Rubbish service from 3

noodleman

Hi all. Got to let off some steam.
Upgraded my phone to a galaxy s3. Phone randomly turned off and on at regular intervals. Should have returned it straight away but presumed it was a software bug that would get fixed with an update
Started to get annoyed with it when it didn't improve so took it to a 3 store for repair. No phone lent to me for a week while it was being fixed which was annoying so was pleased when I got the Samsung back. Turned it on, installed my apps and off it went. Phoned 3 back and they said they would send a parcel out to return it for another repair.
Off it went and came back about five days later. Inserted the battery, turned it on and voila! It turns off again.
Phoned 3 again, getting pretty pis@$d off now.
Sent it back again. Got it back. Same result. Phoned up 3 and asked for a replacement phone. Can't have one apparently. Please send it back for repair. JESUS! Refused to send it back on account of their inability to fix the piece of crap. Got onto citizens advice and they said to send a recorded delivery letter stating the sales of goods act 1979 and that considering the amount I have been dicked around, I should have a replacement phone.
Their complaints department phoned me back in the meantime asking why I'd not returned it for repair.
I told them about the letter coming their way and that I would have to take legal advice if they don't stop pissing about.
That was a week ago. No return letter, no call, nothing.
Is this not terrible customer service or am I being unreasonable?
Anyone else had similar grief from their phone provider?
Sorry for going on a bit but I can't even watch a mobile phone advertisement without going off on one.

Yossie

Sorry, but who cares? Its a telephone.

With the greatest respect, get a life.

lucan

Yossie wrote:

Sorry, but who cares? Its a telephone.

With the greatest respect, get a life.

This

chrisaonabike

I too have annoyances in my life.

noodleman

Lucan wrote:

Yossie wrote:

Sorry, but who cares? Its a telephone.

With the greatest respect, get a life.

This

Fair enough. Might not be life or death but when the piece of junk costs £35.00 quid a month for the next 24 months and it doesn't even stay switched on it's pretty annoying. Just thought someone may have had similar problems. Guess I'd better get a life

Dog Breath

Very poor show from the 3 respondents. OP is only asking for some advice. If you were spending £400 per year for something that didn't work then I'm sure you'd be p1ssed off as well.

Sorry I can't offer any direct help but at least I won't take the p1ss. Item is clearly not fit for purpose which I'm sure, somewhere in the sale of goods act must entitle you to a replacement/refund.

Best of luck
DB

southdownswolf

I have just left 3 this week and gone to O2, really pi**ed off with their service especially when getting in contact with "customer support"

As for the above posters, so what if it's only a phone. A bike is just a bike, a car is just a car, that doesn't mean that people can not be annoyed when they do not work.

chrisaonabike

southdownswolf wrote:

As for the above posters, so what if it's only a phone. A bike is just a bike, a car is just a car, that doesn't mean that people can not be annoyed when they do not work.

Of course he can be annoyed. I would be annoyed. Not taking it back immediately when it didn't work was a mistake. But unfortunately, sh!t like this happens. It's happened to me loads of times over the years. The solution is to persevere until you get it sorted, and wasting time ranting never moves anything forward. Calm, assertive, persistent wins the day - never rants.

noodleman

The problem is, I've been very patient, calm and assertive and its got me nowhere after three months of phone calls hassle and expense. As I said, I just needed to let off some steam and hope maybe someone had similar experience or had some advice. Get a life and comments along the same lines are pointless and childish.
Thanks to the people with more helpful advice. And to the other replies, why be so rude?

chrisaonabike

noodleman wrote:

The problem is, I've been very patient, calm and assertive and its got me nowhere after three months of phone calls hassle and expense. As I said, I just needed to let off some steam and hope maybe someone had similar experience or had some advice. Get a life and comments along the same lines are pointless and childish.
Thanks to the people with more helpful advice. And to the other replies, why be so rude?

Yes, fair enough. Well the small claims court is the final step, if you really don't get satisfaction otherwise. Unfortunately, these things take ages.

Yossie

So you're paying £35 a month for something that you don't even really need and it doesn't actually work?

Simple answer there then ............. And no, its not a bike or car or subscription to Home & Garden: those thinsg are actually quite useful.

noodleman

Yossie wrote:

So you're paying £35 a month for something that you don't even really need and it doesn't actually work?

Simple answer there then ............. And no, its not a bike or car or subscription to Home & Garden: those thinsg are actually quite useful.

What do you mean by something I don't really need? I don't need a tv or a sofa or a cooker but its nice to have and makes life easier. A smart phone is also quite useful, hence the reason I have one. If you have no advice or interest in my post why don't you get off your computer (do you need one) and go and get a life yourself.

Yossie

If you don't have a cooker hopw are you going to cook food? Surely that makes it quite useful.

TVs are quite handy to put plants on top of/watch the bicyclerists racing/Nina. Surely that makes them quite useful?

Sofas are handy to stop you getting a cold bottom. Surely that makes them quite useful?

Computers are handy to look at pictures of bicycles. And Nina. And order things which are cheaper than buying them on the "high street". Surely that makes them quite useful?

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it too much - undoubtedly it'll only get broken, go out of date or nicked in a few weeks, so no great loss overall.

Next please. I am tired of this one.

noodleman

Yossie wrote:

If you don't have a cooker hopw are you going to cook food? Surely that makes it quite useful.

TVs are quite handy to put plants on top of/watch the bicyclerists racing/Nina. Surely that makes them quite useful?

Sofas are handy to stop you getting a cold bottom. Surely that makes them quite useful?

Computers are handy to look at pictures of bicycles. And Nina. And order things which are cheaper than buying them on the "high street". Surely that makes them quite useful?

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it too much - undoubtedly it'll only get broken, go out of date or nicked in a few weeks, so no great loss overall.

Next please. I am tired of this one.

Stop posting on it then.

mikeabanks

Does it turn off even if you don't install your apps? If not then it is probably one of them causing the issue.
Don't forget it is not a phone but a computer that happens to have a phone :-)

noodleman

I only put stuff like gmail and Dropbox on it. Other than that its strava and spotify.
It'll be a pain if either of those are causing the problem. Thanks for the idea.

Monkeypump

The sale of goods act states that the vendor should be given a chance to conduct remedial action to solve the problem. They certainly seem to have had that chance without success, so you are right to be unhappy.

What exactly do you want? A phone from 3 that works, or release from your contract with a view to go elsewhere? Either way, put this in writing to customer services (recorded delivery) and state clearly your desired outcome with a date of resolution. If nothing happens, proceed with legal advice.

And ignore the boorish idiots with nothing helpful to say. They go away eventually.

noodleman

Cheers monkeypump. All I want is a phone that works. I've sent them a recorded delivery letter but so far no reply. I guess give it another day or two then get back onto them. Thanks for the advice.

Yossie

noodleman wrote:

Stop posting on it then.

No because its winding you up and its funny.

How's your telephone by the way? Any important calls today?

The Ors

If it was me I'd stop paying.

Not sure if that's good advice or not but I'd be sufficiently annoyed to just stop the direct debit, throw the phone away & start again with someone else.

Yossie

Just give them a call and tell them what you really think of them and that you are changing service provider because their service is so rubbish.

Oh - I've just seen a problem there ........

laurentian

This might not be the easiest way, but you may possibly get a result as I know it has worked in many similar cases where crap customer service/product has been a problem. You will need to do a bit of internet research.

1) Find out the name of the CEO of 3 - cant be difficult
2) Find out the e-mail format for them (for example, initial.surname@3.com) or whatever it is. If you can get hold of them by telephone, you only need to get the email address of a single person within the organisation in order to work out the CEO's if you have his name. Spin them some b@llocks about sending them some info for office supplies or something in order to get the e-mail address.
3) Send e-mail to CEO detailing your problem, the sequence of events, the responses (or lack of them) and what you would like to happen (I would certainly be asking for my 3 months x £35 back along with a new, working phone). Tell the CEO why you chose 3 in the first place and why you feel let down. Tell the CEO when you want a response by. Give the CEO your e-mail address, phone number (landline obviously) and home address. Include any references that he can check if possible to any phone conversations, e-mails or letters so that he can see what has been going on and that you are not just "fishing" after a single failed complaint.

Be factual, not emotional. Explain to them what you will do if you don't get a reply by your required date - Watchdog or the press are likely to crystallize their thoughts.

Good luck!

Super Freak

Talk to Samsung. Excellent customer service.

buckmulligan

I get this problem occasionally with my S2, just restarts for no particular reason, even when it's just sitting in my pocket not being used. Can't offer a fix I'm afraid, but the 'rogue app' suggestion sounds reasonable, some of mine which you'd think would be quite reputable cause no end of problems (e.g. the MetOffice app).

You could also try updating Android, install the Samsung Kies software on your PC and plug your phone in and see what version you're running. Even a minor revision might fix your problem.

And what's with everyone being tw@ts on this thread?! Ironic that you tell people to get a life and sit there trying to start an argument with someone on the internet.

Yossie

sit there trying to start an argument with someone on the internet.

Who's trying to cause an argument? Tell them its not allowed - if they aren't on the forum when you post the message give them a call.

Oh. Small problem .......

chrisaonabike

The Ors wrote:

If it was me I'd stop paying.

Not sure if that's good advice or not

It's extremely bad advice.

Summarily cancelling payments when you've signed a legal agreement to pay for the period of the contract length will have

a) no effect on your attempts to get a working phone
b) cause all their payment recovery machinery to kick in, leading ultimately to legal action against you.

Monkeypump wrote:

The sale of goods act states that the vendor should be given a chance to conduct remedial action to solve the problem. They certainly seem to have had that chance without success, so you are right to be unhappy.

What exactly do you want? A phone from 3 that works, or release from your contract with a view to go elsewhere? Either way, put this in writing to customer services (recorded delivery) and state clearly your desired outcome with a date of resolution. If nothing happens, proceed with legal advice.

^^ This.

noodleman

Thanks for all the good advice guys. Notice samsung did a software update today. Dont know if it will help but fingers crossed. Good idea about contacting samsung though. They might be a bit more helpful than the shi@heads at three who havent even responded to a letter sent recorded delivery. Glad its not just me who gets these random reboots. Can be massively annoying when im on a long run and halfway into it the phone reboots losing all my data. This is on strava but ive tried lots of other apps with the same result. Trying to gradually install apps one at a time to see if I can pinpoint any bad ones.

buckmulligan

Another thought, if you've installed an SD card try taking that out, a dodgy one could cause the problems you describe.

cougie

Have you tried a forum for 3 or Samsung phones ? I've been with 3 for years and they've been fine - but nobody's perfect.

noodleman

cougie wrote:

Have you tried a forum for 3 or Samsung phones ? I've been with 3 for years and they've been fine - but nobody's perfect.

Just been looking on the three forums. A few people have the same problems but no definitive cure. Ive been with them for years too and they've been fine up until now. Just got a letter back from them about my complaint sayin "thanks for getting in touch, we see from our records your issue has now been addressed" . Brick wall and banging my head springs to mind. :evil:

whitebait01

My S3 died completely just before xmas. Turns out a fair few people have experienced the same issue with the i9300. Mine just shutdown one day and thereafter wouldn't get past the Samsung boot screen. I spoke to 3 and they said they could send it off to their service centre. Ended up sending it direct to Samsung (who were very helpful) and they repaired it FOC under warranty. I'd suggest going straight to Samsung to get it sorted and cut out the middle man.

Samsung warranty repair number is 44 (0)1932 454358. Give 'em a shout.