3 pay-as-you-go, refund not forthcoming

Gsaver1

I was advised a short time ago that the cost of a 3 pay-as-you-go plan was going up. With this being the case you could move providers and get a refund of the remaining balance. So have moved providers and all that is left is to get the refund from 3. I've contacted them and have Live Chat transcripts saying the refund is coming. Had another Live Chat where in this one I raised a formal complaint. I will leave it for a couple of weeks to see if the monies do appear but they won't as in all the chats they say three working days and it is more than that now.

What is it with companies these days? Do they not have principles? I find it shocking that they continue to make promises that they have no intention of keeping. If the roles were reversed you would be getting hounded for an unpaid bill. 

So in the case that I don't get the refund can I go to a 3 shop and collect the money due to me from them? Shocking state of affairs but coming increasingly the norm in this society.

smileruk1

I am in exactly the same boat.Three Customer Support is absolutely abysmal.I have been trying to obtain a refund since June 6th and have had countless calls from them and have still not received a penny despite numerous promises.I have emailed the CEO and all you get is a standard generic email response. I will be contacting the Ombudsman later this week

Gsaver1

Shocking treatment by a mobile phone company. Hope you have joy in getting your entitled refund. It looks like I will be following your lead to take it further. The more problematic we can be for 3 the better. Shouldn't have to come to this but when you get fed continual bs, what are you to do?
 

smileruk1

You are right.Why is something so straightforward turned into something so complicated and time consuming??  I sent a letter to the CEO, personally addressed,on 8th July and have not even had the courtesy of an acknowledgement. I have requested a Deadlock Letter three times and received nothing. I cannot escalate this to the Ombudsman until 8 weeks have passed i.e.August 7th in my case.  I will update here if there are any developments.

bawbee

Same problem here. Having initially had difficulty convincing call centre staff of my entitlement to a refund, I was eventually informed that payment would be made within three working days. An apology was given and I was asked if I wished to close my complaint. I had the presence of mind to say that I would close my complaint only after I was in receipt of my refund. A week has passed and I am disappointed, but not surprised, to see no sign of my refund.

Gsaver1

It must be in the training manual. Offer a refund which we are all entitled to but in actual fact all it is lip service with no intention of the refund getting returned.

How can a company get away with lie after lie? As I said before if the money was due to 3 they would enforce sanctions by ways of getting the money due to them. Roles reversed it seems that the customer is to be given a number of lies in the hope that they will just right the amount off.

The more we keep at 3 and give them bad publicity the better. I hope anyone looking for a new mobile provider gives them a body swerve as they cannot be trusted and deserved to be severely punished by the regulator.

smileruk1

As promised,I can now confirm that I FINALLY received my balance refund today after SEVEN WEEKS of unacceptable(and avoidable ) delay,obfuscation,repeated misinformation and unnecessary stress and inconvenience.
I have NEVER  encountered such appalling service in my life and my advice to anyone(in my very leaky boat) is to perservere,dont accept no for an answer and NEVER give up....

Good luck to you all !

Gsaver1

I have finally had my refund paid into my bank account. Absolute horrendous service by 3. Ask to get put through to Customer Relations. Seems to do the trick. I would also mention to them a thread on the MSE board regarding 3 and the number of people that have had the same experience regarding refunds.

Asked for a deadlock letter numerous times but 3 were not agreeing to give me one. I find it stupid that you need a deadlock letter from the party you are complaining about before you can take the matter forward. However, that seems to be how society is heading. I put it to the 3 employee the amount of time I and others are taking up with this matter will be costing them a good number of hours.

Anyhow, I've got my refund and 3 will never get any more custom from me as they are a terrible company.  

SpanishBlue

They closed my complaint yesterday after stating the reason for non refund was due to the fact my last top up was before January 2020.

Today I opened a complaint with the ombudsman.

Whatever the result, I too will never use Three again, awful company.

flaneurs_lobster

Good job I'm not the boss of Three, I would have announced the price increase and not bothered with any kind of refund arrangement (as happened with the previous price increase). Would have caused just as much complaining and loss of customers but without the shitstorm of complaints to regulators and Ombudsmen about non-forthcoming refunds. 

SpanishBlue

After contacting the Ombudsman, Three agreed to refund my last top-up plus a £15 goodwill payment and the money is now finally in my account.

Like others in this thread, I will never use Three again after their awful customer service.