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Beware of Three


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Old 03-01-2014, 23:56
TescoJeans
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Obviously I'm not saying avoid Three but beware; their customer service is a complete joke. You might remember my thread asking for your advice on how to get my £100 deposit back from them. Well I got a call from them today with an update on the situation and I'm afraid it's bad news once again. After the billing department concluded their "investigation" they've decided that they cannot locate my deposit so I must send an email to them showing proof with a bank statement.

Now here's how I can tell that what they saying is utter bull;

1. At the time the Samsung Galaxy S4 required £100 deposit upfront to buy the phone and I have the phone so I obviously paid the amount.

2. They take two payments from my account every month, one for my phone and one for my partner's. Now this is the same account that I purchased the phone and placed the deposit with.

They're obviously doing this to keep the money as long as possible in the hope that they may end up keeping it but it's wrong and I'm sure they're not allowed to do it.

Do you think I could speak to trading standards about it?
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Old 04-01-2014, 00:14
Roush
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Reading the above, is it possible you're confusing an account deposit with an up-front payment for the phone?

An account deposit is required when you only just pass the credit check, so they require the deposit as security in case you don't pay. This you get back after 6-12 months if you pay all your bills on time.

An up-front payment for a phone at the start of a contract you don't get back. It's part of the total cost of the phone and services.

Have you carefully read the terms and conditions of your contract, and any other letters and information you were sent? Are you certain you're entitled to this £100 back?
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Old 04-01-2014, 00:17
alan1302
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Do you think I could speak to trading standards about it?
Just send them the bank statement tat they asked for and then get it resolved.

Why bother getting someone else involved when you can do it yourself?
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Old 04-01-2014, 00:28
gold fire 201
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If it is a account deposit your credit check could not of been good for them so they required it.Which in all fairness they could of turned you down.

But if you paid a upfront payment for the phone that's not refundable either.
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Old 04-01-2014, 02:07
Three
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Sounds like you made an upfront payment for a handset. How much are you paying for this monthly contract?

I don't see Three doing anything wrong here unless you have the paperwork to say they agreed to return this sum of money to you.
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Old 04-01-2014, 02:53
qasdfdsaq
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Funny how everyone is defending Three.

The OP's clearly said he/she paid a £100 deposit and was supposed to get it back after 6 months:
I bought my partner a Samsung Galaxy S4 and paid £100 deposit for it. After six months of payments you are supposed to get it back.
Now the OP could be wrong but I've yet to see anything that even suggests it. Nobody - not even Three - has provided any evidence so far that contradicts it.

It's possible, but £100 is a fairly high up-front cost for a phone these days though, even an S4.
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Old 04-01-2014, 09:23
Roush
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Funny how everyone is defending Three.
I wasn't defending Three, I was asking the OP if they were certain their understanding of the situation is correct.

It's the wording of this sentence that I found curious:

1. At the time the Samsung Galaxy S4 required £100 deposit upfront to buy the phone and I have the phone so I obviously paid the amount.
Now, if it really was an account deposit then it is of course very poor of Three to have lost those details. What I find perplexing is that instead of just providing proof of payment as Three have requested the OP has gone off the deep end and is accusing Three of trying to steal the money and is wanting to involve trading standards.

Totally over the top, IMO. If really is an account deposit then surely just providing the proof they've asked for is the best thing to do? Sure, this is an annoyance the OP shouldn't have to go though, but it's hardly the end of the world.
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Old 04-01-2014, 10:12
artnada
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I had to pay a deposit of £75 on a Note 2, as I'd only just passed their credit check.

I was supposed to get it back after 6 months, I never. So I called. I was told that because I had been late 2 months before, I have to have 6 CLEAR months before I get the deposit back.

When you pay the deposit, you have to be clear for 6 months straight. No late payments, no canceled direct debits. Absolutely clear.

I got my deposit back, 4 months later than I'd anticipated.

Totally my fault, not Three's.

I will say though, that the S4 did have a £100 up front fee after a short "pre-launch offer" of no up front fee.

Perhaps this is the OP's position? And the "deposit" was in fact an up front fee?
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Old 04-01-2014, 12:49
Three
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Funny how everyone is defending Three.

The OP's clearly said he/she paid a £100 deposit and was supposed to get it back after 6 months:


Now the OP could be wrong but I've yet to see anything that even suggests it. Nobody - not even Three - has provided any evidence so far that contradicts it.

It's possible, but £100 is a fairly high up-front cost for a phone these days though, even an S4.
Three charge £99 for quite a few of their handsets on pay monthly deals.

When I took out my deal with Three I was sent a letter through the post with a breakdown of all the costs. I still have this, surely the OP would keep this sort of documentation if he had £100 riding on it?
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Old 04-01-2014, 13:57
TescoJeans
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To clarify; the £100 I paid for the S4 was no an upfront fee, it was a deposit which they said I would get back after 6 months and it's been six months. I've never made any late payments. I've always paid the full amount on time.
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Old 04-01-2014, 14:09
Mancunian01
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At the time the Samsung Galaxy S4 required £100 deposit upfront to buy the phone and I have the phone so I obviously paid the amount.
Are you saying that everyone who took an S4 with Three at that time had to pay a £100 refundable deposit?

If so, I've never heard that before. Deposits are for credit issues, aren't they? Sounds very much like you paid an upfront fee. Either you're mistaken in your recollections or you were lied to when you did the deal.
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Old 04-01-2014, 14:15
Roush
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To clarify; the £100 I paid for the S4 was no an upfront fee, it was a deposit which they said I would get back after 6 months and it's been six months. I've never made any late payments. I've always paid the full amount on time.
In that case, if you submit the additional documentation Three have requested then I suspect it will all be resolved shortly.
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Old 04-01-2014, 16:05
corf
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Are you saying that everyone who took an S4 with Three at that time had to pay a £100 refundable deposit?

If so, I've never heard that before. Deposits are for credit issues, aren't they? Sounds very much like you paid an upfront fee. Either you're mistaken in your recollections or you were lied to when you did the deal.
It's pretty clear what he means to be honest, google Three deposit and you"ll see plenty about it.

It's not everyone , it's for people who are borderline on the credit check.

Three are the only ones who will be able to answer the OP
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Old 04-01-2014, 16:45
Mancunian01
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It's pretty clear what he means to be honest, google Three deposit and you"ll see plenty about it.

It's not everyone , it's for people who are borderline on the credit check.

Three are the only ones who will be able to answer the OP
OP states that when he bought the phone everyone had to pay this deposit.

This is what doesn't make sense to me.....
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Old 04-01-2014, 17:15
Zee_Bukhari
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1. At the time the Samsung Galaxy S4 required £100 deposit upfront to buy the phone and I have the phone so I obviously paid the amount.
This doesn't make sense.

What you're saying implies that everyone had to pay a £100 "deposit" for the S4.
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Old 04-01-2014, 17:58
TescoJeans
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This doesn't make sense.

What you're saying implies that everyone had to pay a £100 "deposit" for the S4.
Sigh.

I obviously meant just me. This is nothing to do with anybody else.
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Old 04-01-2014, 18:10
Mancunian01
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Sounds like you misunderstood at point of sale.

Was there an additional fee to buy the phone on top of this 'deposit'? If yes then your statement will clearly show that you paid for the phone and paid an additional £100 deposit. If no, then it was almost certainly the cost of the phone you were paying.

Like I said before, you were either missold or you misunderstood.
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Old 04-01-2014, 20:11
spaceman05
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So 6 months ago you brought a Galaxy S4 for your partner, 6 months ago this phone would have been fairly new to the market, apart from this alleged £100 deposit, did you have to pay a upfront phone fee, because for a phone that is pretty new to the market there would be a upfront fee, and with 3 they do like £99 upfront, currently the galaxy note 3 and iphone 5s are £99 up front.

I don't buy this £100 deposit thing for a borderline credit check, as you state that you already have a contract with them, so as long as your own contract is in good order, they would have just given you another contract from your own account with them
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Old 04-01-2014, 20:11
SkyPlatinum
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No disrespect TescoJeans but I think you made a mistake thinking that the upfront fee was a deposit. Why would you say that everyone had to pay it at the time and then post again saying that it was just you. This post stinks of being a pack of lies or you made an error thinking the upfront payment was a deposit and now you don't want to lose face on this thread.
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Old 04-01-2014, 20:23
Roush
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Yet the OP has stated that they were informed by Three it would be returned after 6 months.

That doesn't sound like an upfront handset cost at all.

I agree there was some ambiguity in the OPs original description of the payment, but it's rather difficult to misunderstand being directly told you would get it back after 6 months.
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Old 04-01-2014, 20:33
TescoJeans
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How am I lying? This is ridiculous now. My threads have merely been for advice. Why would I lie about this?

Three HAVE contacted me to say the DEPOSIT of £100 is ready to be returned because it's been 6 months but they cannot locate it so they need me to send a bank statement to them to prove I paid it.

I'm so confused. I've posted on other forums before and it's easy to discuss anything whereas on Digital Spy people seem to want to get one over each other all the time. Why are people so argumentative?
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Old 04-01-2014, 20:36
jabbamk1
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I don't get why people don't understand what the OP is getting at here.

It's quite obvious he paid a £100 deposit and was told he'd get it back after 6 months. Three have failed to that.

My advice is to send them the bank statement they asked for and also to contact the shop you bought it from. Did they give you any paperwork detailing the deposit? Or maybe they will have a copy of your paperwork or something and can help.
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Old 04-01-2014, 20:42
-GONZO-
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Three HAVE contacted me to say the DEPOSIT of £100 is ready to be returned because it's been 6 months but they cannot locate it so they need me to send a bank statement to them to prove I paid it.
So why don't you just send them the bank statement then?
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Old 04-01-2014, 20:49
TescoJeans
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So why don't you just send them the bank statement then?
Because why should I have to do that? Can you not see that they're clearly fobbing me off?

It's disappointing because I have two contracts with them so you would think they should see sense and stop trying to avoid giving me back my money as that's only going to piss me off and push me away. I wouldn't have been able to get the phone without placing the deposit and the money came out of the same account that they take money from twice a month so how can they not trace the deposit? They're obviously making it hard for me in the hope that I will give up or forget about it so they can keep the money.

I shouldn't have to go to this effort to prove that I've paid it when they know I've already done it.
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Old 04-01-2014, 21:01
jabbamk1
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Because why should I have to do that? Can you not see that they're clearly fobbing me off?

It's disappointing because I have two contracts with them so you would think they should see sense and stop trying to avoid giving me back my money as that's only going to piss me off and push me away. I wouldn't have been able to get the phone without placing the deposit and the money came out of the same account that they take money from twice a month so how can they not trace the deposit? They're obviously making it hard for me in the hope that I will give up or forget about it so they can keep the money.
It's not hard bro. Just give them the info they need so they can get the deposit back to you. And then once that's sorted just make a formal complaint about the way your deposit case was dealt and take it from there.
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