Three Broadband - A cancellation nightmare

preecey

Ah, Three Broadband. If it works for you, great. Download speeds are often fabulous and Three's owners CK Hutchison are spending a lot of money upgrading many locations to 5G.

Best of luck trying to cancel with these absolute jokers if you aren't happy with your service however!

I had a horrendous time with them personally. Joined in February 2023. Called to cancel within 30 days as the upload speeds weren't good and the router needed a daily manual reboot. It took them ages to send me the returns label. Had to call three times over 7 days for them to send it. I was worried about not receiving the returns label as it was coming up to the end of their 30 day returns policy and I didn't want them coming back to me saying it was too late to return. Eventually it was sent, so I packed up the device, took a photo of the parcel and sent it back. Kept a copy of the DPD receipt. Constantly checked the DPD tracking and when I saw it was received by Three, I thought nothing of it at that point.

A month went by and had a text saying my bill was due. No payment was needed as I was originally on a three months free offer but called to query this anyway and was told it was 'nothing to worry about'. She took the reference number from my DPD receipt and said no further contact needed. I was skeptical. And for good reason. 

As further months went by I kept on receiving warning texts and emails saying my account was falling into arrears. I kept calling them each time for them to later state they never received the router back despite me giving them the reference number from DPD proving it was received at their returns office on time. They even once had the cheek to ask me to contact DPD as it was lost with them despite it clearly showing as received and signed for at Three.

Early August, I had an alert from Credit Karma. June and July were updated as missed payments by Three and this caused my credit score to immediately drop dramatically. Also checked my Experian credit file to find the same score drop. 

I immediately raised a complaint with Three via their website who took around ten days to call me back. When they called me back, I was horrified to hear them ask for the reference number from the tracking again and asked me to contact DPD. The tracking number was provided within the complaint webform! When I contacted DPD they said they had fulfilled their obligation and it had clearly been signed for at the receiving end so it had to be only Three to resolve the matter. I was stern but polite, but insisted that they must resolve the complaint. They said they'd further contact me within 7 days as they'd need to check with the backend team.

No contact was made by them so I went on their webchat a few days ago to firmly assure them that I will be taking this matter to the ombudsman should this not be resolved within a timely matter due to the detrimental effect on my credit file through no fault of my own. An hour passed, and the agent agreed to finally cancel the contract down fully but seemed to have a tone as if Three were doing me a favour on this occasion. I queried of course the credit file issue but he insisted he'd raise a report with the credit file team to get the derogatory markers removed within 30 days. No-one in the right mind would blame me at this point for being a little doubtful. Should the markers not be removed in that time I will contact the ombudsman and CK/Experian/Equifax to raise a notice of correction.

Over the years I have been a Three customer on and off ever since the brand launched on 3rd March 2003. Generally they've been great; but my experience in 2023 with them has been nothing short of horrifying. I won't actively consider them again. If I did want to go back, I'd only consider an MVNO of theirs like Smarty that doesn't affect your credit file and a plan you can easily cancel online.

What a bunch of cowboys. I now shudder whenever I see a TV ad of theirs.

HaroldWhistler

preecey said:

Ah, Three Broadband. If it works for you, great. Download speeds are often fabulous and Three's owners CK Hutchison are spending a lot of money upgrading many locations to 5G.

Best of luck trying to cancel with these absolute jokers if you aren't happy with your service however!

I had a horrendous time with them personally. Joined in February 2023. Called to cancel within 30 days as the upload speeds weren't good and the router needed a daily manual reboot. It took them ages to send me the returns label. Had to call three times over 7 days for them to send it. I was worried about not receiving the returns label as it was coming up to the end of their 30 day returns policy and I didn't want them coming back to me saying it was too late to return. Eventually it was sent, so I packed up the device, took a photo of the parcel and sent it back. Kept a copy of the DPD receipt. Constantly checked the DPD tracking and when I saw it was received by Three, I thought nothing of it at that point.

A month went by and had a text saying my bill was due. No payment was needed as I was originally on a three months free offer but called to query this anyway and was told it was 'nothing to worry about'. She took the reference number from my DPD receipt and said no further contact needed. I was skeptical. And for good reason. 

As further months went by I kept on receiving warning texts and emails saying my account was falling into arrears. I kept calling them each time for them to later state they never received the router back despite me giving them the reference number from DPD proving it was received at their returns office on time. They even once had the cheek to ask me to contact DPD as it was lost with them despite it clearly showing as received and signed for at Three.

Early August, I had an alert from Credit Karma. June and July were updated as missed payments by Three and this caused my credit score to immediately drop dramatically. Also checked my Experian credit file to find the same score drop. 

I immediately raised a complaint with Three via their website who took around ten days to call me back. When they called me back, I was horrified to hear them ask for the reference number from the tracking again and asked me to contact DPD. The tracking number was provided within the complaint webform! When I contacted DPD they said they had fulfilled their obligation and it had clearly been signed for at the receiving end so it had to be only Three to resolve the matter. I was stern but polite, but insisted that they must resolve the complaint. They said they'd further contact me within 7 days as they'd need to check with the backend team.

No contact was made by them so I went on their webchat a few days ago to firmly assure them that I will be taking this matter to the ombudsman should this not be resolved within a timely matter due to the detrimental effect on my credit file through no fault of my own. An hour passed, and the agent agreed to finally cancel the contract down fully but seemed to have a tone as if Three were doing me a favour on this occasion. I queried of course the credit file issue but he insisted he'd raise a report with the credit file team to get the derogatory markers removed within 30 days. No-one in the right mind would blame me at this point for being a little doubtful. Should the markers not be removed in that time I will contact the ombudsman and CK/Experian/Equifax to raise a notice of correction.

Over the years I have been a Three customer on and off ever since the brand launched on 3rd March 2003. Generally they've been great; but my experience in 2023 with them has been nothing short of horrifying. I won't actively consider them again. If I did want to go back, I'd only consider an MVNO of theirs like Smarty that doesn't affect your credit file and a plan you can easily cancel online.

What a bunch of cowboys. I now shudder whenever I see a TV ad of theirs.

I'm really sorry to hear what happened. That sounds awful and appalling. Total incompetence on their part and your Credit rating getting affected. Shouldn't happen at all. Frankly they should be paying some form of compensation as well given the fallout from their own internal error and given that you had to chase them up to rectify the incorrect record on the Credit file which hopefully gets corrected ASAP. 

It is indeed very disappointing since Three used to be a market disruptor with lower prices. As for Smarty (a Three MNVO and direct subsidiary), I would caution against them as well. If things work properly, then you can use their online system to cancel, or manage your account. However, according to a significant number of customer reviews, Smarty have randomly "paused" (meaning suspended) customers' SIM cards without any reason provided after you've already paid leaving you with a SIM that doesn't work. As for customer service, they seem to have another bunch of jokers at that place too. Except Smarty have no telephone customer support so you are left with absolutely useless, rude and incompetent jokers from their India based "messaging support team" who do not read whatever you type. It would be quicker to start your own mobile company from the ground up than to get any response from them at any point let alone a relevant response. They literally expect you to be on standby to await for some clown (who doesn't read) to respond at some undetermined point any time in the future. Even the Live chat or telephone support of various mobile/broadband companies with generally poor customer service ratings don't have customer service contact points based on such buffoonery probably because it wouldn't be commonsensical.  

A lot of these companies appear to display unbelievable incompetence when it comes to Cancellation/Returns processes. It's only when you make official complaints that they suddenly start to do what should have been done in the first place.