abusive THREE.

chichi1978 · 6 August 2018 at 7:51PM

Hi experts,

I wanted to cancel my THREE contract, and I called them last week… and apparently I gave them one of my password wrong, so they asked me to wait 24 hours, reset the password and call again (which I did)…

I reset it and called 3 days later (today), on the phone… I waited for 10 minutes, then a guy with Indian accent asked me again my details, which I gave all of them (he never asked me about the password I reset), he then asked me to wait because I was going to be transferred to the cancelation team… Then I waited for 15 more minutes and another guy with Indian accent, started talking about how important I was for them (he literally told me I was like family to him?!) and that was such a shame that I was leaving (he took around 8 minutes to process the cancelation), then he said I had a penalty fee to pay, and that I must pay it, and transferred me to ANOTHER guy with Indian accent, which also took 7,8 minutes to take the payment and went on….

Overall the call was 50 minutes, I talked to 3 different guys: they clearly on purpose talked slow and put me on hold for no reason for like 30 seconds, repeatedly!!… it was as if they were picking up a fight. Luckily I remained quiet and was able to cancel it.

I am extremely angry, I think what they do is beyond abusive… I wanted to know if anyone experienced the same, and if I can complain in any way…?

Ps: is there in this forum a post warning this THREE behaviour or any other abusive company?

J_B · 6 August 2018 at 9:43PM

Maybe you need to look in the dictionary for the definition of abusive???

mije1983 · 6 August 2018 at 10:13PM

It appears you have missed out part of your post. If you can include the bit where they were offensive and insulting it may help.

A lot of people say they struggle to understand overseas call centres, so I would say talking slowly was a positive thing for a lot of people. Maybe they have been told to talk slower and be more precise with their words to help people understand them?

I'd also seriously suggest seeing someone who can help your temper if being put on hold was all it took to make you 'extremely angry' and coupled with your belief they were 'abusive' could be a damaging combination. That seems a bigger problem here than Three.

Cornucopia · 6 August 2018 at 10:20PM

I like the EE call centres. I like the way they proudly announce the cities they are based in when they answer the call. I imagine they have competitions within EE as to who can be most cheerful and most helpful on the line - my vote goes to Belfast.

However, even they have separate teams for things like cancellations, unlocking, etc. Those teams have queues and sometimes your call centre person will wait in those queues for you, whilst you are on hold. That's how the industry works.

boatman · 7 August 2018 at 1:26AM

I think op has highlighted why OFCOM are bringing in new rules such that you can cancel a mobile contract by email, about time.

I have to agree that Three call centre staff do go on... And on... I lost count of the number of times I said I just wanted to cancel.

brewerdave · 7 August 2018 at 8:43AM

...but I bet its no worse than trying to cancel with Sky or TalkTalk or...........

pmduk · 7 August 2018 at 9:53AM

Three is definitely the worst company when it comes to cancelling, but they're polite as heck.

Don't blame the individual staff-members for the systems their management have created.

chichi1978 · 7 August 2018 at 10:03AM

Thanks for all the replies…

Just clarifying.

Def.
1- Extremely offensive and insulting.
2- Engaging in or characterized by habitual violence and cruelty.
3- Involving injustice or illegality.

Maybe I wasn’t clear enough, but, the conversation was something like this:

(this was the second person that I talked to)
Me: I am a bit in a hurry I would be glad if we could sort this quickly.
3: Yes, you are a loved customer, I wanted to know how are you today.
Me: fine fine, I am doing good.
3: But, how are you feeling?
Me: fine fine.
3: I need to check a few things, hold please.
(holding 3 minutes)
3: Yes, everything looks fine, how are you doing today?
Me: I am fine, can we proceed with the cancelation?
3: Yes, how did you find our service?
Me: great, really good.
3: perhaps, you had any issues with the service.
Me: no, it was great.
3: how great?
Me: I did not have any issues with the service.
3: Do you have any family, friends that you could transfer this line to?
Me: no, no one.
3: how come? No family? No friends?
Me: no, I am leaving the country tomorrow (I was lying).
3: perhaps you could take some time to think about this, and talk to your friends.
Me: no, I want to cancel this.
3: but, you will lose the chance to transfer the line to a friend/relative.
Me: I know, I just want to cancel it.
3: sure, hold on a second.
(holding 3 minutes)
3: how are you feeling today?
Me: Great. Can we proceed?
3: yes, are you ok?
Me: yes, please, can we proceed?
3: there is one problem, you will have to pay an early termination fee.
Me: yes, no problem.
3: so, it is better if you transfer the line to a relative or a friend…
Me: mate, please I just want to cancel this line (I was begging at this point)
3: sure, let’s cancel it then, please hold while I do it.
(holding for 7 minutes)

It went on a bit more… he did not do it!!! Then he transferred me to another person that made the cancellation itself after I paid the penalty…
(this was the conversation with just one guy, in total it was 3 guys, and they all acted like that…).

I think is offensive to ask the same questions repeatedly to force the caller to cancel the call. Each of them told me I was a beloved customer at least twice… each of them asked me how I was at least twice… One guy even said “you are like family to me”, “you are part of the THREE family”.
I might be wrong, but I think it is offensive to have to be over 50 minutes on the phone to cancel the service.

DCFC79 · 7 August 2018 at 12:13PM

Looks like the call handlers were annoying but not abusive, couldn't stand all of that crap they gave.

pmduk · 7 August 2018 at 1:22PM

So we've an OP who's accused Three of being abusive when they're not; offensive when they're not, I wonder what's next - I suspect the foolish SCA- word.

macman · 7 August 2018 at 1:31PM

The first person you spoke to was a tier one call centre agent. When you said you wanted to leave, he transferred you to retentions (saying it was disconnections).
His sole job is to persuade you to change your mind, using every possible tactic in his training manual: flattery, delays, guilt...
When he finally had to admit defeat, he passed you through to the dept that actually deal with disconnections. That's why it took so long. Almost all providers use a similar structure. If the retentions guys don't retain sufficient customers, then they eventually get fired; so he was just doing his job.

abusive THREE.

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