I hate 3 mobile

RocketMan

Hello, Does this sound familiar to anyone else and does any one know what I can do?

I had a mobile phone contract with 3 that started in c.september 2004. It was a 12 month minimum term. The phone was utter rubbish and so unreliable that i never really used it and frequently had to send it for failed and repairs and replacement, however I still paid the fixed amount each month by DD. almost at the end of the 12 months I made several attempts to contact 3 to cancel the contract and to make any outstanding payments.
I was told by their call centre personnel (who frankly spoke English with such strong accents that I could hardly understand them and they certainly didn't fully understand me) that I was NOT a customer of theirs and that they could find me nowhere on their system. I tried about 5 times and got the same response each time. In the end I couldn’t see that there was any more i could do and chucked the heap of junk.

I thought my dealings with 3 were over but last week my parents received a call from an agency collecting on behalf of 3 (that’s 2 years later!!) saying I owed them money for period between my last payment and the date 3 months later when they cancelled my contract because they had received no further payments.

3 claim to have no record of me having contacted them at the time I say and therefore will not accept the fact that I did. I have tried to point out that if they would not recognise me as a customer at the time then how would they have been able to find any record on which to log the call. But once again they do not seem to understand me. the manager at the call centre even said that it is possible for 1 person to have miss understood me but not all 5, what he is really telling me is that 20% of 3's call centre staff don't understand their customers.

This seems to be a case of their word against mine.
They say they sent me letters that were returned, this is probably true as i did move but as far as i was concerned the matter was closed and I had no reason to 'attempt' to give them my new address. I am also sure that they would have had my parents address on their system even if it was not the mailing address. they also say then blocked my calls and sent me texts but as the flippin phone never ever really worked i had chucked it in the top draw with all the other duff electrical stuff one a acquires over time.

can anyone give me any advice or information that could be helpful, i am vexed to just pay them as i really don’t feel it is my fault or responsibility but i an more concerned about the affect this will have on my credit rating.

Thanks, sorry this is a bit long, I’m quite stressed. x

Smeep

I used to work for O2, so I'll try to give you an "inside view" even though I hate 3 aswell. Good lord do they suck at what they do.

Anyway.

1. You made a mistake by assuming that your dealings with 3 were over. You should have written a cancellation letter to them. It should say that somewhere in your contract, or in the terms and conditions that should be freely available in any branch or franchise.

2. I understand why you assumed it as they could not find you on the system. Where did you get the phone? Was it a 3 store, or a reseller (like Car Phone Warehouse/Independent). With O2, if you buy an O2 phone through Car Phone Warehouse, you are CPW's customer, not o2's. This is possibly the same with 3 and thus they wouldn't necessarily find you on the system.

3. Don't give in - If it's not your fault it's not your fault. You don't have to be rude to anyone along the way, but the best defense is a strong offense. Start making calls and sending letters now. If you can find ANY details from the calls (Names?) it will help.

4. Anyone you talk to, at all, get their full name and direct extension number. Make sure you find out how to dial it if possible (some call centre's you have no choice but to dial and then asked to be passed through.)

5. You have the right to talk to a senior person without explaining yourself to the subordinate, if you would feel more comfortable doing so.

6. Just to save your annoyance, if anyone says "I'll just pass you through to someone who can help" interrupt them (after already having their full name and extension number) and say "Please <name>, don't cold transfer me, please explain on my behalf my situation to the person you pass me through to." This will hopefully prevent you having to explain yourself again and again and again.

7. Even though I worked in retail, you formed a very close bond with those in the retail help desk (Kind of like a private customer services for o2) and you get to know how stressful their job can be too. Remember this: The person you don't want to speak to doesn't want to speak to you either. Be the bigger person, be extra nice and extra polite.

8. At o2 we got complaints about 3 all the time (Just to rub it in 3's face because I really hate them!)

Bunnie1982

My husband had exactly the same problem with his contracts from Three.

We received very threatening letters from Buchanan, Clarke and Wells for three seperate amounts ~£90, ~£60 and ~£15 because they had not closed down the accounts. Unfortunately we were foolish and paid the first two amounts because we were sick and tired of being transfered to different people.

The third one we disputed as it was a pay and go account!

Sagaris

Just as well I read this thread - I was thinking of changing from O2 to 3 as they seem to have better deals at the moment and O2's customer service is a shambles, perhaps I'll think again now!

Smeep

I know I don't work for o2 anymore, but I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble with them. I know that I tried to use "regulars" whenever I had to contact o2 cx helpdesk instead of retail helpdesk, and they always helped me out and my customer out fantastically. I understand though that it doesn't always go well.

If you need any advice with o2 message me and I'll do what I can to help, I know quite a bit about the way they work.

Back to 3 - had any luck yet?