Final bill/early termination

[DLthreehelp]

Hi, any billing/contract experts on here that could look at something for me, I’d be grateful!

I’m nearing the end of my two year contract….and I’m leaving three for another provider. My new device arrives tomorrow and I got a PAC code by text this evening.

When that code was generated I received an immediate text to say my final bill would be 326.23.

However, on fri 2 September I was looking into the process of leaving via the app and managed to generate a text that told me ‘if you switch today your final bill will be 259.66’

Repeated this on Sunday 11 September and the figure was 228.02.

So, it was decreasing (which makes sense as the contract ticks down)….but today it’s jumped up.

I’m confused.

I called up today but didn’t get a satisfactory answer. All I was told is that my ‘early termination fee’ today was 108.xx. I presume that figure, added to my bill which will be taken by dd at the end of this month…..together equal the September quotes I received. So what is with it jumping up to 326 today?

Anyone got any idea? Is it a mistake that will right itself?

My contract ends on 15 November and my standard monthly bill is around 110.00 per month.

Feel free to ask me any question if it helps with unlocking the mystery!

Thanks.

[JonathanB]

Hi DLthreehelp,

Thanks for joining the community, I'm sorry to hear your first post is about leaving, but will do my best to help. 🙂 

My first hunch is that perhaps as you've generated the PAC roughly when a bill was produced the system is taking into account an outstanding balance that is actually already covering part of the termination fee period, but adding the full early termination fee too, sometimes this will skew the figure a bit.

Let's say your bill was produced yesterday on the 15th and costs that £110, it'll be covering till the 14th of October, so if you left on the 16th of September we'd automatically credit the 28 days from that bill period when we send the final bill. So rather than owing extra, you'll probably already have paid part of the fee when your normal Direct Debit goes out.

Hope this makes sense, it's a difficult one to explain without seeing the bill, and we can't ask for that to be shared on a public post of course. I'd suggest to check your latest bill on My3 and see if this seems to add up, if not let me know, and we'll get you some further help.

JonathanB 

[DLthreehelp]

Thanks Jonathan, 

yes, makes sense (sort of!). I’ve now submitted my PAC to my new provider and that should be actioned on Tuesday I’m told. I’m obviously still using my Three sim until that occurs. My ‘bill date’ at the top of my most recent bill is 8 September. Listed below on that bill the tariff period covered is 8 Sep to 7 October. That direct debit for that bill will go out around 29 sep. So, am I right to assume that the only other charges I need to pay are effectively the period from 8 October until the end of contact (15 November). That would be a figure of (very approximately) £100 ish as a termination fee? 

That would make those initial ‘final charges’ I quoted above in my original question to be correct…..and the ones being generated today (it’s saying £309 on the app today) to be wrong?

hope this makes sense.

Grateful for your help! 

[JonathanB]

Hi @DLthreehelp,

Yeah so going by the info you've shared the Direct Debit already scheduled will go out on the 29th, the fee generated will cover from the 21/09-15/11, but you'll have already effectively paid part of this, as the final bill will credit the 21/09-07/10 so that you're not paying for this period of time twice. So the net charges for the final bill and Direct Debit should only be a little over a month's charges covering 08/10-15/11.

Again hope this all makes sense. You'll get your final bill in the post within 30 days, usually within 2 weeks of cancelling, so if anything still doesn't seem right at that point let us know.

Thanks,
JonathanB

[Damianb]

Hi guys

I'm in a very similar situation so if you could help give me clarity that would be fantastic as the live chat operators simply didn't understand what I was saying. I've decided to leave 3. My latest bill is for £51 and "covers" up to 23/10. When I enquired about leaving, and generated my PAC I was told the early termination of 301 would be added to the 51. The point I was making with the live chat operators was that this would mean I am being charged twice for this coming month. My contract doesn't end until mid June. They simply couldn't understand and kept telling me my early termination figure was 301 and would be added to the 51. 

I'm adamant that means I will be charged twice for the period upto 23/10/24 but they simply didn't get it. Nor did they explain the process of how I would receive my final bill.

Do I let my DD of the £51 go through, and then will I receive an accurate final bill somehow? I know these phone companies are ruthless and will no doubt go straight for my credit file if I don't pay. I'm not refusing to pay at all and appreciate it's a very early termination, I just want it to be accurate.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[JonathanB]

Hi @Damianb,

Sorry to hear the team weren't able to reassure you about this. You definitely don't pay for the same days twice. If you use a PAC, this will often mean that your transfer isn't happening exactly in line with when your bills are produced.

For example, let's assume your bills are covering the 1st-30th and cost £30 (This keeps the math simple!), and you port out on the 15th, but your Direct Debit just took the £30 for the month. This means when we produce the final bill, it'll be -£15 so that you get refunded. 

In your case, you're also leaving early so there's an Early Termination Fee. If in my example I was supposed to be in term till the 30th too, then the Fee is calculated on the day I transfer so it'll be 97% of £15 (covering from the 16th-30th), so although I'm getting that -£15 most of that credit will get attributed to the fee. So bringing it back to your example, yes we figure out what part of the £51 applies to the fee and subtract that.

Hope this all makes sense and reassures you, I've tried to keep the numbers simple but all the same logic applies in practice.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Damianb]

Thanks Jonathan

So on summary, once the final bill is generated, I won't be charged twice for this month? How long does it take to get the final bill, and how do I receive it? Is it by email/post? 

Thanks for your belp

[PeteG]

Hello, Damian. 

That's right. The final bill doesn't re-charge you for anything already billed, it's just taking everything up to that point and making sure it's taken into account. 

Final bills can take 28 days to be generated from the day the account closed. That's sent out by email or post depending on what the preferred option is for correspondence. 

Pete.