Three UK Complaints - Contacts

[Yourhavingalaugh]

Complaints:

My girlfriend had issues with the network service & the handset provided over a period of approx 3 months in excess of a year ago. Having no sucess with the call centre, I checked out a number of forums & checked Hutchisons websites for contacts.

An email was issued to the first 3 email addresses below for Three UK & after approx 48 hours she received a call, the handset was replaced & a follow up call from Three received seeking feedback. All problems resolved (however at the end of the contract period, the business was taken elshwhere!)

If it had not been resolved after the first email, a further email (as details below) would have been issued.

Listed below is the information collated together which hopefully maybe of assistance to users:

Send detailed emails – in the subject row state: Hutchison 3G Complaint – Account No: …………..

As with all complaints, be firm but not abusive, the content of the email should state the problem, in this instance of the service or the handset (list model number), length of time of the problem, how you have tried to report matters with them etc, also list dates, times & names of personnel of which you have spoken to. End the email stating that you expect their reply at the earliest opportunity but no later than 48 hours of email issue (don’t forget to list down a contact number)

If you get no response, send email No 2 and copy those listed below. Add additional wording that you have received no reply despite previous verbal & email communications and you need an urgent reply to resolve the issues.

If still no reply ………., think of an alternative strategy, but don’t let them get you down! :rolleyes:

Email Contacts:

Send first email to 1, 2 & 3 – if no reply within 48 hours forward the same email with additional wording and copy in 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 – Hopefully you should get a call back!!!

1. [email protected] (UK Customer Services)
2. [email protected] (UK Media Contact)
3. [email protected] (UK Media Contact)
4. [email protected] (Ofcom Communications Director)
5. [email protected] (Parent Company Media Contact)
6. [email protected] (Parent Company Media Contact)
7. [email protected] (Parent Company Media Contact)
8. [email protected] (Overall Holding Company)

Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services
Website: www.ofcom.org.uk

Matt Peacock, Communications Director – Email: [email protected]
Media Contacts:

Hutchison 3G UK Limited - Media Contacts:

Mr Rigby, Mark Mr Brewster, Edward
Tel: (44-20) 7350 5696 Tel: (44-20) 7350 5696
Fax: (44-20) 7350 5707 Fax: (44-20) 7350 5681
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]


Hutchison Whampoa Limited - Parent Company of Hutchison Telecommunications in Hong Kong - Media Contacts:

Ms Cheung, Laura Ms Kwok, Euginie
Tel: (852) 2128 1289 Tel: (852) 2128 1343
Fax: (852) 2128 1766 Fax: (852) 2128 1766
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]


Mr Lau, Jeremy
Tel: (852) 2128 1370
Fax: (852) 2128 1766
Email: [email protected]

Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd – Overall Holding Company:

Email: [email protected]

Hutchison 3G UK Address & Contact:
Hutchinson 3G, Spare House, 20 Grensell Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1EH. Tel No: ?
Mr Bob Fuller – Managing Director

Parent Company In Hong Kong Address & Contact:

Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited, 18/F, Two Harbourfront, 22 Tak Fung Street
Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Web site: http://www.htil.com/eng/global/home.php
Mr Canning Fox - Chairman

Parent Company of Hutchison Telecommunications in Hong Kong & Contact:

Hutchison Whampoa Limited, 22/F Hutchison House, 10 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong.
Web site: www.hutchison-whampoa.com/eng/index.htm
Mr Canning Fox - Group Managing Director
Mr LI Ka-shing – Group Chairman

Holding Company of Hutchison Whampoa in Hong Kong & Contact:

Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd, 7th Floor, Cheung Kong Center, 2 Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong, Phone: (212) 815-2345, Fax: (212) 571-3050. Email: [email protected]
Web Site: http://www.ckh.com.hk
Mr LI Tzar Kuoi, Victor - Managing Director (Son of Chairman)
Mr LI Ka-shing - Group Chairman & majority shareholder

[3GScottishUser]

Hi welcome to Talk3g.co.uk.

A very comprehensive list that hopefully most wont have to fully explore to get satisfaction.

Good work!!

[Hands0n]

Damn! Its almost worth taking out a new contract on 3, very tempting indeed :D

What an excellent post Yourhavingalaugh - what an entrance, this man has style :D

[solo12002]

" Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries"

Oh is that what its claimed they do? Ask most users and you find the option is they lack teeth to do anything or are in the pockets of the networks.

[Hands0n]

Don't OFCOM host the MNO cartel dinners?

[solo12002]

Ok guys Im sure someone will tell me off but :

Mark Rigby is on leave until 8th January (inc). For media matters relating to 3UK, please contact Hugh Davies:

[email protected]
mobile 07782 325 923

If you wish to contact Mark on a personal matter in the meantime, he can be reached at:

[email protected]
Mobile 07782 329 433

LOL Ive just spotted hes no turned out of office off, leave untill 8th jan. ffs thats over a month ago, I wonder if hes back!!

[haterofthree]

Okay, this is funny......

I read yourhavingalaugh's post as I wanted advice on how to get my money back after three charged me for "failed downloads". So I sent an email to the first three addresses as advised. I got two no such addresses replies and one very fast reply from executive office saying "Thank you for your e-mail highlighting your concerns. This has been forwarded to the correct department for investigation. Your e-mail has been forwarded to [email protected]" I held out some hope!

SO I wrote: "I have already spent an exhausting twelve minutes on the phone to customer services. I got nowhere. That is why I emailed you."

and they wrote: "Thank you for your e-mail highlighting your concerns. This has been forwarded to the correct department for investigation. Your e-mail has been forwarded to [email protected]"

So I wrote: "Is there anybody out there?"

and they wrote "Thank you for your e-mail highlighting your concerns. This has been forwarded to the correct department for investigation. Your e-mail has been forwarded to [email protected]"

So I wrote: "Boo!"

and guess what they wrote? Yep, they wrote "Thank you for your e-mail highlighting your concerns. This has been forwarded to the correct department for investigation. Your e-mail has been forwarded to [email protected]"

What a joke eh?

[Ben]

Sounds like they've got a very chatty auto-responder. But hey, someone'll have a giggle when they read all your emails! :D

[Not Happy]

I personally will NEVER use 3 again.

Unexplained charges and demands for money which call centre operatives cannot explain and have no record of but which are sent in ever more threatening letters...

For anyone who is trying to complain...

Try this number which, which is in the UK!!!! 01628765000

From here you can ask for:

Ian McLuckie (customer service Director)
Simon Kirby (Head of service and customer experience)
Tony Sidhu (Head of Service Delivery)
Justin Bull (Customer service delivery manager)

Or any of the other names that are mentioned above.

Hopefully one of these people can help but if not then it should just be fun to make them sweat when they have to come face-to-face with a real live customer

You should also be able to email them once you have names as the email address follows a stnadard format. eg [email protected], [email protected]

Hope this helps

[Hands0n]

It is really and truly sad that 3 are;
(a) still up to their old tricks and
(b) that they are able to generate so much ill-will in their customers.

Kevin, if you are reading this please, pretty please, get rid of your Indian Call Centre and put some excellence where it belongs. Otherwise all that superb work you have done so far will be for nought. And that would be a crying shame.

[Not Happy]

Further to above posting - email addresses are actually [email protected]

[chajun]

Having spent best part of 12 months sorting out a "3" mega billing Muck up!!!!!
my wife and I 18mnth contracts expire on 7th July 2008 I was advised by their customer service dept to speak to the upgrade dept anytime between 25th May -7th june to find out what super ofers were available to us if we decided to stay with them. This I have just done and begrudginly there is only one offer which I am sure is available anyway in their shops.

Mix and match 300 @£15 per month for 18 months again. Anybody have any coments/ info about offers being made to other customers.
Thanks

I think the P is being taken!!!

[david33]

Very good job Yourhavingalaugh.

I think a lot of us have good reasons to sue Hutchison 3G, for different reasons. Is there any consumers union in UK that dispatch the complaints?

[phil8715]

Another contact for you

Simon Irving Executive Office

[trevorlf]

none off email contacts work they bounce back. The UK ones

[Ben]

Probably flooded with complaints ;)

[planetf1]

Funnily enough I'm in need of an email address for the exec office, or at least a senior customer service person.

Any good addresses please PM. Am trying a few firstname.lastname as we speak, as well as the std customer.services.

[Ben]

[email protected] always used to be a good one.

[dommersj]

Thank you for some good advice here. Just got off the phone from customer services in India - 30 mins and got nowhere. Not the first time either... Read on.

What's worse is that they phoned me following a letter I sent to the Chief Executive! I find it staggering that a recorded letter to the Chief Executive was sent direct to India.

Here is my letter (edited slightly to take out personal details).

Mr Kevin Steven Russell
Chief Executive
Hutchison 3G UK Ltd.
The Executive Office
123 St. Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5EA

RECORDED DELIVERY

CC: Mike Reid, Head of Collections, Hutchison 3G Uk Ltd, Hutchison House, 5 Hester Road, Battersea, London, SW11 4AN
CC: Andrew Bartle, Chief Operations, Lowell, PO Box 172, Leeds, LS11 9WS


Dear Sirs

I was a customer of 3 for several years before moving to O2 in 2006 because your mobile email system was not fully functional. I returned to 3 earlier this year after being impressed with the service I received in your xxxxxxx retail outlet.

Please note the account reference numbers above.

In addition I have a mobile broadband service with you, and my partner and daughter have 3 Pay As You Go accounts. I calculate that as a household we spend between £900-£1000 per annum with your organisation.

I pay by Direct Debit every month.

I was outraged to receive two letters this morning – the first from Mike Reid REF xxxxxxxxxxxx stating that a debt has been assigned to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd. The second letter is from Andrew Bartle of Lowell Porfolio (same reference number), stating that I need to settle the outstanding debt amount of £50.25p.

I have no knowledge of this debt whatsoever.

After speaking with your service centre at x.xxpm on xx/09/2008 (Sxxxxx Wxxxxx) they informed me that the debt related to a contract from 2004.

Needless to state that I was furious.

Your representative continued to tell me that I even had a credit applied following termination of the original contract and I really couldn’t understand what this debt even relates to. I believe this is your error – and find it difficult to think back to such an insignificant event in my life from 2 to 4 years ago!

Please provide copies of all letters and include full details of contact attempted in relation to this debt recovery in the period 2004-2006.

To compound matters, when I entered into a new contract with 3 earlier this year I gave them my old account details and all the normal credit checks etc were fine. No mention of any debt – if there was I would have been only too happy to discuss in a civilised and professional manner.

So for the last 6 months I have been happily using my mobile phone and broadband accounts unaware that there is a £50.25p debt from 2004 – something I have never been given the opportunity to challenge or even PAY!

Hutchison 3G Uk Ltd has never approached me regarding this matter, yet they deem it acceptable to move a debt I know nothing about to a third party agency. This is unacceptable – I think you need your loyal customers yet you treat me in this manner without courtesy or integrity.

I am work for a financial institution and have to undergo an annual credit screen. By moving this debt (that I dispute and have no knowledge of) to a third party collection agency, you have now put my employment at risk. I hold Hutchison 3G Uk Ltd. wholly responsible for this predicament.

Your service centre promised me a call back within 2 hours from manager Mr Dxxxxxx. This never happened. I request a transcript of this call to be sent to me at your earliest inconvenience.

Amazingly Sxxxxxx stated “Have a great day” upon her goodbye! Needless to say it was not a great day. I am angry, upset and now extremely concerned about my employment.

As an absolute minimum I request that the debt is retrieved from Lowell Portfolio. I require confirmation of this in writing from Hutchison 3G Uk Ltd and Lowell Portfolio. I also will require written confirmation that no Credit agencies (particularly Equifax / Experian) have been informed of this debt.

I look forward to your comprehensive response within 14 days.


Yours faithfully


10 days later I received a call from Customer Services in India. !!!

To say I am furious is an understatement. 30 mins of pure scripted frustration followed. They eventually offered to email the Chief Exec but in their own imitable scripted style basically said "don't hold my breath".

I will alow 1 week (they have stated that's how long it will take for the transcripts - took me 30mins of badgering and demand to speak to floor manage to achieve that promise!) before writing again to Chief Exec and will be using some of the tips above. I will resort to sending all corres to Mr Russells home address as a last resort.

In the meantime they have suggested I pay the debt to stop someone "coming round". Madness.

Will speak to Lowell to get them to hold fire (bearing mind I have already written to them!) - All letters sent recorded delivery.

I will keep you informed and hopefully have some further tips on achieving a basic level of customer service from this organisation.

Any suggestions on when to ask help from Ofcom? Should I wait a bit more?

[Hands0n]

If they send the baliffs to you all you have to do is tell the baliff that you are "in dispute" with Three. They cannot do anything at that point and will refer the case back to Three.

In Three's first year of existence they really messed up my account, big time. They twice cancelled the DD and then blamed me. Then, without warning, they put their debt collector service on to me. I immediately told the debt collector that I was in dispute with Three and about to take them to court, and they backed away instantly. No further contact was made. It took almost a year for Three to admit they were in the wrong.

I have been back to Three twice more as a contract customer - they messed me around both times. Then one last time as a PAYG when they gave me a pair of SkypePhones as a trial. One broke, Three CS could not be made to understood that I wanted a warranty claim, they would not help unless I could tell them where I bought the handsets from. Even then they could not understand that I was a triallist at the request of Kevin Russel himself.

I gave up, walked away and vow never to deal with them ever again as long as their Indian CS persists.

To answer your closing question - you can contact OFCOM any time you like but don't expect a whole lot. They will not act on your individual complaint - rather they will add it to the pile and beat Three up routinely and regularly each quarter. So don't wait, put your protest in. You are just another statistic.

[Ben]

:(

This thread serves as a tidy reminder that Three are still extremely immature as a network in terms of dealing with customers and complaints adequately. It's such a shame that they got off to a bad start in this regard and never got it right.

[threecomplaints]

Any suggestions on when to ask help from Ofcom? Should I wait a bit more?

Ofcom only regulates the mobile service providers although you can submit your complaint to them and if they receive enough of the same they will investigate the matter as a whole and not your individual complaint.

What they do have is an ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution Service) called Otelo which 3 and all networks should be a member of.

Otelo will only deal with your complaint under the following circumstances
1.You have followed the neccessery 3 Code Of Practice complaints procedure (i.e. calling them, then writing formallyetc....)
2. You have allowed at least 12 weeks for 3 to attempt a resolution for you and you have either been ignored or you're not happy with the outcome.
3. Three have sent you a "deadlock letter" where they have already stated that there is nothing more they will be doing for your complaint.

I hope this helps and more is outlined in my site www.ThreeComplaints.com

[getti]

you do realise that on your site about 3 complaints you have a banner in the middle advertising 3 mobile broadband?

[Ben]

you do realise that on your site about 3 complaints you have a banner in the middle advertising 3 mobile broadband?
The vast array of general advertising undermines the legitimacy of the site IMHO, even more so when ads for Three appear.

Still, it's nice to know that, in a small way, Three are helping fund a website such as this one :)

[casper]

I find it hard to believe that 3G dont actually have a complaints department.
It made me laugh when i was first told by the super helpful Indian Call Centre.

They also made me laugh when they told me they can no longer help me with my query simply because they didnt know what to do.

All i wanted to do was explain get a £90 refund for calls made when i lost my phone.
All i got was someone that couldnt do anything but read from a script and have no personal judgement on the case in hand.

After trying to explain that re-imbursing £90 would be the equivelant to a 2 months contract charge for me, and would be better than losing me as a customer i gave up and sent a calculator in the post direct to India.

In the end i was told to look on the website and see if i could send an email instead. (Although this will probably get sent to the Customer Service Dept in India). :-(

Well im all moaned out about 3 and im just glad i havent had to call them for any other problems because i dont think i would keep my sanity.

Bring the call centre back to the UK i say, where they atleast understand the UK business culture and the value of money within business.

For ref, i have attempted to send a mail to all the listed contacts in 'avinalaughs' notes so will see what comes of that. Probably nothing but I think i would gladly pay the £90 to not have to speak to them again.

[threecomplaints]

The vast array of general advertising undermines the legitimacy of the site IMHO, even more so when ads for Three appear.

Still, it's nice to know that, in a small way, Three are helping fund a website such as this one :)

Thanks for the heads up, i've removed any 3 advertising now as I was unaware of it before. I understand where ur coming from about having advertising on the site, but it's there because I've taken the time to put the site together so if anything can assist me a little in keeping it running then I'm happy but my main aim is to get the message across about Three and how to help people because I struggled to find this information myself.

Thanks again

[Alastair]

I hate 3. My experiences ..........

1.

I lost my phone a while back. My graduate barclays account has free mobile insurance and they wanted proof of ID. I phoned 3 and requested it. They sent me a word editable document with no logo and someone elses details on it. I re-requested 4 more times before I got a proof of purchase with logo in my name (still word editable). Faxed it to barclays as per instructions. Waited.....

At 2 weeks I phoned and said "whats happening?" - was told that my phone wasnt in stock and may take a little longer than normal.

At 4 weeks I was called back and phone model was confirmed - was told it would be two weeks.

At 6 weeks I phoned - was told that it was on its way.

At 8 weeks I phoned - was told that 3rd party information was hold it up. Not allowed to know the 3rd party.

At 12 weeks - 2 police officers turn up at my apartment and say they have to arrest me and are taking me to the station for insurance fraud! Apparently barclays had queried the proof of purchase and three had said it was counterfeit!!! Barclays then phoned police. I showed them the emails backward and forward from barclays/three and they determined there must be some mistake. I then spent days on the phoned complaining and trying to get my phone.

In the end barclays gave me £250 and three denied that anythinghad ever happened - no phone logs/letters/emails were ever received.

It took me 1 hour arguing with three customer services at the end of my 12 month contract to get a puk code for a phone i didnt have or use for 4 months. I had to ask for the supervisor 7-10 times before he conceded and allowed me to end my contract. Now with Tmobile - no problems so far.


2.

Girlfriend has two contracts with 3. Both ready for upgrades so she phoned up and arranged deals for both. When phones arrived the were both older models ie. N95 instead of N96 & LG U990 instead of Renior. The price plan was also increased for both phones and for the price of the phone. So far all calls to customer services has resulted in them saying that no supervisors/managers are there and the guy that my girlfriend spoke to make the deal is not in work at the moment.

Will update....

[Hands0n]

Wow! What a horrid story, and a warning to anyone who may be contemplating going to Three!!

In respect to your Girlfriend's two new handsets - are they within 14 days of setting up the contract? Take them both back to a local Three store and cancel your contract over the counter there and then. Walk away.

If you are over 14 days then you are stuck with the handsets and the contract. However, it is going to be better for you to try and resolve this in a Three store than on the phone to the useless people in Mumbai. Take all of the paperwork in, also any evidence you have of the tariff you agreed to (web prints of the day if you kept them) and anything else that supports your case of being sent wrong handsets and incorrect tariff. The Three store staff will have as much trouble as you in resolving it but at least you can give it to them to fix, and have someone to speak with face to face.

When you go in make sure you know exactly what you want out of the meeting - and above all else, keep your calm and be polite at all times. You want and need their help in siding with you against those idiots in Mumbai! So make them your friends :)

Apologies if this is telling you stuff you already know, its always worth reiterating.

Do let us know how you get on ... No doubt others will follow you :(

[Alastair]

A manager from 3 phoned back and stated that they could exchange the 96 for a 95 but they couldn't exchange the LG as it had been turned on (before we realised its a different phone - looks similar).

We requested the call recordings and were told not every call was recorded. The manager stated that there were calls recorded but not for the date of the sale (for upgrades being negotiated) which is needed for proof. Later in the conversation he stated that no calls were recorded. We requested to make a complaint and he said that we were speaking to manager and we could lodge a complaint with him. We asked for a complaints department and were told there isnt one. We requested for UK numbers for complaints/sales/customer services and were told that he didnt have those numbers.

Since realising we have the wrong phones all calls have been recorded and names taken.

So now we have two wrong phones - 1 we cant return and another that we either have to pay an extra £100 for/downgrade contract & phone model.

3 sales deliberatley promise false deals knowing that the customer cant get what they were promised or don't realise they have been sold something else.

We have threatened to contact ofcom, cancel direct debits/close bank account & not send phones back until resolved.

If anyone knows how to deal with theses b***ards please let me know. I will be trying the letters and emails suggested in previous psots tomorrow.


Verdict:

NEVER get a 3 contract!

[Hands0n]

@Alastair - this is all dreadful reading. But to ensure you do not fall foul of Three's debt collection practises you must continue paying the bills and not do anything to give them a lever against you, they will use it with great vindictiveness against you.

I suggest contacting a Three store in your area, even if you have to drive to another nearby town to locate one. Use this link here to find where your nearest is http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/Store_locator and then get yourself along there with all and any paper work you can find.

Their nonsense about not replacing or cancelling a contract if a phone is used is nasty, they brought it in a while back, I am surprised that they are allowed to get away with it considering the UK's distance selling regulations. I'm not convinced that they are legally allowed to do this to you ... but so far no one seems to have fought and won that one!

You do need to solicit the help of the UK staff - they will have escalation numbers in the UK that you can approach. These are well concealed, or they would be inundated with complaints, and they know that ... The store is really your best opportunity if you can be quick enough.

If you are beyond the 14 days you are in more sticky waters - all you can fight is for the handset and contract terms you agreed to. But you'll be unlikely to be able to get out of the contract unless you can prove mis-selling!

Do try the store route first - it is likely to get you the better result if you can locate a sympathetic store manager (I think you'll need the Manager rather than a regular member of staff). Ask for him as soon as you walk into the store, but do it all friendly like, big smile on face and that kind of stuff .... If they catch a whiff that you're out for trouble they'll run for the hills! At this stage in the game you need them ...

Also follow up with a visit to your local Trading Standards Office for advice and assistance - they'll be familiar with complaints against Three. After six years in the business there can be no-one who does not know how bad they can be!!

[Alastair]

Thanks Hands0n.

I will take your advice asap - it's very difficult not to lose your cool but will play the game.

I will follow up when I know more.

Cheers.

[Hands0n]

Good luck with it Alastair, you've got a lot of us behind you with moral support :) Some of us have been somewhere near there before, its not pleasant.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on, fingers crossed for you.

[KBV1]

Hi guys!

I need some advice

In january 2008 i called three as my contract was up and cancel early but the guy stopped me as i offered me a even better deal for a good price. When i changed my contract to a £25 per month one he told me my new contract would start immediately and it was an 18 month one (Finishing in June 09).

I called up 3 last week to confirm my contract was due to end in June 09 and they did confirm this.

Last night i called up 3 to cancel my contract now and pay off the 150£ i still owe for the remainder on my contract. When i came to do this the guy i spoke to said its not 150£ it was 250£ as my contract does not end until October 2009. I explained that this was not correct they when i took the new contract out i was told it would start now and it would end in 18 months (June 09) and the guy i spoke to last Friday also confirmed this. I asked to speak to manager at this point.

When the manager spoke to me i explained everything again and he said i was wrong my contract started in April 08 and due to finish in oct 09. I was like NO i was TOLD this........ He said that when i took out my contract it was an "early upgrade". When i said this is not true, and that infact the guy TOLD me i was able to upgrade/change contract now and start another 18 months from now(jan 08). The Supervisor then said im wrong... so i asked are you calling my a liar as this was what i have been told.. or shall i say lied too. i was on the phone to them for 1 hour going round in circle saying they cannot end it for June that it has to be October and there is nothing they can do about it which is rubbish! I have been lied to and sold a contract under false pretenses.

below is the letter i will be sending which explains everything


Dear whom this may concern,

On January 29th 2008 I called up ‘3’ to find out if I could cancel my contract early. The sales person I spoke to asked me why I wanted to leave “3” early, I explained that I have found a better deal somewhere else. He then went on to tell me he could beat the offer I found somewhere else. He offered a £25 monthly contract instead of the £30 I was paying. I asked when this new contract would start and he replied
“your new contract would start immediately including your new monthly payments of £25.”

I called up ‘3’ at the end of last week to confirm that my contract would be ending in June 2009 and the customer service adviser told me I was correct and it would be ending then.

On January 9th 2009 I called ‘3’ to cancel my contract early and pay the early cancellation fee of £150 (6 x £25 monthly charge) which I am happy to pay. The person I spoke to that night told me I was incorrect and that the correct amount would be £211.13. Asking why, the sales person told me that my contract does not end in June 2009 and that it actually ends in October 2009. He then went on to explain that I took an early upgrade option, and my payments would start then but my actual contract would start in April 2008. After explaining that this was incorrect and that at the time I was told my new contract would start the day I called and finish 18 months later, which I work out to be June 2009.

As I was not happy I asked to speak to the supervisor/ manager. I explained to him that I took out a new contract in January 2008 and the sales person at that time told me the contract would start then at £25 per month and end 18 months later in June 2009. The supervisor told me I was wrong and said it ends in October 2009. I even stated that when I called last week they confirmed that it did end in June 2009.

Today, January 13 2008, I called up 3 customer services again as was unhappy that the matter was still unresolved and spoke to 2 different managers, Shushank Merne and Meeraj Aneja. This time I was on the phone to 65 minutes and got no where. The phone conversation was recorded by myself.

As I was constantly being told by the manager that I was incorrect I asked him to provided me with proof of written consent or a copy of the telephone conversation I had on January 29 2008 of me accepting the contract. He told me this is impossible and they do not keep telephone conversations or hold that information. I then stated as they cannot provide me with any proof that I entered the contract,I was declaring the contract is null and void and that I would like it cancelled immediately. I was told I could not do this and that their system was correct and cannot me changed. The only proof they could provide me with accepting the contract is me using the phone for the past 12 months. I told him this was unacceptable as I was told and lead to believe for 12 months my contract start date was January 29 2008 and that only now I have found out I have been lied to.

Even after spending another 1 hour on the phone to ‘3’ customer services today, the matter remains unsolved. I have been lied to from the beginning and no-one seems to want to help.

I am not happy with ‘3’at all. I was lied to when I took the contract out and it was sold to me under false pretences. I would like my contract cancelled immediately and pay the £125 I owe for the remainder of my contract which ends June 2009 (which is what I was originally told when I took out the new contract). If I had known in January 2008 that I was entering a 22 month contract then I would have gone with my original plan and moved to another service provider. The sales person told me it was an 18 month contract, which it obviously isn’t if it is going to run from January 2008 to October 2009. The sales adviser which sold me the contract under false pretences is Itpal Parikh.

I wish to make a formal complaint toward the advisors mention above and toward “3” for the problems which have been caused.

I would like a response and the matter to be sorted within 14 days of the date of this letter or I will be taking the matter futher.

Yours truly,


Is there an email i address i can send this to complain so it moves a lot fast and they cant "loose my letter"

What can i do about this?? I need some advice please I just want to cancel my contract with them!

many thanks

[hairychad]

Hi guys!

---

Is there an email i address i can send this to complain so it moves a lot fast and they cant "loose my letter"

What can i do about this?? I need some advice please I just want to cancel my contract with them!

many thanks

After many a month with terrible service, I too decided to leave 3 mobile and take the hit for the cost. My situation was slightly different in that they promised that I could be permenantly latched onto the Orange sister network to solve my issues which turned out to be a lie.
I already had a PAC, but when i went to use it I was told by my new provider that it was cancelled, and was therefore stuck with 2 contracts.
They refused to offer me a replacement PAC and the offshore call centre had no understanding of the term "good will gesture".

Following a colleague showing me this thread I emailed the first 3 addresses in the first post and got the following from edward brewster ([email protected])

I have now left 3.
If you need the 3 media office please phone 0845 6038333 or email: [email protected]

If you call this number they will be helpful, and perhaps give you a replacement email other than the generic one. I'd rather not post the name directly that i was given, but please ring the number.

I got a generic email yesterday saying it will be dealt with in 10 days, but sent a further mail saying that I wish to leave urgently due to the second contract. I got an auto-responce to this.

Today I got a call from a Scottish chap who offered to waive my early termination fee due to the amount of contact I've had trying to resolve this, which ammounted to about 2 hours a day for 4 days, and 5 promised call-backs that didn't work.

I should note that the Scottish chap (again, leaving names out as they were good to me!) did say "we feel we are within reason charging an early termination fee as it is in our terms and conditions and they have not been directly broken, but..."

I'd try ringing a few more times first as you get a different story from each person. Ask for their full names and ask them to spell them. I found that as soon as you have their names they get more awkward with you, which sounds like the opposite of what you expect.

Bottom line for me was that I got a result within 24 hours of emailing that address, getting a contact email that's valid, and stressing the urgency.

Summary:

email [email protected] or just ring 0845 6038333
ask for an email address for who you speak to and ask them to forward it to the Executive Office.
You will recieve an email saying it will take 10 days for you to get a reply, but your complaint/contact will be assigned within a day or two normally (according to a call i made to stress the urgency). There is no further way to prioritise the call apparently
hopefully you'll get a phone call like i did.. as that is where my issue ended. :)


When using a pac, you still have to pay 30days line rental from when it is issued or used (can't remember which), but that's preferable to paying the full fee.

Also (i should edit this down, but i'm too lazy), different opporators had different rules on offering a pac, and some even expected payment up front, rather than after the pac is used.

Good luck!

[KBV1]

thanks for all that info i will defiantly being doing this tomorrow.

So just to recap and make sure i have understood do l call 0845 6038333 and register my complaint with them or ask for an email address where i can do so or call them and send the email to [email protected] ?

I have emailed the executive office and got stupid replies both times saying they i have to call 333 so it looks like its a auto response email.


Thanks again :)

[Hands0n]

Go for the 0845 number - be very clear in your mind what you want out of the call - and be uber-polite (smile while you're talking, it carries across, really!!). You need to win their hearts and minds to get them on your side.

Good luck with it - do let us all know how you get on ... Its always a bit of a chore with 3 :eek:

[hairychad]

sorry for not replying earlier, but yes.. go for the 0845 number and if you're lucky they'll give you their address and pass it on to the exec office. I felt this added a bit more than just being given that address (number 1 in the list in post 1).

don't go all out saying you got no sense from the 333 number, but hopefully you've kept a log of how many times you called. I was in double figures easily!!

like I said.. they did say they were in their rights not to do anything, but they felt i'd been screwed around enough.

They knew my threats to otelo were pretty shallow, as the previous posts are 100% correct that you need a deadlock letter and at least 12 weeks between parties to sort it. I've got the pdf docs from otelo if anybody wants them...

[KBV1]

Well last night after reading these posts and for your help... im finally getting somewhere and who are willing to help and hear me out. Below are both emails i have received.

The email below is a reply from [email protected]


XXXXXXX,

I'm sorry to hear that you have had such a confusing and frustrating experience. I have passed your email and contact details on to my colleagues in our Executive Office and they will be in touch in the next few days.

Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Corporate Communications Assistant
3 UK

I replied thanking her for this as i was so pleased to receive a reply. Couple of hours later i received an email from the executive office saying:


Dear Mr XXXXXX,

Ref: XXXXXXXX

Thank you for your recent communication, highlighting your concerns.

I would like to confirm that the Executive Office is currently investigating the issues you have raised and you will be contacted within 10 working days to discuss the results of their findings.

In this interim period, should you wish to comment further on the issues raised, please call the Executive Office on 08707 330 295, between 9am and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Once again, thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and for your continued patience, during our ongoing investigations.



Yours sincerely

XXXXXXXXXXX
Executive Office Administrator
Executive Office, 3
DIRECT LINE (+44) 08707 XXXXXXXX


Just waiting for that call now so hopefully fingers crossed i will get a result. I will keep you all up-to-date :)

[stingray]

dommersj,

Did you ever resolve your issue?

My wife has just got the same sort of letter out of the blue. And after spending 30 minutes on the phone, we were told that it's an account that she closed in 2004 without paying.

Further, we were told that 3 will not deal with the matter further since the debt is sold off to Lowell. It's insane.

Any help with the matter is appreciated!

Thanks!


Thank you for some good advice here. Just got off the phone from customer services in India - 30 mins and got nowhere. Not the first time either... Read on.

What's worse is that they phoned me following a letter I sent to the Chief Executive! I find it staggering that a recorded letter to the Chief Executive was sent direct to India.

Here is my letter (edited slightly to take out personal details).

Mr Kevin Steven Russell
Chief Executive
Hutchison 3G UK Ltd.
The Executive Office
123 St. Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5EA

RECORDED DELIVERY

CC: Mike Reid, Head of Collections, Hutchison 3G Uk Ltd, Hutchison House, 5 Hester Road, Battersea, London, SW11 4AN
CC: Andrew Bartle, Chief Operations, Lowell, PO Box 172, Leeds, LS11 9WS


Dear Sirs

I was a customer of 3 for several years before moving to O2 in 2006 because your mobile email system was not fully functional. I returned to 3 earlier this year after being impressed with the service I received in your xxxxxxx retail outlet.

Please note the account reference numbers above.

In addition I have a mobile broadband service with you, and my partner and daughter have 3 Pay As You Go accounts. I calculate that as a household we spend between £900-£1000 per annum with your organisation.

I pay by Direct Debit every month.

I was outraged to receive two letters this morning – the first from Mike Reid REF xxxxxxxxxxxx stating that a debt has been assigned to Lowell Portfolio I Ltd. The second letter is from Andrew Bartle of Lowell Porfolio (same reference number), stating that I need to settle the outstanding debt amount of £50.25p.

I have no knowledge of this debt whatsoever.

After speaking with your service centre at x.xxpm on xx/09/2008 (Sxxxxx Wxxxxx) they informed me that the debt related to a contract from 2004.

Needless to state that I was furious.

Your representative continued to tell me that I even had a credit applied following termination of the original contract and I really couldn’t understand what this debt even relates to. I believe this is your error – and find it difficult to think back to such an insignificant event in my life from 2 to 4 years ago!

Please provide copies of all letters and include full details of contact attempted in relation to this debt recovery in the period 2004-2006.

To compound matters, when I entered into a new contract with 3 earlier this year I gave them my old account details and all the normal credit checks etc were fine. No mention of any debt – if there was I would have been only too happy to discuss in a civilised and professional manner.

So for the last 6 months I have been happily using my mobile phone and broadband accounts unaware that there is a £50.25p debt from 2004 – something I have never been given the opportunity to challenge or even PAY!

Hutchison 3G Uk Ltd has never approached me regarding this matter, yet they deem it acceptable to move a debt I know nothing about to a third party agency. This is unacceptable – I think you need your loyal customers yet you treat me in this manner without courtesy or integrity.

I am work for a financial institution and have to undergo an annual credit screen. By moving this debt (that I dispute and have no knowledge of) to a third party collection agency, you have now put my employment at risk. I hold Hutchison 3G Uk Ltd. wholly responsible for this predicament.

Your service centre promised me a call back within 2 hours from manager Mr Dxxxxxx. This never happened. I request a transcript of this call to be sent to me at your earliest inconvenience.

Amazingly Sxxxxxx stated “Have a great day” upon her goodbye! Needless to say it was not a great day. I am angry, upset and now extremely concerned about my employment.

As an absolute minimum I request that the debt is retrieved from Lowell Portfolio. I require confirmation of this in writing from Hutchison 3G Uk Ltd and Lowell Portfolio. I also will require written confirmation that no Credit agencies (particularly Equifax / Experian) have been informed of this debt.

I look forward to your comprehensive response within 14 days.


Yours faithfully


10 days later I received a call from Customer Services in India. !!!

To say I am furious is an understatement. 30 mins of pure scripted frustration followed. They eventually offered to email the Chief Exec but in their own imitable scripted style basically said "don't hold my breath".

I will alow 1 week (they have stated that's how long it will take for the transcripts - took me 30mins of badgering and demand to speak to floor manage to achieve that promise!) before writing again to Chief Exec and will be using some of the tips above. I will resort to sending all corres to Mr Russells home address as a last resort.

In the meantime they have suggested I pay the debt to stop someone "coming round". Madness.

Will speak to Lowell to get them to hold fire (bearing mind I have already written to them!) - All letters sent recorded delivery.

I will keep you informed and hopefully have some further tips on achieving a basic level of customer service from this organisation.

Any suggestions on when to ask help from Ofcom? Should I wait a bit more?

[Hands0n]

My wife has just got the same sort of letter out of the blue. And after spending 30 minutes on the phone, we were told that it's an account that she closed in 2004 without paying.

Further, we were told that 3 will not deal with the matter further since the debt is sold off to Lowell. It's insane.

Any help with the matter is appreciated!

Thanks!

This is absolutely astonishing! 3's record keeping is so atrocious I wonder how many other complete innocents will be "sold" to debt collection agencies.

I think a first step is to write to 3 asking them for documentation that shows where they think the debt exists. If they will not talk with you then approach Lowell and ask the very same question. They have to be capable of showing you in debt, i.e substantiated accounts. Ask them to show you specifically where they believe non-payment has been made.

No one can take you to task for non-payment without statements to prove otherwise.

While you are speaking with Lowell ask them for details of their Appeals Process - they have to have one. Also ask them to supply details of the Ombudsman, there is one its just that I cannot recall it right now. And be polite, write to them after any calls to state that you are refuting their claim against you.

You should also try and obtain copies of all your bank statements that will show where payments have been made on specific dates to 3. Your bank should be able to retrieve records going back seven years if necessary - they may want to charge you for doing so.

Lesson to anyone reading this thread - stay away from 3!

[stingray]

Hello,

We have called Lowell - they initially told us that we have to sort it out with 3. Then they changed their tone and told us that 3 won't deal with us anymore because the debt has been sold on.

They are also waving all fees incurred and told us that if we pay by the end of the month nothing will go onto the credit history. I am starting to smell a rat here... They probably know that they won't get anything if we keep digging.

A letter will go out to 3 today as you suggested. Somehow I am not holding my breath. The customer services lady who I spoke basically said (I paraphrase) "We've sold the debt on. We can't do anything about this anymore. Is there anything else that I can help you with?"

I am starting to think that we will have to pay to get them off our backs to start with. We certainly don't want a tainted credit recored especially at the current economy climate where a bad credit record could mean refused mortgage and our mortgage deal is coming to an end.

Anyhow it's letter time and a trip to the CAB.

Thanks for your help!


This is absolutely astonishing! 3's record keeping is so atrocious I wonder how many other complete innocents will be "sold" to debt collection agencies.

I think a first step is to write to 3 asking them for documentation that shows where they think the debt exists. If they will not talk with you then approach Lowell and ask the very same question. They have to be capable of showing you in debt, i.e substantiated accounts. Ask them to show you specifically where they believe non-payment has been made.

No one can take you to task for non-payment without statements to prove otherwise.

While you are speaking with Lowell ask them for details of their Appeals Process - they have to have one. Also ask them to supply details of the Ombudsman, there is one its just that I cannot recall it right now. And be polite, write to them after any calls to state that you are refuting their claim against you.

You should also try and obtain copies of all your bank statements that will show where payments have been made on specific dates to 3. Your bank should be able to retrieve records going back seven years if necessary - they may want to charge you for doing so.

Lesson to anyone reading this thread - stay away from 3!

[Hands0n]

Good luck with the CAB visit, I'm sure they'll be well versed in dealing with 3.

The next time you speak with Lowell ask them for the same proof of debt that you are being charged with by them. Don't forget that there is an Ombudsman that can get involved.

These companies use the thread to your credit reputation as a lever to get money from you. But they have to be careful. If you are right and they are wrong the cost to them, after you prosecute them in the Small Claims Courts, could be substantial to the point where it outstrips any profit they might have made from the debt.

You are not in as weak a position as you may feel you are - and I think your intuition has given you a big shove in that direction :D

I aint over till the fat bird sings - but I do think persuing Lowell if they own up to having bought the debt will be the stronger course of action. Tell them you are 100% willing to pay providing that they can show you proof of the debt, a complete statement of payments not made and when. Then you can compare that against your own bank statements to support your case against them.

[stingray]

Thank you sir! That's what we'll do. :)

Thanks.

Good luck with the CAB visit, I'm sure they'll be well versed in dealing with 3.

The next time you speak with Lowell ask them for the same proof of debt that you are being charged with by them. Don't forget that there is an Ombudsman that can get involved.

These companies use the thread to your credit reputation as a lever to get money from you. But they have to be careful. If you are right and they are wrong the cost to them, after you prosecute them in the Small Claims Courts, could be substantial to the point where it outstrips any profit they might have made from the debt.

You are not in as weak a position as you may feel you are - and I think your intuition has given you a big shove in that direction :D

I aint over till the fat bird sings - but I do think persuing Lowell if they own up to having bought the debt will be the stronger course of action. Tell them you are 100% willing to pay providing that they can show you proof of the debt, a complete statement of payments not made and when. Then you can compare that against your own bank statements to support your case against them.

[saz123]

'[email protected]' is the head of service management at three.

[Ben]

'[email protected]' is the head of service management at three.
Hi, welcome to Talk3G!

What's your experience with mailing this address, have they been helpful to you in the past?

[Timbo900]

i was on the three mobile rolling contract, and yesterday i went to cancel.
:mad:
it took me over 60 minutes to get through to the right department, and was on hold for 2/3s of the time.
when i finally got through to the right person, i was repetitively told that three could give me a better deal. asking what is was getting what the new contract is was getting was, and who with, and how much.
when i told the operator that i didn't want an upgrade on three, he said , " ok, that is fine with me, if you want to waste your money on an other operator, then i will let you do that."
I was appalled that a trained customer services operator could be so rude, about my well informed decision to leave 3 and go on a better value tariff with orange. (£25p/m 600 minutes, 3000 messages, and a free Nokia N86 8MP)
in the end i told him, that i wanted to cancel, told him to cancel the contract, and didnt want any more services from 3. even after that he said, if you want we can leave your number active, but with £0 line rental. to shut him up i took his offer, and ended the conversation with a total call time off 59 minutes 49 seconds. I was disgusted with the service, and after the 2 months i had been with them, i have already decided, that they are not worth diong buisness with. I am now happily on orange, with my free N86.

[Hands0n]

There appears to be this new aggressive anti-churn tactic at Three's call centres. I can't but help feel that this will backfire on them dreadfully, and rightly so.

What an utter shambles they are.

[solo12002]

"even after that he said, if you want we can leave your number active, but with £0 line rental. to shut him up i took his offer, and ended the conversation with a total call time off 59 minutes 49 seconds. I was disgusted with the service, and after the 2 months i had been with them, i have already decided, that they are not worth diong buisness with. I am now happily on orange, with my free N86."

Did you get that in writing from three, as I would not be shocked to find a mobile phone bill hitting my door.

[ChrisJBrady03]

The following email addresses no longer work

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

=====

New addresses:

[email protected] - Please note that I no longer use this email address. For matters relating to Service Management in 3, please refer to [email protected] For matters relating to MBNL, please use my new email address [email protected]

[email protected]

=====

[Eduardas]

Regards late payments on my account

I had a contract with 3G starting somewhere in March 2010. I cancelled within 14 days period and soon after moved to new adress. I did not know about any payment due until I did not get my letters forwarded to my new adress. That is when I found out that 3G sent the request to debt collectors. The letter had a payable cheque inside and was £55.70. I paid these money to 3G debt collectors and after I checked with them on the phone they said it is paid and recived in full. I have done it in August 2010. So how come I found 3G on my credit report in red saying that I did not clear the balance and it is £22 due and 2 of my payments are late I have no idea. I do not have any contract with 3G in process and I have a proof, a letter with reference number from your debt collection agency that I have paid amount in full already more than 6 months ago for the charges that appeared using the internet on my phone during the first 5 days I've got it. The last 6 months I had so many problems when opening my bank account in Uk and just now I realised that is completely 3G fault, because they do not update your customer records. I will pass to investigate this issue for all credit agencies and credit association but I do not know if they can help me a lot on this, especially when all customer service of 3G is outsourced in India. I believe this is unforgivable and inconvinience should be refunfed by 3G company! I paid your money in full!!!!!!!!!!!!! The account should be settled. I am very frustrated. :mad:
Maybe you know some email adresses I could refer to with this issue???? Thank you in advance :o

[Ben]

Hi Eduardas,

I strongly advise using Twitter to message @threeuk asking for assistance. They'll likely ask for you to send your email address in a private message so that they can follow up with you fully.

It should be trivial for Three to amend the improper details on your credit file.

[The Mullet of G]

Is your credit rating effect by paying bills late? I made T Mobile chase me for money every month for about 16 or 17 months, to the extent where they'd have to get debt collection agencies involved, at which point I made them phone me several times and jump through hoops before nonchalantly paying at a point that suited me. I don't really deal in credit I always use cash, but it didn't effect me when I moved to another network and took out another contract. I guess my question is, will my credit rating be shot to pieces? And if it is should I even care? If the answer to both is yes, then what steps could one reasonably take to right the ship as it were?


PS. Sorry for the slightly off topic post, but I see others having credit rating problems here, so it seemed like a good place to ask. :)

[pradeep]

hi guys,

I have made a complaint against Three mobile UK. The reason is, I lost my number because of their technical issue. They have tried an invalid porting and as a result of that I lost my number which I was using for a long time. There is a bit long story behind this. I can explain it if someone interested.
It's been few days after the complaint has been made, but they seem not responding. I need the latest important email addresses which I should copy the same complaint. I found few email addresses here, but I'm not sure if they are working any longer. Can someone post the most latest email addresses of the senior executive persons of Three mobile please ?

Thanks

Pradeep

[Ben]

The Mullet of G - oops, missed that one! The answer was yes, it would impact your credit rating. The only real way to improve things would be to start paying on time regularly. If you don't have any other credit commitments you could take out a starter visa card from someone like Barclaycard with a very small limit and just ensure it's paid in full every month (do a direct debit).

Pradeep - sorry to hear about your situation. I personally recommend you get onto twitter and message @threeuk telling them your number was lost due to a porting fault and that customer services haven't been of any help. They should be able to hook you up :)

[Theresa]

Hi,

I have a bit of an issue regarding Three and my outstanding debt with them. I have received letters from Lowell and Moorcroft Debt Recovery chasing my outstanding debt. I paid Lowell as I thought that they were the ones I was supposed to be paying but after a subsequent phone call to Moorcroft I found out that it should have been them I should be paying. Meaning I had paid Lowell in error. I have therefore taken it upon myself today to speak to Three directly. I gave them all the information then needed only to be told that the postcode didn't match up. As the bills are still coming from Three I can't understand why they don't. I did have another mobile phone back in 2009 from them and am now thinking that's what the debt is for. So I have given them the postcode for this and still no use. So now I've come to a dead end and don't know what to do or who to speak to next. I really don't want to phone anyone as they can't understand what I'm on about and they just infuriate me. I have told them I will not be paying as by the time I put the phone down I was quite angry. I have emailed them through their site before and have had no response whatsoever. Any ideas with up to date email addresses at all as I can't afford to keep ringing them. I need to see some kind of paperwork from them in order for me to know where the debt is from.

[Ben]

Hi Theresa,

If this is an old debt it may have been sold to the debt collection agency, probably meaning Three no longer have any involvement with it. Therefore, if you paid the wrong debt collection agency you will need to talk to them to get your money back, then speak to the 'right' agency and settle with them instead.

All sounds like a mess, and I have no idea why Three appear to have involved two agencies unless they're about different things.

Are Three still billing you for either service or have they stopped now?

[Hands0n]

Hi Theresa,

If you still feel you need to communicate with Three then you should contact them during Monday-Friday, 9am to 5pm on their UK support Twitter name @ThreeUKSupport. The team there will almost certainly be able to advise and look into your issue in detail.

But I think Ben is right also. If the debt has been sold on to Moorcroft then you'll need to get the money back from Lowell, Three will have no ability to intervene as they will have "factored" the debt away.

[andypar]

Thanks for address , i have finally got my cashback i was owed by aboutcomms ltd, thanks to sending an e-mail to [email protected] on sunday ,the money was in my account yesterday, no chance with customer service , offered me a poor settlement, i stuck to what was right and in the end they paid up, but what a bad experience. thanks and good luck, Andy
Ok guys Im sure someone will tell me off but :

Mark Rigby is on leave until 8th January (inc). For media matters relating to 3UK, please contact Hugh Davies:

[email protected]
mobile 07782 325 923

If you wish to contact Mark on a personal matter in the meantime, he can be reached at:

[email protected]
Mobile 07782 329 433

LOL Ive just spotted hes no turned out of office off, leave untill 8th jan. ffs thats over a month ago, I wonder if hes back!!

[violett]

Hi all!
Not sure who i should contact about my problem with 3. I lost signal about 2 weeks ago (my contract is still in its first year, signed it November last year) This is approximate time line of my communications with 3 support:
28/10/11 live chat on 3.co.uk : very helpful guy (James) told me problem is i live between two masts - one degraded, the other one degrading fast (not sure i use the same definition he gave me for the second one - the chat was never emailed to me, although requested) he advised me to wait until next day if situation doesn't improve to give 3 a call. I don't have a second phone so this is a bit of a problem for me but i use signal at my son's school to make the calls.
29/10/11 Called 3 and spoke with a manager, who told me to wait for 72 hours so tech team can investigate and get back to me with resolution.
31/10/11 Called to check on progress as even if they tried to call i got no signal - adviser told me nothing on my file as if i never called before, so i escalated a complaint (should've got a call in 48 hours)
3/11/11 call to 3 offered me 5 pounds off my bill (what a joke) and said wait for another 72 hours.

Now, i run my business from home and my 4 year old goes to school. I am loosing customer confidence as no calls can be made or received. If school needs to contact me - no way. Every time i speak with 3 i am being advised to raise a case, although i've done this. Sent emails to executive office but got auto reply.
So, please, if someone can advise me on what to do or who can help me resolve this asap.
Thank you!

[Hands0n]

Hi Violett - my first thought is to stop talking with Customer Services as they will be unable to coherently help you, as you've already found out. It is not as if your call detail is not recorded on their CRM but it seems that some of their off-shore staff have no ability to use and understand the information in the CRM itself.

My suggestion is that, on Monday, you contact Three's Twitter customer services team on @ThreeUKSupport ( https://twitter.com/#!/ThreeUKSupport ) where you will find Lauren and Nicki able and willing to help at least get you good quality information if nothing else. That is a good start, and allows you to work out a strategy.

If there are issues with the local transmitter/s then it will take some time for them to be resolved, it all depends on what the issue is. It could be a fault one or both, or it could simply be that with one mast faulty all the other [good] mast is being overwhelmed with traffic, quite reasonable expectation in networking terms.

So, see what @ThreeUKSupport has to say, you will have to "follow" them so that you can DM your details for them to check the CRM etc. They'll guide you through whatever they need from you.

Do let us know how you get on, and if you need more info or advice do not hesitate to ask here too. None of us work for Three, but there's bound to be other good suggestions from our regulars :)

[violett]

Thank you, HandsOn!
Guess i'll have to sign up to twitter now, lol.
I also checked on 3.co.uk and there are no planned works in my area. I would think at least they would've put some info there.
Will keep you posted.

[Hands0n]

You're welcome. They are only staffed Mon-Fri, around 9am to 5pm. They get a lot of tweets so could take best part of a day to get back to you. But once they engage they are very helpful :)

[violett]

Well, guys, after a few weeks of hard work from the team on Tweeter my contract has been canceled. I am impressed by the social media team and will highly recommend them to anyone having issues with the network. They did everything they could to fix and find solutions for my problem but it appears it cannot be fixed for me. All in all i was wrong jumping on the "hate" vagon and would happily come back to three should coverage improves in my area (or wherever i move, fingers crossed)
Thanks to HandsOn who showed me the right way to tackle my problem. I would say don't waste your time on call centers, go directly to Twitter - Lauren and Nicki are fantastic!

[Hands0n]

Hi Violett,
Sorry to read that your problems could not be worked out satisfactorily. Good luck on your new network :)

[lavishravishin]

Supa info....Youhavingalaugh..... hope I get what i want.. thnx

[uk3g]

I have been with Three since 2003 and in October 2010 I was upgraded to the One Plan. However, they offered me a HTC Wildfire, which constantly froze and went into repair three times. The latter time was the last straw. I sent in for repair in August 2011 and they managed to loose it on their repair line.

I complained on numerous ocassions and it fell on deaf ears. I finally complained to the Executive Office, who gave me a Samsung Galaxy W in December, by which time I was totally fed up and had complained to the Ombudsman. In February, the Ombudsman made a final decision in my favour and awarded me a new phone, a letter of apology and £40 compensation.

Three relucantly agreed to this and on the same day as confirming that they would not challenge the decision, they wrote to me saying they were terminating my account ang gave me 30 days notice. I complained to the Ombudsman but he said he was powerless to do anything. Three have now terminated my account.

So watch out, if you are successful in securing a victory against Three, they will terminate your account!
:mad:

[Ben]

That's a bit mean of them. Saying that, if they've been unable to resolve your complaint I'm guessing you don't really want to stay with them anyway. Still, there's almost something childish about reacting in this way... whoever it was taking that decision I certainly wouldn't hire them myself.

[Hands0n]

Definitely a very mean-spirited response from Three, and quite surprising too. It was never going to draw them any goodwill by doing that to a customer.

[uk3g]

Definitely a very mean-spirited response from Three, and quite surprising too. It was never going to draw them any goodwill by doing that to a customer.

Thank you HandsOn and Ben,

The matter has got even worse! Due to the problems which I had with Three, they had given me some credit on my account. Furthermore, the £40 compensation awarded by the Ombudsman was also credited to my account. At the time my account was terminated, i told three that I wanted the credit sent to my bank account. They agreed and said the payment team would be arranging this. Three weeks later, I am now told that they will not be giving me the money as it was a credit from Three and not paid directly from my bank account. This also includes the £40 compensation awarded by the regulator! Surely this can not right. I am writing to the parent company and the press today.:mad:

[Wilt]

Can the Ombudsman not do anything about the credit? I'm no expert, but crediting the compensation to an account you're going to terminate in 30 days seems like something that would be against the rules.

[uk3g]

Can the Ombudsman not do anything about the credit? I'm no expert, but crediting the compensation to an account you're going to terminate in 30 days seems like something that would be against the rules.

It seems very unfair in deed. Three clearly believe they can get away with anything nowadays. The fact that they have the most complaints out of all the mobile network providers seems irrelevant to them.

[hecatae]

best of luck uk3g, I never got anywhere with them

[Sajjad Rahman]

best of luck uk3g, I never got anywhere with them

Me too, i havent faced any problem till date, tough luck :(

[claire]

Hey guys here's the story I made a short version and long version ;)

short version - signed contract because three told me I would have perfect signal at my house, was not the story at all so trying to sort it out I am 99% that it is the network and not the phone so basically been trying to get some clarification on the matter and getting nowhere. Seem to be getting absolutely no where can anyone advise ?

** Latest update is someone will phone before 12th May regarding complaint but this doesn't help the signal matter**

Below is the longer version happy reading ;)

Ok I am going to start from the very start here as there seem's to be some miscommunication.

The contract was signed on 23.02.12 , after activating it that night I noticed the following day that I seemed to be having problems with the network at * my postcode here* the postcode I reside at, the problem also does happen at other postcode's as well but it is much more significant at * my postcode* . Just a small note also , the contract is under my sister's name *sisters name* who reside's at the *sisters postcode* , as she has took the contract out in her name for me but I use the phone at the my postcode. So I went on the Three network official website , proceeded to the support page and it was on the bottom of that , where I found the three twitter page link. I used twitter to contact three and received a swift responce to my queries stating that signal should be fine here but this was not the issue, a few DM's later and it was brought to my attention that work was getting carried out on the local mass and would be finished my March 2nd, which I was led to believe would help my issue. This however was not the case , so I cannot remember certain date's but I contacted three again and would told someone would get back in contact with me ( please may I be made aware of when this specific date was) within 5 working day's, I requested that they phone me Claire and not *sister the account holder and was told yes this would be fine. (Feel free to check recording's of the phonecall where this will be fully verified). This was not the case however and they phoned *sister the account holder who had no idea what they where talking about and failed to pass onto me any message apart from the fact three had phoned regarding the matter. The problem persisted for month's later and is still outstanding till this day, I have made numerous complaint's none which have been took serious and the last phone call yesterday has topped them all off. I phoned a nice genttlemen at Three who advised me to take it to my nearest Apple store for an exchange but I said I was not happy to do this because they would just swap it over for a second hand refurbished unit, which has faced problems before and will only come with a limited warranty of three months. The polite gentlemen then put me onto his manager 'hetal joshi' who was anything but unhelpful, he was very disrespecful, kept trying to talk over me and told me basically he was not willing to do anything for me. At this point , I wish to cancel the contract , hetal told me this was not possible as I had not contacted three within the first 14 day's where in fact I did via twitter which I explained to him, he said not to listen to anything that the twitter says as they don't know anything and I cant go on what they say. So basically to summarize

Contacted you guy's via Twitter - was very happy with service was told was a problem at mass should be fixed by March 2nd

This never seemed to help the issue so I made a phone call to three customer services who told me they would phone ME back but instead phoned *sister back therefore not fixing the problem or providing me with a solution.

Phoned three again, still got absolutely no where, there was major miscommunication still got nowhere

Phoned three again , was passed from Apple to Three to Apple to Three , Apple said they would send me a new phone but would place a £300 charge on my bank account - not acceptable

Went to local three store , was told to be added as an authorised user and phone would be sent away for repair - ok did this then was told actually they don't repair them I would need to go to Apple store.

Phoned again at which point I had contacted you guys again on twitter regarding the issue this is where I was dealt the attitude problem from Hetal Joshi, who as a manager should have better customer service skills.

Now this is really dragging on now, at this point in time, I see the only solution to the problem is that the contract be cut altogether and cancelled and I give the phone back. I am not happy paying an upfront cost for the phone, then a monthly fee for something which I render useless most of the time.

[JamesBond007]

Hi buddy...

i was just going through the above mentioned note by you....and i found that there is nothing wrong with the note accept the "Indian", see the issue is not with the people working.....or so none of the businesses which have come to india, the business came to india or asian countries is because there is no one in the UK who can listen to the 100 peoples wrath a day and they can still work and also do the same work every day......and also it doesn't mean if the call center is in india, the call center is still working according to the UK norms set by oFCOM OR OMBUDSMAN, so please let them do the amendments so that the same can be repeated by the call centers in india working for the so called UK market........or please try having the call centers in UK, where the excellence belongs and try running the call centre and try to see the difference then..........humble request by an INDIAN

[Hands0n]

Hi buddy...

i was just going through the above mentioned note by you....and i found that there is nothing wrong with the note accept the "Indian", see the issue is not with the people working.....or so none of the businesses which have come to india, the business came to india or asian countries is because there is no one in the UK who can listen to the 100 peoples wrath a day and they can still work and also do the same work every day......and also it doesn't mean if the call center is in india, the call center is still working according to the UK norms set by oFCOM OR OMBUDSMAN, so please let them do the amendments so that the same can be repeated by the call centers in india working for the so called UK market........or please try having the call centers in UK, where the excellence belongs and try running the call centre and try to see the difference then..........humble request by an INDIAN

Hi JamesBond007, welcome to Talk3G and thank you for the comments.

It is a general perception in the UK that off-shore call centres, be they in India or anywhere else, do not perform anywhere near as well as the UK-based call centres do. This is mainly because the business is call centre and not the business of the company that has outsourced to the off-shore operation. As such, the whole motivation is very different.

You suggest that "no one in the UK who can listen to the 100 peoples wrath a day .." but I can tell you that there are many very successful call centres that are UK based. One very large one is Sky, who also outsource for overflow. The majority of complaints come in when the callers have ended up in one of the off-shore overflow centres. They are notorious for giving incorrect advice (one of my personal friends experienced this for example) or having weak product knowledge.

In the case of Three, their own off-shore call centre, which just happens to be in India, is dreadful. It has even been censured by OFCOM and very many customer satisfaction surveys in the UK. And worse than weak product knowledge is the aggressive and rude behaviour of the retentions staff who will do anything at all, even tell complete lies, in an attempt to retain.

There are many stories of horror about Three's retentions. The most common is having to endure 20 minute or longer phone calls when trying to leave, with the retentions operator talking endlessly, not listening to the customer, making ridiculous suggestions such as give the phone to a friend and generally making the customer even more determined to leave and never come back.

There are too many examples to offer you - and I'm sure that if you were to follow Twitter (@ThreeUK and @ThreeUKSupport) you will see the people complaining of the same call centre tactics over and over again. The same is on other forums and even the media sites.

And the same is evident at the other UK operators such as Vodafone who have outsourced to off-shore locations. The exact same complaints and issues are cited.

Out sourced, off-shore call centres simply do not work well.

[3GScottishUser]

Its astonishing that 3's senior management based in Hong Kong have chosen not to change their policy re offshore call centres. Having spent more than £10 Billion building the network and investing heavily in acquiring new customers the same old issues blight them and one look at the latest responses on Reviewcentre should be enough to make anyone wary. One wonders how many customers could be saved or would have a more positive opinion of 3 if they moved customer support to UK call centres.

Latest Consumer Reviews: http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews12640.html