Three's eSIM delay - how I was compensated £400

southsidergs

It's a valid point, why sign up to something only to then try & get out of it by a backdoor method?

NFH

southsidergs said:

It's a valid point, why sign up to something only to then try & get out of it by a backdoor method?

A backdoor method to what? Three says that it will make a feature available. The consumer relies upon that information when deciding whether to enter into the contract. Three fails to make the promised feature available. So the consumer demands to exit the contract early. This is not a backdoor, but a valid form of redress.

southsidergs

Then that boils down to did they let them know it was part of why they were signing up. I know you may not think so but that's my opinion

NFH

southsidergs said:

Then that boils down to did they let them know it was part of why they were signing up.

No, Section 50 (regarding services) doesn't require the consumer to communicate anything to the business. That would apply only when a consumer exercises a right under Section 10 (regarding fitness for purpose of goods), which is not the case here.

PHK

southsidergs said:

Then that boils down to did they let them know it was part of why they were signing up. I know you may not think so but that's my opinion

I think you’re wrong. If a service provider makes a statement then a consumer should be able to rely on it. In law there’s no reason for a consumer to let the seller know which by statements they are relying on. 

Think how daft that defence would sound ‘ I know we said we would do X and we didn’t, but because you didn't tell us that was important to you , we aren’t going to give you any redress. 

WillPS

southsidergs said:

WillPS said:

@NFH - I wonder if I could ask your opinion.

My handset is a dual SIM with one physical SIM and one eSIM. I signed up for a 12 month Three SIM-only deal back in April. I was motivated by the fact they are the only 5G provider in my area. I knew at that point they did not yet have eSIM available, but at that point the official word indicated it was coming soon/later in 2021. I had heard complaints about the internet speeds being poor but I figured at the time if I had any issues once Three enabled eSIM I could get a cheap data deal with Voxi or Plusnet and see out the contract that way.

To begin with my service was OK, but as time goes on it feels like the quality of service has slid, but I accept it still works, just not as fast/reliably as I would like - I accept under normal circumstances this would be something I would not be able to wriggle out of a contract over, but my backup plan of getting a cheap SIM so I could continue to use data reliably has been thwarted by the fact Three have failed to meet the expectation they had created of eSIM-compatibility this year.

Do you believe I have cause for complaint? My ideal outcome would be that Three allow me to leave my contract without penalty.

Under what grounds do you think you can complain? You've got a sim only deal that you signed up for. Did you specifically tell them you were signing up with them based on the fact they were saying eSIM's were coming?

FWIW, I did complain in exactly the terms I put to the OP.

I was offered a £20 credit, which I refused.

I was offered to leave and pay 50% of my termination fee, which I refused.

I was then offered to leave without a termination fee, which I accepted.

I think your judgment that a company can promise whatever they want and the customer has no ability to pull them up on that if they fail to deliver (unless specifically noted in their contract) is rather anti-consumer.