Advice re 3 mobile

[sdys15453]

I'm asking this on behalf of my daughter. It's quite a long history, so you might need to sit down with a cuppa if you can get through it all.

 

We really need some help and advice on this matter because we're banging our heads against a brick wall.

 

My daughter got 3 mobile and mobile broadband in August 2011. She gave 3 my home phone number until her phone connection was up and running, everything was fine. She gave them my phone number and address as she was moving away to university shortly.

 

Then she moved away from the area in September 2011 to start her second year at university, and asked 3 to now remove my details from their files, gave them her new address, and they already had her mobile phone which was working just fine... right up until she moved into her student home - a home which, according to the 3 connectivity page, had good connections. It had none whatsoever. The only connection she could get was if she walked to the nearest KFC half a mile away and went onto their wifi, or climbed over the 6ft tall back fence of her property, across a college field and right into the furthest corner of it - no matter how bad the weather conditions were, how dark it was, how much dog mess she walked through, and that's the only way she could get any signal to get in touch with anyone. Even then, it would cut out 3 or 4 times every minute until she became so frustrated that she was often in tears. At one point, she fell seriously ill, and had to wait for a housemate to come home from their university lectures so they could run to the nearest phone box (they were with a different mobile phone company, but also had zero mobile connectivity) to ring for an ambulance.

 

She contacted 3 through their webform to explain that since her move, she was no longer able to get the connectivity she was paying for so her mobile and mobile broadband were unusable and she therefore had no use for them. This was in September 2011.

 

3 wrote to her and asked her to ring or email them. She wrote back and explained she couldn't because clearly she had no signal for her mobile phone or mobile broadband so she'd put the cancellation request in writing. This happened a few times. 3's only response was letter after letter telling her to ring them. Impossible with no mobile phone signal or mobile broadband. The last thing she wanted anyway was to ring them to cancel and have them giving her the hard sell to try and force her to change her mind.

 

This went on for another 9 months. She'd kept paying by direct debit for the service she wasn't getting, then decided enough was enough so she gave them advance warning she was going to stop paying them. By this point I think she had cancelled in writing at least 3 or 4 times, but probably more.

 

Next thing was I got a phone call at my home from 3 threatening my daughter with court, bailiffs, legal action. I explained she hadn't lived here for 10 months. Didn't stop me getting call after call from 3, up to 5 or 6 times a day. I asked them to remove my phone number and address from their system and they promised they would.

 

A month or so later, there was a debt collection company letter sent to my home (Credit Solutions Limited), for my daughter, despite the fact my daughter by then had not been living her for over a year. I explained this to them in writing, and explained the issue to them in full, and the debt collection company backed off.

 

3, however, continued to harass me by phone trying to get hold of my daughter (where she did not live, and they knew this) 7 days a week, anywhere between 8am and 10pm. They still sent threatening letters to my address for my daughter. Each time I responded to them what my daughter's issue was, how many times she had cancelled the contract in writing etc. All they did was demand she paid the two payments she had stopped and asked me to get a letter signed by my daughter, saying I had authority to speak for my daughter if she was mentally disabled! It wasn't my daughter I was speaking for, it was to stop the threats of debt collection, court and bailiffs to MY home, where my daughter had not lived for over a year. Yet still the pestering continued.

 

So on a 12 month contract, she'd paid for 10 months of service she had never received more than a week or two weeks of, before moving house, and because she had been refusing to pay for the final two months of it.

 

Then last month, 18 months after my daughter first asked 3 to cancel the mobile and mobile broadband, I got a letter for my daughter at my address from a second debt collection company, this time the company was called Past Due Credit Solutions. I wrote to them and explained my daughter did not live here, and hadn't done so for 18 months. I sent a copy of everything to them, and to 3 also. They told me I wasn't allowed to speak "for" my daughter without filling in forms so say she was mentally deficient and I was her carer . I told them I was speaking as the owner of the property they were threatening to send court letters and bailiffs to, and had already set two debt collection companies onto. I contacted 3 in writing and got the same response - they couldn't talk about it to me unless my daughter had given me her permission, but this was to MY home and MY phone number!

 

The second debt collection company then apologised and say they have now removed my details from their files.

 

By this time, the Ombudsman said in a letter that they would do nothing as more than 9 months had passed thanks to 3's stalling techniques. They gave us no suggestions as to where we could go next for help.

 

We found limited advice online, which said we needed to get everything in writing, never speak to them on the phone, by webform or email, and that my daughter needed a deadlock letter. So my daughter explained this to 3 in writing and asked for the deadlock letter.

 

So far, no sign of a deadlock letter.

 

We tried to get to talk to the CAB, but they refuse to see anyone unless they have an actual court date, because they don't have enough staff except to deal with the most serious cases involving court.

 

However, since yesterday, I've had around 8 phone calls to my home from 3 asking for my daughter to ring them. That's despite the fact they said they'd removed my details from their system over 6 months ago. And again, threats of court, debt collectors, bailiffs etc. Yet again, me painstakingly explaining my daughter has not lived at my home for over 18 months, and again, asking them to remove my details and phone number from my database. And yet, here we are today, 3 more threatening phone calls to my home from 3 today so far. I refuse to pass on my daughter's mobile phone number (she is with another network now, one who actually have a mobile phone signal) because of the fact that 3 have refused to resolve this matter in writing, and my daughter has refused to speak to them on the phone, in line with advice everyone has given her.

 

Where does my daughter go now and what can she do next? How does she get these idiots off her back? How can she stop them ruining her credit record like this?

 

How do I get these ***expletive** idiots at 3 to stop them making threatening phone calls to my ex-directory phone, and giving my address to debt collectors for them to send threats to my home where my daughter hasn't lived since September 2011? We don't have cash to throw around in a small claims court, or to send 3 solicitors letters or anything like that, to stop the harassment.

 

All we want is for 3 to stop hassling us. My daughter doesn't even care if she gets back any of the 10 months she paid 3 for almost zero connectivity because she is at the end of her tether with them, as am I.

 

It is clearly deadlocked since the day she moved home and found she had zero connectivity, as 3 have refused to deal with this issue in writing, and both myself and my daughter are only prepared to deal with 3 in writing because of the dreadful way this is being handled by 3. My daughter has cancelled in writing at least 7 or 8 times now.

 

So, if anyone has read this far and can offer any advice before we both tear our hair out, that would be great. Please help!

[locutus]

The simple answer is that coverage plays no part of the contract. If your daughter moves and does not get coverage, it's unfortunate, but does not allow for cancelation.

 

What was the minimum term on this contract?

[sdys15453]

12 months.

[locutus]

Damage limitation time. For non-payment they will have black marked your daughters credit file. She now needs to negotiate repaying some / all of the figure for the 12 months, but only do so under the understanding that they clear your daughters credit file.

 

[email protected] is the CEO. Try emailing him, explain giving less detail to above, try using bullet points at key dates that you tried to cancel, just to keep it brief.

 

Your aim is to get your daughters credit file corrected, treat this as a negotiation. Keep in mind that they are not going to do anything further detrimental, so their threats are empty, but you want to gain something and they want to gain payment. Lets see if diplomacy can get a fair result for you

[sdys15453]

Thanks for that. Not really what I was hoping to hear though.

 

My daughter feels misled because the only reason she took out a contract with 3 was because they stated they had coverage in the area she was moving to, and it still claims that even now on the website even though there clearly isn't coverage. You'd have thought a major city centre would have had better coverage!

 

The Citizens Advice Bureau booklet we got says "If you think the contract was mis-sold to you on the promise of good network coverage, you should complain." which is what my daughter spent 9 months doing.

 

I had hoped it could be dealt with using then Prescott v Orange case model.

 

We'll try the David Dyson option and see where that gets us.

[locutus]

coverage is always hard to predict. Building materials can hamper the signal.

 

In your place I would have only 1 concern, and that is your daughters credit rating... if that is shot for 6 years it will be a lot less pain to pay them off and grin and bear it (even if it is through grated teeth)

 

Start your haggling process at £0, but think of how much stress and worry you are going to suffer

 

 

My points to get across to the CEO in your position would be:

 

1st you asked to cancel, and were not sent a final bill and a bill for terminating a contract early should have a discount.

2nd you had no coverage in a place that they stated they provided coverage, which was the basis of your daughter taking this contract

3rd you feel very messed around, and have spent a lot of time trying to resolve this.

4th you want something fair for all parties involved.