Aaargh! Three have disconnected me! What are my rights?

[col37400]

About a month ago, I gave my 30 days notice in an attempt to get a better renewal deal offer.

A few days ago I phoned to see what they would offer me. As it happens, nothing better than they had offered before. Anyway, I accepted their offer and was told that my new contract (12 month) would start today.

This morning I discovered my line had been terminated.

Having spoken to 3 CS it seems they forgot to cancel the termination on my line, when they renewed the contract. They have admitted it is their fault.

I am told it will take 3-5 days to get me back up and running, which is obviously quite a major inconvenience for me. I guess I will just have to get a PAYG sim for now.

I asked the 3 CS whether they will offer me any compensation for this. They said no. This seems unreasonable to me.

I am wondering what my position is. Have they broken the contract in this case? Or have they not because technically this happened in between the old contract and the new contract?

Any advice as to what I can claim back from them would be much appreciated.

I am tempted to just take out a contract with another operator, then as soon as my 3 number comes back online, request a PAC and an immediate cancellation on the grounds that they have broken the contract. Would I be within my rights to do this?

[bolder]

About a month ago, I gave my 30 days notice in an attempt to get a better renewal deal offer.

A few days ago I phoned to see what they would offer me. As it happens, nothing better than they had offered before. Anyway, I accepted their offer and was told that my new contract (12 month) would start today.

This morning I discovered my line had been terminated.

Having spoken to 3 CS it seems they forgot to cancel the termination on my line, when they renewed the contract. They have admitted it is their fault.

I am told it will take 3-5 days to get me back up and running, which is obviously quite a major inconvenience for me. I guess I will just have to get a PAYG sim for now.

I asked the 3 CS whether they will offer me any compensation for this. They said no. This seems unreasonable to me.

I am wondering what my position is. Have they broken the contract in this case? Or have they not because technically this happened in between the old contract and the new contract?

Any advice as to what I can claim back from them would be much appreciated.

I am tempted to just take out a contract with another operator, then as soon as my 3 number comes back online, request a PAC and an immediate cancellation on the grounds that they have broken the contract. Would I be within my rights to do this?

I doubt you'd have grounds to terminate the contract, reasonable problems are accepted in the fulfillment of any contract so long as measures are in place to correct errors. That said, you would be in a position to make a Small Claims Court financial claim against Three if you really wanted to push it -- they could include the 3-5 days of line rental they've charged you when you were without service, plus costs of making your calls elsewhere, plus reasonable costs for time and the court process. You wouldn't make a fortune, but you'd probably get £20 or £30 out of it. It would be a lot of hassle, including appearing before a judge if they decided to contest it, and the claim may get thrown out if you've not tried other routes to resolution first.

If I were you, once you're reconnected I'd call up again -- request a £x credit for your hassle; if they don't respond, write to their legal department setting out your case and the amount of compensation you want. After that, if you're still unhappy, take it through the online small claims court processes.

[wenklaw]

I doubt you'd have grounds to terminate the contract, reasonable problems are accepted in the fulfillment of any contract so long as measures are in place to correct errors. That said, you would be in a position to make a Small Claims Court financial claim against Three if you really wanted to push it -- they could include the 3-5 days of line rental they've charged you when you were without service, plus costs of making your calls elsewhere, plus reasonable costs for time and the court process. You wouldn't make a fortune, but you'd probably get £20 or £30 out of it. It would be a lot of hassle, including appearing before a judge if they decided to contest it, and the claim may get thrown out if you've not tried other routes to resolution first.

If I were you, once you're reconnected I'd call up again -- request a £x credit for your hassle; if they don't respond, write to their legal department setting out your case and the amount of compensation you want. After that, if you're still unhappy, take it through the online small claims court processes.


I agree with the above suggestion. Compensation of £15-£30 from '3' should be ample. Mistakes happen and a small claims court will only be favourable if you have explored the alternatives direct with '3' and they are found to be fully at blame.
In your case you did give a termination notice to '3' but then changed your mind (how long was it into the 30 days when you called back up to change your mind?), which is fair enough.
This however would be taken into consideration in any small claims court. To be honest if its been sorted out the amount of time you will spend to get £15 approx compensation isnt worth it IMO.