Fraudulent Roaming Charges?

[Aghilla]

Hello Three Community,

I’m seeking urgent assistance and hoping to get attention from other users and the Three support team regarding a serious issue I’ve encountered.

Background: On 26 May, my Three service was disconnected without any prior warning. I have unlimited minutes and 89% of my data allowance remaining, so there’s no way I exceeded my limits. Upon contacting customer service, I was shocked to learn that my contract start date was changed from 23 September 2021 to 24 December 2021, without my authorization. This change was used to justify new roaming charges that should not apply to my contract, which predates 1 October 2021.

My Actions:

1. I contacted the support several times trying to understand if there was a change to the contract. An agent confirmed (quote) "On 24/12/2021 nothing happens just your plan contract start date has been change. "
2. 10 days ago I raised a complaint explaining the situation but no response. I asked to explain what changes to my contract occurred on 24th of December, other than the date change - which conveniently makes me liable for new roaming fees.
3. Since yesterday, I started getting messages that I'm now charged £1.67+ VAT per day for Data Roaming! I never opted for it, and as I said above, my contract should not be subjected to roaming as I joined/upgraded before the 1st of October 2021.

The customer support is extremely poor. The complaints are not being responded to. Three not only change the T&C as they see fit, but also tinker with the account information to justify new fees they come up with.

I then decided to move to PAYG to only use my number for 2FA but I was told it's no longer on offer (but it is on the website!) and the cheapest plan is £6 per month!

If any other users have faced similar issues or can offer advice on how to escalate this matter effectively, please share your experiences. Three support team, please address this issue immediately.

Cheers,

Nat

[NauticalRoamer]

Hi Aghilla

This is a continues battle for me eversince there attempt at getting me to sign a new contract. 

Context: Three contacted me in 2022 to offer me a new deal which would have been less per month for the same unlimited sim-only deal I was currently on. The sales person on the phone failed to mention the loss of free roaming which was instead mentioned at the end of the phone call via the 'please stay on the line for the full T&C'. As soon as I realised I immediately called them back to say I did not want to upgrade to a new deal as the salesperson did not state the full terms.

However ever since this incident three have charged me roaming charges and stated it is because of an issue with their computer thinking I had a new contract ever since that phone call. I have to phone them every few months to get them to credit my account with any roaming charges they have taken from me (all they do to confirm this is look up my actual contract start date in my which was 2020 some time).

This was until last time I called and they stated that because that contract was only for 2 years I was now subject to the roaming charges. This was in fact a lie from the support person who even went as far as to try to get to me to leave and recconect to the help chat so that our chat log was wiped and he wouldn't have to deal with me after I called him out.

I lodged a complaint about this staff member which because I was abroad and had no signal at the time was then dropped when they asked me to confirm I wanted to make the complaint 5 or so days later.

So no, you are not the only one they are scamming with this and I will be leaving three for Vodafone (better roaming deals) once I am home and no longer abroad. 

[martinski99]

You're not on your own, Ombudsman seems to be the only way...

https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Account-and-services/Three-have-randomly-removed-my-free-roaming-in...

[MZone]

It might be worth your time raising a complaint via this page https://bit.ly/3RaqpvS

[Aghilla]

I tried! It's been over 10 days and no response. I also tried the chat option on that page but got a response that there's no available agents, despite contacting within business hours...

[PeteG]

Hello.

How did you raise your complaint? 

Pete.