Cancelling a 3 Contract - unbelievably difficult

[Psybear]

Has anyone tried getting out of a £ Contract? Unbelievably difficult. Indian call centre staff and the first one I got could barely speak English... I really struggled to understand her. Understood enough that I knew she was trying to get me to upgrade but no matter how much/how often I told her I just wanted to cancel, she just kept going on and on. Eventually I hung up and decided to cancel at a 3 store... but of course they wouldn't do it - said I had to go through the call-centre. Lots of sympathy and one guy actually told just to persevere and shut down the sales pitch by telling them that I had a new company phone.

Back home and called again. Male this time with understandable English. I want to cancel my contract. Started his sales pitch re upgrades - I cut in and said I was getting a company phone, so just wanted to cancel. He hardly missed a beat, started extolling the virtues of having a second handset at very good rates. I cut in again and said not interested, want to cancel my contract. He barely paused, just kept going. So I raised my voice and said 'Listen to me. I DON'T WANT ANOTHER PHONE OR CONTRACT. I WANT TO CANCEL MY CONTRACT. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO OFFER ME. I JUST WANT TO CANCEL'

He said, you're through to the options line sir, I must give you the options. I said (I'll drop the capitals this time) 'The only option I want is the option to cancel'. He says 'I understand Sir, but this is the Options line, I must give you all the options first'.

At this stage it descended into comedy sketch territory. As he outlined each option I just kept saying 'I want to cancel' over and over and over. Over 10 minutes on the phone... and then he tells me I'm required to give a month's notice - so it will be the 20th January before I'm out of it, even though the full 18 month is up!

Thinking of just cancelling the DD with the bank, though I don't want to end up on a bad-debt list. Presumably they would just send me a bill for outstanding amount owed if I cancel the DD?

Anyway, will never go near this company again.

[sgelectricals]

how long have you had the contract ? if you cancel the dd they will jsut send you bills ?

[Psybear]

Just over the 18 month period.

[AndyWilson]

It's always a month's notice isn't it?

I had trouble persuading them to give me my PAC - first of all they asked me why I wanted to leave , I said because I wanted an iPhone, and they tried to persuade me they had better phones. I hung up, rang back and said I'd already bought the iPhone. After trying to persuade me to take it back they eventually conceeded and told me the PAC...

[Fat Bloke]

The month notice sounds common, not just a 3 thing.

[den169]

Just send a letter recorded delivery then cancel direct debit.

[ArthurDent]

:lol:

Not at the OP but at the whole ring-3-to-get-the-PAC malarkey. :lol:

I had to ring up on behalf of my wife as she was getting nowhere with these jokers. You just have to be firm with them. I did get the PAC but it took ~ 20 minutes of me repeating over and over again "my wife just wants the PAC."

Like the OP we'll never use 3 again.

[raymondlin]

The 1 month notice is standard, however the insistence of going through his playbook point by point is retarded.

[rbullivant]

I had to phone them to cancel my contract a while ago, made it quite clear that I was tired of the daily phone calls offering me awful deals that I could better myself, they also never seemed to want to offer me a good phone but just kept asking what I wanted in a phone and they'd fix me up.

In the end I said they could do me one final offer and I'd take it or leave it, they then proceeded to ask me questions, and I asked if asking questions was their best offer, eventually they offered me something, i refused and got my PAC Code.

It was an ordeal, but to be honest I expect to have to go through the same thing when I cancel with Orange next month

R

[Tyler Durden]

I had the same thing when I cancelled my last (and it will be my only 3 contract), even though I'd told them I wanted to cancel, they called me almost every day to try and talk me into another contract / pass it onto a friend etc. Put me off ever using them again

[den169]

Well i love 3 i called to cancel 2 cashback deals that had cost me nothing over 12 months, And was offered 300 anytime minutes 250 text and allsorts of downloads etc which i'll never use.At £5 a month for life so i jumped at it,Its now gone past 12 month since i got the deal and its still £5 they even offered me two free nokias last month but as that would tie me into another 12 month i told em to keep em.Even at £5 i want to be able to cancel anytime i want.

[Hot Ice]

I've just gone through this (well almost)
My signal has dropped completely so I rang to find out why. At first they said my handset was out of date and needed upgrading, I told them it worked fine most places other than home and work (where I use it most) after about 10 phone calls I went into the 3 store. They told me they have recently dropped 02 piggy-backing and that signal would be non-existent in my area now. Great, I should cancel. The Indian call centre would not help at all and in the end they just kept going through the same "We will cancel but only if you pay £330" which I told them to jog on as it's their own problem the signal is bad!
In the end I sent a letter and email complaining and asking them to confirm their complaint process to me before I took it further with the Ombudsman, 2 days later I get a response from Head office and a few days after that they agreed to cancel and waive the fee. Contract now end start of Jan. I'm currently looking for another contract with o2. Anyone got any recommendations?

Never use 3!!

[LouBarlow]

I just had the exact same situation as the OP and used his technique of just answering everything with

I DON'T WANT ANOTHER PHONE OR CONTRACT. I WANT TO CANCEL MY CONTRACT.

In the end I had the guy cracking up as he could tell what I was doing :lol:

Cheers OP :thumbs:

[Hot Ice]

Well I'm back from the States Wednesday. I'm going to get my PAC code and take out an iPhone contract I think.

[saviola]

I phoned today to cancel, they offered me an upgrade and I said I was getting company phone (which I am :( ). They put me straight through, 1 month notice and PAC on its way, took all of 5 mins.

Think some people just get really unlucky.

[JCTurner]

Similar to me - called them on Thursday said I wanted to cancel - they tried to offer me a couple of deals already on the website and when I refused they processed my cancellation, confimed dates etc.

Quite painless. Now I'll see if they come back with a better offer towards the end of my contract - if not then Im going PAYG (not 3) until I see a phone I fancy :)

[Hot Ice]

Well my PAC code never arrived! I rang up and they tried telling me I had to wait another 30 days for it so would be paying for another month etc. Rang up the executive office and the bloke there gave me the PAC code over the phone and said the contract will be extended day by day until the number is moved then it will be cancelled at no additional charge!
iPhone has arrived today. I'm pretty excited about getting home!

[Mr Flibble]

I'm looking to dump my phone next month as I'm gettng a company one, I'll be out of contract too - do you have to send a letter, or is it by phone only?

I assumed you had to send a letter to confirm cancellation?

[JCTurner]

You can do it on the phone with India or you can send a cancellation letter to their office in Glasgow (address on the web site).

[Mr Flibble]

Letter it is then!

[drainman]

Letter it is then!

Send it recorded delivery and request a date in writing from them stating contract termination date. They sometimes claim never to have received your letter :mad:

[zantarous]

My cousin told me about the comical experience he had when he cancelled his 3 contract with lost phones and promising to cancel he contract each month and a bill arriving the following month.

When I came to cancel mine I thought it would be difficult but the lady on the other end tried to give me a better offer, told her that I already had a new phone on another network and she cancelled the contract there and then and I got a letter a few days latter to put it in writing.

[Mr Flibble]

sounds like it's a bit random as to how straight forward it is then! My letter to notify will go out on the 1st of Feb, and I'll see what happens from there!