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Mis-Sold mobile contract
Sorry that this is a long one, but it's been going on for a while and I'm out of ideas. Any advice would be appreciated.
I've been a customer with Three for a long time (over 10 years) and they've always been good. However, they're now causing me a lot of grief!
In October I renewed my contract for £39 p/m, unlimited everything. My daughter was looking for a new contract, so I checked the Three existing customer deals, and found iphone xr for £40 per month, £99 upfront. (should have taken a screen shot of this deal, didn't).
Anyway, I called Three in the hope of getting rid of the upfront. The guy I spoke to told me that they couldn't get rid of the upfront, but he could do me a deal at £30 per month, £99 upfront. I took the deal!
Shortly after the phone arrived, my daughter went to work in France, temporarily - this is significant, as it is the reason for the "delay" on my part.
At this point, I note that I received no paperwork in the post, though didn't notice this at the time.
Whilst she was in France, around 4ish weeks after taking the contract, the phone was stolen out of her handbag. She attempted to call Three but they refused to speak to her as she is not the person named on the contract. However, whilst she logged into her account (for the first time), she noticed that Three were charging £45 per month, not £30.
When I contacted Three, I was told that the contract is £30 per month, but the handset is £15. I pointed out that I had never been sold a contract in this way by them in all the years I’ve been with Three, that it was always a total price – just like my own contract recently reviewed. I asked that the original sales call be listened to and a transcript provided. I was assured that this would happen and the advisor made an appointment to call me a few days later.
The time of the arranged call came around, and my phone did actually ring. However, it wasn’t the call I was expecting. It was the accounts department calling to chase the outstanding payment for a SIM only contract, that I had never taken. After being patronised for a while by account, I got transferred to the Customer Relations department (the ones already dealing with the missold contract).
It turns out that not only was I missold a contract, but the person I spoke to also took out a SIM only contract in my name, without my consent. Again, I received no paper work for this contract, nor did I receive the SIM, so didn’t even know it existed. I also found out that the person I had previously spoken to had made no effort to listen to my sales call, but was ASSURED that this new person would.
From then on, the only contact I received from Three was in relation to chasing payment on the SIM only contract, while refusing to listen to the fact that I never took this contract. Long story short, after a lot of calls and a bit of shouting, the SIM only contract was cancelled and the balance wiped. There was never an explanation nor an apology. When I spoke to the Customer Relations manager regarding the missold contract, he refused to discuss the matter, told me it was being dealt with and someone would be in touch.
After a few weeks of hearing nothing, I decided to make an official complaint. I used the Three website to find the complaint procedure and was pointed in the direction of something called Resolver. I filled in a form, opened a complaint and received a reply – asking for the exact information I had already provided. I did provide the info again though. From this point on, I received no reply from Three. What is the point of providing this service if they aren’t going to use it!
My daughter stopped paying the bill on the phone having paid 5 x £45 and the service was cut off. I should note, she cannot afford to pay £45 a month for a phone.
Eventually, the Resolver website allowed me to escalate the complaint to the Ombudsman, which I did.
They argued that I delayed contacting them at the start of the contract and should have read the paperwork (no paperwork received, and the delay was due to my daughter being away). They refused to provide a transcript of the phone call and argued that the contract price is still being advertised as £45.
The Ombudsman has basically agreed with them and found that it was a case of “lapse in customer service” rather than misselling! No consideration has been given to the fact that existing customers would always be given a discount, and as I mentioned earlier I don’t have a screenshot of the offer to which I responded.
I realise now that I perhaps should have kept better records myself, but given the length of time I was been with Three and the lack of any issue with them before, it didn’t occur to me.
So now, my daughter is left with a contract she can’t afford, I can’t afford to pay the extra and we cannot get out of the contract. My credit rating is currently suffering due to missed payments, and I have not idea what my options are now.
I just does not seem right that they can tell you one price, make you pay another and refuse to let you out of the contract.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Thanks
I've been a customer with Three for a long time (over 10 years) and they've always been good. However, they're now causing me a lot of grief!
In October I renewed my contract for £39 p/m, unlimited everything. My daughter was looking for a new contract, so I checked the Three existing customer deals, and found iphone xr for £40 per month, £99 upfront. (should have taken a screen shot of this deal, didn't).
Anyway, I called Three in the hope of getting rid of the upfront. The guy I spoke to told me that they couldn't get rid of the upfront, but he could do me a deal at £30 per month, £99 upfront. I took the deal!
Shortly after the phone arrived, my daughter went to work in France, temporarily - this is significant, as it is the reason for the "delay" on my part.
At this point, I note that I received no paperwork in the post, though didn't notice this at the time.
Whilst she was in France, around 4ish weeks after taking the contract, the phone was stolen out of her handbag. She attempted to call Three but they refused to speak to her as she is not the person named on the contract. However, whilst she logged into her account (for the first time), she noticed that Three were charging £45 per month, not £30.
When I contacted Three, I was told that the contract is £30 per month, but the handset is £15. I pointed out that I had never been sold a contract in this way by them in all the years I’ve been with Three, that it was always a total price – just like my own contract recently reviewed. I asked that the original sales call be listened to and a transcript provided. I was assured that this would happen and the advisor made an appointment to call me a few days later.
The time of the arranged call came around, and my phone did actually ring. However, it wasn’t the call I was expecting. It was the accounts department calling to chase the outstanding payment for a SIM only contract, that I had never taken. After being patronised for a while by account, I got transferred to the Customer Relations department (the ones already dealing with the missold contract).
It turns out that not only was I missold a contract, but the person I spoke to also took out a SIM only contract in my name, without my consent. Again, I received no paper work for this contract, nor did I receive the SIM, so didn’t even know it existed. I also found out that the person I had previously spoken to had made no effort to listen to my sales call, but was ASSURED that this new person would.
From then on, the only contact I received from Three was in relation to chasing payment on the SIM only contract, while refusing to listen to the fact that I never took this contract. Long story short, after a lot of calls and a bit of shouting, the SIM only contract was cancelled and the balance wiped. There was never an explanation nor an apology. When I spoke to the Customer Relations manager regarding the missold contract, he refused to discuss the matter, told me it was being dealt with and someone would be in touch.
After a few weeks of hearing nothing, I decided to make an official complaint. I used the Three website to find the complaint procedure and was pointed in the direction of something called Resolver. I filled in a form, opened a complaint and received a reply – asking for the exact information I had already provided. I did provide the info again though. From this point on, I received no reply from Three. What is the point of providing this service if they aren’t going to use it!
My daughter stopped paying the bill on the phone having paid 5 x £45 and the service was cut off. I should note, she cannot afford to pay £45 a month for a phone.
Eventually, the Resolver website allowed me to escalate the complaint to the Ombudsman, which I did.
They argued that I delayed contacting them at the start of the contract and should have read the paperwork (no paperwork received, and the delay was due to my daughter being away). They refused to provide a transcript of the phone call and argued that the contract price is still being advertised as £45.
The Ombudsman has basically agreed with them and found that it was a case of “lapse in customer service” rather than misselling! No consideration has been given to the fact that existing customers would always be given a discount, and as I mentioned earlier I don’t have a screenshot of the offer to which I responded.
I realise now that I perhaps should have kept better records myself, but given the length of time I was been with Three and the lack of any issue with them before, it didn’t occur to me.
So now, my daughter is left with a contract she can’t afford, I can’t afford to pay the extra and we cannot get out of the contract. My credit rating is currently suffering due to missed payments, and I have not idea what my options are now.
I just does not seem right that they can tell you one price, make you pay another and refuse to let you out of the contract.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Thanks
0
Comments
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I would suggest in the short term your daughter continues to pay you the £30 per month that she obviously could afford, sells the XR and hopefully that will make up the difference in the £15 per month0
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Regarding Three, I am confused as to who really got the contract, as if it was you , then you would have been the one with the online account, and not your daughter - do we have a complete story, or have I misunderstood something?0
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But if she sells the phone she ends up still paying £30 per month and doesn't have a phone. I don't see why I am liable for paying something that I didn't agree to!
The contract is in mine, she set up the online account because it's for her, she is the one paying the bill and she needs to see bills / usage / etc. The payment isn't coming from my account. I made it clear to Three from the start that the additional contract was for my daughter0 -
My credit rating is currently suffering due to missed payments
Thanks
It will continue to be bad for the next 6 years.
You can only take two actions; the Ombusman - already tried - or the courts. I doubt you'd get anywhere with option 2 except add to your cost, distress, anger and learning experience.
It's always a basic mistake to agree something on the phone or internet before/without getting it in writing, reading and understanding it fully and keeping it for eventualities like this. It's usually networks like Vodafone who act this way, but it seems to me that apart from reducing the negative effects as much as possible (not much though) you're pretty stuffed.0 -
I thought the phone was stolen in France.But if she sells the phone she ends up still paying £30 per month and doesn't have a phone.0 -
We have insurance? Is that not normal?0
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I was replying to the person who pointed out that the phone was stolen in France. This has been going on for months so I have included key points but so far I've been questioned as to why my daughter was on the online account and how she has a.phone if it's stolen.
If it doesn't make sense I apologise but in the view on my phone, the posts are in order0
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