Three (3) increased my contract by £11 and won’t refund me

Anteater23

I had a contract for £8.11 a month with the old Go Roam benefits. Over the summer I spoke to 3 about renewing it and they said there was no point as it would renew automatically. I also got an email saying the same thing. Because of this I didn’t pay any attention to other emails from Three because I was happy with my current deal.

Well I’ve just found out instead of keeping my contract as is after it ended, they decided to change my contract to one costing £19 which is ridiculous and out of my budget. I contacted them today about this and they refused to put me back on my old plan and also refused to refund me the difference between the old and new contract.

Instead of letting me stay on my current deal which I was entitled to do, Three ‘upgraded’ my contract on purpose so that I would lose all my Go Roam benefits and then they claim it is impossible for them to go back.

 They told me that they sent an email for me to choose a new plan and because I didn’t they picked £19 for me. However, I didn’t check their emails because they previously told me I could stay on my current plan!

Please help me.

Brie

Lodge an official complaint with them.  Keep it straight forward and factual.

Date & time - I spoke to one of your customer service people about renewing my contract and was told not to worry as it would renew automatically.

date & time - I received an email confirming the above and that I didn't need to do anything (copy of email)

between date & date - I received various emails which appeared to be marketing which I ignored as I had already confirmed my account.

date & time - Having discovered that you had not did as you stated and did not renew my contract correctly I contacted you to resolve the issue.....etc etc etc

Wait for their response, hopefully with a positive result but if not take it to the ombudsperson.

Aylesbury_Duck

Good advice above, but ignoring their emails might pròve to be an obstacle.

Thrugelmir

Anteater23 said:

Because of this I didn’t pay any attention to other emails from Three because I was happy with my current deal.

A lesson learnt it would appear. Failure to read communications sent isn't grounds for complaint and a refund. If that was the case everybody would be doing the same. . 

TELLIT01

Ignoring e-mails and then blaming others for the outcome isn't a great idea.  Phone providers don't only send messages about contract terms.

unholyangel

TELLIT01 said:

Ignoring e-mails and then blaming others for the outcome isn't a great idea.  Phone providers don't only send messages about contract terms.

Silence cannot amount to acceptance. And I certainly wouldn't accept important contract communications via email, particularly when they're normally indiscernable from their frequent marketing & junk emails (therefore not transparent, prominent and no attempt to bring it to the consumers attention). 

However, it does depend on specifics. Was the OP on a contract that was really £19 a month and they had loyalty/promotional discounts which reduced the price to £8? In which case the price increase isn't really an increase and was the contractually agreed rate. 

From what the OP has said (about the "contract" ending and them saying it would renew automatically), that could be a possibility. Although it sounds like the services have changed so possibly not, unless the go roam benefits (admittedly i have no idea what these are and i haven't checked) were perhaps a free add on for a specified length of time. 

outtatune

I have a Three contract. At the start when they wrote to me with my plan details it showed a huge monthly amount, plus a 'monthly discount' to bring the actual payment back to what was agreed.

So I suspect that the OP's contract is still at the same price, but the monthly discounts have ended.

longjohnjohnson

outtatune said:

I have a Three contract. At the start when they wrote to me with my plan details it showed a huge monthly amount, plus a 'monthly discount' to bring the actual payment back to what was agreed.

So I suspect that the OP's contract is still at the same price, but the monthly discounts have ended.

Exactly.

OP should have been smart and renewed before the Oct 1st deadline for "Go Roam" being removed.

They didn't and here you go.