On 2nd January I purchased an 18 month 3 mobile phone contract on from a Phones4u store in Broadmead, Bristol, UK. As part of this contract I was given a Sony Ericsson K530i handset complete with yearlong warranty. Since August this year I have had some serious technical problems with my handset and have been shocked at the lack of customer service I have received on behalf of 3 mobile.
The week starting 11th August I noticed that my handset would inexplicably shut down or freeze. As was this was not something that had happened to my handset prior to the week starting 11th August I decided to contact 3 mobile for advice on how to go about having my phone repaired, as my warranty entitled me to. On Tuesday 12th August I phoned the 3 mobile customer service helpline and spoke to a customer service advisor. The advice I was given, on the basis of my description of the fault, was to remove the memory card from my handset and replace after 24 hours. This did not correct the fault. On 17th August I made another call to the 3 mobile customer service helpline and spoke to another customer service advisor. I was informed that my handset required a master reset operation, and was instructed through the process during the telephone conversation.
This method did not yield the results I was informed it would. Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, I was not able to contact the 3 mobile customer service helpline for further assistance until Tuesday 16th September. When I did speak to a customer service advisor and explained the situation to them, I was advised that 3 mobile could provide a collect/repair/delivery service with a turnover of three days from collection. Due to the fact that I split my time between Bristol and Leeds, and I was travelling to Leeds [from Bristol] on Saturday 20th September, I highlighted the importance of my handset being delivered within the three day service time offered, otherwise I would not be in the same city as where my handset was due to be delivered. The customer service advisor assured me that my handset would be delivered on Friday 19th September between the time of 9am and 6pm. After turning down opportunities of employment in order to wait at home for the delivery of my handset on Friday 19th September, I was informed at 4pm via telephone that my handset was not going to arrive that day. I spoke to a 3 mobile employee based in Glasgow who informed me that 3 mobile had identified a fault with the battery inside my handset, and that 3 mobile were unable to dispatch my handset to Bristol that day. I was advised to telephone the 3 mobile customer service helpline in order to change the delivery address to my Leeds residence.
My handset arrived at 7am on Monday 22nd September. Having not been informed of a specified delivery time prior to the arrival of my handset, I was not expecting the delivery, and subsequently was unable to sign for the parcel. As a result, on Thursday 25th September I had to walk over three miles to the Royal Mail sorting office based on an industrial estate in a dangerous part of Leeds to collect the handset I assumed would be fixed. To my utter disappointment and intense frustration I found this not to be the case. The delivery parcel contained my handset and a letter (dated 19th September) informing me that no fault had been found. This completely contradicted the information I received via telephone on 19th September.
Prior to my handset being collected on 17th September I was advised to save all the data on my handset, as due to the usual 3 mobile handset repair procedures, all the data on my handset would be removed. The fact that all this data was still present after delivery added to my suspicion that the usual 3 mobile handset repair procedures had not been carried out.
On Wednesday 1st October I visited the 3 mobile store in Leeds city centre. I explained the problem with my handset, and my dissatisfaction with the service I had received from 3 mobile up to that stage. I was informed that due to the position of 3 mobile stores as being devoted to sales (as opposed to customer service) my complaints were the responsibilities of the 3 mobile customer service helpline. Subsequently, after enquiring about the possibility of face to face customer service, I was informed that this is not something available to 3 mobile customers and that the customer service helpline is the only form of customer service available. Due to the information I received via telephone on 19th September, that the problem with my handset was due to the battery, I asked the sales advisor in the 3 mobile store for a new battery. I was given a new battery, despite the sale advisor’s reluctance to do so, but this did not solve the problem with my handset. Again, the information given to me on 19th September was contradicted.
I subsequently phoned the 3 mobile customer service helpline and informed the customer service advisor that despite all the attempts, my handset was not only still faulty, but deteriorating on almost a daily basis. This was the first time I requested that my dissatisfaction be treated as a formal complaint. I asked to speak to a senior member of the customer service team. I was informed that although they were currently busy, they would telephone me after they became free; I am still awaiting that phone call.
Again I phoned the 3 mobile customer service helpline and again I informed the customer service advisor of the situation with my handset. Again, I was offered the three-day collect/repair/delivery, but was reluctant to carry out this procedure due to my experience of this service prior to this offer. On this basis, I was advised the best option would be to take it to a Carphone Warehouse repair centre and was informed of the location of the Bristol branch. During the same conversation I requested a hard copy of my 3 mobile contract. I was informed this was only available on the internet, which I did not have access to at the time, and the only copy I could receive was a Braille version.
When I visited the address of the Carphone Warehouse repair centre, given to me by the 3 mobile customer service advisor, I found that the Carphone Warehouse repair centre was no longer situated at that premises. The location of the new store was unreachable to me, without incurring large public transport costs.
Upon visiting a Carphone Warehouse repair centre in Leeds city centre on Friday 10th October I was informed that my handset would need to be left in store for repair. I collected my handset on Sunday 12th October, and was told it had been repaired. After discovering this not to be the case, I returned to the Carphone Warehouse repair centre on Tuesday 14th October to inform them of this. I was told that in order for my handset to receive the technical attention it required, it would need to be sent to the handset manufacturer which could take up to 28 days. Since Carphone Warehouse could not provide a loan handset service this was not a procedure I wanted to undertake. Having a telephone is an important of my work and social life, and I was not prepared to continue paying for my mobile phone contract when there was a chance I would not be able to use my phone for almost a month.
I visited both 3 mobile stores in Leeds city centre and neither had loan phones available for if I chose to send my handset to the manufacturer on the 28-day service. I was shocked to discover that the main 3 mobile store in Leeds only had five loan phones available for their customers. The other store took the telephone number of both a friend and myself (as my handset was unreliable), and promised to contact one of us when a loan phone became available; I am still awaiting this phone call.
On Thursday 23rd October I phoned 3 mobile customer service helpline (again) to inform them of the status of my handset. After the offer of the 3 mobile three day collect/repair/delivery service, and the communication of my reluctance to send my handset off for 28 days without a loan phone, it was revealed to me that I was entitled to an exchange service whereby if my phone was not fixed within three days it will be exchanged permanently for a working phone. After agreeing to this, I was informed that the service was not possible due to the fact that my handset had only been sent off once to 3 mobile. I was informed that this service is only available to customers who have sent off their handset to 3 mobile twice before. It was not made clear to me when I was advised to take my handset for repair at the Carphone Warehouse repair centre that this repair was to be discounted when assessing my illegibility to partake in the exchange service.
On Friday 31st October I booked my handset in for the three day collection/repair/delivery service once again. I received a phone call from a 3 mobile call advisor to confirm that my handset would be collected between 12pm and 6pm on Monday 3rd November and then delivered back to me on Wednesday 5th November between 12pm and 6pm. On both occasions the handset was not collected/delivered during the time period that was stated. When I collected the phone I found that 3 mobile had sent a new, working handset.
Upon receiving this handset, I sent off this letter of complaint to 3 mobile in order to register my anger at how I had been treated throughout the whole process, and to ask to be compensated for 3 mobile’s failure to provide me with the service I was paying for. I was told that my compensation existed in the form of my new handset, a gift from 3 mobile. Considering that 3 mobile were contractually obliged to provide me with a working handset, this gives me little compensation. It is outrageous to suggest that this new handset (something I should have been provided upon my original contact with 3 mobile on the week beginning 11th August) represents a good-will offering and somehow provides me with some recompense for the terrible customer service I have received. However, despite the ridiculousness of 3 mobile’s attempts to appease my frustration surrounding how I had been treated by 3 mobile, the fact that 3 mobile offered me a £5 refund in the early stages of the complaint process shows that 3 mobile acknowledge wrongdoing on their part.
Following my refusal to accept this derisory payoff I communicated to 3 mobile that I wanted to take my complaint further. I was informed that because I was writing from an address that wasn’t associated with my account, this new address had to be placed on my record. I was informed that 3 mobile would then contact me at that address, in order to take my complaint further (I am still waiting to be contacted). I finally sent this letter again, and received no reply.
The customer service I have experienced on behalf of 3 mobile has been worse than I thought possible. I have had problems with telephone banking, my mp3 player, and my internet subscription in the past and on no occasion have I found such incompetence on a customer service level. The only consistency I have received from 3 mobile is consistently poor customer service. Since the week starting Monday 11th August I have spent hours on the 3 mobile customer service helpline speaking to staff that have been consistently uncompromising and unhelpful (on one particular occasion I was placed on hold whilst I was in the middle of speaking). I have been consistently provided with incorrect and contradictory information on the status of the repairs being carried out on my handset, and employees of 3 mobile have consistently ignored my complaints. The fact that there is no face-to-face customer service available to 3 mobile customers is appalling and I expect a full written apology and a full refund of every bill between the start of my contract, and the time I received my new handset, totalling £306.64.
This process has caused me an unprecedented amount of time, stress, and frustration.
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