I have accounts with 3 Mobile. I was contacted by 3 about the possibility of my taking a phone and contract off them. It was an inexpensive contract for an inexpensive phone which I told them I would consider. They attempted to post me the phone, which I rejected delivery of and phoned them to inform them of this. As such I did not receive the SIM card a week later in the post as would have been standard protocol. I have made my feelings on the matter more than clear to three over numerous phone calls and quite politely, I might add. I know myself to be within my rights, just as I know them to have nothing on me but one thing. At one point during one conversation they all of a sudden became rather vague and as a result they have a single and lone mark against me as there exists a legal grey area in which they have room to manoeuvre. As many of you will know, these legal grey areas exist merely because there is nothing to say that they are not legal and they only serve to set the stage for baffling further action in terms of loopholes in other aspects of that supposed contract. Now, I realise since I neither accepted delivery of the phone nor initiated the account by activated the SIM which I did not receive, I am not legally liable for that account. What I did find was that there had been a small direct debit on my bank account for four months, at which point I cancelled without prior notice to 3. On top of that I have been harassed about this 'contract' which they feel me liable for, to which I have rejected further payment. They even had the cheek to offer me a £200+ disconnection fee, and I submit that the phone they proposed to have off them would not be worth £200 new and encrusted in sapphires. At this point the proposed debt has been shunted off to a debt collector, who strangely will not talk to me unless I call them back on their toll number (big surprise there) and despite having made my case to 3 more than adequately and remaining within my legal rights in doing so, they still persist. At this point, I have emailed a CEO of this collection company and mysteriously had another collection slip from 3 (regarding this 'debt' which has already been sold off) after the day that email was sent. By now, as you might imagine, I am beyond tired of these shenanigans and am quite frankly thinking about cancelling the rest of my direct debits with 3. I can bin all the letters and block all the phone calls, what I cannot morally fathom is paying anything further to a company which have become known to me to be entirely unscrupulous. As I say, they are bullies and they are charlatans. I personally have a severe and rare case of bipolar disorder. Over the past 20 years I have scarcely worked and as my mental condition has been improving over the past 5 years I have been making increasing efforts to get into work, as with DC's austerity measures being in full swing in the UK I also cannot fathom being a burden to the dole any longer, as I have seen so many fall by the wayside as a result of these austerity measures. Although my condition has been somewhat improving over the past 5 years, even as recent as this year I have be plagued with mental difficulties, yet still carry on with the work effort and all of these accounts I have with 3 (which I am normally inclined to pay on time and in full) are representative of manic over-preparedness in efforts to return to work. So, at this point I am wondering what the repercussions would be of have 4 marks of bad credit against me for mere mobile contracts. As I understand it, it could be a blow to me if I ever wish to have finance within the same fiscal spectrum for the next three years. However, this is a risk I am willing to take, as I almost cannot live with the knowledge that my contributions to a unconscionable mobile service provider are likely further efforts by this same provider to do similar things to other people which have been done to me. I'm now finally getting paid work, albeit part time at the moment. I intend to keep with this trend, but I am clearly unhappy with the trend of being rentboy to 3 Mobile. So as regards these matters, any and all good advice would be appreciated and I thank you.

Hi, In my effort of making sense of the mess that is my credit file, I have noticed today that I have 4 closed accounts and one of those appears to be default. I was shocked to see this, as even though I remember having an account with 3 mobile in 2012 I do not remember having any issues with them. It was a 3Gsim card for an iPad which I had to cancel because after a couple of months of taking out the sim I have moved to a basement flat where I had no network coverage at all, therefore continuing paying for the service I didn't get did not make sense. As far as I remember this was a monthly rolling contract of some sort as I do not recall having any issues cancelling it. I remember paying the final balance and that was it. That is why I can't understand the default note on my file coming from them. I have actually called their customer service today and the guy initially said it must be a mistake as I only had one account with them which was closed in 2012 and looked fine. Then he put me on hold for a couple of minutes and came back to me saying that actually yes, the default note on my credit report reflects the way I have managed my account with them?! Apparently I paid the January or February bill in March?! He kept apologising saying there was nothing he could do and that they were happy with having me as a customer and would like to have me back and I should probably take this out with the credit agency (i.e Experian). I said it wasn't just a credit agency but all of them and tried to explain how frustrating this was as I really don't remember being a bad customer at all, once they have called me to claim the balance I have paid and thought no more of it. Did not expect this at all. I do not remember getting any reminders or notices of a default account at all! I have had issues in the past where I was late with an O2 payment for 2-3 months and this shows as a 2 or 4 on my credit report. With them there are lots of OK, then 1, D and SF (tried to post animage but I do not meet the minimum posts requirement ) Default Balance £30 Default Date 20 March 2012 Default Satisfied Date 27 March 2012 Not Reported Account Holder Status Normal Account StatusDefault Reported Until March 2018 From your experience, is this practice normal? Is there anything I can do about it? Any help appreciated!

Received an email from Scotcall threatening doorstep collector as according to their client I had made no attempt to settle blah blah blah. They say I owe an amount to Hutchinson 3G which I'm disputing as I cancelled the contract giving 30 days notice at the end of my 2 year contract. I have a default listed on my file and plan to challenge as I believe it's unfair and incorrect. I responded to Scotcall with the harassment letter and doorstep visit letter and began putting together details of why I dispute this debt. Scotcall responded within half an hour with the following. . "The case you have referred to is not applicable to your circumstances. As part of the credit agreement that you signed and entered into, you agreed to repay the full outstanding balance and that where necessary, the creditor could recover the debt by outsourcing the debt to a third party, which included by way of doorstep collection. We are entitled by law and under contract to recover monies outstanding and we are allowed to take reasonable steps in accordance with regulatory guidance to recover such monies. Please advise us of your repayment proposals " Is a mobile phone contract a credit agreement ? Plus the contract has ended and I dispute the debt. Help !

I'm asking this on behalf of my daughter. It's quite a long history, so you might need to sit down with a cuppa if you can get through it all. We really need some help and advice on this matter because we're banging our heads against a brick wall. My daughter got 3 mobile and mobile broadband in August 2011. She gave 3 my home phone number until her phone connection was up and running, everything was fine. She gave them my phone number and address as she was moving away to university shortly. Then she moved away from the area in September 2011 to start her second year at university, and asked 3 to now remove my details from their files, gave them her new address, and they already had her mobile phone which was working just fine... right up until she moved into her student home - a home which, according to the 3 connectivity page, had good connections. It had none whatsoever. The only connection she could get was if she walked to the nearest KFC half a mile away and went onto their wifi, or climbed over the 6ft tall back fence of her property, across a college field and right into the furthest corner of it - no matter how bad the weather conditions were, how dark it was, how much dog mess she walked through, and that's the only way she could get any signal to get in touch with anyone. Even then, it would cut out 3 or 4 times every minute until she became so frustrated that she was often in tears. At one point, she fell seriously ill, and had to wait for a housemate to come home from their university lectures so they could run to the nearest phone box (they were with a different mobile phone company, but also had zero mobile connectivity) to ring for an ambulance. She contacted 3 through their webform to explain that since her move, she was no longer able to get the connectivity she was paying for so her mobile and mobile broadband were unusable and she therefore had no use for them. This was in September 2011. 3 wrote to her and asked her to ring or email them. She wrote back and explained she couldn't because clearly she had no signal for her mobile phone or mobile broadband so she'd put the cancellation request in writing. This happened a few times. 3's only response was letter after letter telling her to ring them. Impossible with no mobile phone signal or mobile broadband. The last thing she wanted anyway was to ring them to cancel and have them giving her the hard sell to try and force her to change her mind. This went on for another 9 months. She'd kept paying by direct debit for the service she wasn't getting, then decided enough was enough so she gave them advance warning she was going to stop paying them. By this point I think she had cancelled in writing at least 3 or 4 times, but probably more. Next thing was I got a phone call at my home from 3 threatening my daughter with court, bailiffs, legal action. I explained she hadn't lived here for 10 months. Didn't stop me getting call after call from 3, up to 5 or 6 times a day. I asked them to remove my phone number and address from their system and they promised they would. A month or so later, there was a debt collection company letter sent to my home (Credit Solutions Limited), for my daughter, despite the fact my daughter by then had not been living her for over a year. I explained this to them in writing, and explained the issue to them in full, and the debt collection company backed off. 3, however, continued to harass me by phone trying to get hold of my daughter (where she did not live, and they knew this) 7 days a week, anywhere between 8am and 10pm. They still sent threatening letters to my address for my daughter. Each time I responded to them what my daughter's issue was, how many times she had cancelled the contract in writing etc. All they did was demand she paid the two payments she had stopped and asked me to get a letter signed by my daughter, saying I had authority to speak for my daughter if she was mentally disabled! It wasn't my daughter I was speaking for, it was to stop the threats of debt collection, court and bailiffs to MY home, where my daughter had not lived for over a year. Yet still the pestering continued. So on a 12 month contract, she'd paid for 10 months of service she had never received more than a week or two weeks of, before moving house, and because she had been refusing to pay for the final two months of it. Then last month, 18 months after my daughter first asked 3 to cancel the mobile and mobile broadband, I got a letter for my daughter at my address from a second debt collection company, this time the company was called Past Due Credit Solutions. I wrote to them and explained my daughter did not live here, and hadn't done so for 18 months. I sent a copy of everything to them, and to 3 also. They told me I wasn't allowed to speak "for" my daughter without filling in forms so say she was mentally deficient and I was her carer . I told them I was speaking as the owner of the property they were threatening to send court letters and bailiffs to, and had already set two debt collection companies onto. I contacted 3 in writing and got the same response - they couldn't talk about it to me unless my daughter had given me her permission, but this was to MY home and MY phone number! The second debt collection company then apologised and say they have now removed my details from their files. By this time, the Ombudsman said in a letter that they would do nothing as more than 9 months had passed thanks to 3's stalling techniques. They gave us no suggestions as to where we could go next for help. We found limited advice online, which said we needed to get everything in writing, never speak to them on the phone, by webform or email, and that my daughter needed a deadlock letter. So my daughter explained this to 3 in writing and asked for the deadlock letter. So far, no sign of a deadlock letter. We tried to get to talk to the CAB, but they refuse to see anyone unless they have an actual court date, because they don't have enough staff except to deal with the most serious cases involving court. However, since yesterday, I've had around 8 phone calls to my home from 3 asking for my daughter to ring them. That's despite the fact they said they'd removed my details from their system over 6 months ago. And again, threats of court, debt collectors, bailiffs etc. Yet again, me painstakingly explaining my daughter has not lived at my home for over 18 months, and again, asking them to remove my details and phone number from my database. And yet, here we are today, 3 more threatening phone calls to my home from 3 today so far. I refuse to pass on my daughter's mobile phone number (she is with another network now, one who actually have a mobile phone signal) because of the fact that 3 have refused to resolve this matter in writing, and my daughter has refused to speak to them on the phone, in line with advice everyone has given her. Where does my daughter go now and what can she do next? How does she get these idiots off her back? How can she stop them ruining her credit record like this? How do I get these ***expletive** idiots at 3 to stop them making threatening phone calls to my ex-directory phone, and giving my address to debt collectors for them to send threats to my home where my daughter hasn't lived since September 2011? We don't have cash to throw around in a small claims court, or to send 3 solicitors letters or anything like that, to stop the harassment. All we want is for 3 to stop hassling us. My daughter doesn't even care if she gets back any of the 10 months she paid 3 for almost zero connectivity because she is at the end of her tether with them, as am I. It is clearly deadlocked since the day she moved home and found she had zero connectivity, as 3 have refused to deal with this issue in writing, and both myself and my daughter are only prepared to deal with 3 in writing because of the dreadful way this is being handled by 3. My daughter has cancelled in writing at least 7 or 8 times now. So, if anyone has read this far and can offer any advice before we both tear our hair out, that would be great. Please help!

Hi, new user here and just want some general advice! Last year I received a letter from Hutchinson 3G requesting payment of a £450 debt that I had allegedly not settled, from 2007! As far as I could remember I had disputed the debt at the time (on the grounds that they had set up two contracts in my name by mistake, effectively one was a ghost contract that I had never used/didn't exist!) and had considered the matter to be closed. the debt was passed on to Lowell Group who proceeded to threaten me under three different guises ('Lowell', 'Hamptons' and 'Red') and as I had no paperwork (binned it all years ago) I just caved in Sept 2011 and said I'd pay £10 a month to get them off my back (but I never admitted liability). I have now discovered that I have an horrendous default on my credit file (I'd never looked at it before) which shows the account in default for years and I wanted some advice on how I should proceed. I can't get anything out of Hutchinson 3G - not even the original paperwork. But I am desperate to clear up my file and I want to apply for mortgages next year so should I: a) Clear 'debt' in full and move on; b) Settle at a reduced amount; c) Not pay and wait until the entry disappears from my file (presumable after 6 years from date of default??). After the entry is removed from the file does this mean that it will have the same effect as if I had paid it off in full?? Thanks in advance!

I would be very grateful if anyone could tell me if I have any form of redress on the below and if so what I can do. I recently applied for a loan and although I could obtained one the rates offered from my bank were substantially higher than those advertised. I obtained a copy of my credit file and was surprised to see that Hutchinson 3G had marked an account I had held with them as a default. I had a three year contract with Hutchinson which I fulfilled even though the service never worked and was not fit for purpose. I purchased a Hutchinson 3G dongle as part of a 3 year plan and received a free laptop at PC World in May 2009. Unfortunately after approximately 3 months the service provided went from adequate to non-existent. The mobile broadband service did not work at my home or in any location I travelled on business to in the UK. After countless calls to the technical support I simply gave up using the device. In spite of this I continued to pay each month as required for a service I could not use. The deal included a laptop and I was happy to fulfil my end of the bargain and complete the credit agreement until June 2011. After my final payment had been made I contacted Hutchinson 3G customer services both by phone and via their online contact form instructing them I no longer wished to continue using Hutchinson 3G and to cancel my account. I was informed this would be done. I cancelled my direct debit to Hutchinson 3G with my bank as it was no longer required. In July 2011 I received a bill from Hutchinson 3G for broadband services. I again I contacted Hutchinson 3G customer services via phone and online reiterating that the service did not work, was not required or wanted and requesting that my account be cancelled. I was informed verbally that if I paid the bill over the phone that the account would be closed. I paid the bill and considered the matter closed. I received no reply from the online form. August 2011 I received another bill from Hutchinson 3G for broadband services. I called the customer service call centre yet again and explained I did not want the service and that I had cancelled my account. I was informed that I would be refunded and the account shown as satisfied. I also again received no reply from the online form. My credit file shows as being shown as being in default and then satisfied in default. I haven't defaulted on anything. My only and lasting impression of Hutchinson 3G customer services was that they were there to extract the maximum amount of cash from the customer and nothing else. I have been marked as defaulting on an account / services that I did not want and had tried numerous times to close. I have no paperwork to prove the above as all was done either on the phone and via their web site on line forms, of which, you do not get a copy. Can I have this default removed and how do I go about it?