Just joined the thread. I'm also a ripped-off client of mobilesolutions (a.k.a. themobs.com) I started a contract in August 2006 for myself and partner, both starting at £22.50 per month for three months and rising to £45 per month each for the remaining nine months. Refunds due back at end of month six for £236.50 and again at end of month twelve for a further £236.50 for each mobile phone so we have jointly lost out on £930.00 !!!

First I got wind there was trouble was by sheer chance I caught the end of Nicky Campbell's WATCHDOG program back late November 2006. I've been struggling to cope with the charges now I'm unemployed (would never have gone for a £45 per month contract if I wasn't getting the money back)

Repeated calls to THREE get very little help, not their problem, but just keep paying your monthly bill to THREE, yes you can go down a band each month but it will cost £25 a time, SCANDAL.OUS, or extend your contract by a further six months. I'm quite sure THREE could quite easily put everyone effected down to their cheapest tariff until the end of the individual's contract. It's called "GOODWILL"
THREE obviously haven't heard of it. I can't wait to finish with them, they won't be getting my business ever again, their lack of compassion will lose them more in the long run than changing customers down to a 17.50 a month contract. (The words NOSE, SPITE and FACE come to mind)

Wake-up THREE your customer relations are crass!

I will sign a petition for any1. Im sure we will win this battle, and 3 will regret not taking at least some responsibility for this!

ps: i didnt realise the mobs were also agents for orange, thought it was just three network that were gettin skanked by. anyway,
what do orange have to say about this or any other network???

I signed up to a 30p per month deal on 3 in October 2005. I did get £157.55 refunded by August 19th 2006 (shoulda been June), although it was a struggle as I had correctly jumped through all the hoops, but they stalled all the time. October 2006 came and went and I was confident about the last £157.55, but they had gone to the wall by then and run off with everybodys cash of course.

They only consolation I can offer is that a legal friend of mine tells me that the original contract is illegal if signed by the other party who knew that the entire contract with tem is not viable.
Also, come the end of the contract with 3. I just told them I didn't want the contract any more (i have a Voda account which I've had on contract for years), they kept calling me back and offering me lower and lower price. Eventually, I got 200+200 for £5.00 PER YEAR.
They credited my account immediatelt with £240.00 and as long as I don't go over allowances £20 comes off each month till the end of the year and leaves £5 to pay. Good enough for me! hope this helps good luck everybody Brian

will definately sign it . will let my boyfriend know about it too as he has been ripped off also.

hi - Just found this Site - i was conned into signing up for two phones total of £ 80 a month - i phoned 3 early in Dec to find out if there was anything i could do , they told to that after 6 months of the contracts ( 21st Dec ) i could downgrade one step each month Free , phone back after the 21 st - So when i phoned back i was then told that it would cost me £ 25 each time and this charge was introduced on the 14th Dec !!! i asked why and the gentleman told me that they had introduced this charge because they had seen an upturn in people downgrading and wanted to discourage it !!! after speaking to a " manager " they did say that they would reduce it to £ 15 this time - anyway asked to speak to someone who had the authority to do something about it - to cut a long story short , this week phoned them again , explained my feelings about it and the fact that " themobs" was still listed on their site !! ( under customer services - cash-back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!) told them that i have been conned which they agreed and that i would have never taken out these contracts but the deal seemed to good a deal to miss out on - i knew there was a risk element claiming the money back , you have to dot the i.s and cross the t';s to get it back but , i had been conned out of £ 800 and 3 were the beneficiaries of this fraud and were receiving £ 1000,s they would not have got down to people being conned into this - i did lose it abit and told him that he hadn't , understood a f--king word i said !! much to the amusement of my wife , but apparently he had - and said he would downgrade each phone for free this time only ( saving me £ 20 a month ) - word of warning - told him i would never use them again and would cancel asap - he told me that you must write in with 31 days notice to cancel at end of contract or it will just continue !!

Hello. I have cancelled my direct debit and am waiting to see what happens...........

To: Iand

Cancelling your direct Debit is extremely unwise. I have done so, giving them one month's notice in writing of my intentions, 'to see what would happen' and I have no doubt I would have ended up in court had I not reinstated the payments. We all, regrettably, have a contract and I have no doubt 3 will enforce it.

To: Peter47

Did you have to extend your contract to get the lower price


Regards
Peter Scott

cath:has anyone had any trouble with this company. I signed up for my first ever contract phone with this company. Half price line rental for 12 months on the basis of redemption free phone sent, on 03 network. In other words I pay £35.00 per month and after 6 months I get half back £165. They gave me 2 vouchers to fill in for the 2 periods needed. Rang the company to make sure I was filling in the voucher correctly, sent my last bill as requested then waited for payment. No payment after one month. Rang company (20 minutes to get through) told I did not
send delivery note so claim was void. Checked the last voucher I had, no mention of delivery note needed. Rang company to ask to
speak to a manager 3 times, no manager available. Sent letter beginning of November, heard nothing. Tried ringing several times no phones being answered.

Has anyone any ideas on where I go from here

sorry everybody had trouble getting logged in for quite some.

I reported the mobs to the trading standards, and they told me that th mobs had gone bust and had appeared in court. They sent me a form to fill in to claim against the mobs. They also sent me a list of creditors. Sorry everybody but it must be 10 pages long. This was back in December, and I hav'nt heard anything else back. The petition sounds a great idea. By the way 3 new that the mobs was going bust in November but did not have the bottle to tell the customers.

hi peter - No told them in no uncertain terms that i would cancel after 12 months , also told them that when taking out the contract their terms and conditions were that after six months one could downgrade four times within that contract , and that they have changed this post my agreement -

Hi folks,

I don't know what you will think to this letter I am about to send to 3 customer service in Glasgow - might be worth a shot...

Following my recent letter to you requesting information under The Freedom of Information Act, (copy attached for reference) I now have evidence that suggests you are operating widely varying tactics regarding customer service and managerial decisions in respect of complaints about the failure of Themobs to honour the cashback agreement.
I now understand that you have agreed in some circumstances to waive any fee for transferring to a lower tariff and also a reduction on the actual price of the tariff for a reasonable period. Accordingly I request - as a minimum - the same opportunity, especially in view of the fact that my useage is generally very low. I also request that you offer a further reduction in respect of future renewal as a gesture of goodwill and to retain my custom.
Should you fail to agree to what I feel is a very reasonable request I will of course make a formal complaint to the Regulator.
I will also write to my MP to request that he raise this matter (of such spurious activities of mobile communication companies and their trading practices) in the House of Commons, with a view to obtaining much tighter regulation via a compulsory Code of Conduct and imposition of heavy financial penalties for any breach.
It would be far better if companies such as you dealt with such issues more swiftly, ethically and equitably than is currently clearly the case.
You have 28 days in which to reply and make a satisfactory offer.

Happy hunting all!

Has goldwrapped petition gone live yet? Still can't link to it...

Hi Netherfield,

Could you let us know what info you elicited under TheFreedom Of Information Act re. the evidence of varying tactics etc, as I'm going to write a similar letter to yours, which is excellent.

Thanks, and good luck.

Still waiting for the response - read all the previous posts to see that the customer service line of 3 is very inconsistent. Some people have clearly not been charged for downgrading or have been offered other incentives - others have been offered nothing and not even been told they can drop to a lower tariff. I wasn't told that myself and when I read it on this thread, I checked it out but they don' volunteer the information. Check my earlier posts re. the questions I asked under FOI Act. There are probably afew other you could ask too.
It seems you have to be very persistent and very forceful to the point of anger or apparent nervous breakdown in order get anywhere - or you can play the formal complaint route. Fortunately I have previously complained to my MP about something else so he might be more willing to do something.

Since writing my letter and a follow-up to it sent recorded delivery to make sure they couldn't say they had not received it, I have have been contacted twice by customer services. The second call told me they have reduced the cost of dropping to a lower tariff from £25 to £5 - but you can only drop one level per month. This might be good news to many people but limited value to me as I only have 4 months to go on before cancelling my contract.

I told them I would wait for a full reply to my letters and proper compensation.

I have also found this on the web - which may be useful

Many thousands of disputes crop up each year between customers and their providers. Happily, almost all are settled by simply talking the problem through. However, now and again a dispute ends in deadlock with both sides feeling they’re in the right, or the provider fails to resolve the complaint within the 12 weeks that we allow. This is where an ADR scheme can be useful.
The communications providers meet the costs of providing an independent dispute resolution service. The ADR schemes themselves must:
• be independent from the providers, and from us;
• be easy to use, with clear and effective methods;
• be available free of charge to customers;
• be able to award compensation if appropriate; and
• have powers to make sure that providers pay the compensation.
All communications providers must have a complaints code of practice that we have approved. This should tell customers how the provider handles complaints, and give details of how to contact an ADR scheme if the provider fails to resolve the problem.
We have approved the following two ADR schemes.
• The Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman (Otelo), which opened in January 2003. Its members offer fixed-line, mobile and internet services to homes and small businesses. You can visit Otelo’s website at: www.otelo.org.uk
• The Communication and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS), which began work in October 2003. Many of its members are internet service providers (ISPs). You can visit CISAS’s website at: www.cisas.org.uk
Both these websites show a full list of members.

Providers can be fined upto £5000 if they are found not to have behaved fairly.