Remember this?
Well after a litany of calls, emails and requests - eventually they took the Sony Ericsson phone back STILL SEALED IN THE BOX. The postal receipt (because 3 will not allow you to drop the phone in anywhere) says I posted the phone back to them on 19/01/09.
Well this morning I received a letter from debt collectors NCO Europe Ltd. demanding the following:
Principal Amount Due: €600.00
Early Termination Fee: €497.49
I have 30 days to pay €1097.49 on a phone I never asked for and have never, ever used. Both the phone and Sim were still in their sealed packaging when I returned them to 3 on 19/01/09.
So naturally, upon receipt of the debt collectors notice, I rang 3..."I'm sorry our phone system is being services and we can not accept this call"
I have since sent them a mail requesting an immediate call - lets see how long that takes.
I have been a customer of 3 since they started trading in Ireland - I am now pulling my account.
Yours fuming,
Emily
23 Feb 11:19
Wow, that's insane.
23 Feb 12:21
So I'm definitely not the only one with 3 problems - see Liam Noonan's blog
23 Feb 12:25
Isn't the 3 PR person an IIA member? If so, a few direct calls would be in order.
23 Feb 12:33
3 customer service starts from the point of view that the customer is wrong until they can prove via the regulatory bodies and courts (if necessary) that they are right.
Ask for the customer service agent's name and email address and inform them they have 10 days to sort it out or else it gets logged with comreg. They will do nothing but then you can request comreg to follow it up.
You should also talk to the nca
23 Feb 12:33
Might try that route Bernie - still no reponse to any of my calls/emails to three this morning
23 Feb 12:40
3 have some real problems with customer service. I used them for a couple of years and they were great for me, but two other people I recommended use them had unending problems with their bills and their handsets; specifically not being able to get 3 to fix the problems when asked about them.
The nice people at Thinkhouse PR do some stuff with 3. Maybe they can point you in the right direction? info (at) thinkhousepr.com
representing Revahealth.com
23 Feb 12:50
I hate contracts with mobile providers.
I posted about this on Twitter couple of weeks back:
23 Feb 14:16
Just got a call from a poor unfortunate 3 customer service rep in India.
This was after I sent this IGOpeople link to Three.ie
He confirmed a) they got the offending handset back and b) there was no basis for charging me ANY money.
I've requested that in writing.
I've also asked to close my 3 account (4 years old - avg €100 per month spend and never any unpaid bills) with no penalty. I don't want to spend another cent with 3 mobile.
He said this is impossible. I await a call now from his supervisor.
23 Feb 14:49
If you switch your number they have to switch in 2 hrs or less. european regulations stipulate this. Not sure about closing
23 Feb 18:20
Hi Emily,
Obviously not much I can do to help sort your problem, but if you do want any help or advice on switching network let me know and I'd be more than happy to help in any way I can.
Peter
representing Vodafone Ireland
24 Feb 12:43
Just to let you all know I've still heard nothing back from 3 - now I have 29 days left to pay up!
24 Feb 12:51
holy crap that's some bad customer service! plus shouldn't there be some kind of "Danger! PR Person!!! Handle with Care!" notice in your account details? ;)
24 Feb 13:15
Emily, if I can help in any way please let me know.
24 Feb 13:56
You would think Stewart, wouldn't you? That's why I'll be hanging my dirty linnen out on a washing line near you! ;-)
24 Feb 14:02
Hi Emily,
How are you sorted for a phone at the moment? would you like me to sort you out with a sim card while you are waiting for this situation to get resolved? No charge of course.
Daryll
representing O2
24 Feb 14:05
Sorry meant to add that there would be a handset involved here too.
representing O2
25 Feb 12:09
Thanks to O2 and Vodafone for their kind offers of help. Until I know the situation with 3, and what kind of penalty I'll face if I switch, I can't really take you up on them. That said, I'm deffinitely impressed with both company's customer service - I hope to speak with 3 today as they have finally contacted me so I'll keep you posted!
26 Feb 10:10
After being contacted by Conor Pope of the Irish Times (@conor_pope) the Head of PR for 3 has contacted me and has unreservedly apologised for what had happened. It was a long phone call, during which I told the whole story (I did suggest she just read it here too!). I also told her my feelings about 3's customer service. I added my view 3 should really be keeping abreast of what's being said about them on the internet and that I wasn't the only unhappy customer. She was very apologetic - what else could you be? She said the pushy sales call that started this fiasco was the result of 3 outsourcing to a sales company in the latter months of last year - this had not gone down well with many customers. The 'debt' on the 'phantom account', as its now being referred to, has been cancelled and 3 have also undertaken to allow me switch to a different provider without any penalty. So I'm on the look out for a good deal!
26 Feb 16:29
If you want to send me some details I can send you some information on some plans that might suit you.
representing O2
06 Mar 11:13
I have had an awful time with three mobile. I had an issue with my calls constantly dropping all the time when people were ringing me. The only way that I could remedy this was to ring the other person back. Of course then my mobile bills were nearly triple from what they normally were. I contacted them and they said it was a handset issue. So after the ordeal of 2 different handsets along with the original one I felt it was time for more action. Got not joy by contacting them through mail or phone. So I finally bit the bullet and contacted the communication regulator. They were fairly quick to get on then. Anyways, they were hell bent on not accepting any blame and they said it was the area I lived in. I live in the middle of a large town in the midlands.Also I was refusing to pay my bills as it was their problem that had lead to this issue. So, I finally had to pay some of the overdue money in order to cancel my contract and get my number from them to port it over to another network.Oh ye also, the bills that they sent out were always late and sometimes never arrived. When I rang up about this they had the cheek to try and charge me for an additional bill. Also they were ringing me to see why I didn't pay the bill eventhough I didn't receive it in the first place. What a shower of idiots? Absolute rubbish! Forget about the phone business, just keep spending money on sport sponsorship