3 Mobile Phone Contract - Advice Please!

[killing_the_egg]

My girlfriend signed an 18month contract with '3' 8months ago for £35 a month. Now, her financial circumstances have changed and she just cant afford it. Ringing up to ask 3 to lower the tariff/put the contract on hold have yielded nothing, they just wont give her any options other than to pay. She has never had credit or been in debt before and it scares her thinking that she cant get rid of this contract and that she may be pursued by DC agencies if she stops paying them. After moving out of home and having bills to pay (rent,council tax,water and electric) she has nothing left to pay 3. Obviously she has to prioritise and 3, quite rightly, come at the bottom of the list. Does anyone know what options she has regarding this??

Be very glad for some advice. Thanks.

[cakeprince]

3G are gits! I don't know the answer but this might help!

 

I was with 3G as a business customer and got out of my contract after 3 months because they kept breaching the contract. They ported my number from O2 and managed to set it up on someone else's phone so they got my calls for 2 days and they took £200 as a credit on the account so I could use the phone in USA and then still took the DD on the following bill.

 

Go through the time she has been with them and find something that breaches there own agreement. There is bound to be something (there is with most companies).

 

Failing that speak to Ofcom (the communications watchdog) and ask for advice along the following lines. It is believed that Ofcom are not happy that phone companies keep tying people into long contracts. I used to work for a land line provider in sales and it was company policy when people tried to leave before the end of the contract to send two threating letters claiming charges. If they didn't pay up on the second it was dropped because they were worried Ofcom would rule on the side of the customer if they persisted.

 

I don't know Ofcom's number but search on google and they are at the top.

 

Good Luck!

[lurchy666]

3 g are gits like said erm right i think i'm right in saying (some 1 feel free to correct me if i get this wrong at any point) you have to pay the rest of the months line rental 35 quid x the amount of months to go to basically cancel the contract(it'll say that some where in your contract) when ever you ring up always ask to speak to the manager as a lot of the people employed are actually in india and dont know what there on about (sorry but that is my opinion not the sites) also dont let them try to keep you on the contract the only other way around is go through the contract with a solisitor and see if it is actually legal. be carefull tho they sent debt collectors after me for a last 30 quid i refused to pay them because they said i had got 30 quid worth of calls when i hadent use the fone in 2 months and make sure they dont put a defult agenst your name

[killing_the_egg]

Thankyou for your help. Ill keep both of your ideas in mind and have a bit of an investigate. Ill let you know what I come up with. Cheers again, Martin

[Guest Alison82]

I remember speaking to the national debt line and was told to work out my priority debts first (like you said) the what ever you have left over after essentials work out a pro rata amount for all other bills, she can offer them as little as £1 per month if that is all she can afford (I would) and send them a personal budget sheet to back up your story.

[3noyed]

I have got myself into a similar situation with Hutchison 3G UK, although I believe that there was an element of mis-selling involved in my case.

 

After my girlfriend switched from T-mobile to 3, I got a few SCARY (£200+ per month) phone bills from my previous provider (T-mobile), so I switched to 3 also, and (foolishly) allowed the salesman to talk me into buying the most expensive price-plan available. (£50 per month for 6 months, then £100 per month for 12 months). I agreed, thinking that it would at the very least make my outgoings predictable.

 

This price plan has since proven to be inappropriate for my needs, as I use only a small proportion of my monthly allowance.

 

Before I signed the contract, the salesman told me that I would be able to change to a lower price plan after the first 6 months, thus avoiding paying £100 per month. (This is not the case, as I actually needed to wait 9, not 6 months.) My contract started on 16/09/2006.

 

In addition, I was not made aware of the sheer magnitude of the cancellation fees that would be applicable should I wish to end the agreement before the end of the 18 month period. (I enquired on the 28/12/2006, and I was told that it would be in excess of £1200.

 

This cancellation fee represents the amount of money that Hutchison 3G UK expects to make from the term of the contract, and in no way reflects reasonable costs incurred due to the early cancellation of the service, or even the cost of the phone, which I am perfectly willing to return in good condition. (The phone was a second-hand handset anyway)...

 

These punitive cancellation conditions have effectively locked me into an innapropriate, expensive and unfair sentence; and as such they are completely inappropriate for a "high street consumer" audience, some of whom (such as myself) may not have fully appreciated the financial implications of these termination clauses.

 

(I have not even begun to mention the erratic service either....)

[buzby]

I hate to say this - but if you sign a contract, why be surprised when circumstances change and the company refuse to negotiate?

 

I'm all for badmouthing firms that don't keep their end of the bargain, but here we have someone not even half way into a contract and wanting out. The phone retail (without contract) was probably worth £450 but was supplied free, the cost being recovered as part of the promised commitment.

 

If there was an issue with employment on circumstances changing, a non state-of-the-art device on prepay would have been the best option. To be 'let off' would be unfair to others who struggle in similar circumstances, so it provides a useful lesson in later life.

 

The networks didn't force people to agree to their terms, and people do need to take responsibility for their actions. There is no magic wand option.

 

The bottom line? Your credit record will be marked with the late payments, then defaults. A good solution is to find a relative who can take on the burden and use their own SIM, paying your bills for line rental (or if there are inclusive options, using that SIM) to relieve the burden - but do make sure they're responsible enough to pay YOU on time for ther service.

[3noyed]

Actually, I think that you are right... I was naive in signing the contract in the first place, and if I have to see it through to the end, then I guess I will have to recognise my obligations, and fulfil them.

 

I was merely shocked by the discovery that I had gotten myself into something that I could not get out of.....

 

(In the back of my mind, I had somehow developed the notion that returning the phone and paying £200 or so would enable me to escape the contract)....

 

Oh well....

[buzby]

I agree, it IS a shame - the problem with phones is that they do not hold their value at all, it can be £420, then £200, then £90 and inside 6 months they've been relegated to PAYG or discontinued.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I bought my first phone, a Motorola 800X (Brick) and I paid £2,800 for it over 5 years (in 1986). I learned my lesson the hard way. The phone cost was really the equivalent of £5,000 in real terms, and purchased on HP). I keep the phone as a reminder of how silly I had been - and I've never been caught that way again!

[demon_x_slash]

The hair shirt worn every Thursday must be a b*tch too, huh Buzz?

[buzby]

Nah - I passed that on to the relatives!

[blakey1]

hi there, speak to the Glasgow executive office as i had big snags with 3 mobile and rather than be messed about

 

 

AND IF YOU FED UP TALKING TO THEM FOOLS IN INDIA WHY NOT GIVE THE GLASGOW EXECUTIVE OFFICE A CALL

 

RING 0870 733 0295

FAX 0141 204 8773

[buzby]

Or you could try 0141 204 8674, but this number only seems to work at weekends.