PAYG, Topup over-charging, incompetence and no response

[KieranFe]

Hello all...

Another month, another top-up problem.

Following my request to speak to someone from Three about why they took a total of 3 x £15 payments when they were not authorised to do so has fallen on deaf ears… (see earlier post copied below)

They finally sent me an email 2 weeks later to say they have not been able to reach me… They probably were one of a myriad of cold / hangup calls I receive on my phone, but I know they didn’t kill themselves trying, or maybe send a text to say “we shall call you today about your query”…

So I patiently wait until the day my current ‘add-on’ expired, and promptly went to buy a 30gb/£15 with the £15 that Three ‘took’ from my bank account last month… it seems you are unable to buy an add on, even though your current add-on expires on the same day.. you need to wait for the magic moment when Three turns it off..

From previous experience, a balance of £15 will be ate up in 30mins of regular data use, from the moment your add on expires… so you really need to be on the ball with your timing…

Further to this, the only option Three would offer for my number on both the app and website was 10GB/£10, nothing else only reoccurring monthly charges (not a hope in hell are they getting to save my bankcard details again).

I got back onto the ‘Chat’ with customer services and got them to turn my £15 into a 30gb add on, and thankfully that worked. I give credit where credit is due.

So I have used the last of my money languishing with Three from this ongoing farce… and I’m leaving.

Having to get in touch with customer services every month for this past 9 months is a pain in the behind, and there is simply no way around it … If I add my bank-card details Three takes twice the amount, or just randomly takes money, without any authorisation, and no one has ever been able to fix that or even tell me why it was happening.

I’m not a heavy usage customer, who is happy to pay £15 a month for a phone, I found Three’s coverage in my area good enough, and under normal circumstances i wouldn’t bother switching…

At the core of my issue is a lack of trust and lack of response from Three (none). While the amounts they have taken without authorisation or explanation are not huge, (£45) I think if there were further glitches which decided to take a few hundred pounds, Three would be equally as nonchalant and just ignore my requests for an explanation or refund.

In my opinion, Three are both conniving and incompetent, and at this stage we shall part company… (and I won’t be accidentally going to a subsidiary of Three either)

I hope by recording and posting my experience, it helps 1 person avoid the same traps and just move away from Three...

(I’ve copied my earlier posting below... as its an ongoing saga....)

KieranFe - a month ago

I’m Pay As You Go… £15 a month - convert to a Data pack… simple.
I used to call 333, do the usual button pressing, add £15, convert it into a data pack. simple… The original App from about a year ago, never worked, so Auto renew was never an option for me back then.

Around August, the wheels came off the wagon… I tried topping up via 333 as usual, and it simply refused to work… The app wouldn’t work either, and i ended up topping up by talking to someone on the 3 LiveChat and topping up via there? this went on for a month or two…

Finally the App started to function, i topped up via it and decided to setup up auto renew, just to make it simple. A few days later 3 decided to randomly help itself to my card and took £30 from my bank account. When I followed it up on LiveChat, i was assured that this was a gift from 3 or the recent issues i was facing… later that month i got my Bank statement and nope… no gift, they had charged my account. I deleted all card details from 3, and cancelled the auto renew.

I jumped through hoops to try get my money back, and figured i’d leave the balance and just use it for future data packs… having missed my topup this morning I accidentally used my last £15 in 20mins of normal data usage… so back to topping up !

This morning I topped up with £15… and with that, Three topped up £15 and instantly took a second £15…. This unauthorised £15 I want back in my own bank account so that its isn’t instantly used up on extra charges !

Having spend an hour on the Livechat chatting with someone who was giving me the usual stuff about “how valued i was, and that we will sort out my issue” I was told they could do nothing and for me to call 333…

so i’m back onto the monthly merry-go-round of 333 and I am now waiting for a call back in the next 72hrs to give me back my own money !

I think this is just the last straw… I’m a pretty simple mobile user, who is happy to pay £15 Pay as you go… you would think that would be simple…. with all the problems i’ve had adding credit to my account, this past 6 months, and i’m getting bored dealing with Three’s incompetence on a monthly basis…

I’ll never hear anything constructive on here, but good to vent a little, and if anyone else is facing the same issues, they might learn something from my experience… My advice is give up now…... but i'm sure other mobile providers are equally as poor

When i get the usual message “how likely are you to recommend Three to a family member or Friend” i’m afraid its a 0

KieranFe - ‎11-06-2023 12:05 PM

I am a 'Pay as you go' customer. I normally top up monthly using my debit card by calling 333… Simple...

But today there seems to be an issue? I get as far as using my registered card, and the automated voice says there is a problem and try later… I tried downloading the app (which has historically never worked for me) and no joy… i tried online and no joy… I tried calling 3, but that just takes me back to the options i would get by calling 333..

I've been trying all morning, and I think this is my only avenue of raising an issue… albeit very publicly… Is there an issue today 3?

I really need to make some calls…..

[Fed-up]

I’m having the same issue and will leave 3 as soon as I can. 

[PeteG]

Hello there. 

It's disappointing to hear you're having issues on PAYG. Have you spoken to the Pay As You Go Support team to have them try and figure out a solution to your problem? If not, I'd recommend popping through so the team can help sort that out for you. 

Pete. 

[Anonymous]

I’m just getting my breath back from reading your long post. But on the flip side I was a payg customer on Three for around nine months before becoming pay monthly in August 2023 with the same number. In all my time on payg I had zero issues topping up and buying data packs. I also had auto renewal set up with my debit card and again experienced no issues. Perhaps I was lucky,I don’t know. What I do know is if you’ve made up your mind to leave and as you say it’s often good to vent a little then I wish you well. I’m just posting an alternative experience to the one you’ve described.