Cancelling Sim Only early with Three

dan_uk_manchester

Hi All,

I am currently half way through a 12 month sim only deal with Three, but the signal is terrible.

I have enquired about cancelling early, but can't seem to get a straight answer after speaking to numerous people in their support team.

They are quoting around for £70 early termination. I pay £18 per month for my deal which has around 6 months left.

What they won't seem to tell me is if I do cancel, will there be any further charges? Should I expect just the approximate charge of £70, or the £70 plus the remaining monthly payments of £18 that would be due?

Any help is much appreciated!

mobilejunkie

The charge should simply be the time left x the monthly cost.

boatman

Minus the VAT.

Frozen_up_north

A phone/SIM contract is a two way contract. The supplier has to provide you with a service.

Did you have a good service and it’s now poor due to a site failure?
Is the phone working OK, ie do others suffer in your area.
Have you moved home/work/pub?
What does the Three coverage map show, and what does a user coverage map show, such as the Root Metrics one?

Three Support (the technical people, not the call centre staff) are very good and will phone back to discuss the issue if it’s down to their site(s) being a problem.

If there is an issue where Three have moved (or removed) a site and your coverage has deteriorated as a result, you should be able to cancel without penalty. A short term site fault would probably get you a free month, equally make certain it’s not your phone that’s at fault.

20aday

Out of interest which phone do you have OP as Three do support Wi-Fi Calling/SMS on certain handsets.

I assume they still have the Three In Touch app as well?

mobilejunkie

boatman wrote: »

Minus the VAT.

Not necessarily, which is why I didn't mention that.

boatman

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Not necessarily, which is why I didn't mention that.

There is some info on it in ofcom guidance:

Paragraph 80, page 15:
80.3
it also takes account of any costs associated with the provision of the service which will no longer be incurred, including any:

80.3.1 VAT (where the retail price is subject to VAT but the ETC is not);

Admittedly its 'guidance', but I think they would be on a sticky wicket if it was not followed. So what is suggested is that the termination charge should in fact be less than the price without vat, because they are no longer incurring costs providing the customer a service or having to provide customer service.

d123

boatman wrote: »

There is some info on it in ofcom guidance:

Paragraph 80, page 15:
80.3
it also takes account of any costs associated with the provision of the service which will no longer be incurred, including any:

80.3.1 VAT (where the retail price is subject to VAT but the ETC is not);

Admittedly its 'guidance', but I think they would be on a sticky wicket if it was not followed. So what is suggested is that the termination charge should in fact be less than the price without vat, because they are no longer incurring costs providing the customer a service or having to provide customer service.

They must be on that sticky wicket of yours then , as of last year they weren't refunding vat. I haven't seen any reports that they have changed their policy either.

The great mobile scam: How Three Mobile rips off customers if they end their contract early by pocketing VAT


Mobile phone giant Three is ripping off customers who cancel their contracts early, Money Mail can reveal.

Customers locked into one or two-year contracts are being over-charged by up to £230 if they leave before the end of their agreement, an investigation has found.

Three, which has six million customers, is accused of pocketing millions of pounds in unfair termination charges because of a loophole in contracts.

Most phone companies, including O2, EE and Vodafone, automatically deduct the VAT from the monthly price. That means someone on a £45-a-month contract would be charged only £37.50 for every month left on their contract — leaving a bill of £225 for cancelling six months early.
But we discovered Three was not passing on this saving and is instead shaving as little as 3 per cent off people’s bills.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-4085830/The-great-mobile-scam-Three-rips-customers-end-contract.html

boatman

d123 wrote: »

They must be on that sticky wicket of yours then , as of last year they weren't refunding vat. I haven't seen any reports that they have changed their policy either.


http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-4085830/The-great-mobile-scam-Three-rips-customers-end-contract.html

I presume OFCOM had a word, then 3 carried on just as before, unless challenged. Looking at my 3 contract it says they deduct 20%.

mobilejunkie

Even if they did they wouldn't deduct 20%, since 20/120 is actually 16.66% recurring.

boatman

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Even if they did they wouldn't deduct 20%, since 20/120 is actually 16.66% recurring.

Yes just for the VAT, but it actually says they will deduct 20%.

'The Cancellation Fee will be the total of the Monthly Charges remaining during the Minimum Term of your agreement less a variable discount, currently 20%.'