3g mobile broiadband stick

[womble72]

Hi,

My friend took out a 24 month (verbal)contract for 3g broadband stick.
It did not work at home but it did at work.
She told the call centre in India that she could not get a reception in her area.(spoke to the crap tec team). 'IT WILL WORK' but she stressed it did not.
Sent it back to them under the 14 days period.(she signed no contract and has no terms & conditions)and they would not take no for an answer.
They tried to send it back (she refused it).
Got bombarded by phone calls from India & Glasgow (debt management) yes they are trying to hit her with a £184.00 bill for a few hours use on a stick which only worked at her place of work.
Now i phoned them last Monday and i was on there for over an hour going round and round in circles. I spoke to the tec team (indian gentleman told me that where she lives there is network problems and the mast is under engineering works)so i told him that she wont pay for a piece of equipment which wont work ! So he passed me onto the cancellation team and i told them 'SEE YOU IN COURT!' I told them to resolve this farce is to send the usb stick back to her and i will talk to the tec team and come to the conclusion that there is no network in her area !
Guess what- Sorry but we cant locate the original usb stick ! (wow that was quite funny !)So she cant send a new one, my friends account is still suspended but i did tell my friend to send them a covering letter with August payment (the one and only payment she will give these idiots)
out of faith that the deal can be cancelled.(i was also expecting a call from the call centre manager on my mobile 'I AM STILL WAITING'
I also sent a telephone harrassement letter (ignored)and cpr request (no reply)
It looks to me that court would be the only solution. I told her not to give in to there demands of £184.00 !
Can anybody share the pitfalls of 3G and there useless customer service.
Any help an d shared thoughts of how a company can act in this way.
Many Thanks
Womble

[locutus]

Righto, 1st I have to be a pedant (sorry) the company is 3 or three I assume as 3g is the technology for connecting you that all mobile networks use.

Also, ask for a deadlock letter as they are not resolving this to your satisfaction. Then you can complain to Otelo.

Further little point that may help you out here, 3 will soon be piggybacking off T-Mobile (and vice versa) as 3's network is so poor and they've had so many complaints! so check here T-Mobile Coverage Street Check - Mobile Phone Coverage - T-Mobile to see if her coverage will increase soon due to that (I know it's no help at the moment, but may give your friend a little hope that the entire contract won't have zero coverage at her home.)


Hope I've helped! GL!

[womble72]

Hi locutus,

Thanks for the reply.
Do i ask 3 for the deadlock letter and what is chance of them sending it because they have been a shambles so far.
Is Otelo a kind of tradings act company you can complain to and will listen to.

Many Thanks

Womble

[locutus]

CISAS and Otelo are both ADR's (Alternative Dispute Resolution) and every communication provider has to subscribe to one. 3 subscribe to Otelo. Now, the downside. If you don't have a deadlock letter you have to wait 12 weeks before you can escalate your complaint to them. The upside is, if you make a complaint, the company automatically gets a £50 fine even if they're not found to be at fault, AND that will generally be reasonable, so providing your friend asked to return it following the policy that 3 sent her, 3 will most likely be made to end the contract.

Here is a good guide from Otelo Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman - How to Complain

[womble72]

Thank you.

Womble