3 Mobile Phone Contract

[Ange]

I was dead excited when I heard that 3 were offering "all you can eat" internet. As soon as my phone was ready for upgrade we went to Tesco to see what was on offer. We were prepared to pay up to £30 per month, as it replaced my T-Mobile phone contract at £15 per month and our 3 dongle contract at £15.99 per month. We made it very clear to the salesman that we needed it for tethering. What we got was a very nice Galaxy Ace handset with the Text 300 plan - 300 minutes, 5000 texts & 500mb of data, with an add on for all you can eat data. At £23 per month I was well chuffed, and happy to sign a two year contract.

 

Now I dearly wish I'd read the small print. The first time I tried to download from the iplayer I was redirected to a 3 webpage telling me my plan does not allow tethering. I've looked into it and found out that the only plan that does allow tethering is the One Plan, which is £30, exactly the amount I was prepared to pay. I can buy a tethering add on at £7 per month, but this only allows 1gb of internet per month. I had 15gb per month on my dongle, we've ended up in a much worse situation!

 

I'm planning to go into the local 3 shop tomorrow to see if we can change to the One Plan, but from what I've read online this may not be possible, so we may be lumbered with this for two years

 

I thought I'd post this firstly to see if anyone had any knowledge of this field, and what, if any, steps we can take and secondly as a warning to others who might make the same mistake.

[Guest]

I was dead excited when I heard that 3 were offering "all you can eat" internet. As soon as my phone was ready for upgrade we went to Tesco to see what was on offer. We were prepared to pay up to £30 per month, as it replaced my T-Mobile phone contract at £15 per month and our 3 dongle contract at £15.99 per month. We made it very clear to the salesman that we needed it for tethering. What we got was a very nice Galaxy Ace handset with the Text 300 plan - 300 minutes, 5000 texts & 500mb of data, with an add on for all you can eat data. At £23 per month I was well chuffed, and happy to sign a two year contract.

 

Now I dearly wish I'd read the small print. The first time I tried to download from the iplayer I was redirected to a 3 webpage telling me my plan does not allow tethering. I've looked into it and found out that the only plan that does allow tethering is the One Plan, which is £30, exactly the amount I was prepared to pay. I can buy a tethering add on at £7 per month, but this only allows 1gb of internet per month. I had 15gb per month on my dongle, we've ended up in a much worse situation!

 

I'm planning to go into the local 3 shop tomorrow to see if we can change to the One Plan, but from what I've read online this may not be possible, so we may be lumbered with this for two years

 

I thought I'd post this firstly to see if anyone had any knowledge of this field, and what, if any, steps we can take and secondly as a warning to others who might make the same mistake.

 

Ange - such a contract should have a 'cooling off' period, normally 7 possibly 14 days, you need to exercise your rights under this.

[Ange]

Ange - such a contract should have a 'cooling off' period, normally 7 possibly 14 days, you need to exercise your rights under this.

 

It did have a 7 day cooling off period - unfortunately I didn't find out about this until after that period had lapsed

[Robbo]

I had a similar issue when selecting a mobile broadband plan with Orange, I basically selected the incorrect lower Gb one instead of the one I wanted. One phone call to support was all it took to take it to the plan I wanted. You shouldn't get any issues in changing.

[Ange]

I had a similar issue when selecting a mobile broadband plan with Orange, I basically selected the incorrect lower Gb one instead of the one I wanted. One phone call to support was all it took to take it to the plan I wanted. You shouldn't get any issues in changing.

 

Hopefully you're right. I can't face calling their Customer Services because they're very difficult to communicate with, so we're going to the shop tomorrow to talk to a real person.

 

I'm hoping that because I want to upgrade to a dearer plan they won't have a problem, but it did say online that we can change to a dearer plan at any time, but not the One Plan, which is the only one that allows tethering.

[Guest]

It did have a 7 day cooling off period - unfortunately I didn't find out about this until after that period had lapsed

 

Then you need to play on the fact that you made it clear that the contract you required was specifically include tethering your mobile but you didn't discover you couldn't do this until after the cooling off period.

 

You have effectively been mis-sold this contract, though of course it will now be down to your word against the guy that sold it to you.

[Lady Muck]

Oh i hate mobile phone companies with their dodgy contracts. Ive a Vodafone wifi with 5gb a month but thats all I can have - if I want more than that they tell me to get another dongle and another contract. Or pay something ridiculous like £1 a mb!

 

So I got my own back by unlocking it so I can put other service providers PAYG sims in it.

 

Can you not argue that you were mis- sold the contract? Is there a cooling off period for new phone contracts? I thought it was 2 weeks?

[Ange]

Then you need to play on the fact that you made it clear that the contract you required was specifically include tethering your mobile but you didn't discover you couldn't do this until after the cooling off period.

 

You have effectively been mis-sold this contract, though of course it will now be down to your word against the guy that sold it to you.

 

 

Oh i hate mobile phone companies with their dodgy contracts. Ive a Vodafone wifi with 5gb a month but thats all I can have - if I want more than that they tell me to get another dongle and another contract. Or pay something ridiculous like £1 a mb!

 

So I got my own back by unlocking it so I can put other service providers PAYG sims in it.

 

Can you not argue that you were mis- sold the contract? Is there a cooling off period for new phone contracts? I thought it was 2 weeks?

 

I think the mis-selling is the route we'll go down if I don't get any joy tomorrow. It's been about a month since I bought it so I'm definitely outside any cooling off period.

 

The problem is that Tesco did the mis-selling, but the contract is with 3!

[Guest]

I think the mis-selling is the route we'll go down if I don't get any joy tomorrow. It's been about a month since I bought it so I'm definitely outside any cooling off period.

 

The problem is that Tesco did the mis-selling, but the contract is with 3!

 

That possibly clouds the responsibly under the Sales of Goods Act, but I would (inexpertly) say your beef is with Tesco as the retailer.

 

I guess it's no different to siging up at the Carphone Warehouse for the same contract, which if the same issues applied your first port of call would be them.

 

Hope you get sorted.

[bizzard]

Tethered?,it sounds like you could be tied up to it for some time.

[Ange]

Tethered?,it sounds like you could be tied up to it for some time.

 

I saw you was posting and wondered if you had a wheeze for me!

[nicknorman]

I would say that if you want to change your plan to a more expensive one they would surely bite your hand off. Could I suggest you try giving customer services a ring - they seem to have improved a lot of late and my last interactions with them (when I got a new iPhone on 3 One Plan - which I am delighted with) were excellent - rapidly answered, courteously spoken and totally intelligable - even though a slight Indian accent - and most importantly, the issue fixed in moments. It was the shop staff who caused one of the problems in the first place, the Customer Services who fixed it rapidly.

[jeddy11]

The plan you were sold is obviously not fit for purpose on the terms you asked for, therefore i see no reason why they wont change your plan as its no more or less than what your paying so it shouldnt matter to them ..

[Ange]

I would say that if you want to change your plan to a more expensive one they would surely bite your hand off. Could I suggest you try giving customer services a ring - they seem to have improved a lot of late and my last interactions with them (when I got a new iPhone on 3 One Plan - which I am delighted with) were excellent - rapidly answered, courteously spoken and totally intelligable - even though a slight Indian accent - and most importantly, the issue fixed in moments. It was the shop staff who caused one of the problems in the first place, the Customer Services who fixed it rapidly.

 

I'll see how I get on at the shop tomorrow, and phone Customer Services if I don't have any joy. I've always found the call centre staff courteous and helpful, just had communication problems in the past. Maybe they've taken notice of the criticism, it has been a while since I last spoke to them.

 

The plan you were sold is obviously not fit for purpose on the terms you asked for, therefore i see no reason why they wont change your plan as its no more or less than what your paying so it shouldnt matter to them ..

 

That's what I'm hoping

[Martin Megson]

Sorry to hear you got the wrong deal - so easily done. I have an iPhone on the one plan and can certainly recommend it.

I would agree with earlier comments that your best recourse is probably through Tesco. Did you have anyone with you at the time who could confirm you specified tethering as this would support your case.

[bizzard]

I saw you was posting and wondered if you had a wheeze for me!

Yes well Ange i'd be careful.If you get tethered ''tied'' for too long you might go OrAnge.

Edited April 14, 2012 by bizzard

[Ange]

Sorry to hear you got the wrong deal - so easily done. I have an iPhone on the one plan and can certainly recommend it.

I would agree with earlier comments that your best recourse is probably through Tesco. Did you have anyone with you at the time who could confirm you specified tethering as this would support your case.

 

I had my husband with me at the time. I told the salesman we lived on a boat and the phone was to replace our dongle and my old phone right at the beginning when I outlined our requirements so I wouldn't think they can argue, though you never know.

 

It might be resolved easily tomorrow with 3, otherwise I'll follow the Tesco route.

 

Yes well Ange i'd be careful.If you get tethered ''tied'' for too long you might go Orange.

 

[keble]

There's an article on the last page of the Money section of today's Guardian. They got 3 to change a lad's contract, so they may be amenable to persuasion, especially if you mention the Grauniad. I can't find it online but if you want it I can scan it for you. Pm me, rob

[Ange]

There's an article on the last page of the Money section of today's Guardian. They got 3 to change a lad's contract, so they may be amenable to persuasion, especially if you mention the Grauniad. I can't find it online but if you want it I can scan it for you. Pm me, rob

 

Thanks Rob. I'll see how tomorrow goes first and pm you if I don't get anywhere with them

[LoneWolf]

I'll see how I get on at the shop tomorrow, and phone Customer Services if I don't have any joy. I've always found the call centre staff courteous and helpful, just had communication problems in the past. Maybe they've taken notice of the criticism, it has been a while since I last spoke to them.

...

 

I cant see them refusing to take more of your money.

 

Might be worth asking to be put through to accounts straight away rather than trying to explain to customer services

 

A couple of years ago I exceeded my monthly dongle allowance 2 days before it renewed - while downloading the half gig final release candidate that needed testing that day.

After about 40 mins talking to customer services who tried to be helpful by offering me another £20 'overdraft credit' to get me through to the renewal, telling me it would be cheaper to go to a 3 shop & get a PAYG (which would take up the whole day), finally understood that I was willing to pay the £70 odd it would cost to download it (plus some for emailing) provided it could be done asap.

 

They had to put me through to Accounts to take the payment who offered me a new contract 15gig/mth for the same price and they would cancel the £20 extra I'd already used and i wouldn't have to pay £70. And they could do it now.

When i got the bill for the 1st month i found they'd given me a further £20 for my inconvenience (i had been unable to check usage online because the dongle was giving me the wrong website details)

 

So talk to the Accounts people

[Ex- Member]

All Mobile phone contracts are a rip off, they have cost my and my business thousands in wasted payments over the past 10 years.

 

For the past couple of years We haven't signed any kind of mobile contract deal with any company that exceeds 30 days. All our mobile and internet dongle is a 30 day contract, we have 3 Orange mobiles with 300 minutes each and unlimited texts and free calls to all Orange phones and free calls to a chosen phone No. for £7.50 per month.

 

We also have a 3 dongle £7.50 per month but only one gig as it isn't used much yet. When we move on the boat we'll go for this.

 

http://store.three.c...Monthly?id=1205

 

With the current 3 dongle we should get a warning when we reach the 1 gig limit. If you chose to go over it's 10p per meg. I haven't gone over yet so don't know if this works, but I requested that I be warned and if I wasn't, no additional costs would be paid should they occur.

 

The OP could have easily afforded 2 of these contracts with said budget which would have easily exceeded their previous usage by 5 gig and not be tied in for 2 years. Changed contracts as and when it suits or move to cheaper deals.

 

Dongles & mobile handsets are cheap as chips. In fact I'm still using the phone I originally had on contract over 2 y ago so no additional cost.

 

Get smart and don't be a lemming

 

 

Edited April 14, 2012 by Julynian

[Robbo]

All Mobile phone contracts are a rip off, they have cost my and my business thousands in wasted payments over the past 10 years.

 

For the past couple of years We haven't signed any kind of mobile contract deal with any company that exceeds 30 days. All our mobile and internet dongle is a 30 day contract, we have 3 Orange mobiles with 300 minutes each and unlimited texts and free calls to all Orange phones and free calls to a chosen phone No. for £7.50 per month.

 

If you want the latest smart phone, most can't afford the £300-600 odd they cost to buy outright, so contract is often the easiest way to buy... It's nice that the companies are now offering 30day contracts that give you the same benefits as a 2yr contract (thinking of 3's One Plan here).

[matty40s]

Ange,

 

tethering is specifically connecting the phone to the laptop by a cable.

Your wonderful smartypants phone should also have a poertable wireless hotspot function - this is NOT classed as tethering.

My HTC (on a 3 all you can eat data package ) actually works better with the wireless than it does tethered.

I also find I can place it in the best signal part of the boat and work where I want to rather than be tethered and have to move my lappy to follow the signal.

Give me a buzz if you need me to talk it through.

[cheshire~rose]

Ooh Ange - I do hope Matty is right. It is a horrible thing to have tied into a contract that was not what you expected. Strangely enough I also had that happen with 3 and can wholeheartedly sympathise about their customer service at the call centre

 

Hence I am with Orange now and have been really happy with them as a supplier and with my whizzy phone that I stick on the window of the boat with one of those things meant for sat nav's and use as a mobile hotspot so I can use the lappy anywhere in the area. I have done the same in hotel rooms and the like too.

[Ex- Member]

If you want the latest smart phone, most can't afford the £300-600 odd they cost to buy outright, so contract is often the easiest way to buy... It's nice that the companies are now offering 30day contracts that give you the same benefits as a 2yr contract (thinking of 3's One Plan here).

 

That is a good deal I must admit, so can you access the internet through the PC with this tariff??

 

I also see the point if you want a bells and whistles phone, you do end up paying for it though.

 

I just want a phone that goes ring ring ring and can talk to people on and a tariif for less than 2 quid a week is pretty good. The main point though is the freedom of a 30 day contract, the amount of times in the past when circumstances change and you're tied in to long contracts can be very costly.