Substandard replacement handset on Three Rescue.

Verbina

Evening all,
This morning I received my replacement handset from Three Rescue after I badly damaged my phone screen and phone speaker.

I have been paying £15 per month for the 'covers all' insurance for about 20 months now and the customer services at Three Rescue immediately accepted my claim, charged me £100 excess fee and sent my replacement handset for next day delivery.

However, when I received the package this moring the replacement phone inside was a substandard refurbished handset without original packaging, just in a plain white box and the handset had a sticker on it 'refurbished' by so and so.

This is the first time I came across such and when they sold me this additional Three Rescue cover on top of my £50 per month 2 year contract no way did they mention that they will replace my phone with a second hand device (albeit of the same model and specs).

I took out my contract by phone and they read me quickly terms and conditions mainly focusing on £100 excess fee but a second hand phone was never mentioned.

It turns out I paid £300 insurance +£100 excess to get an old used phone that's not even worth this much now if its brand new as its a Samsung Galaxy S8 model which is pretty old now.

Sorry for such a long post, I'm just pretty emotional about this whole thing and needed to vent it out.

Please, if anybody could kindly advise me on what I can possibly do in my situation (if there is anything I can do at all that is).

Many thanks in advance!:o

grumbler

Verbina wrote: »

...when they sold me this additional Three Rescue cover on top of my £50 per month 2 year contract no way did they mention that they will replace my phone with a second hand device (albeit of the same model and specs).

Neither did they mention replacing an old phone with a new one. In fact, very few insurances (if any) offer "new for old" replacement.

I took out my contract by phone and they read me quickly terms and conditions mainly focusing on £100 excess fee but a second hand phone was never mentioned.

Did you expect and wanted the whole T&C to be read? That's why all such products sold over a phone have 2-weeks' cooling off period - to give you opportunity to read everything yourself.

It turns out I paid £300 insurance +£100 excess to get an old used phone that's not even worth this much now if its brand new as its a Samsung Galaxy S8 model which is pretty old now.

I agree. IMHO, most insurance policies for mobiles are waste of money - because the value of a new phone depreciates very fast. It's a pity, that many people don't understand this simple fact and keep wasting money. Usually DIY insurance is cheaper, i.e. buying a second hand replacement yourself.

Please, if anybody could kindly advise me on what I can possibly do in my situation (if there is anything I can do at all that is).

Learn the lesson.
Only if they didn't send you the policy and it's not published online you have some grounds for complaining.

Frozen_up_north

£65 per month over 2 years, for a phone + contract, is a crazy amount of money. If your contract is for unlimited data, calls and minutes, which was recently on offer for £20/month on Three, it means you are paying £1080 for the phone.

Why on earth does anyone enter into these deals?

mrochester

If the OP had an iPhone X or better I could understand the £1080 phone price but if it's an Android then they've been ripped off.

pmduk

You describe the replacement handset as 'substandard' In what way? If because you've received a refurbished handset, the previous posters have more than covered that explanation.

As long as the phone is in similar, age and condition to the handset you submitted, you have received what can be expected. To demand otherwise is regarded as betterment.

If the device is faulty in any way you can expect it to be replaced by another replacement refurbished device, of the same or similar model, again, do not expect betterment.

Verbina

Yes it was an all calls and data included contract and I pre ordered that phone when it just came out, so it was the newest model Samsung at the time.
But it is an awful lot of money and I wouldn't be doing that again for sure

Verbina

Years ago I made a claim for theft of phone using home contents insurance and been sent a brand new boxed handset, so I assumed it was a standard procedure.

Chino

Verbina wrote: »

I have been paying £15 per month for the 'covers all' insurance for about 20 months now

Assuming this means that you bought your insurance policy in May 2017, section I About your replacement device. of the applicable Three Rescue terms and conditions states:

"We don’t offer ‘new for old’ cover so any replacement device you receive may be refurbished to our standard using original equipment manufacturer parts – we refer to this as your ‘as new’ replacement."
www.three.co.uk/termspdf/JN209_Three_TCs_DOFC_Sep_16_July_17_V10.pdf

macman

It's not 'standard procedure'. Almost all replacement phones under these pointless policies will be refurbs, many of which will look and work as good as new.

pmduk

Verbina wrote: »

Years ago I made a claim for theft of phone using home contents insurance and been sent a brand new boxed handset, so I assumed it was a standard procedure.

There are rare occasions when you will get either a new device or a better specced one. Usually because of a shortage of suitable devices. It's a pure lottery though and not something you can either demand or expect.