Three refusing to honour their 14 Day Return Policy

JaxMax

Has anyone else had problems with Three Mobille regarding their 14 Day Returns Policy?

Before signing up with them last week and buying a €300 Sony Ericsson Satio I read their website and came across this......

"If, for whatever reason, you're unhappy with 3 or our services, you can return your handset/modem and boxed accessories, with a proof of purchase within 14 days of delivery of your device, for a full refund."

Which led me to believe that if I wasn't happy with the phone for "whatever reason" I could return it. I'd read mixed reviews about the phone and wanted to make sure I could make up my own mind about it before having to keep it.

The phone is awful, sluggish menus, won't connect to several WiFi Hot Spots, when connected to the internet via 3 (which I have to pay for) it doesn't seem to work properly and several attempts have to be made to log onto the website taking more time and costing me more money! In my opinion it isn't doing the job it should be, so this morning I took it back to the store in Henry Street along with all paperwork and boxes etc.

The female manager there told me that I can only return the phone if there is a fault there and even after her phoning Head Office to check if she can give me a refund, says that "whatever reason" only means if there is a fault. I don't agree with this. She was supposed to phone me back with a decision from HO today before end of business but has apparently gone off to some Awards ceremony (nice for her!) and forgotten all about me who, I was assured, was "top of her list" of things to do today.

I have spoken to the National Consumer Agency who have said that it sounds like a breach of their terms of conditions and services and advised me to go to the Small Claims Court if 'Three' continue to say no to the refund. I will do this if I have to, it's only €15 after all, but I was wondering if anyone else has come up against 'Three' with the same problem and if and how they got it resolved?

Thanks.

bycikas

Not against 3 in general but often seen companies to "lie" this way and get customers ripped... As far as i have seen , all of them lost in courts and after that changed some of the words...
Or added a very tiny print under everything stating that "*for any reason - means bla bla bla " and so on
good luck with this..

Gaw_

Go into the 3 store and threaten to go to the small claims court, if they still wont listen, go to the small claims court. You will get your money back, it's just a matter of how long it takes.

dudara

Their statement does imply that they will take back the phone within 14 days, for any reason.

You need to make sure that they don't get more specific in their T&Cs. I bet you that somewhere there is a line saying that T&Cs apply.

You can also consider registering a complaint against them with the ASAI if you feel that the ad is misleading.

JohnC.

Their statement says if you are unhappy with "3 or our services". You say you are unhappy with the phone, not 3 or their services. That's probably how they get out of it.

bycikas

Kahless wrote: »

Their statement says if you are unhappy with "3 or our services". You say you are unhappy with the phone, not 3 or their services. That's probably how they get out of it.

their internet connection is bad. So wualia - bad service.:rolleyes:

jor el

Kahless wrote: »

Their statement says if you are unhappy with "3 or our services". You say you are unhappy with the phone, not 3 or their services. That's probably how they get out of it.

It also says you can return your phone/modem if you are unhappy with 3 or their service, which is what the OP is trying to do. So they shouldn't be able to get out of it on that count.

I wonder though, is this something that only applies to when you buy online, and not in the stores? This could be an online policy and not a store policy. If that's the case, and you bought it in the store, then they may not be held to that policy.

You should try the small claims threat, and see if that will get you anywhere.

keithclancy

bycikas wrote: »

their internet connection is bad. So wualia - bad service.:rolleyes:

By your definition.
By my definition all mobile internet is bad Hence in the grand scheme of things 3 is fine.

wmpdd3

This does come under a piece of consumer legisation that consumer connect should have informed you about.

The phone is sold as part of a credit contract. as with all credit agreements you have 14 days cooling off period. As the phone is part of the transaction, then the phone can also be returned even though you are not making a claim under the sales of goods and services act.

It's a long time since I worked in mobiles but at that time any contracts nulled were taken from our commission and the shop suffered a 'claw back'.

More than a few of these and you'd be in alot of trouble as the manager would deduce you were not explaining the contract and phones correctly.

This might explain the manager's actions.

By the way if the phone was not 'returned as sold' with box etc we would cancel the contract but charge a re-stocking fee. Is the phone as sold?

JaxMax

Thanks everyone for your replies.

wmpdd3 - yes, I took the phone back complete with box and everything else that came with it.

I tried phoning Henry Street all day yesterday and the phone was constantly engaged so couldn't get back to the Manager who had supposedly put me on the top of her 'to do' list on Wednesday with a promise of a call back "probably within the hour"! I reckon it was just a ruse to get me out of the shop.

I'm going to go back again tomorrow and mention what 'wmpdd3' has said and also what the National Consumer Agency said too.

I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall though, they're refusing to acknowledge that "for whatever reason" means just that. I'll let you know how I get on - thanks everyone for your help.

jimmycrackcorm

I got a LG touch phone from three over a year ago and was basically unhappy with it's responsiveness so I brought it back to their store in Liffey Valley after about 10 days and they took it back and refunded me without any question.

JaxMax

Success!

I went back to 3 yesterday armed with the information I got from 'wmpdd3' and they caved in straight away! So THANK YOU 'wmpdd3' - I reckon it was your info that did it.

The Asst Manager was there and just sorted out a full refund immediately - can't tell you how relieved I am.

I've since spent the day playing with my new iphone which is massively better than the Satio!

Thanks everyone.

dudara

Thanks for coming back and letting us know how you got on.

dudara

bp1989

I've had bad experiences with 3 stores in the past, so I never set foot in them now. On one occasion a few years ago when I was a secondary school student, I was approached and asked what I was looking for. I told them I was just browsing, which prompted them to ask me how much money I had. It was around Christmas time. Talk about invasive.

On another occasion, a few weeks after I had bought an iPod from them (this was before the aforementioned event), I went back to the store after I found it was faulty. They told me that they have no responsibility at all, that it's apple's problem, not theirs, and refused to help (granted, back then I was fairly shy and accepted this, if it was now it would be a very different story). What a crock of ****. Seriously, avoid those guys like the plague.

Walkman

Your getting 3Stores mixed up with 3G
3Stores do not sell apple products

wmpdd3

JaxMax wrote: »

Success!

I went back to 3 yesterday armed with the information I got from 'wmpdd3' and they caved in straight away! So THANK YOU 'wmpdd3' - I reckon it was your info that did it.

The Asst Manager was there and just sorted out a full refund immediately - can't tell you how relieved I am.

I've since spent the day playing with my new iphone which is massively better than the Satio!

Thanks everyone.

Thank God I don't work in mobiles anymore!