Hello, Back in October 2011 I purchased a service plan dongle from 3G. I checked the area and they said it would work fine, but it never really did and I gave up after many protracted telephone conversations to get it working and stay connected. I returned the dongle to 3G quoting the Sale of Goods Act and asked them for a refund of monies paid as it was not fit for purpose. I heard nothing and I cancelled my direct debit. The debt was sold on to Lowell Feb 14. Letters and harassing phone calls followed. I firstly requested statements of my account and I received a letter back from Lowell saying that these had been requested from 3G and my account was on hold. Nothing ever came through. Then more chasing letters from Bryan Carter in June 2014 and finally Court Claim forms from Bryan Carter for Lowell. I have acknowledged service. I am preparing to submit my defence - can I use the Sale of Goods Act as my defence in this case? The amount they are chasing is £305.01 plus court and solicitors fees of £85. Thanks in advance

(1) Agreement in possession of landlord not signed by the tenant. (2) Agreement in possession of Tenant not signed by Landlord or dated What is the validity of this agreement. Notice of Termination ================ Location of the property not stated correctly and the postal address is missing. Company registration number stated as VAT number. Therefore is the Notice Valid?

I've been issued with court papers from an old debt from Three/lowells/BW Legal Is there a secure/private part of the forum I can ask questions and get help with writing my defence?

Hi I came on this site to find out about my student loan deferment and realised that someone may be able to help me with a spot of bother I have got myself into. I went into a Three store 3 days ago to look at a phone I was thinking about buying. I ended up buying it on contract and was under the impression that I could cancel it and have my money refunded as I specifically asked the salesman "I can cancel this can't I" me meaning that I would not be worse off financially if I did. I went into store to cancel it because I decided it was too expensive and was informed that there was no 14 day cancellation option and I have to keep it. Is there any way for me to get out of this because it is not very economically viable? From what I have read some companies offer a 14 day cancellation service but are not required to by law if you go into store to sign the contract. Any information to contradict this would be gratefully welcomed. The phone and sims are unused and sealed. Thanks Jon

I have been reading the stickies at the top of this forum regarding charges/penalties being applied to a customers account for not paying by Direct Debit. I had a similar argument with Virgin Media, but rather than pursue it further with them, I cancelled my contract with them as I only had just over 30 days left to go anyway. However, my attention was then aimed towards my mobile provider, Three/Hutchison 3G, also applying a 'Payment method administration charge' of £4.08 each month to both of my contracts with them. Technically, the 'Payment method administration charge' is just a fancy name they give for the Non DD Payment Charge. I have politely asked Three to provide me with evidence that by not paying by Direct Debit each month causes them significant cost to process my payment. I have had one response so far. What is my next course of action? Is this worth pursuing and are these charges actually unfair? Thanks

Hello, I have been suffering since I moved to Vodafone on 5th November, I just ported my number from Three to Vodafone, and its still not ported, spoken to 25 different people almost 30 minutes everyday since then, walked into vodafone store no resolution, infact, the most irritating thing they do a cold transfer, and I have to repeat my self so many times. Also raised an official complaint to Mark to askmark@vodafone....., just get a confirmation with a complaint number 8574855 but no resolution yet, i keep getting emails with a different complaint number 8576541, saying me to verify security checks and need to chat with customer services, when I chat with customer services they say they have no information about the email. I think it was the worst decision of my life to move to Vodafone, my number is not working, loosing business, affecting me mentally, so many people trying to reach me and dont know what else, Will Vodafone compensate? Customer service now says my number is showing as a Vodafone number but is not active on Vodafone(One of the agent also said, its showing up as a Pay Monthly number which is not but a number coming from Three), I have just spent almost 1.5 hour with chat representative and got my call transferred and spoke to 2 agents for 15 minutes, no resolution, 1st one said they only handle pay monthly and second one said systems are down, don't know how a company of such a scale afford have systems down during a weekday! Any suggestions/guidance/similar experiences/someone who can help? Would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi, I have a 16 month iPhone 5s, on the three network, and until recently the battery on the phone was ok at best. However, more recently I have noticed that my iPhone will power itself off when the battery power is low. I have noticed the battery power at 38% and it has done this. It would also turn off if I had around 10% power and I attempted to use the camera. Anyway, the only thing I could think of that had changed was an update to the IOS that could potentially cause this. I tried to phone three uk today but their system was not available so I could not speak directly with someone. I managed to have a 4 hour conversation with three uk via a series of tweets and when I eventually explained to them that the phone battery was not working as I expected it to they asked me to contact apple directly. I replied back saying The Sale of Goods Act makes reference to 'the seller', this is the shop, the retailer, or the individual you bought it from, and this is who you made the contract with. They replied back and said that three's policy does not cover device faults and sent me a link, http://support.three.co.uk/srvs/cgi-bin/webisapi.dll?command=new,kb=mobile,ts=mobile,t=article,varset_cat=billing,varset_subcat=3772,case=EXT(EM36278) The fault has, as yet, not been identified, so the question I have is, am I being fobbed off and is there anything else I can "tweet" back to three uk to try and progress this? thanks in advance Miffed_With_Mobile

http://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insurance-age/news/2379614/fca-fines-and-bans-three-former-swinton-senior-executives?utm_term=&utm_content=FCA%20fines%20and%20bans%20three%20former%20Swinton%20senior%20executives&utm_campaign=IA.Daily_RL.EU.A.U&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IA.DCM.Editors_Updates "Ban follows enforcement action in 2013 and Halpin, Bowyer and Clare have been barred from senior roles at FCA regulated firms. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined three former senior executives of Swinton Group a combined total of £928,000 and banned them from performing various roles at financial services firms. The FCA's action follows previous enforcement action taken against Swinton in 2013 when the company was fined £7.4m after it adopted an aggressive sales strategy that resulted in mis-sales of monthly add-on insurance policies. A culture of pushing for high sales and increased profit without regard for customers had developed at Swinton according to the regulator. Peter Halpin, former chief executive of Swinton, was fined £412,700 and is banned from acting as chief executive of a financial services firm. Anthony Clare, the former finance director, was fined £208,600 and is banned from performing significant influence functions at financial services firms. And the same ban has also been placed on Nicholas Bowyer, former marketing director, who was fined £306,700. Competence All three have been banned on the basis of showing a lack of competence in their respective former roles. Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FCA, said: "A culture was allowed to develop within Swinton that pushed for high sales and increased profit without regard to the impact on the firm's customers. "We expect firms to put customers at the heart of their business. These three directors should have recognised the risk to customers and redressed the balance so that the drive to maximise profits did not jeopardise the fair treatment of customers. "Those with significant influence within firms are responsible for setting the tone and the culture; they set the example that others will follow. Action "Today's enforcement action should serve as a timely reminder to those at the very top of firms that the FCA is determined to hold individuals to account where they fall short of the standard we require." A statement from Halpin reads: "I sincerely regret any possible unintended detriment suffered by customers. "I acted in good faith at all times and it is of some significant comfort that the Regulator did not impugn my integrity, nor find that my conduct was improperly motivated by incentive arrangements". Swinton was also fined £770,000 in 2009 for failures in its sales of PPI"

I have had no mobile phone signal at home for 32 days and been told it will be fixed in January 2015 in the meantime I'm to use their in touch app which is not very good and they continue to take my £37 a month, what if anything can I do I have tried social media, and responder as well as emailing the executive office they are sticking two fingers up at me Any advice would be greatly appreciated

I bought a Samsung S5 from Three in May this year, 24 month contract £45 per month. Last week I woke up to find a purple/black blob on the screen which was slowly expanding. Within 24 hours it had consumed the entire screen and it is now completely black. I phoned Three who transferred my call to what they said was Samsung. They got me to send my phone in for repair I got an email saying that the phone wasn't covered by the warranty as they had found damage. The damage is a small crack at the top of the phone, not even on screen. The crack was from when I dropped the phone within the first week of ownership. I dropped it less than 2 feet and was most annoyed at how easily this had happened. I phoned them up and explained how and when this crack appeared, and that the screen had been fine for the 4months since then and only now developed a screen fault overnight. Even the touchscreen still works you just can't see anything! He agree with me that it was like the front wheels falling off your car and they wont cover it under warranty as you have a small dint on your boot. I said well have you looked inside the phone to see if the screen is physically damaged? He said that they are not Samsung they are Anova Repair Agents and there contract with Samsung says that if a phone has any signs of physical or liquid damage then they are not allowed to diagnose it as the warranty is deemed void. So they have quoted my £156 to replace the LCD. I refused that and they have returned my phone. I have also cancelled my direct debit as I'm not paying for a product (or calls) I cannot use. What are my next steps? I have seen some threads mention SOGA but not sure how to proceed. I have insurance on the phone with a £75 excess, but am worried they will refuse the claim as the screen isn't physically damaged! I haven't yet phoned Three back as I'm not sure how to play my cards, so to speak. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I need my phone for work and am holding back on buying a new contract to sort this out, but I can't wait forever. Also an equivelent contract is now only £30 which adds to the injury! Thanks

Hi, Despite being a customer of three for more than 3 years, since 2011 I've had some financial problems but always managed to pay my bill (but a little late). Because of thise, since the beginning of 2011, I've added up all of the dates and over the 7 occasions I've been no more than 10 days late (but still within the month I was billed for),I've totalled up: 2011: Total of 11 days barred (bills never overlapped) 2012: Total of 25 days barred (bills overlapped once, but no more than by a few days) 2013: Total of 3 days so far and next bill is due on 8Th... Despite always staying in good comms with them, they don't care, and still are happy to charge for something I've never received. Luckily I've kept all the dates and times... Neatly diarised too. Is there anything I can do about this? My bill has always been pretty much up to date, and at the most 3 weeks late, but still within the period I was billed for. Regards, Adridude

Hi everyone. Two years ago, I ordered a refurbished iPad from Three Mobile, at a cost of £25 a month. After a few months, I lost my job, and I missed two or three payments. I gave the ipad to my mother who attempted to change the account over to her name, and set up a direct debit, but she was told that the account number she gave didn't exist, despite it being the same one from my bank statements. I moved away from home and heard nothing from Three for months, until last December when they'd transferred my £42 debt to a company who's name I can't remember. I wrote to this company and explained that I couldn't afford to pay the £42 at the time, but would be willing to make payments of £5 a week, which was about as much as I could afford. They didn't reply. I thought nothing of it until this afternoon when I've received an email from Lowell Financial Ltd stating the following: This iPad debt is the only thing I can think they're referring to. My current phone bill is on Three, but it's paid up to date. I'm not entirely sure where the figure of £294 has come from, but I've checked on Experian and they have the debt registered as defaulted at £42.

Hello, Looking for a bit of advice please as I have received a letter from Lowell saying I owe Three Mobile £397 so I requested a statement as the number they are saying the debt is on is for an old Three mobile account that I had years ago. I should add that I am still with Three and have been for years with a different number on which I have just got a fantastic upgrade package for being such a good customer! Lowell are saying that the number concerned terminated early so £335 is an early termination fee and £61.82 is airtime balance outstanding. I asked for a statement and they have sent me a statement dated 26 June 2012 from Three showing £61.82 only with a message on the bottom of the Three statement saying "We closed your account on 29th May 2012 but the balance is still overdue" The Three statement makes no mention of an early termination fee and Lowell's letter says "After liasing with Three mobile we can confirm an early termination fee of £335.83 was added to the outstanding airtime balance of £61.82 unfortunately this does not appear on the statements (even though there is only one statement) enclosed" I honestly can't remember how I cancelled this contract but surely I would have known if I'd have cancelled it early and would Three really have let me have an upgrade on my current mobile if I owed them money??? How can I be sure I owe this before I pay it? They are threatening Legal proceedings if I don;t pay within 7 days. I have looked on my Credit file and it shows 2 entries for Three. One shows £62 outstanding says started 25/1/06 updated to 29/7/12 and the other says Settled - started 19/7/2011 Updated to 10/3/13 so no mention of £397 anywhere! Would really appreciate some advice. Thank you Deb

I have had a dongle with Three since December 2012 and am currently paying £16 a month. I no longer need the dongle and was wondering if there is any way I can be released from the contract early without having to pay a lump sum? I am going to email Three and enquire about this but wanted to see if anyone on here could give me any advice before I do. Thank you x

Hi I signed up for an 18 month mobile broadband contract with Three back in 2012. Since the contract is about to end soon and I want to cancel it (I've not needed to use the dongle in a while), I thought I would log into my account and double check the end date. They only refer you to your original paperwork for the end date, and my paperwork quite clearly states an 18 month contract which expires in June. However, 3 state in my account that my contract is 24 months long! Obviously I want to challenge this. I have no desire to pay for an extra 6 months on a contract that isn't even being used. Has anybody else experienced this? Bear

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26447089 Now I'm lucky I get 70mb download/15 mb upload speed,but what about those who get lower BB speeds or have No internet at all ? Bet they wont reduce the price of TVL due to this move,if it does go ahead ?

Hi All, First post here and in desperate need of some help! A few years ago me and my boyfriend were looking to buy a mobile phone for him. We visited the three store and unfortunately did not have all of the required items for a new contract (id etc) The colleague said that I could sign up for him as I had the required items. My boyfriend changed the address a few months later to his home address in hope of taking the contract on him self and for what ever reason it remained in my name (unsure if boyfriend did not complete the process or a three mistake) and linked my address with his on my credit file?! He had the phone stolen on a night out and was not using the contract as he had managed to get another with three (new phone) and presumed the direct debits was being taken out of his bank for the contract in my name. How we was wrong! The reason we did not notice it was defaulted is due to him moving to university where his mum only forwarded important looking post to save costs. (A envelope with 3 on it certainly does not look important especially as it looks like a statement!) Long story short we had a default for the remainder of the contract for around 4 months. As soon as we noticed the default he paid in full. We tried contacting 3 customer services to explain this but they was having none of it. Can someone advise where we stand in getting this removed by three? We are looking to apply for a mortgage and do not want this ruining our chances =( Thank you in a advanced,

I've subscribed to 24 months contract with Three but when the phone arrived I soon found out that their network is a joke and that I don't have signal on most of the locations I used to with my previous operator. This obviously meant using the phone for couple days. Now Three has 14 days return policy but it comes with Catch 22: the device must be "unused" and ... So in order to find out their network is a joke you can not be using their network! I want to complain, I want to sue, I want to scream!!! What are my chances? Thanks

Hi Hope someone can help.... . I had a new central heating system fitted (including boiler) almost three years ago. It has been serviced three times and has been fine up until about a month ago where I have had to top up the pressure every day. Yesterday I got the message on my thermostat saying boiler over run and then about an hour later there was the most horrendous noise which panicked me to the point I switched the boiler off. My problem is, I have got out my paperwork thinking I will ring them tomorrow but it says 'if you don't register your guarantee within 30 days, unfortunately you will only have a 12 month guarantee' I didn't do this for two reasons (and I do admit to being a bit dim here) The guarantee form was tucked away in the bumf. I assumed the boiler would be fit for purpose for at least 15 years.... I'm now without heating as I dare not switch it on and can't afford to pay someone to come out. Have I any rights at all? or just screwed and have to start saving to fix it myself? Thank you. Would appreciate anybody's wisdom or experience in the same or similar problem

Need some advise, my other half has bought an iPad via three on contract and it has gone faulty out of the initial 28 days warranty they give, after that they state it has to go to Apple. I don't really want to go to my nearest store as it is about 60 miles away. So the question really is, are 3 responsible for the replacement or refund for the iPad as I am covered under SOGA, the contract is between me and 3 and not Apple. Any help would be great. Cheers

A person i am helping took out a three contract and then decided to terminate for various reasons. Three have sent him a final invoice of £97.30 for breaking his contract. The odd thing is there is no mention about the new phone he took out as well. Anybody know why ?

When I first purchased a phone with Vodafone I honestly couldn't have been happier however about three months ago my partner was driving me home when all of a sudden at the end of my street I lost signal. Ignoring this and figuring this would get be temporary I got home and this continued for a further three hours. This was the point at which I rang technical support who got me to do the usual taking out my battery changing my network to no avail he then checked and told me there was a planned outage and that it would in fact be okay tomorrow. This is where it starts to get sticky because you see I'm engaged have trouble getting about without support and I collapse and stop breathing my phone has in fact saved my life because I've been able to get medical and family support straight away because I carry my phone everywhere so 24 hours without it is dangerous. 24 hours came and went and it still didn't work eventually I got a semblance of service but it cut out in the middle of calls frequently and a lot of the time it took several attempts before a call would connect this in my case could harm my life I need to be able to contact help. Further to this calls often go straight to voicemail because there is no service. This has continued for three months with me ringing the call centre a lot. Yesterday I rang spoke to one lady and went through the whole rigmarole of taking out my battery and changing my provider none of this worked so she transferred me to the rudest man in the world who argued with me to the point where I began to cry. I then lost signal...again! I rang back still extremely upset and asked to speak to a manager who was so nice and accepted that this was in fact unacceptable and he gave me the option of cancelling my contract free of charge because of the appalling service and stated that my phone would be collected within 2 days and that I could then get my puk number. Today I wanted to check the details further and was told this wouldn't be happening no such thing had been said and that I have 2g so everything's fine. I explained repeatedly that I have no service to no avail. I want to leave I've had enough and feel I've been treated appallingly but need to know what my rights are regarding this can anyone help my health is bad enough but today I collapsed 7 times due to the stress I can't take anymore.

Hello, I am hoping someone could give me some advice. About 4 years ago I had a contract phone with Three mobile. I went on holiday to Cyprus to visit my father, prior to going, I phoned 3 to ask if it would be ok to take my phone and was told that so long as I did not call out, I would be fine. I never made any calls, but my then partner called me often. When I returned home, I received a bill of approximately £300 I queried this and was told it was because I accepted the calls. I terminated my account with them and told them I would not pay as when I asked about it prior to going on holiday I was not told about receiving calls. I now have this letter from Bryan Carter/Lowells and a claim form from Northampton Court saying I have a limited time to reply. The claim is for £273 due under an agreement between the original creditor and the defendant to provide finance and or services and or goods. Interest of £60 Court fee of £30 and solicitors costs of £50 I really don't have a clue as to what to do - I am unemployed and cannot pay - and I really think I shouldn't have to pay anyway. This is a very worrying letter for me to receive. Any advice would be extremely helpful. Thank you

Really hoping someone can help here First of all, I have 2 contracts with Vodafone which are due for renewal around the 7th November 2013. My phone is a Samsung s2 my son’s is a HTC desire. I have had loads of problems with these two phones which I took into my local Vodafone shop for repair on the first instance on 05/07/13. I’ll start off with the HTC, my son’s phone. This phone has not been great from the start and was unusable for an amount of time before my own phone (galaxy s2) needed repair which gave me the push to take his down for repair too. Handset number 1 (HTC Desire S) sent for repair on 05/07/13. IMEI No – .... Fault code C PF050 was unable to fix so a replacement was given. Handset number 2 replacement phone (IMEI No – ..... Fault Code C PF050) also had faults but as I was on holiday, the phone wasn’t returned for repair until 23/08/13 Again, handset number 2 was deemed unfixable so I was given another replacement handset. Handset number 3 (IMEI No – ....) ALSO had faults. This time I called 191, spoke to an adviser who told me both my phones were due for upgrade. I told him I didn’t want to upgrade just yet, I wanted my phones fixed as they are still under warranty until November. He told me all they could do was to send phone back for repair. I called again a few days later just to see what response I’d get from someone else, I was told this time that I would have to take it up with the manufactures of the handset. I told him my contract is with Vodafone and this was their job. He couldn’t advise any further unless I wanted to upgrade. I returned to the Vodafone store to see what was being said there. Again, all that could be done was to escalate the problem and send 3rd phone off for repair. Handset number 3 was sent for repair on 02/09/13 (Fault code C PF050) and returned with yet ANOTHER replacement handset! HANDSET NUMBER 4 (IMEI No – ....) and guess what, THIS HANDSET IS ALSO FAULTY!!! I called the shop to tell them the phone is faulty and the advisor said I should call 191 customer service and she would put on my notes that I was calling regarding a like for non like phone. This would mean I would receive a different kind of phone around the same value as the HTC Desire, as Vodafone no longer do the Desire. I was happy with this outcome… that is until I called 191, spoke to a customer advisor who said, she would speak to her manager. She returned saying that her manager had said no, and the girl at the shop shouldn’t have told me that would happen. I had to send the phone back for repair AGAIN! I went back down to the shop, spoke with a sales advisor there who called customer service for me. xxxx said on the phone he knew they could do the like for non like, he had known for it to be done. But, even he got knocked back. All he can do is send this one back for repair, they have their hands tied for as far as they can help. Handset number 4 has now been returned to the “repair” shop (Fault code No – C PF070) I am now stumped as what to do As I said, I have two phones. The Samsung is now going back for a 4th “repair” as every time I get it back, I return it for repair with the exact same problem. Any help or advice for this would be most welcome. Thanks

Three has announced that it has abolished international roaming charges in seven countries. The service is available to Three customers travelling to the Republic of Ireland, Australia, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, Sweden and Denmark. European authorities have been clamping down on roaming charges. But Three is the first network to abolish them altogether, albeit in selected countries, where it has sister networks. Three says customers on a pay monthly contract would be able to use their allowances of free minutes, texts and data with no extra charges for being abroad. However, those on unlimited plans will be subject to some restrictions. In a press release, Thomas Malleschitz, marketing director at Three, said: "By abolishing expensive roaming charges in select countries, we are allowing our customers to get even more value from their minutes, texts and data abroad by removing the fear associated with staying in touch while travelling." Analysts say that other operators of mobile phone networks are likely to follow Three's lead, particularly those who already have a presence in other countries. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23896896