Pricewatch reader queries: A falling-out with 3 Mobile over direct debit mix-up

A reader named Kathryn had been with 3 Mobile for two years when she had a big falling-out with the company in May, after she got a call from them to say her direct-debit payment had not gone through.

“This surprised me as I have never missed a payment. However, it turned out that it had nothing to do with me, my bank or my funds but was down to an error made by the company collecting direct debits on behalf of 3,” she says.

“So I waited for my bank statement to arrive and checked it before manually making the May payment. During this time I received a number of calls from 3 chasing and pushing me to make payment, which annoyed me,” she writes.

She was also urged by 3 to phone her bank to make sure payment would go ahead for June, which she did.

“I discussed the issue in detail with my bank and was reassured that payment would go ahead for June by direct debit, as everything was in place. Unfortunately the June payment did not go ahead either.”

Arrogant tone

The company started ringing her “and hassling me to make payment. I was very busy at the time and was annoyed that this had happened again. I was also getting very annoyed by the pushy and arrogant tone of the calls. I asked to speak to customer service, but was repeatedly told I couldn’t until I made a payment. I repeatedly told them I needed to speak to customer services to complain and get some reassurance before I was prepared to make payment again manually. I tried to contact customer service directly, but each time was redirected to the collections team. This really infuriated me, and out of principle I decided to cancel my contract with them, so I asked for the cancellations department only to hear the same story: cancellations would not speak to me until I paid the outstanding bill.”

Kathryn was of the opinion that it was 3 who was breaching the contract and she wanted reassurance that she would not incur a €420 cancellation fee.

“I was prepared to pay my outstanding bill for calls made if I got that reassurance, but no, customer service and cancellations would not entertain me.”

Then the company put a stop on her account without warning, “which I felt was totally out of order given that I have been a reliable customer for years and this was not my doing but 3’s”.

Eventually someone from customer service phoned her “but just gave me the same story: they could not entertain my complaint until I made payment. Then someone phoned from the executive office – and unbelievably had nothing better to offer. I needed to pay the outstanding bill of €85 and I would incur the €420 cancellation fee. He was not accepting any responsibility for the way I was treated.”

So she decided to pay the outstanding €85 over the phone. “To my anger and astonishment on making this payment my account was automatically reactivated so they started charging me the monthly fee again. This infuriated me, and I immediately emailed them to say I did not request my account to be reactivated and would not be paying any more monthly fees to them. I said my account was cancelled.”

She has now stopped opening her 3 mails, “as they are impossible to communicate with or to deal with. I feel strongly that 3 broke their contract with me and therefore I should not incur this cancellation fee. When they do not live up to their end of the contract, who holds them accountable? Should I have to pay this cancellation fee? Where do I stand if I don’t?”

Last week she received a letter from 3’s debt collection company looking for €508. “I am told that if I do not make payment immediately they will proceed with legal action. I really feel this is disgraceful.”

We contacted 3 Mobile and a spokeswoman apologised for our reader’s “poor customer experience”. She said it was “due to a breakdown in communication regarding the set-up of her direct debit. This then unfortunately caused subsequent issues for her. We have spoken to her and the issue has now been resolved.”