My dongle wouldn't work

TelK

[FONT=&quot]Back in 2008 I bought from a mobile phone provider a mobile device commonly known as a “dongle” to enable me to connect to the internet while away from home via my laptop, paying around £5.62 a month by direct debit.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The mobile company withdrew the service without telling me some time before March 2017, but carried on charging me for fourteen months, until after many attempts I managed to get through to an adviser who told me the device was no longer supported, but persuaded me to sign up for an upgrade at the discounted price of £7 a month. The replacement dongle didn’t work either.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Following many futile conversations with the company’s support service, both by telephone and online, I found out for myself that the “new” device would never work – Microsoft diagnostics said: “Older device incompatible with USB3.0”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]By this time I had paid over £120 for a service which didn’t work. I wrote to the company and asked for a refund, promising on receipt to return the device in its original packaging. Eventually after several attempts and letters I telephoned the help line again, and was told I would be recompensed in full once I had returned the device, for which they sent me a prepaid reply envelope. Some time later I got a letter saying they had cancelled the contract and stopped the direct debit and I didn’t owe them any more money. I wrote again (this time to the CEO) requesting the full refund but have received neither acknowledgement nor any form of reply.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]What should I do next?[/FONT]

forgotmyname

Device not supported by who?
Not compatible with USB3 ?? It will run at USB 1 or USB 2 speeds then. Backwards compatible.

Withdrew what service? What company?

pmduk

Let's identify a few things here. You bought a dongle and paid £5.62 a month - was that payment for the dongle or the data allowance? Dongles were never that expensive IME.

Which device is incompatible? The dongle or the device you were plugging it into?

Have you used the company's formal complaints procedure? As above, which company is it?

I can't think of a single company that will refund you until you have returned the equipment. Make sure you know what they are refunding you before returning the equipment.

chippy2u

12 pints of strong lager and my dongle doesn't work either...lol

grumbler

forgotmyname wrote: »

Device not supported by who?

By Bill Gaits obviously - "[FONT=&quot]Microsoft diagnostics said: “Older device incompatible with USB3.0”"[/FONT]

Not compatible with USB3 ?? It will run at USB 1 or USB 2 speeds then. Backwards compatible.

Backwards compatibility isn't always the case. My mouse Logitech MX Master demands the latest version of Bluetooth only, and isn't compatible with earlier versions (although, this is a little different - new device and old interface, not vice versa)

grumbler

TelK wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]What should I do next?[/FONT]

Some options

Resolver

Small Claims Court

unforeseen

grumbler wrote: »

By Bill Gaits obviously - "[FONT=&quot]Microsoft diagnostics said: “Older device incompatible with USB3.0”"[/FONT]
Backwards compatibility isn't always the case. My mouse Logitech MX Master demands the latest version of Bluetooth only, and isn't compatible with earlier versions (although, this is a little different - new device and old interface, not vice versa)

That's forward compatibility. Bluetooth version compatibility is down to the hardware manufacturer rather than the OS. Logitech have designed the mouse with the Bluetooth hardware and firmware configured to only use the latest (current) BT version. The interface on your PC will work quite happily with older versions of BT.



I have never yet come across a USB1.1 or 2 device that is incompatible with USB3.0 hardware. However I have come across situations where the software/driver for the device is incompatible with the OS.

TelK

Thanks everyone for your very helpful input and questions, please excuse the delayed response. The company is Three Mobile.

I plugged the new device into my two year old Microsoft Surface which has USB 3.0, and it said 'older device incompatible with USB 3', so presumably the ‘older device’ referred to the dongle. I was paying for access to the internet via the dongle which came with the package.

I tried online chat to begin with, but kept getting cut off when I was slow to reply (by slow I mean under a minute - eg, at 1330 I was asked for more details, while composing my reply I was asked was I still there? As I posted my reply at 1331 the guy disconnected. This happened three (no irony) times - I get the impression they are under a lot of pressure to deal with cases quickly. I telephoned the help line, was told it was a Windows 10 compatibility problem (old laptop is Windows XP), and that I needed to upgrade to the new dongle. I reluctantly (and with hindsight, foolishly) agreed.

Same problems with online support, eventually was given a set of instructions by an adviser who didn't hang around to see if they worked. They didn't.

Eventually a second, recorded delivery letter drew an email response which offered a refund (I confess that amongst all the joyfulness about bringing a smile to the face of a valued customer that I didn’t notice the refund was limited to payments since the upgrade), in any case my reply bounced as the specified reply address was ‘no longer in use’. I telephoned instead and agreed to return the device in the reply paid envelope which they would send, and was told I would not be charged a penalty as long as I returned it within five days. I said I was expecting a full refund but the lady would only repeat I would not be charged.

I received confirmation my contract had been cancelled, and the final payment of £8.54 (?) had been credited so I had ‘Nothing to pay!’ I have not received any refund, no acknowledgement let alone reply to my last recorded delivery letter to CEO David Dyson.

I did try Resolver but all they seemed to do was pass messages back and forth, then say try the Ombudsman. After an acknowledgement from Three via Resolver I heard nothing, and attempts to contact Resolver again got an automated response ‘unable to process your request’.

I believe I have been wilfully misled, resulting in a financial loss through no fault of my own. I think the Small Claims Court is the advice to follow. Thanks.