Complaining to Three Network Ireland

After some demand we've researched into the Three and telecommunications complaints process in Ireland and have written this post to assist users resolve their issues.

As with any complaints procedure you must lodge your complaint with Three Customer Services first using the following methods ensuring you keep records of all your communication in case you need to escalate;

Remember be nice in any correspondence and give as much information as possible, rudeness will not get your complaint resolved!

1. by phone by dialling 1913 from your handset
2. By Post to 3 Customer Services, Hutchison 3G Ireland Limited, PO Box 333, Dublin 2. (make sure you use a tracked postal service if posting a letter)
3. By email to customer.services.ie@3mail.com (try and get a read receipt which should be an option with your email client)

Three Ireland claim to handle complaints within 5-10 working days depending on the nature of your claim (i.e. billing, handset etc...) which you can find in their code of practise here: Three Ireland's Code of Practice  (opens a PDF file)

Escalating your complaint with Three

If you feel your complaint has not been handled appropriately, the next step is to escalate with Three in writing to their customer care manager: 3’s Customer Care Manager at Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd, PO Box 333, Dublin 2

If not satisfied with their response then their Customer services director:

3’s Director of Customer Services at Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd, 3rd Floor, One Clarendon Row, Dublin

Escalating your Complaint Further

Hopefully you'd have been resolved and compensated by now but if you have reached a dead end with Three then you can escalate the complaint with ComReg, the Commission for Communication Regulation.

They will only deal with your complaint if it's been within the last 9 months and if you've exhausted all avenues with Three themselves. Visit their website for more information about complaining to networks where they will provide details on submitting complaints to them

AskComreg Website or you can call them on 1890 229 668.

Good luck!

T-Mobile as an Alternative Mobile Network

T-Mobile is also another great network that can offer some fantastic contract prices and bolt ons.

Network coverage is pretty good and no major issues with customer service.

You can see what handsets and deals Carphone Warehouse have for T-Mobile using the link below.
T-Mobile Deals at Carphone Warehouse

O2 as an Alternative Mobile Network

O2 is top of the leaderboard for having the least number of complaints due to their excellent customer service, network coverage and great deals as well as being at the forefront of the iPhone revolution!

Use the link below to discover the latest Carphone Warehouse Deals on the O2 Network

O2 Deals at Carphone Warehouse

GiffGaff Free Sim

If you are sick of long expensive contracts and a free Smart Phone with all the bells and whistles isn't important to you then GiffGaff comes as a breath of fresh air!

Sometimes dealing with a complaint can be enough to put you off getting another contract but with GiffGaff, you can order a free sim using the link below and get some great rates and they run off the O2 network who are great for network coverage.

Visit giffgaff here for a no obligation Free Simcard or click the banner below.

Latest Complaint Email received

Another complaint email received from a customer who is experiencing identity fraud with little or no help from Three at all:

2 phones were taken out in my name. I have spoken to Three and provided them with a crime referance number against both accounts. When I spoke to them they told me that the phones were taken out through Fish for phones and that I needed to speak to them. When trying to research them to contact them, as Three could not provide with one, I found that they actually do not exist!

I am requesting notice of correction under the public information as I have done more than my part to have this resolved and Three are doing nothing.

This has been going for too long and is affecting my credit rating. If nothing is resolved I will be forced to take legal action myself.

Latest Complaint Email received

Below is a recent email received from one of our visitors:

I have been a Three customer now for 2 years and was glad for my contract to come to an end and had decided I would leave because of the poor customer services, for example I wanted to end a month to month mobile broadband contract which involved 45 minutes of the advisor trying to sell me another contract and an iPad, when I simply wanted to cancel because I didn’t use it any longer. I was checking prices around and found Three was the cheapest and I was tempted by the new ‘all-you-can-eat’ data offer for internet access. It turned out I could have this and 200 extra minutes, for £3 less a month with a new mobile, on top of that my friend was on Orange which was my next choice but then I overheard a conversation with Orange customer services and it sounded just like Three.

Anyway I am back in a 2 year contract with Three, my nice new Android phone arrived earlier in the week, to my delight for a mere £13 a month I was getting 200 more minutes, and unlimited internet, great – however the mobile appeared to have a defect with the screen, it was slightly shifted to the right side of the phone and the touch screen kept malfunctioning sometimes entering several characters when I had only pressed one, and also the screen appeared more responsive on the left edge than the right edge almost like it was not calibrated but the mobile didn’t have a calibration option. It took about 4 calls to Three customer services to get a replacement arrange, firstly they said I couldn’t return it because I had used it, then they said I just needed to get used to it and I would then like it, then they tried to say it would need to be repaired, only had it 2 days, anyway trying to explain the problem to them was painful, I had to listen to a long list of terms and conditions about if the mobile is returned damaged, or non faulty the charges I will incur and if I try to cancel my contract now because I have used the mobile I would have to pay the full term minus 10% or something? And that they have sold many of these and they have not heard of my fault before. To be honest they do lie to make a sale, they told me ‘all-you-can-eat’ data was truly unlimited no fair usage policy, but it turns out that isn’t true, they also said they were doing me a special favour by giving me 300 free 3 to 3 minutes to which I pointed out I already got 5000 free 3 to 3 minutes and that was the standard on all the contracts they offered so it wasn’t a special offer to me. Its lucky dip with who you get, some advisors are more helpful than others, some are professional in approach, the majority are not – I hang up on them and ring again to get a different advisor sometimes as they occasional disconnect you when your on hold anyway.

If the replacement goes ahead and the replacement is ok, sealed, new, no defects or faults and they don’t start trying to charge me for the returned one claiming its damaged or whatever I’ll be happy again, at least until the next time I have a problem with my mobile.

Make sure you keep up payments during your complaint

A word of caution, one of the biggest DO NOTs of making a complaint is to cancel your direct debit (or payments if you pay by giro etc...)  so make sure you keep your payments going even if you think they are in breach of contract and here's why:

1. Companies like Three are large organisations with strong legal backing so their contracts are usually watertight with regards to missed payments
2. If you miss a payment it will show up as a default against your credit rating which will have a knock on effect with any loan applications you may be seeking in the future
3. They could potentially seek the assistance of credit collection agencies which could become one of the most irritating and stressful experiences you can have.
4. Depending on the severity of your complaint, it may take until your contract is over for your issue to be resolved meaning that all the hassle of cancelling wouldn't have been worth while as you could leave the network anyway!

Remember, if you are right with your complaint then a resolution will be sought out regardless so don't give yourself any aggro!

Ofcom Releases Latest Mobile Complaints Data

On March 22nd, Ofcom* published data of their most recent complaints data includng mobile services.

Orange came up as the most complained network with 3UK a close 2nd.

As you can see from the chart provided by Ofcom, although Three only came second to Orange in more recent months, their overal performance is still worse than other mobile networks with O2 having the best performance.

They state that Three's high complaints ratio has been driven by the complaints about disputed charges and their customer services.

Full article can be found here: Ofcom Article March 2012

*Ofcom is the UK's telecommunications regulator.

Three's Complaint Form

Three have introduced an online complaints form to submit your complaint online:

https://www.three.co.uk/Support/Contact_us/Complaints_code_form

Always best to use this AFTER you've tried to call and include the name of who you spoke with.

Everything else on this site is still the same if you have no luck or acknowledgment of receipt