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Outrageous Treatment by Three


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Old 21-12-2004, 14:35
Satellite John
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My friends Nokia 7600 was stolen at her hairdressers. She obtained a crime reference number and tried to make a insurance claim but it was rejected. The line is now suspended, and after my friend threatened to cancel the direct debit, the monthly charge has come down to £25. The contract still has another 9 months to run. It is a really nasty situation.
Since there is 500 minutes a month that my friend is paying for but can't use she has made investigations to try ask them if she can buy a pay as you go phone and then have three send out her a new sim card for her 500 minutes monthly. She was once told that this would be fine, but then after speaking to someone in a three shop and phoning three up again it seems they will not allow her to do this. A person on the phone told my friend that for them to send out a new sim card they would need the serial number of a three phone. So i am wondering, would they refuse to send, if she gave them the serial number of a pay as you go phone.
I just think it is so wrong that they can refuse to send you out a sim card for you are paying for! She is fully willing to pay a charge for a new sim card.
Please can someone help! What can my friend do?
Thank you for any help.
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Old 21-12-2004, 14:42
Everything Goes
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Phone the Executive Office at 3, they are the only ones who have a clue.

0870-7330295
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Old 21-12-2004, 17:59
Steven L Hunter
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Originally Posted by Satellite John
My friends Nokia 7600 was stolen at her hairdressers. She obtained a crime reference number and tried to make a insurance claim but it was rejected. The line is now suspended, and after my friend threatened to cancel the direct debit, the monthly charge has come down to £25. The contract still has another 9 months to run. It is a really nasty situation.
Since there is 500 minutes a month that my friend is paying for but can't use she has made investigations to try ask them if she can buy a pay as you go phone and then have three send out her a new sim card for her 500 minutes monthly. She was once told that this would be fine, but then after speaking to someone in a three shop and phoning three up again it seems they will not allow her to do this. A person on the phone told my friend that for them to send out a new sim card they would need the serial number of a three phone. So i am wondering, would they refuse to send, if she gave them the serial number of a pay as you go phone.
I just think it is so wrong that they can refuse to send you out a sim card for you are paying for! She is fully willing to pay a charge for a new sim card.
Please can someone help! What can my friend do?
Thank you for any help.
In other words Three can't be arsed to as their in India or somewhere. They even hang up sometimes whilst speaking to them if they can't be bothered speaking to you or sorting out your problem, I think this is rude and should be stopped, they should have their cs in the UK if they can't understand you or can't be bothered.

Sometimes it even takes like 30 mins to explain to them the problem they always think your on about something else.

The only reason i stay with them is for the £25 voucher which gives you 500mins (what a bargain) when Virgin can only give you 200mins for £24 and Orange 100mins for £20.
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Old 22-12-2004, 14:52
cybersquatter
 
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If you do get forced to buy a 3 phone, you can get pay as you go ones for £45 at the moment including £15 of credit.
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Old 22-12-2004, 15:42
Tadpole
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She could stop the direct debit. That will make them negotiate, but 3 may find her in breach of contract if she does that.

I guess their main concern is that the handset would have been subsidised, so 3 would want to get the money back in to cover the subsidy. If the handset was not insured then technically it's not 3's problem.

However, Three should give her the option of issuing a new SIM on the same number so that she can see out the remaining 9 months of the contract.

The other thing to consider is that the PAYG handsets are also likely to be subsidised, so it may leave them further out of pocket if she's received two subsidised handsets and the contract only runs long enough to pay one of them off.

I guess they could force her to buy the replacement phone at full cost price. (£200 plus). Check the small print on the contract.

Or she could offer to pay off the remaining 9 months up front at £25 per month - £225 in total I guess.

OK, so this doesn't provide answers but I hope it put more ideas on the table.
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Old 22-12-2004, 17:43
brundles
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Originally Posted by Satellite John
My friends Nokia 7600 was stolen at her hairdressers. She obtained a crime reference number and tried to make a insurance claim but it was rejected.
Is the insurance policy provided by 3 or was this just a claim on house contents?

Have you tried looking on E-Bay for the serial number? (Is it the serial number they want or the IMEI? I suspect they're trying to effectively pair the two together to try and reduce the risk of fraud somewhere along the line).
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Old 22-12-2004, 20:40
Satellite John
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I believe it was insured by three.
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Old 22-12-2004, 21:46
steve007
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three's customer service is shite. shite shite shite. The fact that you have to call the executive office because the monkeys on frontline are so braindead and unwilling to help says alot.

Personally with other networks announcing 3g networks next year, I cant see why anyone would bother joining three. Just be patient and join a network with proven record, when its ready.
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Old 23-12-2004, 20:31
nodnol
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three's customer service is shite. shite shite shite. The fact that you have to call the executive office because the monkeys on frontline are so braindead and unwilling to help says alot.
Thats a generalisation isnt it?

It's not the staff, it's the management and board who decide these things. They are only doing a job and being paid a pittance to us, but a fortune to them.

Yes, I would agree that the Indian call centre is utter rubbish at times, but its the way things are these days.

We as consumers have a choice. But we dont have a choice as to where our cc's are, so we have to accept it as a fact of life. If we all stopped using 3 because of crappy cc operators and we ALL made it clear why, then maybe, just maybe the French 3 board may do something about it. And that just aint gonna happen, because there are alot of happy 3 customers.

If you was running a business, and you could save shedloads of cash by outsourcing, then you would.

I will admit in the past I have been completetly frustrated about Indian cc's, not just with 3, NTL, BT, My bank etc.....but its life people.
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Old 23-12-2004, 20:50
steve007
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Originally Posted by nodnol
Thats a generalisation isnt it?

It's not the staff, it's the management and board who decide these things. They are only doing a job and being paid a pittance to us, but a fortune to them.

Yes, I would agree that the Indian call centre is utter rubbish at times, but its the way things are these days.

We as consumers have a choice. But we dont have a choice as to where our cc's are, so we have to accept it as a fact of life. If we all stopped using 3 because of crappy cc operators and we ALL made it clear why, then maybe, just maybe the French 3 board may do something about it. And that just aint gonna happen, because there are alot of happy 3 customers.
Well I agree to a point. I mean outsourced CSC's are the reasons BT's own company Mahindra BT does so well, but in any case surely generalisation is what happens in a case of customer satisfaction. I mean, a customer does not say to themself, "I just received crap customer service from Three, however that is due in part to outsourcing, equally I must be patient with dropped calls because that is due to the fact that Three's 2g and 3g network is not integrated". Yeah right. Its very simple and I have seen it many times. Customer join a network because of a great talk plan - free minutes etc, only to leave again because of a problem. Whats really important to people is performance, and no amount of free minutes will compensate for poor performance.

Its a shame, because on the face of it, the Three talk plans offer fantastic value. However, the network lets itself down with Three portal only data, problems moving between 2g and 3g modes and customer service. Once these problems are solved, three could well command the largest subscriber base of the UK networks.
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Old 24-12-2004, 10:18
nodnol
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Greaty post some good points.

I mean, a customer does not say to themself, "I just received crap customer service from Three, however that is due in part to outsourcing, equally I must be patient with dropped calls because that is due to the fact that Three's 2g and 3g network is not integrated".
But surely this will improve, you said it yourself.

Whats really important to people is performance, and no amount of free minutes will compensate for poor performance.
Sorry, but have to disagree slightly on that one. No one can match 500 mins a month for £23.50(+£1.50 credit). I believe people go for outrageous offers like this one simply because of the value, never mind the service. Just my opinion.

Customer join a network because of a great talk plan - free minutes etc, only to leave again because of a problem.
True, I think. Like I said, outrageous value, never mind the service. Then like you said, they discover a problem, and ditch it.

However, the network lets itself down with Three portal only data, problems moving between 2g and 3g modes and customer service.
Have to agree there. The '3' main problems as I see it too. The switching from 3g to 2g does annoy me when it drops a call, but I can live with that over the value, and they will fix it eventually. The walled garden, maybe one day they will allow full acsess, I sent an email asking about this, and got the reply that they have no plans for this but in an ever competetive market, its something they will look into in the future.
Customer service, well I've said it all before.
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Old 24-12-2004, 11:05
wavejockglw
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Originally Posted by nodnol
The switching from 3g to 2g does annoy me when it drops a call, but I can live with that over the value, and they will fix it eventually.
They wont as they have to roam on another separate network and that requires a validation/registration process. This takes several seconds (just like when you switch on your handset) to perform and will always result in dropped calls. The other 4 networks have their own GSM services and once a customer is registered on GSM or UMTS they can access either (with the appropriate equipment). No roaming takes place and the networks are intergrated.

Anyway, call dropping is only a minor problem due to switching when roaming, its the frequency of call dropping when in 3's own full strength service areas that is the real concern! The triple beeb or the sudden deathly silence are still far too common in some parts of the UK on 3.
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Old 24-12-2004, 11:59
nodnol
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Originally Posted by wavejockglw
They wont as they have to roam on another separate network and that requires a validation/registration process. This takes several seconds (just like when you switch on your handset) to perform and will always result in dropped calls. The other 4 networks have their own GSM services and once a customer is registered on GSM or UMTS they can access either (with the appropriate equipment). No roaming takes place and the networks are intergrated.
Thanks for that wavejock, but I would've thought that it could be fixed in time, I dont know. If not, then I will just live with it.

Anyway, call dropping is only a minor problem due to switching when roaming, its the frequency of call dropping when in 3's own full strength service areas that is the real concern! The triple beeb or the sudden deathly silence are still far too common in some parts of the UK on 3.
Agree with you there. But again, I do believe this will improve.
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Old 24-12-2004, 12:36
wavejockglw
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Hope so - it has been getting better lately!

Merry Xmas!
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Old 24-12-2004, 15:25
capt snakebite
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Back to the original point - if a customer has lost a SIM with their phone, don't the networks undertake to replace the card at a charge?

If a customer is left with no means of physically accessing the network because of the company's stubbornness, the company are effectively standing in the way of the customer getting what they're paying for and that constitutes breach of contract?
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Old 24-12-2004, 16:11
Steven L Hunter
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I have requested to port my number over from orange to my 3 phone (which has had a number ported from virgin before) and they wouldnt let me do this because you need contract, i just topped up with £25 - 750mins + £5.00 add everything + add video value and i still have 27 texts left so if i bought a new sim card would they be able to transfer the credit from tht?
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Old 26-12-2004, 21:36
Ben1900
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Originally Posted by steve007
three's customer service is shite. shite shite shite. The fact that you have to call the executive office because the monkeys on frontline are so braindead and unwilling to help says alot.

Personally with other networks announcing 3g networks next year, I cant see why anyone would bother joining three. Just be patient and join a network with proven record, when its ready.
i couldn't agree more

i'm taking my A835 back, having it refunded and am going to see if i can get one of those N-gage phones in Argos for £75.99
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Old 26-12-2004, 22:15
osgc
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Originally Posted by Ben1900
i couldn't agree more

i'm taking my A835 back, having it refunded and am going to see if i can get one of those N-gage phones in Argos for £75.99
Ditto - taking mine back tomorrow....total crap with call dropping and lack of 3g in alot of places. Whats the point having all those free mins if its flippin impossible to make a call!
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