Cell Phones in Great Britain - Leaving 3 - not as easy as I thought

Author

Leaving 3 - not as easy as I thought

hairydog@despammed.com

2006-03-28, 5:48 pm

I cancelled my 3 contract. It seemed to go OK. The person I spoke to
told me that I should cancel the direct debit, and then the final bill
would need to be paid by cheque.

I didn't like that idea, so I didn't cancel the DD. The phone stopped
working on the day appointed. Then a few weeks later, along comes
another bill, for the final month's line rental (which they did not
take) less a credit for the unpaid few days between the last paid-for
time and the end of the contract.

They have printed a little note on the bill that says "As you've opted
to pay by cash, cheque or credit card via 3 customer services, you
have been charged an administration fee of £3 to cover the cost of
processing your payment."

Er, no. I did not. I opted to pay by direct debit. I did not cancel
the DD arrangement. By adding the £3 fee, they have nearly doubled the
amount of money due. I consider this to be fraudulent.

I did try to call them to complain, but of course, the bit that says
"Please contact us on 333 (free from your handset) to settle your
account" is no good; it no longer works. I tried ringing them from a
landline on the 0870 number, but got a recorded message that they were
closed.

A company best avoided, I reckon.

--

Iain
the out-of-date hairydog guide to mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html
Browse now while stocks last!

Dave {Reply Address in.Sig}

2006-03-28, 11:48 pm

hairydog@despammed.com wrote:
> I cancelled my 3 contract. It seemed to go OK. The person I spoke to
> told me that I should cancel the direct debit, and then the final bill
> would need to be paid by cheque.
>
> I didn't like that idea, so I didn't cancel the DD. The phone stopped
> working on the day appointed. Then a few weeks later, along comes
> another bill, for the final month's line rental (which they did not
> take) less a credit for the unpaid few days between the last paid-for
> time and the end of the contract.
>
> They have printed a little note on the bill that says "As you've opted
> to pay by cash, cheque or credit card via 3 customer services, you
> have been charged an administration fee of £3 to cover the cost of
> processing your payment."
>
> Er, no. I did not. I opted to pay by direct debit. I did not cancel
> the DD arrangement. By adding the £3 fee, they have nearly doubled the
> amount of money due. I consider this to be fraudulent.
>
You could always write to them recorded delivery with a bill for £10
explaining that as they didn't take the last payment by direct debit,
you're charging them an administration fee to cover the cost of messing
up your bank account. If nothing else it'll cost them more than that to
respond to you.

--
Dave
mail da ve@llondel.org (without the space)
http://www.llondel.org
So many gadgets, so little time

Owen Rees

2006-03-28, 11:48 pm

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 21:57:10 +0100, hairydog@despammed.com wrote in
< 938j225u8e30s9b673l2
ts2a0s4j0791rm@4ax.com>:

>A company best avoided, I reckon.

Visit <http://www.blagger.com/index.php> and search for 3.

Various people have posted here with stories of problems with 3 in the
not too distant past.

Those who are satisfied with the service seem to be those who have not
tried to leave...

You may find <customer.services@3mail.com> a useful email address. My
experience is that they at least read the messages, even if they claim
to be unable to respond because they do not know that the email address
is that of the person whose contract it was.

Be sure to keep all the paperwork, and if you phone them keep a log (or
better record the call). Their preferred method of resolving disputes
seems to be to call in the debt collectors.

hairydog@despammed.com

2006-03-29, 5:48 pm

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 01:13:41 +0100, Owen Rees <orees@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Be sure to keep all the paperwork, and if you phone them keep a log (or
>better record the call).

Shall do.

What I'm going to do is to send them the amount I owe them (a fiver)
in a cheque in "full and final payment" of the bill, not paying their
£3 extra fee.

>Their preferred method of resolving disputes
>seems to be to call in the debt collectors.

They can try. But a debt collector can only collect a debt. I don't
owe them anything.

--

Iain
the out-of-date hairydog guide to mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html
Browse now while stocks last!

me@here.there

2006-03-29, 5:48 pm

hairydog@despammed.com wrote:
> I cancelled my 3 contract. It seemed to go OK. The person I spoke to
> told me that I should cancel the direct debit, and then the final bill
> would need to be paid by cheque.
>

Indeed, I had exactly the same problem but in the end I just paid it to
make them go away. Apparently the final bill cannot be paid by DD as the
"computer says NAAAAA" and you'll have to send a cheque or phone up and
do it by card over the phone.

Ho hum.

Me.

NickD

2006-03-29, 5:48 pm

So essentially, as they're forcing you to pay by cheque/ cash, they're
also forcing you to pay the =A33? Seems somewhat distasteful to me, but
not much you can do. Just make sure you cancel your DD!!

nick

Colin Forrester

2006-03-29, 5:48 pm

NickD wrote:
> So essentially, as they're forcing you to pay by cheque/ cash, they're
> also forcing you to pay the £3? Seems somewhat distasteful to me, but
> not much you can do. Just make sure you cancel your DD!!

I would be inclined to overpay by 50 pence - they will then have to
refund it at some point and it will cost them dear.

Owen Rees

2006-03-29, 5:48 pm

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 10:42:14 +0100, hairydog@despammed.com wrote in
< 9glk22hblilo4pk67m9d
0skdoq3kpjt4vv@4ax.com>:

>What I'm going to do is to send them the amount I owe them (a fiver)
>in a cheque in "full and final payment" of the bill, not paying their
>£3 extra fee.
>
>
>They can try. But a debt collector can only collect a debt. I don't
>owe them anything.

You just said you still owe them a fiver. 3 are perfectly happy to set
the debt collectors on people who have paid their last bill after
arguing how much it should be. Perhaps a fiver is too little for that,
but I would not depend on it.

--
Owen Rees
[one of] my preferred email address[es] and more stuff can be
found at <http://www.users.waitrose.com/~owenrees/index.html>

Owen Rees

2006-03-29, 5:48 pm

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 17:25:28 +0100, Colin Forrester
< colin@thefrogslepthe
re.com> wrote in < 48vqnrFkj7boU1@indiv
idual.net>:

>I would be inclined to overpay by 50 pence - they will then have to
>refund it at some point and it will cost them dear.

Who will make them repay the money, and how?

You could give them more money by calling their revenue generating 0870
number, you could give the post office money by writing to them, you
could email them.

What happens next when they just ignore you?

--
Owen Rees
[one of] my preferred email address[es] and more stuff can be
found at <http://www.users.waitrose.com/~owenrees/index.html>

hairydog@despammed.com

2006-03-29, 11:48 pm

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 22:37:15 +0100, Owen Rees <orees@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>You just said you still owe them a fiver. 3 are perfectly happy to set
>the debt collectors on people who have paid their last bill after
>arguing how much it should be. Perhaps a fiver is too little for that,
>but I would not depend on it.

I only owe them a fiver for as long as the cheque takes to reach them
in the post.

Then I'll owe them nothing, but they'll reckon I owe then £3.

They can try and pursue the 'debt'. It'll go to court.

--

Iain
the out-of-date hairydog guide to mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html
Browse now while stocks last!

R. Mark Clayton

2006-03-29, 11:48 pm

"Colin Forrester" < colin@thefrogslepthe
re.com> wrote in message
news:48vqnrFkj7boU1@
individual.net...
> NickD wrote:
>
> I would be inclined to overpay by 50 pence - they will then have to refund
> it at some point and it will cost them dear.

Look just send me a cheque for £50. Ok it is 100 times as much. I will
arrange for a premium rate phone number for you to call me on. After a
prolonged period of soothing music, you will be put through. I will promise
to refund you money, tell you the 'cheque is in the post', send you a credit
voucher against future use or just hang up. You will find this very
frustrating and annoying, and you will promise never to send me any money in
future...

A company that is used to taking people's money for nothing is not going to
worry about this for a milli-second.

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