I fancy a coverage battle with 3 - who's in?

koppite412

Having taken out an 18 month contract with 3 in January, I have never been able to receive satisfactory reception in an area where they say I should get 3g and 2g. I have had the phone 'repaired' so it should be able to receive weaker signals and I am in the process of checking another SIM with the phone.

If it turns out my problems persist with this new SIM, therefore proving it's not the hardware, but the network, I intend taking 3 for breach of contract or some sort of mis selling, by their stating they can provide coverage in this area when they clearly cannot.

Does anybody else have similar experiences with 3 or another carrier? What are your thoughts on the breaching issue?

Thanks folks;)

poet123

Having the same trouble with 3......apparently we need to ascertain it is not the phone or the sim first. Switched from 02, but phone from them is still in use,when the 3 phone is rung no contact achieved,when the o2 phone is rung immediate contact achieved in the same location. 3 suggested that the shape of the building is to blame!!!!!!! I got this phone for my son to keep in touch, with the 1000 txts per month when he goes to Uni in a couple of weeks,no chance of that on the experience so far. We are in the north west,where are you? I am certainly up for a fight if we cannot resolve this issue.

koppite412

Hi Poet123

Right, here's what you gotta do.

1) Ignore Bombay, they are crap. Use the service call centre in Glasgow, the 3 Executive office. The number is 08707 330 295. You need to contact initially somebody called Keri Simmons. I got her details from OTELO, the Ombudsman for Mobile companies, of which 3 is a member.

2) Ascertain if it is the phone or the SIM. Get them to try both and keep a detailed log on when and how. It could be it is a hardware problem.

3) If you get to the point where the phone and the SIM have been eliminated from your investigation, then it is only the coverage that is left. 3 do not tell you when you take a contract they piggyback O2 and Orange, so if the number of callers in your cell on those networks are greater than you, your calls will get moofed and cut off.

4) Go to trading standards and discuss with those chaps the Sale of Goods and Services Act. The service needs to be delivered with reasonable care and quality. It sounds like in both our cases this isnt happening.

5) Get some advice from OTELO (google them for details), they will offer support and if you slip their name in conversations with 3, 3 will crap themselves as OTELO means money being paid on 3's part.

6) Follow up your letters to the executive office. Give them 14 days for a satisfactory resolution, not simply a reply saying 'Thank you for your letter'. Send them registered and track the letter.

7) I got out of an 18 month contract by doing all the above and knowing that no company in the UK is above Statute - remember Luke - Statute is the Daddy!

8) This will help you, it worked for me. Let me know how you go. Good luck, may the Force be with you.

Quinny_2

Big hand to Koppite.:T

That is some research you did,and a valuable piece of information.

I have just ended my contract with 3,and although I knew about them piggybacking 02 and Orange,I didn't know that 3's customers would have to 'Q' to get on the network.That would explain why 3 get so many dropped calls when moving around.

It would be nice if the mods would sticky that information,as a lot of people on here are unhappy with 3.

Ken.

poet123

Thanks for the detailed info. I spent an hour in the 3 shop yesterday trying to sort this out. Upshot is I am awaiting a callback to see if supervisor can sanction cancelling contract because even though I rang to complain within 14 days of receiving phone it is now 1 day over!!!!!!!! and they say usage has been high on the handset.....yeah right, with missed calls and txts because we cant use it as a phone. 3 now appear to have barred the usage of the handset so I am taking this as a sign that they are going to end the contract. Will await call to confirm. If they dont then I will follow all the steps outlined in your very informative post. I agree this should be a sticky!

hpuse

For information, Hutchison (Three's holding company) has reduced its spending on capital expenditure from company's current financial year, which sounds to me like that there is less likely to be new measures and infrastructure for next 2 years for improving service quality is UK's affected regions. Three is operational since 2002.
If you are planning to take Three's services, make sure your areas are well covered or stick with reputed GSM providers, as a safe bet for just voice service alone.

koppite412

In my area, I checked their coverage map and that said I would get coverage on calls (AT LEAST) and in the end the calls kept dropping or could not be made in the first place. This is a complete breach of Sale of Goods, so if you do take a contract with them, I would advise that you use you legally allowed cooling off period to test your coverage to make sure you can actually make those calls you intend to.

Poet123, they said usage was high on my handset too, but the upshot is that they cannot pin you to where those calls were made. Keep us all posted on here, they WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH THIS!

artystix

Copy of letter sent to 3 in Glasgow, they have phoned me several times to ask for "more time", but no satisfactory outcome yet, now been passed over to trading standards by myself,
I'll wait to see




I ordered & purchased on-line direct from Hutchison 3G UK a Sony Ericsson Z610i, on the £15 Talker price plan for £15 per month on an 18 month contract.


It was delivered on 25th July 2007, once the phone was activated it worked well with 100% coverage & I was very pleased with my phone. Until approximately the 10th of August 2007, when I could get only get network coverage to Emergency numbers, this is how it has been ever since. It would only work when I went into my local town centre which is 5 miles away. So i was missing phone calls & texts.
I have used my phone as normal & have made & received phone calls & texts as normal up to the 10th when it only worked in certain postcodes. Since the 10th I have used it only occasionally as there has been no coverage.


I phoned 3 customer Services on Wednesday 15th August & spoke to a service adviser called Kunal who informed me that the area I lived in was not covered by the 3 network. I told him this was wrong as my husband & daughter both have mobile phones on the 3 network & have perfect network coverage.
He then told me that phones purchased before 1st July 2007 used network coverage which switches between Hutchison 3G UK & O2 mobile which explained why both my husband & daughter had complete coverage. However as my phone was purchased after that date my phone would be covered jointly by Hutchison 3G UK & Orange mobile.
I was told by him that Orange had very poor network service in my area, which I was aware of which is why i purchased a phone from 3 who claim to have 99% coverage & not Orange.
I asked him why then had my network coverage been good until 10th August, he stated that this had been when my phone had started receiving its coverage through Orange.
I told him that this was no good to me as I needed the phone to work all the time not just on occasions when I went shopping. He also stated that my network coverage could improve if the wind was blowing in the right direction!
He took some details & said he would get in touch with the technical department & try to get my phone coverage switched back to how it was when i first had the phone. He phoned back on six occasions over the course of three days, asking me if i could give him some more time to sort this out. This I gave him.
Finally on Friday 17th August Kunal phoned back again, he had me do a manual network search on my phone to try to get find the network, he then informed me that my phone would continue to have poor coverage as it could not be switched back over to the joint O2 & Hutchison 3G UK network. I was not happy with this. I asked to speak to Kunal's supervisor or manager.
I was transferred to Mr Shahmudin who told me I could continue paying my contract & by March 2008 there should be new transmitters in my area so I could get coverage by then. He also informed me that I could end the contract early but this would cost me £250. This meant i could either pay £15 a month for a phone that had no reception and that may or may not work in the future or be penalised and have to pay £250 through no fault of my own. I was not happy with this so I contacted the Trading Standards Institute who have advised me to write to you at Hutchison 3G UK Customer services quoting Supply of Good & Services Act 1982. When the contract was taken out the phone was working perfectly & Hutchison 3G UK, as the trader have changed the service. Hutchison 3G UK are in direct breach of contract, for not providing the service that i have paid for.
As a result of this I am requesting that Hutchison 3G UK cancel the contract & restore me to a pre-contractual position.

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I look forward to hearing from you and to a resolution of this problem. I will wait for 10 days before seeking further help from Trading Standards or my solicitor. Please contact me at the above address or by phone.”[/FONT]

artystix

3 have now confirmed they will "buy back" the contract without an early termination fee.

Need to wait again tho, will i have to send the phone back to them or will i get to keep it for my trouble??

poet123

I managed to contact an exec in Glasgow who apologised profusely for my inconvenience and tod me the correct protocol had not been followed. he said he was concelling my contract forthwith and no charges would be taken from my bank account. He asked me to tell him of the shortcomings I had experienced using the call centre.....which I did,at length!! and he promised to take steps to ensure this kind of thing did not happen again. I am now waiting for a returns bag for my phone and a letter confirming the contract has been cancelled. Thanks to Koppite412 I had the necessary info to bring this to a close......and me an Evertonian!!I am very grateful

koppite412

Artystix

3 may well want your phone back, they did with me. How it works is they offer you a free phone at the start of the contract and then claw the cost of that back via your monthly payments. They should send you a prepaid and insured next day bag though.

Poet123

You never said you was Toffee!

Anyway, glad you got everything sorted out. As for me, Im on O2 now PAYT with a phone that simply makes calls and texts - wanna know something? I love it!!