Bloc vs 3 Mobile

[bloc]

Hello,

Having BIG problems with 3G Mobile at mo .

In communication with a Stewart Spalding via email, as have requested that their bloody call centre in Mumbai, where all the scripted robots work, refrain from calling me under the Harrassment by Telephone. This has had an effect, except for the muppet that called on Sunday from the Finance dept (who had a serious ear bashing from me) .

Anyway, disputing my bill with 3 and have received email from Mr Spalding today saying that if i were to cancel my contracts (i have two phones with them) I would have to pay termination fees.

My question/query is that i only ever signed ONE contract in 2003 for the original phone and number, (which both have changed) at a High Street store which has now ceased trading. I have never been given a new contract or been sent any paperwork whatsoever after this contract expired. So with that in mind........

Can they expect/request me to pay cancellation fees or not??????

Also is there any form of letter I can send in which I can request that they legally supply all signed contracts I have with them??

Advise please....very much appreciated

Bloc

[buzby]

You don't have to sign a new or replacement contract, and the fact their agent is no longer trading is immaterial, your contract was with 3UK. If you complete the minimum term you agreed to for both mobiles, no penalties would accrue. The supplying of a replacement or upgrade handset invariably mean your contract period resets or is extended to the 12 or 18 months required for them to recoup the investment. You don't need to sign anything, and you are deemed to have accepted the terms of the speciment contract that is exhibited on ther website. Usually the best route is to service notice of termination, based on the date your contract would usually end, as no additional fees will be payable.

[bloc]

Hi there

Not updated lately as juggling contact with 3 and an 8 month old, and she wins most of the time.

Anyway here is the latest correspondence and then I have a question or two after.

The letter below was sent on 7/1/07 via email.................... ...

Dear Mr Spalding

Thank you for your response on 4th January 2007 and please find my comments below.

With regards to your email about my registering of my email address, this was not possible through the internet for some reason, so I have finally had to contact your call centre and register my email address with them. This has now been done today.

On the 20th December 2006, I sent your company a letter with regards to Harassment by Telephone and requested that your company refrain from contacting me in this way and that should I receive further telephone contact from yourselves, you would be in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and that I would make an official complaint to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading.

Today I received such a call from your call centre in Mumbai, from the Finance Department at 11.33am and I am now advising you that you are in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will be making an official complaint.

I was informed by your customer service scripted robot that my account is going to be passed to a Debt Collection Agency. I have already informed you that my accounts are officially in dispute. I must point out that if you are proposing to pass my accounts to a debt collection agency and/or issue me with a Default Notice on these accounts - I need to make you fully aware that I am disputing the sum owed and, as such, you must refrain from any further action until this dispute is fully resolved.

If you do not stop any of these actions and proceed by making any adverse comments on my credit reference files, I shall be forced to take legal action against you under the Data Protection Act 1998.

A copy of this email will be posted first thing on Monday Morning.

I await a speedy and hopefully positive response from yourself.

Regards

Bloc.
......................... ......................... ......................... ....................


This is the response back from Mr Spalding................. .......................

Dear Bloc

I am today in receipt of a package which contains two of your handsets and letter disputing your outstanding balances.

As requested in your letter, I've refrained from contacting you by
telephone so have responded via email. I have noted that a reply was sent to you regarding the previous letter sent to 3, which should now have been received by yourself. However, I've listed the contents of this letter below for your convenience.
Firstly I'd like to apologise for the problems you've had over the last few
months in regards to your accounts, and I'm sorry you feel disappointed
with our Customer Service. As you said in your email, you are entitled to
voice whatever opinion you have, and It is not our intention to harass our
customers, however sometimes it's easier to deal with a customers query by telephone rather than letter, which is why attempts were made to call you.
I have put a note on both your accounts however asking you receive no
further calls.
Further to your points on your email dated 20 December 2006, I can confirm the following for you:

1). In the revised bill for account ********, the correct amount owed is
£***.**. As another month's line rental and usage has been added, as
advised on your bill dated 11 December 2006, the total amount outstanding is currently £***.
2). You have advised you wanted to cancel both your accounts in October 2006. We haven't been able to do this as we need thirty days notice to cancel a contract, inside the last 60 days of the contract ending. At present you are unable to close your account ********* as you have only served six months of a twelve month contract, and if you were to close this account you would be required to pay an early termination fee. As of today's date this amount stands at £**** however, this amount does reduce daily.
On account ********, as this are on month six of an eighteen month
contract, an early termination fee would also apply. Today this figure
stands at £****, and there is £*** outstanding to be paid on this
account.
If you wish to pay these figures then you can do so by calling or customer
services line or by writing to us with a cheque enclosed for the
appropriate figures, however as these amounts reduce daily it is worth
calling our Customer Service team to get the correct figures. These fees
are to cover the cost of the remaining line rental on your accounts from
today's date to the minimum due date stated in your original contract –
any other outstanding costs for usage will also need to be paid.
If you have any further questions or queries regarding this issue or any
other you can call us anytime on 333 from your 3 handset (Free of charge) or alternatively form any other number on 08707 330 333 (National rate), or
again reply to us in writing.
Thanks for contacting 3.
Yours sincerely,
Stewart Spalding
3 Customer Services
......................... ......................... ......................... ...................

I then sent back a response................. ..........

Dear Mr Spalding,

Thank you for your speedy response, however I am disputing certain points within your response. Please find my concerns listed below.

1. With regards to cancelling my contracts, I have already given your 30
days written notice in Oct 2006

2. I was not informed by your company that a termination fee was
applicable should I wish to cancel my contracts

3. Due to not requiring your communication service and the fact that both accounts are restricted, I would appreciate it if, on your behalf, you would cease further monthly bills, as it is unfair to charge someone for a service that (a) they don't want/use and (b) you have restricted them from anyway

4. I would appreciate it if you could send me copies of both of my signed
contracts ASAP

Please note that I WILL not be calling your Customer Services Team due to the way the service I've received and also due to the fact both handsets are restricted and it is impossible for me to do so.

Regards

Bloc
......................... ......................... ......................... ..............

Dear Bloc

Thanks for your email regarding the outstanding balance on your account.
As requested previously, I am responding to your query in writing rather
than contacting you by phone.
Upon reviewing your account I've noted that a dispute was raised in October 2006, which has now been resolved by our Billing team. A credit of £*** was then added to your account on 14 October 2006, which can be seen on your bill produced in November 2006.
As this dispute has now been resolved and all outstanding amounts correct, we will continue to contact you by telephone and letter until the
balance is paid. This may result in the account being passed to an independent Debt Recovery Agency for the debt to be collected by them, which is standard practice.
I have noted that your September bill was incorrect, as we had credited
your account for line rental rather than charging you. Your October bill
was then produced, which was incorrect, but was recalculated to reflect a correct amount, which was shown on your November bill as stated above.
Even though your account balance was disputed, we would not cease contact with you regarding it. All contact made was justifiable and we were in not in breach of any act. If you feel that you need to take this further, then this is your right as a consumer.
I can confirm that the outstanding balance on your account is £*** and
is currently overdue. If you would like to discuss a payment plan for this
amount, I'd urge you to contact our Collections team on 08707 330 432.
As a gesture of goodwill, I've organised to credit your account with
£*** which will bring your outstanding balance to £***. This will
be added immediately and will reflect on your February bill.
If you've got any further issues or questions, you can contact our team on 333 (free) from any 3 handset or alternatively 08707 330 333 (national rate) from any other phone.
Thanks for contacting 3.
Yours sincerely,
Stewart Spalding
3 Customer Services
......................... ......................... ......................... ...................

Dear Mr Spalding,

Firstly may I re-highlight to yourself that I have personally requested that you or anyone else from your team refrain from contacting me via the telephone, this will be why you shouldn't be able to contact me in this way!!

With regards to your recent email, I sent written correspondence to HEMEL HEMPSTEAD notifying you of 30 days cancellation to both mobile phone accounts and that would be why it is NOT logged as a telephone request.

Is there no communication between yourself and other offices??

Secondly, I have received this morning two letters from two different Debt Collection Agencies requesting full payment on both accounts. Firstly NEITHER company is aware of the dispute that I have with yourselves, and even though you feel it isn't a matter of dispute, I DO and this should be acknowledged and respected and you should have copied all correspondence to these companies when passing my details on. Also you stated that £*** would be credited to my bill, however the Collection Agency is NOT aware of this and I would appreciate you informing them ASAP.

May I also remind you that in an email dated 7/1/07 i wrote ......................... .......

"I was informed by your customer service scripted robot that my account is going to be passed to a Debt Collection Agency. I have already informed you that my accounts are officially in dispute. I must point out that if you are proposing to pass my accounts to a debt collection agency and/or issue me with a Default Notice on these accounts - I need to make you fully aware that I am disputing the sum owed and, as such, you must refrain from any further action until this dispute is fully resolved.

If you do not stop any of these actions and proceed by making any adverse comments on my credit reference files, I shall be forced to take legal action against you under the Data Protection Act 1998."

Obviously the above was ignored and I will be taking matters further.

I would appreciate a speedy response from yourself regarding the above points.

Regards

Bloc

......................... ......................... ......................... .............


The above was the latest correspondence and I haven't had a response as of yet.

My question is due to me disputing my bill and stating this to Mr Spalding in letters and email and as you can see from the above that he has passed both accounts to TWO separate DCA's, ieven though he thinks the account is in dispute, I do, so with that is he in breach of the Data Protection Act as quoted in my email to him??????

Please could someone inform me of what my next step/stage should be???

Regards

Bloc

[buzby]

I still don't see why you think they are in breach. You took out a contract and did not complete the term. The only thing you haven't done is state the account is a figment of Mr Spalding's imagination - which might have cut you some slack, as it is - they've explained what you need do to end the breach, and as you don't seem to wish to pay it, then can take the necessary action. Just sating you disput it doesn't stop the matter. If you dispute the facts, do so - but since is seems fairly clear what your obligations are, they are within their rights to state you are in default and take the appropriate action. Why do you think you are not required ti complete the contracted period when everyone else must do it as part of their agreement?