pre-pay becomes pay-later!

foggy_lad

before i start if this should be in mobiles mods feel free to move:o

i used some mobile broadband with my three prepay account and checked my balance and had not been charged for this so i assumed that three had another free broadband month to compensate customers!

i kept using the service slowly over a few hours and to my surprise was still not charged a cent for mobile broadband!

then hours later three decide in their wisdom to charge me more than €30 for services which they failed to charge for initially!

i am not after any discussion and dont require any remarks like "you used the service so ya gotta pay"

what i would like to know is when did three start allowing pre-pay customers to pay hours later?? as far as i know they can't do this!! does anyone have any usefull opinion?

Sam Vimes

the system took time to respond and deduct your credit. that's not the same as pay later. if you're roaming in some countries you can call as much as you want for a day and the next day your credit will change. that doesn't make it a bill phone


someone had a similar situation to yourself on the mobile forum recently. he said he wasn't getting charged. i recommended he download a relatively large file and then wait 24 hours to be sure


oh my god, i told someone to wait 24 hours. i have become 3 customer care :eek:

Paulw

I can't say for sure, but my understanding was that for up to 24hrs they can claim back anything used. It does happen from time to time that the node that does the specific charging can go down (maintenance, hardware faults, network faults, etc) and during that period, your balance may not change, but later on any calls/sms/traffic you used will be charged for. The charging records are kept.

Different operators have different practices.

foggy_lad

as far as i knew they MUST CHARGE FOR SERVICES WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME OF USING THE SERVICES or three must take the hit

just to update three have refunded €30 as this was not charged in "real time" which is a condition of providing mobile services on a pre-pay basis!

Sam Vimes

foggy_lad wrote: »

as far as i knew they MUST CHARGE FOR SERVICES WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME OF USING THE SERVICES or three must take the hit

just to update three have refunded €30 as this was not charged in "real time" which is a condition of providing mobile services on a pre-pay basis!

so if you go to country that doesn't have live roaming, are you entitled to all the money back because it wasn't live?

who says it has to be immediate?

tell me foggy_lad, when did 3 receive the money for the service from you? did they receive the money before or after you used the service? and if you bougth credit and creditted it to your account before using the service, how exactly was it pay later?

Paulw

foggy_lad wrote: »

as far as i knew they MUST CHARGE FOR SERVICES WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME OF USING THE SERVICES or three must take the hit

just to update three have refunded €30 as this was not charged in "real time" which is a condition of providing mobile services on a pre-pay basis!

No operator in Ireland has a 100% real-time charging solution. Some charges are delayed, due to many reasons.

Also, can you define "reasonable time"?

I don't see anything wrong with how they charged you.

Random

foggy_lad wrote: »

as far as i knew they MUST CHARGE FOR SERVICES WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME OF USING THE SERVICES or three must take the hit

just to update three have refunded €30 as this was not charged in "real time" which is a condition of providing mobile services on a pre-pay basis!

Where did you get this from ?

Pythia

If you hate 3 so much (like the link in your sig), why do you continue to use it?

Oracle

I can see your point of view Foggy Lad, it's disappointing to be charged hours later for a service you used and thought you'd be charged immediately for. I've read the terms and conditions of all the mobile networks (yes, I'm the 1% that does that!) and they all have a clause that goes something like..."if you use services and a charge remains payable it will be debited from your balance..." I think some even say if there isn't a sufficient balance to cover the charge it will be debited when you next top up. I'd say they have themselves well covered. Although it's far from what you'd expect from a modern prepay service, i.e. you expect the charges to be levied instantly or in the case of broadband maybe within 30/60 mins.

thebman

Happened to me for like two weeks on Meteor once. They didn't even try to charge me though.

foggy_lad

its in the conditions of their licence and all mobile providers offering pre-pay services! otherwise they are offering customers credit especially if they leave you with a negative balance which they are prohibited from doing!

their terms and conditions mean nothing regarding this they are not worth the paper....

reasonably means shortly i presume meaning minutes rather than hours and roaming is covered by a different timescale.

they are/were in the wrong and have stated as much and offered to rectify the situation which they have done so i'm happy as i usually am with three and as for hating them i don't

but i do sometimes get frustrated with the ignorance of people paid to listen and then fob you off with nonsense(three customer care) untill you keep ringing so often they have to sort the issue out!

Oracle

Interesting outcome, good for you Foggy Lad. You fought them and won. I think the mobile companies get away with murder so I'm delighted for you. It's in the area of the actually product itself (the mobile phone) that I think they try to abuse the customer the most. Mainly through unreasonable return policies. The amount of profit all the mobile networks are making they should be giving exceptional customer service, but unfortunately it's greed that keeps them needing more, and more, and wanting to give nothing back. But that's for another thread.

I've learned something here too that, except for roaming, they can't make charges to your account at a much later time. Despite what their terms and conditions say. That's good to know.