3 mobile

[alfiebut]

Ill try not to be too long winded but having an absolute nightmare with three.
Initially took out a contract for 18 months- £15 going up to £30 after so many months. After about 8 months my phone packed up and because i didnt want to spend £190 i had a recon for £40. The first call i received on the phone and it switched off. I sent the phone for repair and the phone came back with exactly the same problem. This happened on three occasions and the final time the phone was returned to me it had even more problems. Considering the number was my main business number for work contacts i was without my mobile for approx 3 weeks.Three were not helpful at all so i decided to bite my nose off to spite my face and the line was stopped despite the fact i still had around 6 months to run. So i was paying for nothing at all becuase it was clear the problem couldnt be resolved because of the methods of the call staff in INDIA. I have made numerous calls to three and on one of these was offered an upgrade. I told the robot on the other end that i did not want the phone if it came with a new contract. The robot told me this was not the case. I made it clear on the phone that i wouldnt renew cos of the bad service i had encountered. So i went for the upgrade thinking ive lost out on around 4 months calls i may as well use up what is available. Then after the last bill a new bill started to come through. I rang 3 and was told that an upgrade included a new contract which i didnt want has i had got another with orange in the meantime. I have not had any paperwork, not agreed to anything over the phone and have had no notification of a cooling off period. Three tell me this is done when the call is finished and someone comes on the line after to discuss whatever. This never happened has the line was cut off. Three say if this was the case they would have rung me back. The amount of lies that they tell is shocking. Managers should have rung me back on 5 occasions yet they have never bothered. When I did finally speak to a manager we had a decent conversation he understood my concern and cancelled the contract and all i was required to do was make the final payment on my previous deal. After doing this another bill landed and i rang three again. i told them of the conversation i had with the manager yet they had no record of this ever taking place so im back to square one.I have now stopped paying the new bill after making 1 or 2 payments and will fight this all the way. They rang me last week to see why i had not payed (totally clueless to the problems i have had) saying they would reconnect me if i payed up today. well seeing has ive not used a three phone(dead line)for approx 5 months i declined their offer. can anyone relate tothis or offer any hope on the matter as make matters worse my orange contract was set up through express mobiles. More headaches and stress

[buzby]

Handset problems are understandable, bearing in mind the complexities of the technology and the way the handsets can be treated, but your contract is for phone SERVICE, and the USIM card would have worked if a different 3G phone was used, so they'll justify their charge by saying they are not responsible for failures of customer equipment. The replacement handset that failed is a different issue, they have to supply you with a working replacement if this is what you wanted, but this is separate from your airtime service agreement.

Mobile networks can destroy your credit file, so I would avoid any 'point of principle' confrontations, the customer invariably loses, and has a Credit File blight showing for 6 years. It is better to learn quickly, and not get caught that way again.

When dealing with call centres, if there is any dispute it will always be resolved on the basis of what it says in their 'notes', the actual recorded call will most likely not exist. Take you own notes or record these conversations, along with time and date, so you can force the issue when they say there is 'no record' - you'll be surprised how often the call note is found on a subsequent screen when you provide the details!

[alfiebut]

I cant believe these companies get away with what they do- its criminal bordering on fraud. Why hasnt someone with the authority brought this issue up somewhere to do something about it. It just isnt right. Im not racist but i feel the only way someone might take notice is if i make it onto the front page of my local rag for racial abuse. i feel like this because threes customer service ops are a bunch of robots and before long a gasket will blow and im fully prepared to take the consequences for the words i use. from your reply i have no hope but they will not get a penny from me regardless. i can check back and find out when the call was made when the manager told me the account was being cancelled

[buzby]

The real point is customers lose much of their protection by 'doing business on the phone', something I no longer do because you'd lose control and have great difficulty in proving your side. This hasn't anything to do with 'race' it would happen whether the call centre was in Darlington or Delhi - HOWEVER, I do feel that I shouldn't be supporting firms that can't be bothered supporting workers in the EU - so I don't. The sooner more folk take the same view, the quicker the firms will have to buckle under and take notice!