View Full Version : How do I cancel my contract
I rang three customer services last night to ask why I havent recieved a bill and no money has gone out of my account. Anyway I then told them that I wasnt happy with the service they were offering for a number of reasons and told them I wanted them to terminate my account. Heres some of the problems I am having. Phone is a nec e616:-
No signal in some areas of country
Constant dropped calls
screeching noise in ear peice
phone rebooting
Poor battery life
People can hear me but I cant hear them
He gave me an email address to complain to but i think it is wrong (three.customer.services.co.uk). He logged my complaint in my account notes which I suppose will help. So what shall I do now
Keep a record of all problems and contact. You need quite a history of problems to have a 3 (or any other mobile contract) terminated.
There is no magic solution. Your problems are common sadly especially with NEC handsets, sheer determination is the only answer and the amount of effort required to argue your case can be time consuming. It is likely that you will be expected to allow 3 to exchange or attempt to repair your handset (not generally successful) and will probably have to involve OFCOM at some stage to assist. There are lots of threads on here that can help with the specifics in terms of the step by step process.
If you are part way through your contract a quick solution may be to drop your tarriff to VT100 (£15/month) then pay off the balance. You can do this after month 6. Thereafter you can sell the wretched NEC handset on e-bay for about £50-80 - that should recoup some of your losses.
Pity about the service etc but you can console yourself that you are about to walk a well worn path as you seek to release yourself from the 3 experience.
Good Luck.
Whats the number for customer services in scotland???
Bit of a lucky bag that one. You can ask politely and the Mumbai operators can transfer you to Glasgow. This is generally where 2nd level support issues are dealt with - so perhaps you could focus on that and you should get through.
Dont beleive them if they say they will contact you - hell will freeze over before you get a call back!
Whats the number for customer services in scotland???
Gunner
22-07-2004, 10:44 AM
You're not supposed to be able to contact them directly. Call the normal number and ask to be transferred.
Sent 3 an email last week complaining, still no answer wah ta ****ing suprise
jeterman
26-07-2004, 02:52 PM
0870 733 0367
it's now technical support but this is the number for glasgow.
there may be a long queue but hopefully they can help you.
hamberd
08-09-2004, 12:32 PM
I cannot believe that 3 are allowed to trade considering the amazing number of people all making the same complaints !! I was told outright by one of their cancellations representatives that nobody else is making these complaints !! No mate, only half the world. I am incredibly frustrated, I am on my 4th different type of handset, none of them did what it said on the box and all of them drop calls or suddenly make really high pitched noises etc etc. One way or another its clearly not good service for the money !! 'Customer Services' is a complete oxymoron in 3's case because they are blatently not committed to providing services to customers, more take their money and run before they realise what they've signed for !!
N*sync
08-09-2004, 05:59 PM
As i Has says before yes.
I have had none problems wit customer care, i have also recieved around 6 calls back where i have twice run out of battery or dropped signal.
Theys call me back upto n hour after the call finished.
I may be lucky but im think that they are commited peoples.
N*
hamberd
10-09-2004, 04:48 PM
Just to let you know that I FINALLY got my contracts cancelled. It took me an age to do it and its cost me £100 which is not good but its better than paying through 2 contracts on mobile phones that just don't work !!
I just spoke to cancellations in Glasgow (after arguing AGAIN with the Indian operator) and calmly this time explained the situation to the operator who to be fair, listened and said yes in the right places. Then he launched into the terms and conditions conversation which I listened to. Then I told him that before I spoke to Trading Standards and OFCOM I wanted to try every channel of progression available so could I speak to his supervisor. He argued a lot and said 'she'll only tell you the same'. 5 minutes on hold later I got onto her and explained the whole picture again (4 handsets, not what it says on the box, screaming handsets, dropped calls, bad customer services) only to find that the lad had told her I was being awkward because I had a problem with a handset, he never told her the rest!! When she realised what I had actually said (rather than what the lad had obviously told her to keep himself out of bother) she apologised profusely and said she would speak to her manager and get back to me.
Sure enough she did and now I have 2 PAK codes on their way to me, I am £100 worse off but thats better than having to pay £430 which was the original quote or for that matter having to see the contracts through. Also, on Ebay an LGU8110 goes for over £100 so maybe I will be able to get some of it back. She also got me some line rental credit to cover the period where I will have 2 phones (when I go to anew supplier and get one)which was nice of her. To be fair, she was incredibly helpful, if only the rest of 3 customer services was the same maybe I wouldn't be leaving !!
hamberd
10-09-2004, 04:50 PM
Oh and the guys in the store have also been helpful, seems that the issue is India in that the operators are not permitted to think outside their box. Bless em, HOORAY !! I AM OFF TO BUY A NEW GADGET THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY WORK !!
MUNIR
26-11-2004, 11:42 AM
How Do I Get In Touch With 3 Ppl In Ukin India Thay Do Not Know What Thay R Talking About Some Help
MUNIR
26-11-2004, 11:43 AM
How Do I Get In Touch With 3 Ppl In Ukin India Thay Do Not Know What Thay R Talking About Some Help
hamberd
26-11-2004, 01:42 PM
It took me months to finally get through to someone in the UK. I had to speak to lots of different people in India and eventually just insisted on speaking to someone in cancellations. I had a 25 minute conversation with a guy in India trying to persuade me to stay with 3 and refused to put me through to the UK. I finished that conversation and rung straight back then refused to be put through to anyone in India, I told them I had already spoken to someone in the UK and that I needed to speak to them again. It was not an easy task and even when I did get through to the UK I had to speak to a manager because the first guy was useless, I also still had to pay out of the contract. Good luck !! I am out of it now and on another network which is absolutely fantastic in comparison.
hamberd
26-11-2004, 01:45 PM
Also, try the number above posted by Jeterman
tempest
07-01-2005, 12:34 PM
Hutchinson 3, what a joke. Cancel as soon as possible. Pass the word, DONT get a 3 phone!!! I dont think I've ever completed a call, video content a rip off, screeching down my ear piece, call centre on a different continent, bulky phones, oh and did I mention I'VE NEVER HAD A FULL CONVERSATION WITHOUT DROP OUT!!!!
Need I say more!!? I'm stuck with them for another 4 months. I'd have got less time for armed robbery...! :mad:
Hutchinson 3, what a joke. Cancel as soon as possible. Pass the word, DONT get a 3 phone!!! I dont think I've ever completed a call, video content a rip off, screeching down my ear piece, call centre on a different continent, bulky phones, oh and did I mention I'VE NEVER HAD A FULL CONVERSATION WITHOUT DROP OUT!!!!
Need I say more!!? I'm stuck with them for another 4 months. I'd have got less time for armed robbery...! :mad:
drop to the lowest tariff and pay it off, or just chuck the phone in the bin and pay the rest of the line rental
hamberd
07-01-2005, 06:43 PM
As I said, I basically told the buy on the phone that I had already spoken to someone in the UK about cancellations. When I got through there the guy wasn't much better so I insisted on speaking to a supervisor. He told me one wasn't available so I said I would wait. When I spoke to the supervisor she just sorted it. It cost me less than £100 to get out because of all the trouble I had with it and I sold the handsets on E-Bay for £85 and £90 each. I also went to another provider and got free handsets, double bundle minutes and cashback. The difference is, I haven't had a single dropped call or screaming in the earpiece. Take the pain, pay out on principle and shove em, they're useless and the quicker people realise that the better.
nattyb
08-01-2005, 09:11 AM
just wanted to say thanks for all the information from this post. i was having so many problems with three from day one. my first handset nec616 was faulty, deleting text messages, dropping calls etc. after numerous complaints to the call centre i got nowhere so wrote to three customer services. i received a letter back advising that i could have a free replacement handset of a different make and model if they could not diagnose a fault over the telephone. after ringing up the customer services again they could not diagnose a fault but wanted my phone to be sent away for repair, despite the letter advising that i could have a free replacement. i went into a three shopwhere they could not help me as i did not purchase my phone from them. so i went to the store i bought a phone from who replaced the handset to the lg u8110. after continuing problems with call dropping i called the customer services again in december who were no help at all. after more phone calls each time i was asked the same questions about the fault and offered the same solutions "changing the network to manual" which did not resolve it. i emailed the customer services who emailed back saying this was a network issue but this could not be resolved at this time. the call centre advised me that it could be a sim issue or handset issue. i asked to cancel my contract as there would be no point in paying for a service i could not use, they advised me that the end of contract was the date in which i received a free replacement! after ringing the glasgow number i finally got this rectified and my contract will be ending from the first date i took out the contract. i'm so glad i called the glasgow number else i would never have got anywhere with this complaint.
Well done. Its a shame you could'nt get a decent level of service from either the NEC e616 or the LG U8110. If you are not an enthuiast its pretty unreasonable to expect you to have more than one mobile phone, and if you rely on one service it has to work most of the time to be of any real value.
This week has been a bad one for me with call dropping and 'call failed' messages. About 50% of the time I have been unable to make or maintain contact using 3 in built up areas where I know there is/has been good signal strength. I wont be making too much of it with 3 this time as they are getting next to nothing for the service (about what its worth really) but I shall ensure that I provide them with my contract termination exactly 30 days before the end of the period required to gain my final cashback!
Come back and let us know what you have chosen to replace your 3 service with and how it compares. Good Luck!
purplepants
27-01-2005, 10:25 AM
did u manage to cancel your contract??
i really want to cancel mine as i have found a much better deal on O2.
3 charge me far too much and i am on a really strange tariff. I have also had several problems with the phone and have had to get it sent away already and i only got it in december!! :mad: :eek:
do u know how i can cancel it??
DaveC
27-01-2005, 10:52 AM
did u manage to cancel your contract??
i really want to cancel mine as i have found a much better deal on O2.
3 charge me far too much and i am on a really strange tariff. I have also had several problems with the phone and have had to get it sent away already and i only got it in december!! :mad: :eek:
do u know how i can cancel it??
I can appreciate people who want to get off contract because of poor service, but not because they have found a better deal elsewhere. If you can't afford it you should have never signed up.
You will have to give them every opportunity to address your problems first, before you can go through the process of getting the contract cancelled. I'm afraid a faulty phone is not one of them unless they fail to fix it. Over the years I have had faulty phones on Orange and Cellnet (now O2). My daughter recently had a faulty Nokia with Orange --- took them seven weeks to sort out the problem. She was able to negotiate compensation, but not getting out of her contract which ends in May.
mcaffc7
29-01-2005, 09:00 PM
I can appreciate people who want to get off contract because of poor service, but not because they have found a better deal elsewhere. If you can't afford it you should have never signed up.
You will have to give them every opportunity to address your problems first, before you can go through the process of getting the contract cancelled. I'm afraid a faulty phone is not one of them unless they fail to fix it. Over the years I have had faulty phones on Orange and Cellnet (now O2). My daughter recently had a faulty Nokia with Orange --- took them seven weeks to sort out the problem. She was able to negotiate compensation, but not getting out of her contract which ends in May.
Well im am totally disgusted with three. they are the biggest load of b*llocks. I only got my 3phone in october, it was sent away for repair in november.then come december,the phone decides to not work again - anyone that rings me/or i ring can't hear a word i say,all they hear is 'wind blowing' down the phone - whats that all about.
i've spoke to the operators in india, and 1 in glasgow..who told me it would cost £180 to cancel my contract as of january...how they got this figure is beyond me. My line rental is £12.50 per month, feb to sept is 8months - 8 x 12.50 is £100. are they stupid..em yes!
i'm cancelling my direct debit and letting them beg for their money.i'll also be throwing the phone in the bin - i wouldn't give it away,never mind let anyone buy it.
any comments welcome.. :mad:
Well im am totally disgusted with three. they are the biggest load of b*llocks. I only got my 3phone in october, it was sent away for repair in november.then come december,the phone decides to not work again - anyone that rings me/or i ring can't hear a word i say,all they hear is 'wind blowing' down the phone - whats that all about.
i've spoke to the operators in india, and 1 in glasgow..who told me it would cost £180 to cancel my contract as of january...how they got this figure is beyond me. My line rental is £12.50 per month, feb to sept is 8months - 8 x 12.50 is £100. are they stupid..em yes!
i'm cancelling my direct debit and letting them beg for their money.i'll also be throwing the phone in the bin - i wouldn't give it away,never mind let anyone buy it.
any comments welcome.. :mad:
Suggest you take a walk down to your local Citizens Advice or the Trading Standards Office for advice. Throwing your phone in the bin and cancelling your DD will bring down the debt collectors upon you. They will take out a CCJ against you and your creditworthness will be ruined. And so Three will win after all - and you will not get credit again for a long time, or it will be very difficult for you.
First thing you need to do is to allow Three reasonable time to remedy your problem. Keep a log of everything you say and do in relation to this dispute. Once you reach your "reasonable time" force an escalation by emailing the executive office - there are threads on here with the email address (I cant recall it now).
Unless you can show Three to be in breach of contract you will be in a very weak position to cancel it. Accept that you will have to let it run out - and try and get the best you can in terms of compensation from Three for loss of service etc.
Oh, and keep your cool. Don't lose it, or you'll not get the cooperation you need.
Mahan22
19-02-2005, 01:17 AM
I think 3G is the worst network in the UK it should not to allowed to trade when is as a network problem ok I would say it drop call have improved a little but you still get no signal a lot I took out my 3g contract in march of 2004 and for the last 11 months I have had nothing but problem my first handset was the Motorola A835 in the first 2 week of my contract I had noting but drop call then in the 3 month of my contract I was getting so seek of the no signal and drop calls that I phoned three to say I think my phone is fault they sent it in for repairs for me when it came back I fraught the problem was fixed but how wrong was I instead of get better it got worse it got so bad that one day I just picked my handset up throw it at my living room wall it broke in 4 part I went and brought a new handset think it was the handset not knowing it was 3g fault not my handset fault the handset that I brought was the lag 8120 but the problem still did not change then in November it start to charge you for 0845 & 0870 services with out till me I still fraught it was included in my minutes but when my bill came it was about £160 I looked at it and saw the 0845 and 0870 that I phoned was not include in my minutes any more that was the last straw I phoned 3g to tell them what I really fraught of there network that told me that it was charge bull from the start but they had a problem with the service I it would not charge I told them that it took 2 years for you to fix a problem like that then how long will it take you to fix a network problem 50 years he said may be I am so glade that my 3g contract is end soon I will never buy 3g ever again and I advises any one who is tempted to buy 3g think again you may think they offer you more minutes then the other four network this is a joke what the point when you can not have a conversation with someone for more then few minutes with out the drop call having or your signal going if any one is think about getting 3g then go to orange they give you a good phone like the Z1010 and you get very good network converge had my z1010 for 1 month with orange 3g and I have had no drop call or no signal problem what so ever so say no to 3g
Andy Cripps
24-02-2005, 02:58 PM
Zero, count'em zero full stops in the above post, the whole thing was one huge sentence! And people criticise the call centre in India for being hard to understand?!?!?
Oh, and fraught?!?!
Blimey, I'd love to know what they are teaching in schools nowadays!
windowlicker
24-02-2005, 08:27 PM
mahan22..............and the point was?
I did read it right through, it was compelling like one of those late night B movies you watch on Sky even though you know it isn't going to be worth it. You still live in hope that the script will improve towards the end, even though you know it won't.
On Topic - I know what he's trying to say. But it has been well articulated on the forum over the past few months since the non-Geo numbers became chargeable. Dropped calls and LG syndrome are also well documented on the forum. Had he experienced the Moto e1000 he'd not be complaining about handset quality. Although posts about failing/failed e1000's are starting to appear, but not in any quantity (yet).
bavlondon
02-03-2005, 06:20 PM
Just to let you know that I FINALLY got my contracts cancelled. It took me an age to do it and its cost me £100 which is not good but its better than paying through 2 contracts on mobile phones that just don't work !!
I just spoke to cancellations in Glasgow (after arguing AGAIN with the Indian operator) and calmly this time explained the situation to the operator who to be fair, listened and said yes in the right places. Then he launched into the terms and conditions conversation which I listened to. Then I told him that before I spoke to Trading Standards and OFCOM I wanted to try every channel of progression available so could I speak to his supervisor. He argued a lot and said 'she'll only tell you the same'. 5 minutes on hold later I got onto her and explained the whole picture again (4 handsets, not what it says on the box, screaming handsets, dropped calls, bad customer services) only to find that the lad had told her I was being awkward because I had a problem with a handset, he never told her the rest!! When she realised what I had actually said (rather than what the lad had obviously told her to keep himself out of bother) she apologised profusely and said she would speak to her manager and get back to me.
Sure enough she did and now I have 2 PAK codes on their way to me, I am £100 worse off but thats better than having to pay £430 which was the original quote or for that matter having to see the contracts through. Also, on Ebay an LGU8110 goes for over £100 so maybe I will be able to get some of it back. She also got me some line rental credit to cover the period where I will have 2 phones (when I go to anew supplier and get one)which was nice of her. To be fair, she was incredibly helpful, if only the rest of 3 customer services was the same maybe I wouldn't be leaving !!
can you contact me, cos im in the same boat as you. I need to get out of my three contract. Too many dropped calls ect..... it loverman_uk69@yahoo.com
Im coming home GSM sorry 3g
Singing Cherry
03-03-2005, 08:30 AM
the 0870 733 0367 number is a retailer line only. they will just transfer you to cs.
bavlondon
04-03-2005, 10:49 AM
I got hung up on 4 occasions yesterday all from incompetent three customer service workers. They refused to let me speak to someone of higher authority. Half of them didnt even know what a deadlock letter is. So i sent a nasty email to Bob Fuller (CEO) and he emailed me today promising someone will call me soon.
Sladedestiny
29-03-2005, 01:56 PM
I too have have the same problems with the 3g service.I took my LG phone back to Car Phone Warehouse.They updated the software.No difference and I lost all my ringtones,Games etc.Ringing customer services was a waste of time.Kept on hold for nearly 2hours before I gave up.Wrote to them twice but have recieved no reply.So I cancelled the direct debit.Guess what?They sent a sms saying my bill was over do!!!.Consumer rights state that if you sign a contract but t does not deliver what you want you are entitled to cancel.3g is without doubt the worse comany I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH and to date I have still recieved no reply to my letters three weeks after writing.Don't be intimidated by a load of jargon and rubbish from 3g.If your not satisfied with something they are duty bound to try and rectify the situation.
boonkoh
29-03-2005, 11:37 PM
I am quite a new member to this forum, so I hope noone takes offence with what I have to say.
I have been with Three for around 5 months, and in that time I have called their "normal" tech support (333? The one that gets you India?) at least 6 times. All 6 times were to complain about something not working (so basically support services, and not to get a new contract). Each time, I had had to wait on hold for approximately 3 minutes, the longest hold only lasting 5 minutes. Each time, the customer service officer (CSO?) on the other end listened patiently to my problem/query and gave a suitable response to it. Yes, they are trained to give a "Three authorized" answer to most standard questions. I haven't had a really mind-boggling problem as yet, so I dunno what they would do if they couldnt answer it!! :rolleyes:
Anyways, seeing as there is a lack of posts on this thread praising Three service, I would like to be one of the rare few to say that I have been satisfied with the amount of service I have gotten from customer support. The phones may suck (LG8120 here), the plan may suck (VT600, only ever use 300 mins and 80 texts a month), but so far I have not experienced a HUGE problem with Three... yet.
3G Senior Manag
26-09-2005, 10:40 PM
We like music at 3 - we also like having a giraffe ...e.g. the indian call centre people are trained in being annoyingly unhelpful veiled under the old ' I am not knowing what you are wanting..., please let me put you on hold whilst I refer to the manual' or 'I am sorry but the computer is slow' - thereby annoying you so much that you will put the phone down, hoping that you will ring back in the slim hope that you will speak to someone who will be more helpful ... go though the options again - same annoying message different annoying operator.
I have been a customer of 3 since the beginning and I can say that with no doubt in my mind whatsoever that 3 provide me with the worst customer service I have ever had in my life. Not a good advertisement for the Indian call centres .
Trying to get customer service for the ever faulty phones comes only third in the annoying rankings to attempting to speak to someone who has a spark of individualism and dares to think outside of the box in second place.
First place is reserved for ... you guessed it trying to cancel your contract!
If only the company thought as much about their customers as much as they do thinking up those crap TV adverts they ... OK.... they would still be the worst company I've ever dealt with.
Oh - and have you heard about the 3 virus?? apparently your phone can be craked with some latest blue tooth technology that enables your phone from a distance and copies all of your info to their memory card - it then leaves a virus which plays havoc with your microphone and reception causing crackles and wind noise...
BUT !!!!! There is light at the end of the tunnel!!! Blue Peter have a fact sheet available showing you how to make your own 3G phone out of some empty fairy liquid bottles, used toilet rolls, milk bottle tops and some sticky back plastic - I've tried this and found that the reception, clarity and live football are all better and it only costs the price of a felt tip pen to change your case. Oh and if you put it in a sandwich bacg with sealable top it's waterproof.
Any one else who agrees please reply to me 3G Senior Manag
Oh - just kidding about the 3g virus
dhallug1
04-10-2005, 11:11 AM
I rang three customer services last night to ask why I havent recieved a bill and no money has gone out of my account. Anyway I then told them that I wasnt happy with the service they were offering for a number of reasons and told them I wanted them to terminate my account. Heres some of the problems I am having. Phone is a nec e616:-
No signal in some areas of country
Constant dropped calls
screeching noise in ear peice
phone rebooting
Poor battery life
People can hear me but I cant hear them
He gave me an email address to complain to but i think it is wrong (three.customer.services.co.uk). He logged my complaint in my account notes which I suppose will help. So what shall I do now
go there and slap em :)
DaveC
04-10-2005, 11:22 AM
Just terminated my contract which was for the 7600 last year. They were very pleasant and issued me with a PAC code without any bother.
I will port the number onto one of my free Virgin SIMS and port it back if 3 improve to the level I require.
mwsturtle
11-06-2006, 10:45 PM
i need to get of their network..... the people in india are rude, they dont listen and they keep telling me there is not a service problem in my area when there is..... i managed to make progress with them telling me they are puttin up a new mast to provide coverage to my area however they wont tell me where it is the *******s - they are hardly being honest which is one of their commitments....... the number for the glasgow number 0870 733 0367 can 367 just be dialed from a 3 phone and will this be freephone like the 333 number.... many thanks mike