Help! 3 network nightmare

MoneyMike_3

Hi Martin
Can I first start by saying a big THANK YOU for your regular emails and the money saving oracle that is your website.
Since joining up I've saved loads on phone calls & internet access, transfered my ISA to a higher interest account and started to find damaged products so I can haggle in stores (much to the dismay of my girlfriend). I can imagine you are permanently busy so I won't waffle on.

I'm currently having some real difficulties with a contract from a mobile phone company after a family bereavement. The company is '3' and my reason for writing is to ask if anyone on the money saving network has any advice or pointers.
At the beginning of August my brother and his girlfriend were having trouble signing up for a mobile contract due to neither of them having a good credit history. My brother asked my mother if she would go with them into the '3' shop so they could sign up but have the billing come to my mother's address in her name. This was promptly set up with two lines on 18 month contracts (950 plan: £20 each line for first 6 months, increasing to £40 thereafter).
Sadly my brother passed away a couple of weeks later. I made a call shortly after his death to their customer services number (08707 330 333) to explain the situation and try to cancel both lines. I was told that the 14 day cancellation period had ran out literally by a few days and that the only option we had was to pay the cancellation fee: the line rental on both lines for the remaining contractual period, some £1200! for phones that we would never use.

My mother and I then visited the '3' dealer in Sutton, Surrey to speak with the employee who set up the contract. He was of very little use and simply called the same customer services number and found the same response. I asked to speak to the person on the other end of the phone (a call centre in Bombay) he told me that they couldn't do anything about it and that the dealer had authority to issue a deactivation code. While still on the phone I relayed this to the dealer and he told us he wasn't able to do this they did not have the powers and that it was up to the customer services department.

To cut a long story short we spent nearly an hour in the store trying to sort this problem out, with the dealer shifting all responsibility to customer services and them shifting it back to the dealer. They were unable to give me any other numbers for '3' in the UK and after much probing I discovered that there was a dealer support number but he refused to give it out. As you might imagine this has been a harrowing time for my family and we really did not appreciate the lack of help and understanding from '3'. I left the busy shop explaining the fiasco to all the waiting customers.

I know my mother accepted to use her credit rating and in hindsight this was a very bad decision. All close relatives have existing contract phones so the option of just continuing to use the phones and paying via my mother is not possible. It just seems ridiculous that there are no extenuating circumstances which would allow somebody to cancel a contract after a death.
Sorry to go on but it is all so frustrating, it seems like we are in a stalemate which could cost us £1200. Trying to get hold of anybody in the UK from the '3' network is near on impossible. Is there any advice you might have in this situation.
Many thanks

Mike

haveagoade

Sad the case maybe, but The contract is with Your mother, and three being three they are entitled to do what they are!
Your best bet is to minimise the cost of the contract and down grade as soon as poss.