USELESS THREE CUSTOMER SERVICE

lfc1984

Hi Three Reps,

I have warned you that I would go public if my queries over the last few days were not answered. For those people considering moving to Three, this is just a taster of my PM communication to date with Three....DON'T DO IT

PM NUMBER 1

Dear Sir/Madam,

My wife's Iphone 4 (Three contract commenced in May 2011) became virtually useless after the latest Apple IOS 5.0.1 update. The WIFI signal disappeared, "No Service" status appeared, there were dropped calls and as a result she could not use the phone at all. Up until the latest IOS update, my wife had nothing but good things to say about her Iphone and the signal strength and WIFI were excellent. She rang Three Customer Service on Wednesday last, 23rd November, 2011, who recommended that she bring the phone in to Fonemenders in GPO Arcade, off Henry Street in Dublin. As we live in Donegal, 4 hours drive from Dublin and as I was in Dublin on Thursday 24th November, 2011, for a hospital appointment, I took the opportunity of leaving in the Iphone with Fonemenders at 9.45am in the drop in repair centre in the GPO Arcade. I called back to the shop at 4pm yesterday only to be told that it was a software issue and that it was an Apple related Software issue (something along those lines) and that they were going to organise to forward a replacement phone to my Wife though Three. Fonemenders confirmed they did not have a replacement phone yesterday but that they should have one by Friday 25th November, 2011 or by Tuesday 29th November, 2011 at latest. I found myself apprehensive at the thought of having to leave my Wife's Iphone with them. Since the date of leaving in my Wife’s Iphone 4 with Fonemenders on Thursday, 24th November, 2011, I have today, Saturday, 26th November, 2011, logged in to Fonemenders website and their repair status says that it is still "On workbench". Now, what I need to know is that, is my wife going to get a reconditioned phone or is she going to get, as I was led to believe by Fonemenders, a brand NEW replacement phone? I want to stress that my wife does NOT want a reconditioned/second hand phone as we both have read a lot of complaints on Irish Forum Boards about Fonemenders replacing new Iphone’s left in for repair with older and reconditioned Iphone’s and my Wife certainly does not want somebody else's old repaired iphone. Again, I wish to reiterate that my wife wants a brand NEW in the box Iphone 4.

Also, very importantly, Three are using Fonemenders as their Repair agent, however, Apple do not recognise Fonemenders as an AASP (Apple Authorised Service Provider) – please see attached link to Apple’s list of AASP’s in the Republic of Ireland.

http://www.apple.com/ie/buy/locator/map.html?tySearch=1&viaProduct=2&viaSpecial=-1&strCountry=IRL&lat=53.344104&lng=-6.2674937&gCountry=IE

Furthermore, in Apple’s website, there is a download specifically relating to Apples one year warranty (which applies to my Wife’s Iphone 4) where I quote…

“This warranty does not apply: (a) to consumable parts, such as batteries or protective coatings that are designed to diminish over time, unless failure has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; (b) to cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports; (c) to damage caused by use with another product; (d) to damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, liquid contact, fire, earthquake or other external cause; (e) to damage caused by operating the Apple Product outside Apple’s published guidelines; (f) to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (“AASP”); (g) to an Apple Product that has been modified to alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple; (h) to defects caused by normal wear and tear or otherwise due to the normal aging of the Apple Product, or (i) if any serial number has been removed or defaced from the Apple Product.”

AND ALSO

“Important: Do not open the Apple Product. Opening the Apple Product may cause damage that is not covered by this warranty. Only Apple or an AASP should perform service on this Apple Product.”

Please see following link to the Apple Warranty -

http://images.apple.com/legal/warranty/docs/iPhone_4_warranty.pdf

So, from all the information I have to hand, it appears that –

• Fonemenders are NOT an AASP (Apple Authorised Service Provider).
• Fonemenders can only check the software version on it, check the water damage labels (one on the top, one on the bottom) and make sure there are no obvious signs of damage and if they open the phone for ANY reason, the Apple warranty is then NULL AND VOID ! As per Apple, Fonemenders are NOT allowed open a phone UNDER WARRANTY. Why are Three continuing to direct Three customers to Fonemenders when they are aware that Apple do not recognise Fonemenders as one of their AASP’s and that any service carried out by Fonemenders renders Apple’s one year warranty Null and Void? This has a serious legal implication for all Three customers who have Apple one year warranties in the event that Fonemenders do carry out a service on their Iphone’s.

The association which Three have with Fonemenders has caused and causing great frustration and concern among Irish Iphone users who have been directed by Three to Fonemenders following a problem with their Iphone. I have also last night, Friday, 25th November, 2011 rung the Three Customer Service who presumably are based overseas and they have made a note of my concerns.

I want to formally put Three on notice of my Wife’s position on this matter as follows –

• Three now will arrange to URGENTLY deal with this matter to my Wife’s full satisfaction. As mentioned earlier, my Wife is formally requesting that Three urgently issue her with a brand NEW IPHONE 4 as she needs it urgently.
• Three arrange to credit her account with the unused portion of her contract from the date of loss of service which occurred firstly on Sunday, 20th November, 2011 to the date she receives her NEW Iphone 4 replacement

If my Wife’s above request is not fully and satisfactorily dealt with by Friday 2nd December, 2011, she will contact Comreg (The Commission for Communications Regulation) http://www.comreg.ie/ and request that they step in and help my Wife resolve this matter. My Wife will also consider, as a first measure, instructing her Bank to cancel Three’s Direct Debit instruction with effect from Friday 2nd December, 2011 if this matter is not satisfactorily dealt with by then.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

PM NUMBER 2
Hi Patrick,

Following up on my PM of 25/11/11, I have also emailed Three Customer service on 26/11/11. I can arrange to email you directly if you required this email as I’m not sure how to attach it to a PM.

Patrick, for your information, my wife also contacted Apple on the same day, after she rang Three on Wednesday, 23rd November, 2011 and Apple talked her through the Restoring factory settings. Apple stated that when the restoring to factory settings did not fix the Network/WIFI dropping out, calls dropping out and the phone freezing, then the Iphone would need to come in for repair. My wife also followed up with Apple yesterday, 26th November, 2011 and explained that Fonemenders retained her Iphone and explained the history of her dealings with Three and Fonemenders. Apple then confirmed that a Repair has been set up with them. The Apple employee confirmed that when the Restore to factory settings did not solve the connectivity/network/WIFI issues, then in his opinion, then it is a hardware issue. The Apple emloyee confirmed that a "NEW" IPhone 4 will be sent out within 5 days - we will wait and see if indeed it is a "NEW" Iphone 4 or simply a refurbished one. On that subject, from reading numerous posts on Three, it appears that badly refurblished phones are being sent out to Three Customers who duly send them straight back to Three requesting a "NEW" phone, not a non functioning, scratched and battered phone which Three seem to be very keen on. Why is this happening? From reading a particularly harrowing experience by a Boards.ie poster named Stinicker under the thread "I too have had to resort to ComReg!" posted on 10/10/11, it is obvious that the Apple customer service is vastly superior to that of Three's even though the initial "New" Iphone sent out to the poster by Apple was faulty, but that Apple did send out another replacement Iphone which was fully functional notwithstanding the Three network issues which the poster still experienced after they received the second Iphone replacement. I hope that my wife will not have to go down the route this poster did.

Can you also please look into the issues regarding Fonemenders association with Three as mentioned above in my email to Three Customer service and specifically the fact that Fonemenders are not an Apple Authorised Service Provider and also the the fact that Apple warranty is voided in the event that Fonemenders open Iphone. I found the whole experience of leaving in my wife's Iphone 4 with Fonemenders to be perturbing as I did not have a confident feeling that Fonemenders could satisfactorily deal with the repair of my wife's Iphine 4 even from the initial conversation I had with the employee who seemed totally uninterested. I became even more uneasy when the Fonemenders employee held on to my Wife's Iphone when I returned at 4pm later that day, on 24th November, 2011 as I live in Donegal and was catching my bus back that evening.

I'm aware that you and your colleagues are trying to do your best with Boards.ie posters relating to Three customer service issues, but really, do we as Irish customers really have to discuss our Three issues with somebody in Mumbai, 10,000 miles away? Can Three not arrange to set up an Irish based Customer service centre so that we can speak with an Irish person with good English not somebody in India who does not give a toss about what problems we have as Three customers on the other side of the world. This really needs to be urgently addressed with Three's senior management. I am at the end of my Emobile contract and have been thinking of moving to Three, but I will wait until my Wife's matter is fully and satisfactorily dealt with before I commit to moving over to Three.

You now have been fully updated on this issue and I have provided you with my Wifes' phone number, Fonemenders Repair Docket number and IMEI number and I would appreciate your help in following this issue through to a satisfactory conclusion. My wife will not wait indefinitely for this matter to be resolved and as I stated in my email to Customer Service on 26th November, 2011 (copy above), I will contact Comreg and arrange for cancellation of Three's Direct Debit until this matter is fully and satisfactorily dealt with. I will also arrange to publish these private messages on the public forum if there is not a speedy positive conclusion to this matter.

PM NUMBER 3

Hi Fiona,

Thanks for getting back to me. My Wife has just now arranged with Customer Support to add me as an authorised contact.

In total, I have posted 4 Private messages relating to this matter. Three PM's under "Terrible Three Customer Service" and an earlier post "Iphone4 Repair with Fonemenders".

I appreciate that you got back to me so promptly. Fonemenders have sent an email today confirming that a new or equivlent to new replacment phone as follows -


Hello Raymond,

We are awaiting delivery of a swap unit from Apple - your wife's phone was eligible for an in-warranty replacement service as per manufacturer's procedures. Your phone will be posted to xxxx, xxxx, Co Donegal as soon as it is received, I should hope today or tomorrow.

Apple warranty service provides for a replacement phone which, using the manufacturer's wording, is new or equivalent to new. Replacement phones are not sent in retail boxes. For further information and clarification of this please contact Apple directly on 1850946191.

My queries and requests are as follows -

(1) Why is Apple sending replacement Iphone back to Fonemenders who then have to send the Iphone on to my wife, why is it not sent to my wife directly from Apple?
(2) I must say that as addressed comprehensively in my other PM's, Three's Customer Service is appalling. Can Three not arrange for an Irish based Customer service centre? Their attitude is simply unacceptable and they just seem so robotic and scripted.
(3) I would appreciate if you would address queries raised in my earlier posts regarding Fonemenders not being Apple Authorised Service Provider and other issues on Fonemenders. For example, Fonemenders "Repairing" phones only for the phones returned to the customer in worse condition after "Repair" with obvious signs of damage that was not present prior to customer leaving phone in for "Repair" with Fonemenders? And also, "Repaired" phones returned to customer, but the phone is noticeably older than the phone left in initially with Fonemenders?
(4) Please arrange to issue credit issued on my wife's account from date of lack of service from 20th November to date of receipt and functioning Iphone 4.
(5) Can you also confirm Fonemenders statement that new/refurbished Iphone is being sent to my wife in the next few days as she needs the phone urgently? Will the Iphone need unlocking or is simply "good to go" as soon as my wife turns the Iphone on? In other words, does my wife to ring Three to confirm receipt of Iphone and inform them of Iphone 4 serial and IMEI number etc??

As I said earlier, thank you for getting back so promptly. From reading threads on Three customer service problems, I do commend the Three Reps on Boards.ie and I'm not sure what us Irish Three customers would do without you.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Thank you.

WIZE

wrong forum

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1367