Customers left hanging as Three lets phone ring . . . and ring

A reader called Patricia got in touch last week and voiced a concern about Three Mobile that we have heard many times in recent days.

“I am not sure if you can help me, but I want to raise an issue I currently experiencing with Three,” she wrote. “I recently received a letter from the company informing me of an impending contract change whereby my plan will increase by €4.34 each month from April.”

The letter also said that if Patricia did not accept the changes, she had the right to cancel her current plan within 30 days without penalty by phoning a listed number.

“I have been trying to get through to this number for the last four days but without success as I do not accept these changes! I have tried ringing at different times of the day. Sometimes I get through to answering service stating there could be a 10-minute wait, I have waited over 20 minutes but still cannot get through to talk to anyone.”

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A cynical person

Patricia says that “surely the onus is on Three to provide enough staff to deal with the increased volume of calls, particularly as they are the ones suggesting this is the number to contact. It occurs to me that if people cannot get through to cancel contracts, then Three would stand to make further profits from their customers. A cynical person would even go a far as thinking that there is no one in fact manning this phone line and therefore no customer is ever going to get through!

“If someone could please highlight this problem, I am sure Three would have to improve their service regarding this 1800 number – it would be doing us all a huge favour!

That was not all.

Thomas Hennessey contacted us via Twitter with a short query: "Have you heard anything about what Three are up to? Changing contracts and making it impossible to then cancel. Any advice?"

Then there was a man who identified himself as Robby D. "Could you get on to Three and ask why there's nobody answering phones for people who want to?"

Karen Meenan was another such customer. "A 20 per cent increase in Three charges – just like that! Costs up from €25 to €30 and nobody from Three to answer the phone."

Simple questions

So we mailed Three a few questions that we thought were pretty straightforward. We asked if the company was concerned about the negative response (particularly on social media) about its decision to increase prices, and if its telephone customer service has been operating as normal in recent days.

We also asked if Three had seen significant numbers of customers seeking to break contracts since the announcement of the changes was made?

We got what can best be described as a nothing response. Here it is in full:

“By introducing these changes, Three is providing its customers with competitive data allowances in their plans that are comparable with what is available elsewhere in the market. The allowances in these plans are available to be used both at home and when roaming in the EU. We are also giving customers the added benefit of All You Can Eat data at home, and are the only operator to do so.

“This is the first time that Three has revised the cost of its core portfolio in a number of years. These changes are a direct result of the increase in the cost of doing business. Notwithstanding the revisions, we still offer some of the most competitive plans on the market.

“Three has communicated with all customers affected by these changes, outlined how these changes will affect them and what their rights are. However, pre and post these changes Three will continue to offer great value and is confident that customers will remain with Three because of our highly competitive position in the market, both on price and quality of service, and our industry-leading data offering.”

Commercial sensitivity

In addition, a Three spokeswoman said she could not answer some of our questions “due to commercial sensitivity”.

Grand, so we went back with one more question: “In the last few days we have heard from multiple readers that they are having tremendous difficulty making contact with Three mobile. Does the company accept that many of its customers are having difficulty is making contact, and what does it propose to do about it?”

On the second time of asking, a spokeswoman said: “Over the past few days wait times have been longer than usual at certain points as customers call regarding the changes we have made. Three apologies for any inconvenience caused and we can assure customers that we’re working to answer their calls as quickly as possible”.