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Three - I feel scammed
Tom_Aslantepe
09-12-2014
Hi everyone, my first post and I have been looking for a little bit of help if possible. I have poor credit, shocking, but the past two years, despite defaults, I have been getting back on top of things.

I applied for an iphone 5c, on three, I was declined. 2 days later, I received a call which went a little like this

Tom Aslantepe I know you applied for the iphone 5c, and we cannot help you, but don't worry, I have a deal for you today, for £18 a month, we can provide you a sim only and after 3 months we will upgrade you to a handset guaranteed. Of course, this offer was wonderful for me, unlimited texts and loads of calls and generous internet, saving me pounds on payg, plus the chance to rebuild my credit and a much needed phone in three months. So i said yes.

SIm arrived, I couldn't use the sim as my phone (old payg) is only available on Vodafone so I just ensured I paid my bills every month without fail, four months in, I call up as I was told and asked for a handset, he told me I was declined. I explained the Guarantee I was told and they claim they know nothing of this offer and the sales guy had no permission to say that. So I have basically paid them £80 and have no phone at the end and haven't had anything for my money.

I feel Three are lying to people to get sales through, I have emailed and was promised someone would listen to the call, but no one got back to me, I have called several times speaking to many different people, all basically telling me the same thing.

one advisor said it's happening a lot, but there is no guarantee.

Does anyone know a way to at least claim back money I paid them, I feel it's fraudulent to claim something as they did?
chenks
09-12-2014
do you have anything in writing that confirms the offer you received?
i assume you must have signed an agreement that stated would your deal was.
Tom_Aslantepe
09-12-2014
No when he called and told me about the deal, it sounded fine, it made sense, it's about showing you can keep up the repayments and then you will qualify. The sim arrived two days after the call, as I say, couldn't use it, but thought I would keep it safe to use in my phone when it arrived.

I know what you are saying, he said Three have this policy and I didn't think anything seemed odd, he sounded like it was normal process to get a mobile with poor credit.

I feel stupid now, but at the time, it sounded a good deal
Batch
09-12-2014
Its only stupid with hindsight, yes, yes, its good practice to get things in writing and so forth , but as I say hindsight is a wonderful thing.

If it was me I'd be looking at making a formal complaint, hopefully the call has been recorded for training purposes. Unfortunately I don't know the best route to do this, I imagine the normal customer services route to be akin to bashing your head against a brick wall.

Not sure if OFCOM get involved with this kind of thing. i'd try talking to Three first and getting your complaint into writing.

Somebody on here must be able to advise better.
chenks
09-12-2014
Originally Posted by Batch:
“Not sure if OFCOM get involved with this kind of thing. i'd try talking to Three first and getting your complaint into writing.”

OFCOM won't get involved until you have fully exhausted the Three customer complaints process.
it's a common misconception that you can just go running to ofcom whenever you have a gripe.
finbaar
09-12-2014
You would really need details such as the date and time of the phone call together with the name of the sales person who spoke to you to be able to persue this. Sales people do scummy things no matter who they work for.
sdduk
09-12-2014
Three are well known to lie to get customers and also trying every trick in the book to not let you leave when your contracts up

Unless you have proof of what was said at the time there's not much you can do
even recorded conversations they won't be able to find them when you ask or they will say they don't keep them or they only keep them for 1-2 months
So all you can do is write a strong letter to the executive of the company and go from there.
Rush
09-12-2014
Originally Posted by Tom_Aslantepe:
“Hi everyone, my first post and I have been looking for a little bit of help if possible. I have poor credit, shocking, but the past two years, despite defaults, I have been getting back on top of things.

I applied for an iphone 5c, on three, I was declined. 2 days later, I received a call which went a little like this

Tom Aslantepe I know you applied for the iphone 5c, and we cannot help you, but don't worry, I have a deal for you today, for £18 a month, we can provide you a sim only and after 3 months we will upgrade you to a handset guaranteed. Of course, this offer was wonderful for me, unlimited texts and loads of calls and generous internet, saving me pounds on payg, plus the chance to rebuild my credit and a much needed phone in three months. So i said yes.

SIm arrived, I couldn't use the sim as my phone (old payg) is only available on Vodafone so I just ensured I paid my bills every month without fail, four months in, I call up as I was told and asked for a handset, he told me I was declined. I explained the Guarantee I was told and they claim they know nothing of this offer and the sales guy had no permission to say that. So I have basically paid them £80 and have no phone at the end and haven't had anything for my money.

I feel Three are lying to people to get sales through, I have emailed and was promised someone would listen to the call, but no one got back to me, I have called several times speaking to many different people, all basically telling me the same thing.

one advisor said it's happening a lot, but there is no guarantee.

Does anyone know a way to at least claim back money I paid them, I feel it's fraudulent to claim something as they did?”

The same thing happened to me in 2011, I was told phone back in 3 month and we will upgrade you, phoned up and was declined, they didn't deny that I was made that offer, but they did say sometimes it needs 6 months to be accepted. Basically wanting another 3 months out of me. I accepted as I was on a good price plan at the time and I phoned back after another 4 months and I did get upgraded that time.
Gigabit
09-12-2014
A contract is made when you talk to Three about something and agree to it but without getting it in writing, it's very difficult to prove.
heidtheba
09-12-2014
Originally Posted by Gigabit:
“A contract is made when you talk to Three about something and agree to it but without getting it in writing, it's very difficult to prove.”

Depends on where op lives.

Verbal contract etc.
lee18xx
09-12-2014
I had exactly the same with O2. My credit rating is shocking but they accepted me for sim only so paid it on time by DD for 3months and then upgraded to an iPhone 6 in store with no issues..... Try them
jabbamk1
09-12-2014
All networks do this to some extent.

However the method is different.

Example, After 3 months Orange would give you a handset upgrade without a credit check.

Example 2, Three will give you a handset after 3 months subject to a second credit check.

As you can see it's the credit check which screwed you over.

As you weren't told you'd be credit checked again that's not cool. Complain, ask to listen to the call recording. Take it further up the complaints ladder if need be. One thing you can do is ask to escalate the complaint to the executive office in Glasgow who have the power to do whatever they want as long as it's within reason and makes the customer happy.
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