Mobile Three 46 days to port number but missold contract from 2017 discovered.!

taichi4me

Story starts back in June 2017. When I started 2nd company and went into Three shop for one phone one contract.
Scoot 5 years and end of another 2 year contract with Talkmobile and start new contract with phone to Three. There was initial STAC PAC mix-up which led to a couple of weeks of several shop visits and more "chat assist" but PAC was given and still took weeks to port number. Losing hundreds of £££.
Whilst this is going on I'm in the Three shop and they tell me I have a 2nd contract with them. News to me. Gave me a number I didn't recognize. Dated back to June 2017. I distinctly remember this visit as it was a birthday treat too as well as first nice phone and contract not a PAYG (I'm sad I know)
At this point I was given a little unit she set up and told it was part of my data allowance on phone I'd just taken and NOT a 2nd phone number contract. As I was starting new business with an office I thought this would be handy.
Their records show at end of 2 years I stopped using this hotspot thing but they kept taking payment and I never recognised this.
I've complained and best they offer is £100 compensation on the phone delay and £200 on missold conmtract. 
I'd like, at least, dated back to June 2019 at £13/month.
Also, I'm so unhappy I'd like to cancel the new Three phone contract and go someone else; never to return.!

PHK

That is very confusingly written e.g what is the second company?

I think you mean you have been paying for a wifi device which you stopped using in 2019 but had forgotten about.

If so, I would take what you've been offered, you also  have a responsibility to keep your affairs in order and should notice you are paying for something. Contracts don't just end they are for a service and so will continue until you cancel.

flaneurs_lobster

This is rather unclear, you are in the Three shop sometime in the last year and they tell you that you have been paying £13/month, for a device you don't use, for the previous 4 years. 

And you still went ahead and took out another contract with them?

taichi4me

in 2017 I started a 2nd company so went into the Three shop and took out a contract for new phone. I was told and under the impression it was one contract. Being told the device I was given was part of my allowance. Missold. I was using (it sat in a drawer and you'd indeed connect using wifi name and psw) In 2019 I took out another contract to get a new phone. No data was used on that wifi device. I only found out that in 2017 the sneaky shop assistant had actually signed me up to another contract and i had been paying approx £13/month. So, it's not like I knew this and still went back to them for more. No. Of course not. 
In June 2023 I took out a new contract to get new phone using a website. The best deal was Three. But it took them 46 days to port my number over. Losing business along the way. After repeatedly going into the shop I was told there was a 2nd contract linked to my name. Only then did I discover what had happened. In a perfect world of course we could all keep better track of finances, save money here and there, always get the best deals and save some things. Not buy expensive coffee etc etc but I don't think I can be dismissed for one lapse, albeit a "biggy" ....
My questions I suppose are, could I be entitled to a refund as it was missold? I'm very unhappy with Three and will never go back to them but I'd like to cancel this current contract. Have they been in breach by taking so long? Have I got grounds?

I do think there's a quiet national problem ... With all these quiet contracts just keep getting paid to these companies. When elderly forget or go into a home for instance and no one there to sort these things out. Should there be a system and safety net for these vulnerable people? If a contract hasn't been used in a year or two then letter goes out asking if they're aware they have one and want to continue.

Neil_Jones

taichi4me said:

My questions I suppose are, could I be entitled to a refund as it was missold? I'm very unhappy with Three and will never go back to them but I'd like to cancel this current contract. Have they been in breach by taking so long? Have I got grounds?

I do think there's a quiet national problem ... With all these quiet contracts just keep getting paid to these companies. When elderly forget or go into a home for instance and no one there to sort these things out. Should there be a system and safety net for these vulnerable people? If a contract hasn't been used in a year or two then letter goes out asking if they're aware they have one and want to continue.

Re: the refund, probably not as it took you quite a period of time (by accident or otherwise) to actually notice.

Re: second part of your quote, contracts don't automatically end, they never have done and they probably never will do, otherwise you'd just be cut straight off from your phone line, your mobile, your internet...  Your  minimum term will expire, as they all do, but that just drops you through onto a monthly rolling contract.  Age has nothing to do with it, you don't retire from work at 68, lose all your marbles and spend all day in a rocking chair...

taichi4me

Not sure where I'm giving the impression I think contracts naturally end and that I'm oblivious to the fact they go on..? I wasn't aware I was signed into a second contract, ergo not expecting it to end or continue. I'm sure I'm not the only one tricked or missold a contract. There's a large section of this website dedicated to it.
The elderly was one example I used. And I, again, am not saying unused data contracts should end - only a letter goes out to remind people of a payment contract in place and do they wish to continue. If a no-reply then it continues.

So, can I end the Three contract I currently have citing break in terms..?

Thank you for reading and your time.

Grumpy_chap

It seems as though the OP took out a service in 2017 at £13 per month.
The OP stopped using this service in 2019 but never cancelled the contract.
The OP did not realise they were paying for the service at £13 per month until this was pointed out in the store, almost by chance.
The OP now wants a refund back to 2019.
Unless the OP instructed the contract cancellation back in 2019 and the provider failed to act there is no reason why a refund is due.
Did the OP not check account statement at any time since 2019?

savergrant

What confuses me is that you are talking about a company and yet not noticing money being taken out of the company's accounts. Is your company limited or a sole trader? Do you have an accountant or auditor check the books? You may have a case if someone has fraudulently taken out a contract in your company's name without your consent. However it is now six years ago so may be difficult to prove. Check your contract information from 2017 to see what you actually signed up for. As you were entering into a contract on behalf of a business your statutory rights will be very different to those of a personal customer.
Recent legislation means that mobile networks now need to contact personal customers just before the end of their minimum term to remind them, of course they can use this to try to sell new contracts 

savergrant

"So, can I end the Three contract I currently have citing break in terms..?"

That really depends on what the terms of your contract are, and what three has done (or failed to do) and whether they have taken sufficient steps to make good on their issues. In what way do you feel they have broken the terms of the contract?

jimjames

taichi4me said:

in 2017 I started a 2nd company so went into the Three shop and took out a contract for new phone. I was told and under the impression it was one contract. Being told the device I was given was part of my allowance. Missold. 

Rules for business contracts are quite different to consumer. As a business you are expected to know what you are doing and as far as I'm aware there isn't the concept of mis-selling (or maybe mis-buying) for businesses as you are not protected by any of the consumer rights laws.