Pricewatch reader queries: Problems encountered when fleeing 3

A reader by the name of Derek began using 3 shortly after the network set up in Ireland back in 2005 and was paying about €15 each month. "Roughly three years ago I noticed an ad which said that if using less than 1 gigabyte a month, the bill would be just €7.99," he writes. "This suited my requirements. Everything was fine until late last year, when I unknowingly overshot the data limit.

“Without any notification, they let me overrun for two days before cutting me off. I spoke with a line supervisor, who confirmed what had happened. She said that if they hadn’t cut me off my bill could have risen to hundreds, perhaps thousands of euro.”

Derek was understandably alarmed. He changed his provider and said goodbye to 3. “My outstanding bill now stood at a staggering €125.60, which included a month’s payment of €12.57 for when I wasn’t using their network.” So he paid the bill off in two tranches minus the last €12.57, the charge for the last month when he had no service. “I received a letter from 3 dated March 23rd, stating that my outstanding balance was €12.57,” he writes.

Then, last week, Derek received a final notice from Buchanan Clark and Wells stating they had been instructed to recover the sum of €125.60 on behalf of 3, adding that if it was not paid “they would not hesitate to commence legal proceedings.

We contacted 3. “We always recommend that customers monitor their usage on My3 to keep track of their remaining allowance and to avoid such costs,” a spokeswoman said. “The outstanding payment is for a combination of the final balance on his account and an early termination fee for leaving his contract before completion date. As a gesture, we have decided to waive the balance on his account.”

Another reader, Lynda, cancelled her contract with 3 in January. “But they’re claiming they got no letter and have no record of my call to them about the cancellation in advance of the letter. I sent the letter to them at the same time I sent it to my bank, who got it just fine and cancelled the direct debit.”

Lynda says the phone hasn’t been used since she cancelled it, “but I got my first letter from them about it last week advising me there was an issue”.

After we contacted 3, it got in touch with Lynda and the problem has been resolved.

Absorbing a mistake

Pricewatch is quick to hold others to account when they get things wrong, and so we must do the same to ourselves. At the beginning of March we reviewed paper towels and gave a five-star review to Regina Blitz. "The individual sheets are super- absorbent and as stout as a dishcloth," we said. And we stand over that assessment. The problem is the price we gave: two rolls for €2.15. Several readers have been in touch to say they have not been able to find them at this price. That is because the price we quoted was wrong. The normal selling price for them in Tesco is €4.99, although when we checked last week they were on special and selling for €3.50, still substantially more than the price we quoted. Apologies.

Aer Lingus refuses to compensate 26-hour delay

A reader called Graham was due to fly with Aer Lingus from Toronto to Dublin, but the flight was cancelled because a crew member was ill. After a wait of 26 hours, which involved 10 hours of queuing, Graham finally got on a flight back to Dublin.

When he got home he looked into delayed flight regulations and found EU261. “It provided for a claim of €600 based on the distance and duration of delay,” he writes. “I submitted a claim to Aer Lingus. However, they have rejected it as they believe that one crew member being ill is covered under the “extraordinary circumstances” clauses of EU261. If Aer Lingus can classify operational incompetence as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ they will never ever pay out a claim under EU261.”

An Aer Lingus spokeswoman said regulations stipulate that it is not permissible to operate a flight without the minimum crew complement.

She said the list of extraordinary circumstances agreed by European National Enforcement Bodies includes a passenger or crew member becoming seriously ill or dying on board. She added that the airline does “offer reimbursement of reasonable expenses incurred for additional accommodation, meal or transport costs, on production of receipts.”