Three charging for cancelled phone contract

hawkwind

Hi, on black Friday my son was trying to get a new Samsung phone and SIM contract but he was getting errors when the order was going through.
He phoned 3 the next day and they said that they would put the phone through for him and honour the black Friday price.

When he checked his account the SIM part of the deal was right but the Samsung phones monthly price was far higher.
He called to query this and after a lengthy call they said that they would change the SIM to PAYG and for him to refuse delivery of the phone and the contract would be cancelled under the 14 day distance selling which he did.

His account showed correctly the updated SIM, but it never updated to show the cancellation for the Samsung phone.
He called twice again with no joy, then he went to online chat, they told him that they could see on their end that he will no longer be charged for the phone and this would show on his account for the next monthly bill with a refund for the phone charges.

Of course this month's bill arrives and low and behold he has been charged again for the phone.

He has written via their online complaints form asking to resolve the problem asap before he goes to the communications ombudsman. After 7 days they have replied that they want to resolve any issues but it will take up to 56 days for a reply.

What should he do now?
Should he wait for that reply or is there a better way to contact them as the regular customer service are basically just lying to him.

Thank you for any advice.

Olinda99

If he has issued a formal complaint and if they have acknowledged receipt and say they will reply within eight weeks then I would just wait

The ombudsman would not consider anything until 8 weeks are up anyway as that is the length of time three have to respond

hawkwind

Many thanks for taking the time to reply.
I guess it's just a waiting game for him now then.

hawkwind

Just to update this, he has now received an email from Three confirming that the phone contract has been cancelled which is now finally acknowledged in his account and all payments are to be refunded along with all credit checks removed within 30 days.
He will also receive a £50 compensation within 7 days.

Thanks for the advice on him waiting for the reply.

They really need to work on their phone and online chat customer service.
Apart from anything else it must be costing them a small fortune in the wasted hours they spend themselves on not solving problems.

Olinda99

Thanks for letting us know