3 Billing Problems - Page 2

CaptainJack · 18th June 2007, 15:52

Got another letter from 3UK today, they say my charges are due to me accessing the internet outside their "Planet 3" access point thus incurring charges. I assured them I only ever accesses the Premiership results service which I pay £1.99 to access. the prog has to be downloaded and then creates a shortcut on the phone, the only way to access the service is via the shortcut, going in via "Planet 3" just prompts to download the service again.

I've been doing this for a year with no further charges, since I renewed the contract I got charged the £1.99 plus anything between £4 and £8 per visit.

They say they cannot prove which site I am supposed to have visited as they don't keep that information but they assure me that the charges are "legitimate" !!! so I'm supposed to believe them and pay up...

Oh, and they have no record of me contacting them to complain about the charges and subsequently cancelling my contract 1 day in to the new contract........

buzby · 19th June 2007, 09:47

Sorry, this is getting confusing - I was more interested in the message headers (WHO made the offer)? As for the refurb phone issue, you've never mentioned this before, however if the phone cost is free - a refurb or 'white box' phone is often provided, but with a full warranty.

CaptainJack · 19th June 2007, 10:37

Oops sorry, I though this was the thread I started !!!

buzby · 19th June 2007, 10:49

An easy mistake

Lewt · 19th June 2007, 10:57

what did you make of that email i sent you buzby?

buzby · 19th June 2007, 11:51

Sorry - only just got it.

It looks great, however what was the involvement of Tiscali in all this? Any promotion like this by email would come from a three.co.uk address, and therefore you would be able to state they must offer any 18 month deal. But because it doesn't come direct from 3UK (possibly a dealer) anything the email says could be disputed by them - how were you contacted originally, and have all your exchanges come by email from a Tiscali address?

Lewt · 19th June 2007, 13:40

it was that my mrs who's account im on about has tiscali email and i forwarded it to me then to you. we dealt with 3 direct.

this was not a promotional email but confermation of the order.

they have been on the phone again this morning even though i wrote in the email "email only contact now" they said that i would have to pay £263 if i want to end the contract now as it finishes in march.

but i think that 10 months times £15 is £150.

buzby · 19th June 2007, 13:57

Ah - but they'll charge the FULL contract rate, the discount would be applied if the contract was in good order, if it isn't, no discount applies and the pursue the contract at its full price. (Sneaky eh?). So - I thought the reason you were disputing the arrangement was because they started charging you the proper contract tariff without the discount? This would be the case if the contract ended early.

Lewt · 19th June 2007, 17:59

i have not ended the contract yet. i want to. but it looks like it will be cheaper not to use the phone. i should be being charged 15 a month but they have started taking £30 plus. which they have said they wil add £180 credit but have not they only added 132. which is nowhere near enough to cover 12 months of the £15 a month. and tey have started withholding VAT off the bonus they should have added. and also witholding RAF bonus

CaptainJack · 27th June 2007, 15:06

Going back to the original thread......

I keep asking 3 to explain the charges, they send the same letter back with a different paragraph tagged on the end, each time from a different person, that the charges are correct even though they do not keep a record of the sites visited over the internet and cannot prove it. Am I supposed to just accept this and pay. I seem to be getting nowhere.

They are right, I am wrong so pay up and shut up seems to be their motto!

I get a bill from them for the outstanding amount AND one from the DCA even though the account is still in dispute.

buzby · 27th June 2007, 15:17

Mobile internet IS expensive, and until the special browsing tariffs kick in, it is always best avoiding. As to requiring them to prove sites visited etc - I see where you're coming from, but I dislike this idea with a passion. It means instead of logging data volume, they've to keep track of all your URL's.... that means MUCH more than a list of phone numbers on an itemised bill, and I'd really get upset at that level of data retention.

CaptainJack · 27th June 2007, 16:08

Thats why I went with 3 originally, Up until I got my new handset (k610i) I was never charged for internet browsing, only using their Planet3 service which is free to browse, since I got the new phone in one month I was billed £60 but I did nothing different that for the previous year, thats what the whole arguement is about

buzby · 27th June 2007, 16:50

But isn't the inclusive bundle different? I use 3UK data extensively for MSN and eBay, yet my data usagedropped to zero when they offered free access to those sites.

CaptainJack · 27th June 2007, 17:47

Browsing is free through Planet 3 (allegedly) and I had £5 of downloads per month, the charges of £60 didn't come out of my allowance, it was for data downloading???? seeing as I only browsed the free sites (I only use the fooball results facility £1.99 per month subscripiton and have done for a year) and my allowance wasn't touched apart from the £1.99. the charges have appeared out of nowhere.

The spooky thing is that the excess charges only appeared on days when football was on so must be when I browsed the football service, even though I pay £1.99 to subscribe and it has always been free apart from this. Not now, but you try telling 3 that !!!

buzby · 27th June 2007, 17:52

They caught me in a similar way with the TV package - it cost £5pm and I assumed (incorrectly) that all TV services were in the bundle. It seems their definition of 'TV' and mine differ somewhat. It SHOULD mean 'TV channels we offer inclusively' and then the rest. It really annoyed me to find just because you were watching a 'TV' channel, they'd charge you if it wasn't in their advertised bundle.

CaptainJack · 27th June 2007, 17:59

But the charges never appeared in the 1st year and there was no notification that thing had changed, only the handset is different

buzby · 27th June 2007, 18:04

Was it a new handset? If so, you'd be on a different tariff (almost guaranteed). If you just switched the SIM into a different phone, then I'm at a loss to explain it.

CaptainJack · 28th June 2007, 09:47

That's exactly it, just upgraded the phone, same sim, same tariff. asked them to explain the way the football service is billed, they keep skirting round the issue only saying they assure me the charges are correct so pay up. I say prove it but they can't.......

Am I being unreasonable in refusing to pay unless the explain the charges? Something that out of the ordinary shouldn't just be brushed away as "Oh well, never mind" carry on paying as normal

buzby · 28th June 2007, 12:37

If you got a phone upgrade - then they may well be correct. All sorts of things happen, ans usually the first casualty is the tariff. You MAY be on one that is similar in cost, but d

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