Three Rip off ? Redcube mobile

mike_paterson

Has anybody dealt with Redcube Mobile Limited ?

Over the last week I received several calls to my home and mobile numbers. The calls were along the line of:

(In an Indian accent) Hello, I am calling from three, and I would like to tell you about a great offer we have on... We send you a Nokia 6630 with 500 xnetwork minutes and 100 texts per month to try for free for 14 days to see if you like it and if you like the three service. If you do not, then you can return the phone free of charge with nothing to pay. If you decide to keep the phone then we will bill you after one month the sum of £15. We will also bill you £15 for each of the next 2 months. After that the line rental will be £30 per month. After month 15 we will pay you £360 cashback. This means that you will only have paid £90 for 18 months.

I asked if the cashback would be paid automatically by three, or if I would need to forward bills etc. and I was told that the payment would be made automatically.

I was also told that if I had any problems I should ring 3 customer services and they gave me the number.

I decided that it was a good offer, and that as it was from 3 direct, I could pretty much guarantee my money back as they are unlikely to go bust.

Today, a couple of days later, I rang 3 cust services to see when the phone would be delivered, and it came out that the deal was signed up with a three dealer called redcube limited.
This obviously changes things. I alerted the 3 customer services manager to the fact that this company are passing themselves of as 3 - and even employing an indian call centre to make their calls.

What does everybody think ?
I am going to cancel the direct debit now!

Cheers
Mike

criminal_smile

Had something similar recently from a company called Loopy Mobiles. Three times the guy told me he was calling on behalf of 3. After the fourth time of asking, he eventually admitted that he worked for Loopy Mobiles, and that they were nothing to do with 3. Of course at that stage of the call he got some choice words, and the call ended with me smiling happily :cool:

fayraz

Just cancel it, how can you trust a company who has lied from the beginning.

eagleeye

Say No to Three.This is the new mantra.Initially when this company arrived i thought that it is the end of high cost mobile calls but unfortunately 3g is harassing its customers .First of all it never send the bills (especially the cash back ones) on time .Lot of friends of mine and myself always got the bill for the specific month late which is required to claim the cashback.So there is no doubt that 3g is cheating the customers by delaying the bills.In fact even bill is not ready on the website during that specific month.Last time one friend of mine has just to wait for 25 days to get the bill and it was just 2 days left to claim the cashback.Another friend lost the whole money and they said sending the bill to company for cash back is customers responsibility and they are not concerned with 3 g problems. When I contacted 3g they said cash back is not their headache and they always sent the bill on time.But they are unable to comment on why bill was not even ready on the internet .In another instance my house mate gets the bill on time (billing date 23rd) but my bill wasn't arrived or obtainable on the internet (billing date 13th) until 5th of next month. So this clearly shows that Three UK aim is to cheat the customers.

In last i paid 13 bills for 12 month contract.I asked them to refund my money 25gbp as they charge for one month in advance but when i enquired they said in hard tone -although we send u the bill in advance but still it is not considered as advance!!!! Even in india the mobile companies are really good in customer service but three treat the customer as a animal.

Even in India the hutch(3g) reputation is really bad and hutch mobile conusmers face same problems .No body prefers them.So i think the aim of this company is to make profits thats it no customer service.

mike_paterson

The latest is that the phone package arrived yesterday with a poorly printed/copied letter with a poorly printed b/w letterhead.
It also has the redcube logo and the 3 logo at the top of the page making it look like a joint effort !
The letter tells me that if I want to return the phone that I must call their returns dept on (guess what) an 0870 number to get a returns number, and that I must return the phone at my expense via special delivery.

I called the 0870 number (no other alternative) and got the expected answerphone so I left a message saying that I had received a phone that I do not want due to the lies told by their telesales force and could they please ring me to confirm when they would collect the phone.

They did not ring !

When I agreed to trial the 3 package, I specifically asked if

a) The cashback was direct from 3
b) whether it would be paid automatically without any need to send in a bill
c) that if I was unhappy with the package that I could return it at NO cost to myself at all.

They said Yes to all three - though I now wonder if they did not listen to or understand me !!

I wonder if they will call today ?

pricefighter

Do you have an address,or website for these people.

mike_paterson

No website - but the registered address seems to be :
Regus House, Herald Way, Pegasus Business Park, Castle Donington DE74 2TZ

The return address is:
26 Chartergate, Quarry Park Close, Moulton Park, Northampton, NN3 6QB

The redemption voucher has to be sent to :
Jupiter Marketing Services Redemption Dept. PO Box 408, Centaur House, Fleet, Hampshire, GU159AJ who apparently own the redemption contract.

I am going to get on to the OFT now.

mike_paterson

I phoned again yesterday and left another message and they still haven't called back. I have informed the local trading standards office and the office of fair trading. I have emailed 3 to confirm my cancellation and to ensure that they investigate this dealer, and I have cancelled the direct debit.

Has anybody else had these cold calls ?
If so please let me know so that I can pass on to 3.

Thanks
Mike

eagleeye

Yes from some mobile village etc .they always claim that they are calling from 3 or t-mobile and have selected my phone number for a good offer.(crap offer).This is a clear fraud with the consumers.Most of these companies are based offshore and their owners are based in UK.Even now a days recvng miss call from personal numbers.Never dial them back again as the charge will be 50p per minute.

ManAtHome

Had a call a couple of weeks ago claiming to be from 3 - the guy sounded Dutch. Told him I was registered with TPS and he just carried on with the spiel so I put the phone down and logged a complaint. Have had a letter back from TPS saying the complaint has been passed on to 3 - I'm sure they'll take the appropriate action (by binning it..). Another company added to my 'avoid at all costs' list.

mike_paterson

Looks like this is eventually sorted though with no help from 3 who do not give a damn (as expected) so long as they get contracts signed !

I stuck to my guns and demanded that RedCube listen to the sales calls (recorded) and wehn they did so they agreed to send me stamps and an envelope so that I could return the phone free of charge.

It is amazing that it seems to be legal to phone somebody up and pretend you are somebody else. I would have called it fraud !