Three complaints UK: Official method vs. Unofficial method - How to complain to Three UK

There are always two ways to do things, the way they want you to do it and the way they don't want you to do it.

Three UK have (as all big companies do) a formalised complaints process. They have a business process that helps them deal with consumer complaints i.e. log them, track them, analyse them and (hopefully) resolve them. It is understandable that they have such a process because they as a business need to be able to manage complaints efficiently and their main business is to sell phones and not handle complaints.

However, we (everyone who reads this) are a group of savvy individuals and we know there are betters ways to make sure our voices are heard by the people who matter at Three UK.

Most people are most likely to follow the procedure online and complain by using the form or call customer services in India and vent their frustration there. I guess if it's a simple issue and if the call centre agents in India have the power to solve it, they may solve it and you may succeed in complaining and receiving a positive response.

The savvy readers of this blog will know, even if the issue is incredibly simple to our eyes, if it has to do with money being paid back to you, Three UK will not understand the problem or at least will not want to. So, what do you do? You get innoavative and start thinking outside the box.

The official ways of the Three UK customer complaints code:

• Online form
• Write to Three UK customer services:

Three Customer Complaints
Hutchison 3G UK Ltd.
PO Box 333
Glasgow
G2 9AG
(I wonder if this actually works)

• Call them:
  333 free from a Three mobile
  0843 373 3333 (5p/min from a BT landline,
  other networks vary) - Please don't call this number from a landline or a mobile. Call this number instead 01442 456050.

The unofficial ways of complaining to Three UK:

Write a letter on the computer, print it and post it using the Royal Mail First Class Signed For service. However, a random letter won't even get past the receptionist. To send a really effective letter and make sure it physically reaches the hands of senior management individuals, you need to follow these steps:

1. Find the appropriate contact - LinkedIn is normally a good way. We would publish a list of names of people high up in Three UK, but we've been asked (told) not to. A Google search throws up a lot of names.

2. Find the appropriate address, these are the addresses and telephone numbers on the Three UK website:

Hutchison 3G UK Limited
Star House

20 Grenfell Road

Maidenhead

SL6 1EH

Tel: 01628 765000

Hutchison 3G UK Limited
Great Brighams Mead
Vastern Road
Reading
Berks
RG1 8DJ
Tel: 01628 765000

Notice how both office locations have the same phone number. The number goes to a switchboard. To find out where your letter reciepient is based, select option 2. The switchboard operator will ask who you are and where you are calling from. Now, if you say you are a customer, you won't get past the operator. We are not asking you to lie, just use your imagination.

3. Once you have the right person's name and their office location, start writing your letter. Make sure you write a proper formal letter. This letter may even be used in court in the future, should it go that far.

4. On the envelope, be sure sure to write in an appropriate place: 'Strictly Private & Confidential'. This will  massively increase the chances of the letter reaching the individual.

5. Wait for a response.

The next method is to email the appropriate people. However, remember, the email needs to be as formal as the letter.

1. Finding the right email address can be quite tricky. It depends on how much spare time you have and or how motivated you are. From my experiecne, Three UK follow this email format: Firstname.Lastname@three.co.uk.

2. Be sure to include all details in the email, so whoever reads it can action it right away.

By far the best possible chance you have of getting your complaint heard and actioned is to follow all of the methods above, official and unofficial.

So, complain using all of these methods:

1. Online form
2. Write to customer services
3. Call customer services
4. Write to the head office (to an approriate person only)
5. Email (directly to an appropriate person)

Remember: All these methods are just to initiate a complaint. Please wait for my next post, where I will go through methods of escalating existing complaints all the way to the small claims court and how to build a legal case prior to that. This is not hard, it just needs dedication.

Thanks and stay tuned - Three Complaints UK (Unofficial)

Latest Complaint Email received

Another complaint email received from a customer who is experiencing identity fraud with little or no help from Three at all:

2 phones were taken out in my name. I have spoken to Three and provided them with a crime referance number against both accounts. When I spoke to them they told me that the phones were taken out through Fish for phones and that I needed to speak to them. When trying to research them to contact them, as Three could not provide with one, I found that they actually do not exist!

I am requesting notice of correction under the public information as I have done more than my part to have this resolved and Three are doing nothing.

This has been going for too long and is affecting my credit rating. If nothing is resolved I will be forced to take legal action myself.

Latest Complaint Email received

Below is a recent email received from one of our visitors:

I have been a Three customer now for 2 years and was glad for my contract to come to an end and had decided I would leave because of the poor customer services, for example I wanted to end a month to month mobile broadband contract which involved 45 minutes of the advisor trying to sell me another contract and an iPad, when I simply wanted to cancel because I didn’t use it any longer. I was checking prices around and found Three was the cheapest and I was tempted by the new ‘all-you-can-eat’ data offer for internet access. It turned out I could have this and 200 extra minutes, for £3 less a month with a new mobile, on top of that my friend was on Orange which was my next choice but then I overheard a conversation with Orange customer services and it sounded just like Three.

Anyway I am back in a 2 year contract with Three, my nice new Android phone arrived earlier in the week, to my delight for a mere £13 a month I was getting 200 more minutes, and unlimited internet, great – however the mobile appeared to have a defect with the screen, it was slightly shifted to the right side of the phone and the touch screen kept malfunctioning sometimes entering several characters when I had only pressed one, and also the screen appeared more responsive on the left edge than the right edge almost like it was not calibrated but the mobile didn’t have a calibration option. It took about 4 calls to Three customer services to get a replacement arrange, firstly they said I couldn’t return it because I had used it, then they said I just needed to get used to it and I would then like it, then they tried to say it would need to be repaired, only had it 2 days, anyway trying to explain the problem to them was painful, I had to listen to a long list of terms and conditions about if the mobile is returned damaged, or non faulty the charges I will incur and if I try to cancel my contract now because I have used the mobile I would have to pay the full term minus 10% or something? And that they have sold many of these and they have not heard of my fault before. To be honest they do lie to make a sale, they told me ‘all-you-can-eat’ data was truly unlimited no fair usage policy, but it turns out that isn’t true, they also said they were doing me a special favour by giving me 300 free 3 to 3 minutes to which I pointed out I already got 5000 free 3 to 3 minutes and that was the standard on all the contracts they offered so it wasn’t a special offer to me. Its lucky dip with who you get, some advisors are more helpful than others, some are professional in approach, the majority are not – I hang up on them and ring again to get a different advisor sometimes as they occasional disconnect you when your on hold anyway.

If the replacement goes ahead and the replacement is ok, sealed, new, no defects or faults and they don’t start trying to charge me for the returned one claiming its damaged or whatever I’ll be happy again, at least until the next time I have a problem with my mobile.

Make sure you keep up payments during your complaint

A word of caution, one of the biggest DO NOTs of making a complaint is to cancel your direct debit (or payments if you pay by giro etc...)  so make sure you keep your payments going even if you think they are in breach of contract and here's why:

1. Companies like Three are large organisations with strong legal backing so their contracts are usually watertight with regards to missed payments
2. If you miss a payment it will show up as a default against your credit rating which will have a knock on effect with any loan applications you may be seeking in the future
3. They could potentially seek the assistance of credit collection agencies which could become one of the most irritating and stressful experiences you can have.
4. Depending on the severity of your complaint, it may take until your contract is over for your issue to be resolved meaning that all the hassle of cancelling wouldn't have been worth while as you could leave the network anyway!

Remember, if you are right with your complaint then a resolution will be sought out regardless so don't give yourself any aggro!

Ofcom Releases Latest Mobile Complaints Data

On March 22nd, Ofcom* published data of their most recent complaints data includng mobile services.

Orange came up as the most complained network with 3UK a close 2nd.

As you can see from the chart provided by Ofcom, although Three only came second to Orange in more recent months, their overal performance is still worse than other mobile networks with O2 having the best performance.

They state that Three's high complaints ratio has been driven by the complaints about disputed charges and their customer services.

Full article can be found here: Ofcom Article March 2012

*Ofcom is the UK's telecommunications regulator.

Good tip for sending letters

If you do decide to write to Three, please make sure you send it be Recorded delivery, or if you can afford it Special Delivery, that way you can track when it arrives and start timing your 8 weeks from the date it arrives.

If, AND ONLY IF, 8 weeks has passed with no contact or deadlock letter from Three, contact th ombudsman service and get a reference. Then write one final letter to Three (by recorded post) and at the header of the letter "CC Ombudsman Services: Communications" and send the letter to them making sure you've quoted your reference in the letter too.

Otelo has changed

Just so everyone knows, OTELO has changed to Ombudsman Services: Communications which Three will be a member of. Most of the same rules apply (8 Weeks etc...) but make sure you read the guidelines on their site.

Address:
PO Box 730
Warrington
WA4 6WU

Cancelling your contract and still getting charged?

I have actually had a few emails now from people who have cancelled their contracts and still been charged by Three. Worse still, they receive threatening calls/emails/letters from the overseas/indian call centres requesting payment.

Other cases include Three customers reaching the end of the contract term and Three call center advisers refusing to issue PAC codes for customers to transfer their numbers to more reliable networks. All of this is absolutely not acceptable!

Wherever possible try and contact the executive office address and I will keep hunting for UK telephone numbers and emails.

I will be looking more into this but please keep emailing me with your cases and if you are in the middle of a complaints procedure, let me know how they are getting on so I can advise other visitors to this site.

Latest Complaint email recieved

Regarding unsolcited charges by Three. Customer is currently making his complaint with customer services.

My £15 per month contract with 3 had ended in August 2008 and I contacted 3 customer services to ask for a pay-as-you-go service in October 2008. Unfortunately customer services were not happy with allowing me to go to pay-as-you-go (PAYG); They tried to convince me that there were better services and phones available. 15 minutes of repeating my wishes to go PAYG later I was put on hold as I was transferred onto another customer services advisor to “confirm” my choice of going to PAYG. My wife Sarah was listening to the conversation and found it quite humorous that my simple request was being blatantly ignored.
I was then talking to a customer service advisor called LENE DASS: she was going to offer me a better phone at the same cost of £15 a month. I implicitly told her that I do not use a phone enough to justify £15 a month an that I was more than happy with the phone I had: a Sony Ericsson K800i. She continued to haggle with me that a better phone for £15 a month would be wiser than PAYG. I reiterated numerous times:
· I don’t use my mobile phone enough to justify £15 per month
· I mainly use it for emergencies and as a camera phone.
She then tried to convince me that another phone with less megapixels and a xenon flash would be a better camera phone than my k800i but I was not going to change my mind. Then Lene Dass offered me the Sony Ericsson C902 (as I was on the internet at the time I could bring up the phone and confirm that it was a true upgrade).
Beyond any shadow of a doubt I continued to reiterate I would not pay more than £15 pound a month and that’s all I would pay. Lene Dass had mentioned a video call package and I was adamant that this would be of no use to me and that I would not pay more than £15 a month. I had her implicit assurances that I would not be paying more than £15 a month. I made her assure me several times as there was something in her voice that raised my concerns that she was not telling me the truth: a wavering in her tone that made me concerned that she did not seem confident and clear with her assurances. I made her repeat her promises to me and I repeated my terms: NO MORE THAN £15 PER MONTH.
When I checked my bank statement online I noticed a large payment to 3:
· £105.64 on the 21st Nov 2008.
I checked my 3 statement online and realised that I had been charged £76.596 (ex vat) for a device upgrade charge.

I called back to 3 customer services (Sunday 14th Dec 08) and spoke to a man named Zoficar who assured me that I must have agreed to this charge. I find that insulting to anyone’s intelligence that they could miss such a large payment. He would arrange for Lene Dass to phone me within 24hs.
Lene Dass called me around 9am on Monday 15th December 08. The conversation was deeply upsetting and unpleasant. Lene Dass continually lied to me and told me that she had listened to the tape of our conversation and I had agreed to pay the £90 for the phone and that she had evidence. The idea is preposterous, I asked to speak with a supervisor and eventually I talked to a man who identified himself as Riveed. He assured me that he would listen to the tape and would contact me within 5 days.
Today is the 13th of January 2009 almost a full month has past since I spoke with Riveed: I have received no phone calls from 3. My mobile phone keeps a record of missed phone calls and there have been no phone calls from 3.

Another Recent email sent to me

Hi,

Thank you creating this website, I have been a 3 customer for around 5 years and had no problems until a year ago, I was miss sold an 18 month contract I requested 12 sold verbally on the phone- but stupidly didnt read through my terms and conditions when they arrived in the post, also problem with requesting a direct debit twice -causing me to go over drawn and 3 would not compensate me for my bank charges despite only wanting to be refunded £15 as a matter of principle as it was there fault they are more willing to loose my business aroung £1500 a year as soon as my mobile and internet contracts end.

..........but more recently my run in is with mobile broadband took it out a year ago and it is useless. Have complained repeatedly spent hours on the phone. Gave up today and asked to end my contract as I am not being provided with the service I paid for and told I cant unless I pay for the outstanding contract- I reminded them of the supply of goods and services act (1982). Seemed to stir them up and got a call back from a manager....but as expected no solution!

So I can hold them in breach of contract I have given them written notice of 14 days to fix the problem before I cancel the direct debit.

I have contacted the OFT and even watchdog!- was really annoyed. And will contact the other offices you suggested.

It did make me laugh this afternoon when trying to request an address to send my formal complaint to and after an hour on the phone discussing the lack of internet access was told by the advisor he couldnt provide me with an address, but could I look on the internet.....my reply was I would only my internet provider does not provide me with access to the internet ....I was then asked if I would like to take part in a customer satidfaction survey!

Many thanks for the website, and let me know if I can help- its an outrage they are getting away with bullyboy tactics and a sense they are above the law.

Unfortunatley for them it wont work with me.

Kind regards,

Sarah.

Recent email sent to me

Hi

Id just like to say thanks for making the time to create your web-site. I am currently in a major dispute with 3 and found site very helpful.

Too cut a long story short I purchased a pay monthly phone from a 3 Store only to find that I struggled 2 get a network in & around my home. I got one bar if I was lucky in one room of my house only.

When I brought the phone I got advised to take it away make some calls send some texts & see how I get on. I was then advised if I do struggle and get a bad network take it back within 14 days & they will cancel the agreement.

After 3 days I took the phone back & got told by a manager that they are unable arrange a cancellation. One of the factors was that I have used 30 mins of calls so proves to them that I am happy with the contract. I advised I am happy when I CAN use the phone, reception is fine when I am at work in the City Centre but rubbish when I am at home. They keep telling me that there technicians say network is GOOD.

I have said that I am not happy with there product as I cannot use it for its intended use. I believe I have been miss-sold there product as the sales assistant did not instruct me of any of these details whilst purchasing.

I believe I am within my rights to retun & cancel the phone as per the 14 day cool off, however the manager in shop argues otherwise. The 3 CARE Call Centre have been no help whatsover, stating on many occasions that they cannot help me any further today.

I am now going to write a complaint letter to 3 & copy in Consumer Direct & Trading Standards as I believe that this is unfair. If I knew what I was gettign myself into I would of NEVER gone with 3.

Absolute nightmare company which has caused great stress at this time of year.

If you have any guidance or suggestions please let me know.

Thank You & Kind Regards

Steven

Recent Article Found on Ecademy Website

In a letter to Hutchison 3G UK's Group Managing Director, 3's long-standing customer, Bill Warry wrote to 3's Group Managing Director, Canning Fox (as well as to Customer Services) to give seven days notice of intention to sue for breach of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

In his march 08 bill from 3, Bill Warry was charged for over 100 calls to 3 International Directory Enquiries at £1.915 a time although he had not made a single enquiry to them - ever. Customer Services explained that they had inserted 3 International Directory Enquiries as a default at the top of his contacts list and that the call button must have been pressed accidentally in he pocket, and that there was nothing they could do about the charge.

If 3 had not deliberately entered this 3 Premium number at the top of Bill's contact list the cost of 100 plus accidental calls would have been zero because they would have easilly fallen within the allowance of his price plan. Bill claims that 3's unsolicited action of inserting 3 International National Enquiries as a default at the top of his contact's list is "Unreasonable" as defined in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

Bill has notified OFCOM of 3's behaviour and is about to contact BBC's Watchdog and the Consumer Association. He is also preparing a press release on the matter for the mainstream media.

Here is the letter written:

Mr Canning Fox
Group Managing Director
Hutchison 3G UK
Hutchinson House
5 Hester Rd
Battersea
London SW11 4AN

Cc 3 Customer Services
Hutchison 3G UK Ltd Account No 9273342742
PO Box 333
Glasgow G2 9AG 4th April 2008



Dear Mr Fox,

Having subscribed to 3 for approximately two years on a low-cost tariff, I was shocked to receive my March 08 bill in the amount of £311.01 with over 100 calls (sometimes 4 within a minute) to 3 International National Directory Enquiries at £1.915 each.

I pointed out that I had not made a single enquiry to 3 International Directory Enquiries. 3 Customer Services said that they had made 3 International National Directory Enquiries my default in my contacts, that I must have repeatedly pressed the button accidentally while the phone was in my pocket and there was nothing they could do about the bill. I said they could apply some common sense and credit an obviously inappropriate billed amount. They said they were not prepared to do this.

I enclose two blogs that I have written on the subject. I have reported your behaviour to OFCOM and I am sending out Press Releases next week to "Watchdog", the "Consumer Association" and all the mainstream press.

I have never had such a problem before. Some companies strive for "a quick buck", some companies choose "long-term good customer relations". It is possible that Hutchison 3G UK Ltd is in the former category in which case making a 3 premium number a default, must be producing many quick bucks for the company.

However, I believe that introducing this unsolicited premium number as a default to your customers' contacts list is contrary to the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. I hereby give 7 days notice that if you do not promptly credit the charge of £233.84 plus VAT for unsolicited premium rate calls, I will be taking Hutchison 3G UK Ltd to court.

Yours sincerely,


W.N. Warry

Article links: http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=102006 & http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=102089

How difficult (illegal?) can H3Gs Termination Team make it to leave H3G?

Here is a recent complaint sent to me:

Copy of letter sent to H3G head office and local Trading Standards...

I wish to formally complain about one of your operators in India: xxxx xxxxxx, ID xxxxx.This morning, I spent over 60 minutes, repeatedly asking this operator to accept early termination fee and issue a PAC code.
Within the first 5 minutes, I had explained my reasons for wishing to terminate my contract:
1. Workplace coverage issues (no 3G, intermittent 2G @ postcode TD6 xxx)
2. Internet MAX does not work at all in 2G area (i.e. my workplace).
During the next 45 minutes, your operator repeatedly ignored my requests to process my early termination payment of £xx. Eventually I threatened to report 3UK to my local Trading Standards and requested his name and Operator ID.
At that point, the operator agreed to process my payment, during which he incorrectly entered my card details 2 times, then informed me that your ‘payment gateway’ might be down.
I offered to use a VISA card, which also failed due to ‘gateway issues’.I was then informed that my termination could not be processed and that it would not be possible for someone to call me back when the technical issues were resolved.Under UK law, I have the right to cancel my contract at any time, but Three UK appear to be actively denying my this right and placing obstacles in my way.
Please investigate my complaint and arrange for a UK based 3UK operator to contact me to process the termination request and issue me with a PAC code ate.

N.B. I have contacted my local Trading Standards office and asked them to become involved

Oftel: more complaints from 3 subscribers

http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/nov_03/news_3960.shtml

Back in 2003 but I still believe is relevant


The UK telecom watchdog Oftel received on average more complaints from 3's customers than any other mobile operators. The figures published by Oftel shows Virgin Mobile to be the best network with less than 0.1 complaint per thousand subscribers between April 1 and the end of September.

Vodafone was second with 0.1 complaints per thousand customers. Orange lost the best network title and is tied with T-Mobile and O2 with 0.2 complaints for every 1000 customers.

3 launched UK's first 3G network in March of this year but has been hampered by limited network coverage and drop calls. Oftel received 552 complaints about 3's service but were unable to obtain customer base information from 3 to make comparison with other carriers. The operator had about 155,000 subscribers by the end of August and it is estimated about 186,000 by end of September. In this case there would be 2.97 complaint for every 1000 customers.

The top three complaints received by Oftel included companies ignoring customer's complaint (6%), issues regarding operators' tariff and options package (6%) and problems with handsets (5%). Consumer complaining about the battery running down quickly and hands-free kits not working with the phone were examples given by Oftel regarding problems with handsets. These are also the problems faced by 3's subscribers.

WCDMA handsets, used by 3, tend to have shorter battery life and are bigger in size than current 2G mobiles. Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo faced similar difficulties when they launched their 3G services over two years ago. Short battery life in handsets and limited coverage has left the carrier lagging behind its rival KDDI.