Please help - Three charging me for 5G Router that I have returned

[PTacchi]

Hi,

I am hoping someone can please help me. From searching this forum it appears that I am not alone. I cancelled my 5G Home Broadband on 31st January 2024. I was on a rolling month contract which ran until the end of February and closed on 1st March 2024. I was asked to send the 5G Router back and requested a jiffy bag to be sent. When this arrived I packaged the 5G Router and took it to my local Post Office, obtaining a Proof of Postage. After more than month I heard nothing from Three, and my account was successfully closed. After this time the Proof of Postage was discarded.

On 15th April I received an email from Three saying that the device had not been returned and I would be charged £105 if I did not return it. I contacted Three and explained I had returned it, and due to the time that has passed there was no Proof of Postage as it had been discarded. They advised me to visit my local Post Office. I have been to my Post Office and they cannot obtain a record of packages sent, and gave me a number for Royal Mail. I have contacted Royal Mail however they cannot help me as I do not have an exact date of postage or even an address that it was sent to. 

I have spoken to Three again and asked for the address that the 5G Router was sent to however they are refusing to provide me with the address, claiming that there is no record of where it was sent to. Is this correct? How can they claim it hasn't been returned if they don't know where it has been returned to? 

I am now not sure what to do. I have returned the device but I do not have the Proof of Postage. I am not able to get assistance from Royal Mail because Three won't even provide me the address it was sent to. I have been told the £105 will be added to my next bill. This is nothing short of extortion and is evidently endemic if the countless threads in this Support Forum are anything to go by.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any help anyone can provide.

Paul

[MZone]

I suggest you reach out to 3 here.

[PTacchi]

Hi @MZone I have complained to Three, repeatedly, however it is the Complaints Team who are refusing to assist with the above.

[MZone]

Next stop is the ombudsman then. 

[Josie666]

I think if a number of us complain to the ombudsman about the same issue, we may have more luck, so I will see how my complaint is dealt with by Three and if it's not satisfactory, I will do escalate it to Ofcom.  Please note to all in a similar position ... one thing I have noticed is that the serial (IMEI??) number in the email asking me to return the router is DIFFERENT to the IMEI number on the original delivery note that came with the router (which thankfully I still have).  I have told complaints this in case this is the problem.  Seriously though, what are Three playing at here? I have an email from them, saying the final bill will not be issued until the router is returned.  I got the final bill, so threw the proof of posting away.  And then I got an email saying the router had not arrived.  You have to conclude that some of this is intentional.  I thought closing the account was difficult enough, but this just seems very underhand.  I would never use Three again and I've told everyone I know about this experience.

[JonathanB]

Hi @Josie666,

I'm sorry to hear about this situation with your return. I'll send you a PM to get you in touch with some colleagues who can check this out further for you.

To view your private messages on the community, click on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages".

Thanks,
Jonathan