[delinquentwoody]

Well following my letter to 3 regarding ending my contract following the price rises, i received a phone call this afternoon from Glasgow customer services.

The guy was genuinely polite, and said I was very welcome to make my PAC if I wanted, however he said he wanted to make me an offer first.

Basically, if I agreed to another 12 months with them, they would give me

- any handset I wanted for free,
- 6 months FREE line rental, credited to my bill each month (on the 500mins/100 texts tariff)

which sounds fantastic to me, just for writing a simple letter complaining about a negligible price rise!

Obviously I took him up on the offer, so from tomorrow I shall be the proud owner of a free N70, with free line rental to go with it! Not that I want to boast or anything.... :D

[Ben]

Excellent, well done! Power to the people! :p

loll @ 6 months free line rental. That's just funny! With a free N70? Lmao!

[Hands0n]

What? And you didn't take the opportunity really stick the boot in and to ask him for the N70's Unlock code? :D Dear old Mum always said to kick a man when he's down.


Excellent result, nice one.

[connect]

Hi,

I'm on 3 at the moment. Where can I get a copy of the contract so I can try the same thing? Where does it say you can cancel and what did you say to them?

Cheers

[Ben]

Hello connect, welcome to Talk3G!

All the info you need is here: https://talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1643

[Hands0n]

Hello connect, welcome to Talk3G.

There is a thread on this subject in the forum section where the contract T&C are quoted clearly. Otherwise you can search around 3's website.

But the important bit is that you need to be notified by 3 of their change in tariff. This was done in a more general letter from them, almost as an aside, although quite clearly stated. It is that communication from 3 that you use as your get out. You only have 30 days (iirc) from notification which you should have already had for a few weeks back by now. It may be that you just discarded the letter as yet another piece of junk mail in the post. Still, you can claim that you got it and see if it sticks. They'll be expecting cancellations.

Have a look at the forum thread here https://talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1643 all the info you need is just there.

Good luck and let us know on here how you got on with your cancelation.

Rgds

[Hands0n]

Hee hee :D SNAP!

[delinquentwoody]

Got my N70 today. Nice!

[Ben]

Very speedy :D Grats! Let us know how you get on with it. Oh, and do let us know how Three's billing works out when you get your next one!

LoL @ Hands0n, shaming me with reams of usefulness as always ;)

[cyberkid999]

Hi,

I'm on 3 at the moment. Where can I get a copy of the contract so I can try the same thing? Where does it say you can cancel and what did you say to them?

Cheers


If you have not notified them already it could be too late as the price increase takes effect on the 17 November and if you have used the phone since then you have accepted the new price increase and hence can no longer cancel using that reason.

[fozzie]

I got the 6 months half-price offer from them & a SE K608i .... I didnt have the brass cahunas to ask for a Nokia.They also said I had 7 days to change my mind so should I get a Nokia ?

[Ben]

If you can :) It certainly smelts the pants off the SE.

[Hands0n]

Oh yes, get the Nokia. It'll do so much better than the K608i - you've got a choice of the 6680 (a bit old hat now), the N70 (a worthy successor to the 6680) and if you like something a bit simpler and slider check out the 6280 which is anticipated end Nov or during December.

[fozzie]

Got the Nokia N70 .... Finally .... 3 booked the change over & i sent back the SE handset .... once they received the phone I was told to phone them back & arrange delivery of an N70(black) ..... SO I DID ..... arranged the delivery(so i thought) .... waited patiently - NO PHONE GRRRR!!! ....phoned CS oh it will be with you tomorrow now ... ok i said then I decided to contact CS again regards this .... we are very sorry the handset hasnt been dispatched at all .... MY GOODNESS !!! I exclaimed & said well can this be sorted out .... they duly did so & I received it the following day .... I am delighted with the handset however I am more than a little dischuffed with having to use an NEC e228 for a few days longer & also the debacle they call customer service .... customer carnage more like !!!!

AND TO TOP IT ALL ITS A BLOODY SILVER HANDSET AAARRGHHHH !!!!

[hypo]

well pesonally i wouldnt have a 3g phone anymore as the costermer service is the worst i have ever had .
been without my phone since 12th december .
was broken whilst being repaired and tried to bill me for it .
was then left in limbo for 2 weeks then offered a really poor replacment that i refused ,then sent another but when delivered they asked for the old one that was not sent back to me by threes repair contractor so they would not leave it .
then told i would recive new one in 4 days that did not arrive as they did not send one .then given some b/s that they needed authorisation but they had se that at least 4 times so still waiting ?.

how can i cancell the contract without penalties please ???.

HELPPPPPP :-{

[Ben]

Welcome to Talk3G!

First off, sorry to hear about your troubles with Three. They are but one of five 3G networks in the UK, alongside Orange, Vodafone, O2 and T-Mobile, so don't lose faith in the technology as a whole!

Getting out of a contract is near impossible unless there's a loophole such as the one discussed here - which does not apply to you. The best course of action is probably to contact 3's executive office: [email protected]

Explain the situation and I'm sure they'll try to assist. Keep us posted with your progress!

[hypo]

thank you i will :)

[tony5101]

Welcome to Talk3G!


Getting out of a contract is near impossible unless there's a loophole such as the one discussed here - which does not apply to you. The best course of action is probably to contact 3's executive office: [email protected]



Have just tried the loophole as per the above post, only to be told that there was a time limit on the ability to cancel the contract due to the price hike :(

Basically my problem is that the coverage isn't great where I live, but according to the website and the tubby that I spoke to it has full coverage - wish they would come to my house and try to make a call without having consistant dropouts.

3 should be a good network, but unfortunately the simple fact is - it isn't.
Having CS in India and being dictated to you from a script (in a very polite manner though) is not particularly helpful.

I am going to try an email to the exec. office to see what that turns up. Unfortunately I can see myself having to ride out another 6 months with this shabby excuse of a network, as I simply can't afford to pay £180 quid to buy myself out.
It's all very well offering thousands of free minutes - but try using the buggers without having to constantly redial and cross your fingers that your call will connect!!

Anyway - rant over, but hopefully Bye Bye 3

Tony

[Ben]

Hi Tony,

What causes your problems? If it's switching between 3G and 2G signals and you have a Nokia Series 60 handset such as the 6680 or N70 then we may be able to help.

[tony5101]

Thx Ben - I do have a 6680, and am not sure whether it is the switch over or not. I suspect that it may be, as never had a problem with any other 2G network - happily used T-Mob and O2 with previous contracts and had no probs. Any help would be most welcome (going bald anyway, but even quicker at the moment!)

[Ben]

This post here (https://talk3g.co.uk/showpost.php?p=4912&postcount=10) should help you lock the handset to GSM, aka O2. Please note that while locked to GSM you cannot video call and certain Three services will be unavailable to you. To the best of my knowledge you can still send/receive MMS, SMS and, of course, make calls.

I strongly advise paying close attention to your handset display first to ensure that your problems are being caused while in 3G signal and/or when 3G is switching to 2G.

Providing you have reasonable O2 coverage this may well solve your problems. However, note that Three do not allow their handsets to be locked to 2G (aka O2) and so constantly being on it may arouse suspicion. Therefore it is advisable to return your handset to dual-mode every now and then.

[tony5101]

Thx Ben - will give it a go.

Tony

[3g-g]

...However, note that Three do not allow their handsets to be locked to 2G (aka O2) and so constantly being on it may arouse suspicion. Therefore it is advisable to return your handset to dual-mode every now and then.

However, if they did get lippy with you about that you could give them both barrels about how poor the network is in your area and that they should do something to resolve it!! :p

[3GScottishUser]

I am dissapointed but not surprised about this problem. I have been assured time and again (every time a new handset appears on 3) that it would solve the call dropping problem. After 5 handsets and 18 months I gave up listening to that advice and have taken the advice of some here to leave 3 alone as it seems to be the case that in my area 'call dropping' remains an issue.

Many 3 users who consider that they are getting a great bargain put up with this issue but for me call relaibility is the #1 priority and I have moved to another network (which has both GSM & 3G) and have never looked back. Its more expensive but I dont have to think about redialling or apologising when calls are cut short anymore.

I got out of my first 3 contract by insisting that they check their records how many calls failed or dropped including the numerous attempts to communicate with their contact centre that suffered from the same sympom. After a brief word with OFCOM and provided with a reference number and having kept a record of the appalling record of communication failures 3's executive office released me from the contract as I insisted (with recorded evidence) that they could not provide a relaible service.

I tried again in 2004/5 with a Nokia but same thing really. Happliy I only spent £60 for the whole contract and bailed out after 6 months.

Keep in touch and let us know how things go. You really should'nt have to use a 'workaround' when the network you bought a phone from has 87% coverage of the UK!!