Have I been mugged by a telco?
This relates to Hutchison 3G UK employing what I believe to be sharp business practice in closing accounts and committing, what might be deemed as, theft! Whilst some Ts & Cs might cover closure of accounts you might have thought that establishing other agreements, to override them, would be honoured.
I've had an account closed because of no use even though there were nearly 30 quid of credit. This happened without notice of any sort and they say their actions are legitimate!
I'd acquired a phone from them some time back which was supposedly supplied on the basis that it was unlocked to their network. Shortly after this acquisition I landed work overseas and discovered that a local telco's SIM would not function.
I complained to Three - incurring quite a cost waiting in their queues for customer services at overseas rates - when contact with their 'Executive Office' resulted in a settlement of £50 on a new SIM which would be non-expiring. Meaning that I would have on return to the UK a useful SIM - preloaded with credit - and any business terms related to non-usage of account overridden.
All's well for about 6 years - a timescale that goes well beyond their account cessation time frames until late 2019 when wishing to make use of the SIM it was found non-functional.
Talked to Customer Services who did not appreciate that I had this SIM for some years and that the credit was supposedly protected from bizarre business Ts&Cs.
On one hand they had chosen to implement the agreement and set the credit never to expire and keep the account active yet some years later decided to renege on the agreement without any form of contact or offer of paying me the balance (about £28 according to records held).
I wrote to the Ombudsman Service - they were unable to help!
So, it seems that agreements can be broken and without notice if you hold all the cards. I'm put out by Three's sharp practices and think they are akin to fraudsters.
If anyone has sound advice as to how to move this forward so remedy the loss on my side then please share your proposals.
I've had an account closed because of no use even though there were nearly 30 quid of credit. This happened without notice of any sort and they say their actions are legitimate!
I'd acquired a phone from them some time back which was supposedly supplied on the basis that it was unlocked to their network. Shortly after this acquisition I landed work overseas and discovered that a local telco's SIM would not function.
I complained to Three - incurring quite a cost waiting in their queues for customer services at overseas rates - when contact with their 'Executive Office' resulted in a settlement of £50 on a new SIM which would be non-expiring. Meaning that I would have on return to the UK a useful SIM - preloaded with credit - and any business terms related to non-usage of account overridden.
All's well for about 6 years - a timescale that goes well beyond their account cessation time frames until late 2019 when wishing to make use of the SIM it was found non-functional.
Talked to Customer Services who did not appreciate that I had this SIM for some years and that the credit was supposedly protected from bizarre business Ts&Cs.
On one hand they had chosen to implement the agreement and set the credit never to expire and keep the account active yet some years later decided to renege on the agreement without any form of contact or offer of paying me the balance (about £28 according to records held).
I wrote to the Ombudsman Service - they were unable to help!
So, it seems that agreements can be broken and without notice if you hold all the cards. I'm put out by Three's sharp practices and think they are akin to fraudsters.
If anyone has sound advice as to how to move this forward so remedy the loss on my side then please share your proposals.
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Comments
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This relates to Hutchison 3G UK employing what I believe to be sharp business practice in closing accounts and committing, what might be deemed as, theft! Whilst some Ts & Cs might cover closure of accounts you might have thought that establishing other agreements, to override them, would be honoured.
I've had an account closed because of no use even though there were nearly 30 quid of credit. This happened without notice of any sort and they say their actions are legitimate!
I'd acquired a phone from them some time back which was supposedly supplied on the basis that it was unlocked to their network. Shortly after this acquisition I landed work overseas and discovered that a local telco's SIM would not function.
I complained to Three - incurring quite a cost waiting in their queues for customer services at overseas rates - when contact with their 'Executive Office' resulted in a settlement of £50 on a new SIM which would be non-expiring. Meaning that I would have on return to the UK a useful SIM - preloaded with credit - and any business terms related to non-usage of account overridden.
All's well for about 6 years - a timescale that goes well beyond their account cessation time frames until late 2019 when wishing to make use of the SIM it was found non-functional.
Talked to Customer Services who did not appreciate that I had this SIM for some years and that the credit was supposedly protected from bizarre business Ts&Cs.
On one hand they had chosen to implement the agreement and set the credit never to expire and keep the account active yet some years later decided to renege on the agreement without any form of contact or offer of paying me the balance (about £28 according to records held).
I wrote to the Ombudsman Service - they were unable to help!
So, it seems that agreements can be broken and without notice if you hold all the cards. I'm put out by Three's sharp practices and think they are akin to fraudsters.
If anyone has sound advice as to how to move this forward so remedy the loss on my side then please share your proposals.
You seem to presume a lot...
If this is a business account then you're bound by the T&C's usually regardless of whether you 'like' it or not. I think to move forward you need to forget it.
There's a troll on here that likes to use the term 'sharp practises' a lot, are you related?0 -
I think people frequently misunderstand what mobile phone providers mean by 'non-expiring credit'. It means that the credit doesn't expire provided that you comply with their other T&Cs, such as making a chargeable call, text or use data at least once every 6 months. It may be that Three did make an exception and intend to give you a SIM which would literally last forever with no use on your part, but I think that is unlikely. I have never known Three (or any other provider) to do this.If anyone has sound advice as to how to move this forward
Yes, waste no more time thinking about this and move on with your life.0 -
So let me get this straight, you got some £50 goodwill gesture / compensation 6 years ago as credit on a SIM. You didn't use the SIM until recently when you discovered it has expired for inactivity. BTW where did the other £20 go?
I highly doubt they did variation of the T&C to stop the expiration of inactive SIM. Was this promised in writing or just a verbal assurance by someone on the phone?
I would hardly call this "sharp business practices"...0
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