any calls from retention etc so I will just have to cancel. I cannot bring myself to pay £25 for less than before.

If they do not get back to me the rest of the contracts will be cancelled one by one.