"Three" owe me a refund, not paying.

Methtical

I purchased a new phone online direct from Three, when it arrived, upon opening, it was damaged (screen smashed). I contacted Three, explained the situation, and asked for a refund. They sent me a paid postage envelope to return it to them, which I did, and kept the proof of postage.

This was on 26th of June. I can confirm they received the device on 27th of June.

I contacted them on the 30th to inquire as to when they refund would be issued, given that they had been in possession of the returned item for 3 working days. I was told it was being processed and would be issued on the following Monday (3rd July). I contacted them on the 4th and asked what was happening, I was told they needed to speak to the refunds department and that they would keep me informed. I received voicemails on the 5th and 6th telling me they were still investigating.

On the 11th of July I contacted them again at which point they assured me that a refund request had been issued/processed on the 10th of July and that the money would be in my account within 3 working days (so Friday 14th at the very latest if we take Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as the 3 working days and not include the day of the supposed processing). It is my understanding that any later than this would be a breach of the consumer rights act 2015 which states that a refund needs to be issued within 14 days of the seller receiving the item. The customer service member who I was speaking to confirmed this and agreed with me. I later had a voicemail from the same member of customer services to double confirm and assure me that the refund had been processed.

Sure enough, come Friday 14th of July, no money had been placed into my account. I contacted them on the 19th of July and was told that the refund had been issued on the 11th as stated and that the money should be in my account. After I restated that it was not, I was told it was processed on the 13th of July (first instance of a change in story) and that it would take 5 working days (another change in story) and that the money would almost certainly be in my account the following day (even though that would make it 7 working days).

He then started trying to blame my bank for being slow. Then he said that an attempt to contact me was made on the 11th to tell me that there would be a delay to the refund but it went through to voicemail (why was he only just telling me this?). I found this strange since I had 3 voicemails in total (on the 5th, 6th and 10th of July) from their customer services to keep me informed of the progress of my inquiry, but for some unexplained reason they didn't see fit to leave me a voicemail to inform me of this supposed "delay" on that occasion.

Now on the 21st, still no money in my account. I contact them once again, I'm told the refund has been processed and it should be in my account. I then asked for the names of all the people that had been involved in handling this whole affair for the purpose of complaints and taking things further. I was then put on hold for 15 minutes whilst they said they would speak to the complaints department. When they came back they said the department was busy and they;d get back to me in 72 hours. I asked once more for clarification as to when they had processed the refund. They said on the 11th of July. At this point I lost my patience and after pointing out to them that they had once again changed their story and were lying, ended the phone call.

I should add that all phone calls from the 11th of July were recorded by myself so I have a solid record of the information that was given to me in chronological order and therefore can proof their lies and how they have changed their story. To my mind this is outright fraud because they are knowingly providing false information and lying about issuing me a refund - why else would they be deceptive about such matters if they weren't trying to con me? I can't think of any other rational explanation.

My question is how do I take this further/what action should I now take? Is it contacting trading standards? Submitting a letter before action?

Thanks in advance.

KeithP

Might be worth asking your bank if there is any reason at their end that this refund hasn't appeared.

Methtical

I honestly dont believe a refund has been issued at all, given the ever changing versions of events and inconsistencies in the stories they are giving. I have never ever had a problem with my bank in any shape, form or capacity, it'd be too far fetched a coincidence for it to happen now.

Ectophile

If you paid for the phone by debit card, then one option is to contact your bank and ask for a chargeback. It's a scheme that banks offer.

If it was by credit card, and the phone was more than £100, then again contact the bank. This time, ask for a refund under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. (If it's less than £100, then ask for a chargeback instead.)

Shaka_Zulu

Why a refund and not a replacement?

KeithP

Methtical wrote: »

I honestly dont believe a refund has been issued at all, given the ever changing versions of events and inconsistencies in the stories they are giving. I have never ever had a problem with my bank in any shape, form or capacity, it'd be too far fetched a coincidence for it to happen now.

So you haven't even spoken to your bank about this?
How strange.

Do you realise that we all make mistakes at one time or another - even your bank, I'm sure.

Why not rule out that possibility?

pmduk

Have they ever given you the reference number that their complaints department is working to? Given my own poor experience with three I'd be considering an LBA - though to be fair it is perhaps a little soon for this.

Methtical

Ectophile wrote: »

If you paid for the phone by debit card, then one option is to contact your bank and ask for a chargeback. It's a scheme that banks offer.

If it was by credit card, and the phone was more than £100, then again contact the bank. This time, ask for a refund under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. (If it's less than £100, then ask for a chargeback instead.)

Was paid using debit card so will give that a try tomorrow, thanks.

Methtical

Shaka_Zulu wrote: »

Why a refund and not a replacement?

Combination of reasons, firstly the person I spoke to originally advised me to do this as they said the replacement process was a long drawn out affair and it would be much quicker for me to just request a refund and then purchase a replacement handset. The irony has not been lost on me.

Secondly, the handset was in very short supply so the chances of actually getting a replacement handset in a respectable timeframe were also very slim. Again, irony is not without its sense of humour here.

Methtical

KeithP wrote: »

So you haven't even spoken to your bank about this?
How strange.

Do you realise that we all make mistakes at one time or another - even your bank, I'm sure.

Why not rule out that possibility?

The same reason if I was a police officer investigating a burglary and the suspect kept changing his story as to his whereabouts, his rationale for evidence being at the scene of the crime changing constantly, I wouldn't think "you know what, he might actually be innocent".

The fact they can't seem to come up with a half decent lie and keep changing the dates and making up fake stories of phone calls and delays etc is enough to tell me that there is something untoward going on at their end, not at my banks.

Given that I will be phoning my bank tomorrow to attempt a chargeback anyway I may as well humour them and ask if there has been a catastrophic event that has meant that, in spite of all my other transactions going ahead without issue, it just so happens that the payment I am being scammed on is being held back for some unforeseen reason. I'll bet my house they havent a clue what I'm referring to though.

Methtical

pmduk wrote: »

Have they ever given you the reference number that their complaints department is working to? Given my own poor experience with three I'd be considering an LBA - though to be fair it is perhaps a little soon for this.

I have a reference number with regards to the supposed processing that was carried out on the 10th and have a voicemail confirming that this had been processed (which I was told later was actually processed on the 13th....then the 10th again). I imagine this would be enough to go forward with, in addition to all the other evidence I have proving that a con is afoot.