Phone contract

Clippie88

In May 2023 I took out a contact with Three to pay the monthly charges for a phone for my granddaughter so she could easily contact my daughter or myself if in trouble. Deal done and Direct Debit set up (or so I thought). A few days later I received confirmation of the DD showing my bank details but no payment date. That didn't bother me, always funds in my bank. Soon after I received a text from Three saying the first payment had been missed. I thought this was just an initial hitch so paid online. Same thing next month so I contacted my bank who said no DD had been set up. Rang Three who said there was a DD in place and would not accept the word of my bank. So every month after that until December I paid online early each month as I had no payment date. In December I received a text from Three saying £5.00 had been added to my bill as no DD had been set up.  After a long and heated discussion they had to agree and said they would issue a refund for this. They also gave me another number to ring for further information, no mention was made to pay per minute charges. I got no response to this number I rang twice. I found out also they had added £9.00 to the bill for Third Party charges. This was to cover the cost of my telephone call to the third party. They eventually set up a DD (no payment date given again)in early January and all payments have gone through okay BUT another £9.00 Third Party charge was added to January's bill. I have been trying to get a refund for these payments but no joy. Eventually they gave me the number again which is to an engineering business in Germany, they claim I must have spoken to them and gave my granddaughters phone number for them to charge for the call. They charge £3.00 per minute. I am an 81 year old disabled pensioner, why on earth would I ring a German engineering firm and give them my granddaughters phone number? 
They also put the so called missed payments on my credit file. I would appreciate some advice. Thank you.

sourcrates

Well write and complain to them, they have a 12 week window to issue a final response, if you remain unhappy escalate the matter to the ombudsman services that covers 3, there are two of them, so google the right one for 3.

Unfortunately this kind of bad service is rife amongst the network service providers.

Clippie88

Thank you for your reply, I have sent emails and several letters, one addressed to the CEO and sent by recorded delivery, all ignored. I have made at least a dozen phone calls but got nowhere.

sourcrates

It appears their complaints handling is as bad as there customer service then.

Do a search for the ombudsman for 3, and complain to them.