Three mobile no service compensation help!

Ember2

Looking for advice on how to proceed. 

I got a 12 month contract with three mobile in April 2020. For what would of been at least three months of my contract i had no signal. Obviously this was the start of lockdown and I wasn’t leaving home or was staying very local so for months I didn’t realise that i was receiving no signal. I only realised because I had been waiting for hospital referrals and after ringing them they told me i had been discharged after notr even returning phone calls that i never even received due no service. I then had my mum in hospital with the doctors unable to contact me so i was unaware, got locked out of my house and was stuck on my own with zero way to contact people because at this point i realised my 4G doesn’t work either, it was showing 3G at times but i was still unable to use it. I took a walk around the whole of my village trying to contact people, i could occasionally get 1 bar and even then it wouldn’t stay connected. I reported the issues in August using email as I’m unable to talk on the phone. I then received multiple emails and texts through to November telling me that they are doing work in the area and problems will be fixed soon, then being told work hasn’t been done but they will put it down as priority, then work is being done again, then work has finished etc etc up until November. Obviously the issue wasn’t fixed and I can’t imagine its a coincidence that they started texting me telling me work was being done after i complained. Another solution they have suggested multiple times is to use WiFi calls which angers me as what am i paying three for if I’m then using my separate broadbands for everything. At first i was offered to terminate my contract but after 6 months of being provided with poor or even no service i was not happy to not receive any compensation after the trouble it caused me. I am now 10 months into my contract with still 1 bar of signal that doesn’t work and being provided with 3G instead of 4G which once again isn’t reliable and I’m being offered credit for the next 2 months of my bills and asked to give them another chance to fix the issues (which means as of the last reply they haven’t again offered me to leave my contract). I haven’t wanted to be with them for the last 6 months and I want compensations for every month I’ve had lack of service (which would of been 3 months at first but they have dragged it on for so long its now been 10 months I’ve been without service) why would i think they would be able to fix it for the last 2 months? I’m basically being given zero service for free for 2 months without being able to leave early and without being compensated for the months without it and the very long stressful process of trying to sort this with them. Can anyone help as to what i should actually be entitled to or wether they are allowed to provide no signal or 4G without having to compensate me? Basically do i have any rights or do they have them all? 

Sorry for the long post, like I said its been going on a long time.

Thank you 

Jon_01

They've offered to end the contract so you can move to a network that has coverage.
The best compensation you'll get with a personal account is a refund of the months you were without service.  What more were you expecting?

Ember2

Hi, thanks for your response @Jon_01
well i was hoping for refund for the months i was without service like you say. I was without service for 4 months but all they have offered is credit for the next 2 months of my contract. So i either persist that I’m leaving and get no refund/credit from them or i get 2 months credit from them in which i will still be without service and then my contract will be over anyway in 2 months.  Should I not get a refund for the months without service and also be allowed to leave if they haven’t been able to fix the problem?

JJ_Egan

Does the network guarantee service/ reception at this address .

How much compo are you after ??

pmduk

Firstly make your complaint official and ensure Three give you their official complaint number. Tell them you want a refund for the months you were without service.

A caveat: I wouldn't be surprised if they will only refund you from the date you first notified them. I'd seriously consider accepting such an offer. 

Remember, every month you have been without service after they offered to release you from your contract has been your own decision.

You also need to firm up your dates. In your first post you claimed to have been without service for 10 months, then in your reply to Jon01 it was 'only' 4 months. Exaggeration will not help you with either a Complaints Dept. or should it go to an ombudsman or ADR service.

Good luck

Ember2

@JJ_Egan this is what I’m unsure on? How do you know what the guarantee is for customers? Ill be honest i have no idea, that’s why i was wondering if other people have been in the situation and what the fair solution is because i can’t say I’m even bothered about the money, its not a high contract and I’m not dependant on it but its more so the principle that I’m paying for a service that they apparently don’t even have to provide me with. 

@pmduk thank you for you help. Ive made the official complaint but made the mistake of not knowing what i wanted from them and making that clear because I didn’t know what i was entitled to and thought that if i ask for a refund for 4 months and to leave when i had only been with them 6 months then they would say hell no and i have no leg to stand on. I am annoyed I didn’t just leave when i could because ive now paid for 4-6 more months but I didn’t think it was fair that Id already paid for 4-6months months with terrible or no service and they can get away with that. I have got all the dates down somewhere luckily. I had 4 months where i seemed to have no service but being in lockdown I didn’t notice it as a constant issue because I wasn’t relying on it so i just kept thinking it was a one off until more people were trying to contact me and i realised it was constant but even after august/September when i had reported the problem and kept getting the excuses that they are doing/ will be doing work in the area i still only get 1 bar of signal (improved from no bars) and i only occasionally can get 4G. So to be clear i was without signal and 4G that I’m paying for for 4 months but the 6 months since has just been horrendously poor service. Hope that makes it clearer. 

!!! Does anyone know if there is anywhere that shows customer rights when dealing with phone companies? What do they legally have to provide for you in return for you paying them? Just really want to know if this is something they can just get away with or if there are rules in place against them breaching contracts and what those rules are? 

!!! Also this has been a slower process because I can’t talk over the phone and have to use email but it takes forever to get replies back and forth hence why its been going on for about 5 months? It doesn’t seem fair that I don’t get an immediate resolution and I’m stuck having to deal with them just because i’m unable to deal with them on the phone. Anyone else been in this situation? 

pmduk

If it has been more than 8 weeks since your original complaint, you can escalate your complaint to Three's ombudsman', which is actually an Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme. (ADR). In Three's case, this is a body called Ombudsman Services: Communications. Whilst I've not used them myself I understand they take a strict line that both parties must have followed the contract. 

Should Three try and suggest that you haven't complained officially (I've heard of them doing this), remind them that Ofcom requires then to record any expression of dissatisfaction of discontent from a customer as a complaint. and add the failure to record the matter to your complaint.

Ember2

@pmduk great help thank you! 

jon81uk

There is no "right" to compensation for mobiles, you should be able to leave without penalty or may get a credit Mobile phone service faults and problems - Ofcom
Its not like landlines where there is a fixed defined compensation you should get Automatic compensation: What you need to know - Ofcom