3 Mobile Complaint

Kevswife

Hi, does anyone have any experience of referring an unresolved complaint with 3 mobile to the ombudsman? I have effectively been overcharged around £300 for a combined device & data contract which ended in Jan 2017. I am subsequently aware that under the terms of the contract it was my responsibility to terminate it once the device was paid for after 2 years but I don’t believe this was made clear when I took the contract out. I have been offered £50 by 3 to resolve the complaint or the alternative is that they refer it on my behalf to Ofcom. So my question is, should I accept the £50 or escalate with the prospect of getting higher compensation? Has anyone else with the same issue been successful?

Would appreciate some feedback, thank you

ryan121

Take the £50 and be glad they're being nice enough to give you that. You have no case and you'd simply be wasting your time.

mobilejunkie

Absolutely agree!

Maybe next time the OP will bother to read the t&c of a contract they agreed to. Three have been most generous.

boliston

The device is not "paid for" after 2 years as you own it outright from day 1 and are even free to sell it if you wish.

The contract might have a 2 year minimum term which is not the same.

pmduk

It was made clear, you just chose not to read what you were agreeing to.

Kevswife

As a new member I am not allowed to post links but if you google there are tons of articles you that demonstrate clearly I’m only one of many, many people being overcharged. I hope my experience encourages everyone to check their contracts particularly those with 3, EE & Vodaphone. I’m furious about the way these companies treat their loyal customers but ultimately accept I should have been clear with the terms & conditions. I just hoped to get a response from someone who had taken this issue further. Thank you for your feed back.

PHK

You will find a few people complaining, that's because they also didn't make sure they understood how contracts work. That doesn't mean there's a general overcharging issue because the majority who understand how they work don't complain.

When you do a simple Google search you'll find what you're searching for but you won't find a counter viewpoint to put the search results in context. eg You might find thousands of complaints but there are tens of millions of phone contracts.

If you argued that Ofcom should regulate so that when a contract with handset is taken out, the bill automatically reduces when the operator has recovered the handset subsidy then you might get more people agreeing with you.

mobilejunkie

Kevswife wrote: »

As a new member I am not allowed to post links but if you google there are tons of articles you that demonstrate clearly I’m only one of many, many people being overcharged. I hope my experience encourages everyone to check their contracts particularly those with 3, EE & Vodaphone. I’m furious about the way these companies treat their loyal customers but ultimately accept I should have been clear with the terms & conditions. I just hoped to get a response from someone who had taken this issue further. Thank you for your feed back.

That simply shows there are "many" people who, like you, don't bother to read and understand what they sign up to. None of them were "overcharged" - just as you weren't.

If you put as much time into simply understanding what you agree to when you agree to it then your blood pressure and perception would be rather different and you wouldn't be charging the innocent network with "overcharging".

Buzby

You have not explained why you happily paid out for 17 months of service when you didnt need to. If it was because they didnt tell you - why do you believe they should? It isnt a fixed term contract, but a minimum term.

Once you complete this you have completed your side of the bargain and you can leave. If you didnt tell them- thats your misunderstanding, not theirs.

The offer they made was reasonable - take it and move on.