In October I bought a mobile phone on a Three contract from a company called Just3G, based in Birmingham. As is common with mobile phone contracts in the UK now, the phone contract I bought offered ‘cash back’ on my bills, which would be paid back at 6, 9, and 12 monthly intervals. I previously held a contact bought from a company called Dial-a-phone who worked a similar scheme and honoured their promises, saving me over a hundred pounds on my bills over the year.
Having sent in the required proof of contract by sending in my first 6 months worth of bills as dictated in the terms & conditions, I looked forward to Just3G crediting my account with the cash back.
Having heard nothing from the company, I send an email to check the progress of my claim. After a week or so I received an email which went to great length to explain that my claim had been ‘unsuccessful’, and why this was so. In the email the agent from the company included details about my contract that were incorrect. He referred to a call plan different to mine amongst other things.
I couldn’t belive I was the only one to interpret the Terms & Conditions this way, and upon entering ‘Just3G’ into Google, I was greeted with a list of links to forums where people detailed situations similar to mine. It was increasingly looking like this was more than a mistake on my part. Within a few minutes of reading I had found that the company appeared to be sending out a stock email that refused to honour the cash back claim. In fact it appears that the only way anyone has managed to get their money is by taking Just3G to county court, and the forums are littered with evidence of county court judgements against the company.
I will be posting all the information I find regarding Just3G and getting your money back on here, and recording the process I am going through to get Just3G to honour my claim. Any questions feel free to contact me here.
For your reference, any links I find regarding Just3G, whether it be litigation or discussions on forums will be posted on my del.icio.us account.
Well today I got an email back from Grant at Just3G, 24 hours before the deadline I had set. Unfortunately Just3G have not heeded my warnings and continue to refuse to honour my cashback claim. In the email the agent alluded that I was not being reasonable and that I lacked the intelligence to understand their terms & conditions. Tomorrow I will be heading to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau to get another perspective on the situation, and will posting any information that I find on here.
Unfortunately the Citizens Advice Bureau in town was closed yesterday, so I have gone ahead and started proceedings at Moneyclaim.gov.uk anyway. The site is very easy to use, and you are guided through every step, although I believe the site is suffering some technical issues today so I shall see if all is well later on today or call their technical support line to make sure my claim has gone through.
I am confident that I will be sucessful with my claim, as I have heard of many cases on the forums where people have won their cases against Just3G in the county courts, as anyone in their right mind will see it the same way.
I don’t know whether their server started working or it was my browser, but I used IE to complete the Moneyclaim process instead of Firefox that I had used previously and my claim went through. Hopefully that means it will be processed on Monday morning and I should hear back pretty soon!
This morning I received my Notice of Issue from Northampton County Court. Just3G have 14 days to respond, so I’ve just got to sit back and wait.
Today Just3G made a Acknowledgement of Service on my claim, which shows they intend to dispute the claim, and allows them 28 days to mount a defense.
A copy of the Terms & Conditions from November 2005 are also available here, and I believe these T&C’s remained unchanged between 1st April 2005 and the 1st July 2006. For comparisson, Just3G have T&C’s for that period available here.
Here is the Law on dubious terms and conditions.
The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/19992083.htm
Written contracts
7. - (1) A seller or supplier shall ensure that any written term of a contract is expressed in plain, intelligible language.
(2) If there is doubt about the meaning of a written term, the interpretation which is most favourable to the consumer shall prevail but this rule shall not apply in proceedings brought under regulation 12.
Regulation 12 refers to “Injunctions to prevent continued use of unfair terms”
So, the terms have to be taken as they would be commonly understood, and if there is any ambiguity, then the courts must side with the consumer.
Thats the Law!
“Just3G Communications” = “JustNO Communication”
I am sure you have done a search already and found loads of stuff about Just3G. I am taking them to court for a second time (the first time I was awarded my cashback). I am confident I will get my second claim, as guess what - I have provided them with all the documents they require!
If you have all the documents etc or if you are questioning their dodgy terms and conditions then please continue with court action against them.
Mark.
@ Nemesis, thanks for that link, I used that information in my email to Just3G last week hoping that I would shake them up a bit, so I shall have to wait and see what happens.
Fortunately for us we are protected by such consumer laws, but it doesn’t stop companies like Just3G trying it on.
@ Mark, Glad to hear you have had success already, I will be starting proceeds against them tomorrow. I have looked at it from every angle and it is clear that Just3G are trying their best to avoid honouring our claims!
I notice thread after thread on the forums, particularly Gumtree.com are being taken down. Fortunately they cannot do that here so I urge you all to post any useful information here to help the countless others who have received the same treatment!
Gumtree seems to me to be a waste of time. Just3G must have some heavy legal reason to be able to make websites remove threads that tell the real story of what Just3G are like.
What baffles me, is why are J3G forcing those removals? Their website is just a holding page, their answer phone just loops endlessly and they do not reply to emails. Surely they cannot be trying to protect thier image! The only reason to do that is if they intend on opening shop again.
Anyhow, my next step is to try and persue them with a ‘moneyclaim’ from the website that was given on Gumtree. My problem is i only sent 6 statements for my 1st cash back claim. But I do have an email from J3G saying this;
Eventhough you were on a 10 month deal, your cashback is still split into 3 installments over the 12 month period.
Expiry dates on the 7th, 10th and 13mth from connection.
That could at best be described as \’vague\’
Keep posting!
Shaun
A couple of weeks ago I was in court to hear my claim against Just3g.
I sent in 6 statements for my first claim and was given the old ’should have sent in 7′ nonsense. The judge certainly did not see it that way as his opening remarks where;
“It seems that the arguement in this case is that just3g are saying you only sent in 5 statements not 6.”
They had even send in copies of my six statements in their defense! It didn’t come as a big surprise that he ruled in my favour.
Go down the moneyclaim route. Use the arguement that the terms ask for 6 statement as each statement in covers one month, and quote the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.
These people only seem to pay out when the courts are involved. I told them numerous time that this was going before the judge if they didn’t pay-up but they still refused.
Great news Nemesis, its good to know there are people out their winning their cases against these jokers. I have just completed all the information on Moneyclaim, but unfortunately it has stopped working so I think a call to their support line is needed!
Be sure to have copies of all your correspondence and proof of postage. Then you should be fine.
Unlucky for then, my brothers a copper, my father is a magistrate and my best mate is a lawyer. Plus I’m as stubbon as a mule!
Hehe, yeah they picked the wrong person when they tried to fob me off!
I have a nice little folder with every communication, bill and document including postage details sat next to me so they don’t have a leg to stand on!
It’s a shame to think just how many people will have let this slide and have been caught out with these T&C’s by Just3G. Comparatively there must only be a handful like us who are prepared to fight them.
Now I have started the Moneyclaim ball rolling I will be writing to Trading Standards, Which, BBC Watchdog and whoever else I can think of!
It’s worth noting to anyone out there that whilst sending documents by recorded delivery in these cases is an extremely good idea, as far as I am aware, if you send a letter by first class mail it is deemed to arrive by law, even if the recipient claims not to have received it.
I am not 100% that is still the case but I will check.
Nemesis, I know you got your judgement but have Just3G actually paid yet? Or did they just crumble when you got it?
“Nemesis, I know you got your judgement but have Just3G actually paid yet? Or did they just crumble when you got it?”
- I am 100% confident I will get my cashback awarded but less confident that Just3Jokers will pay it. Anyone been given their cashback after being awarded it in court?
I consulted Citizens Advice for my first claim and in their opinion their T&C’s were unreasonable. Also you might want to argue that their T&C’s are mutually exclusive - If you were to submit 6 months of statements this would cover actually upto 7 months of connection. This would then strictly exclude you from making a second claim as you could not provide evidence of the second 6 months of connection as you would be missing part of the 7th month
I know this is convoluted and interpreted by anyone other than Just3G this would be no problem… but they are a problem.. a big verminous problem.
I have had an interesting day as far as Just3G are concerned. This morning I received my Notice of Issue from Northampton County Court for the claim I initiated on Moneyclaim.gov.uk. So Just3G have 14 days to respond, and I am definitely looking forward to hearing that!
Secondly, I also received an email from Just3G themselves informing me that the deadline for my second claim was yesterday, and my claim was successful! This is due to the fact that I submitted bills according to their somewhat distorted view of the terms & conditions. However I have to wait 60 days before they will complete the BACS transfer which is a bit odd, but as long as I get paid thats not a major issue.
Mark, that is a good point about the crossover between the first and second claim, and I hadn’t thought of it like that, and of course you are perfectly right. What makes this whole situation more insane is that by their way of doing things, when you send your last bill in, if you have terminated your contract and not gone outside the call allowance, it could actually be for £0! Which makes you think, if that is the case and I cancel after 12 months, will they try and worm out of honouring my claim again?
After further thought, that 60 day wait sounds very dubious to me, so does anyone have a copy of the Terms & Conditions they could forward me?
Thanks in advance.
Hey everyone !
Wow, that was a real fight but I now have received my cashback. I was on the blaggermouth forum but they swipped it off the net, then somene started up an ‘oops’ (instead of naming just3G) site which was again removed. I had sent in ‘6′ statements but had followed it with the ‘7th’ within the deadline (all very confusing I know). Anyhow, I went through the money claim route on the web (https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp) which worked well in getting an instant response. There then followed several emails whilst they ‘found’ my 7th statement which had been ‘misfiled’ and said they would pay up. The money then ‘got lost’ between them and my bank leading to more exchanges of emails. Anyhow, it has now arrived.
By the way Ian - my copy of the T&Cs does state that it can take up to 60days for the BACS transfer.
Does anyone know if they are still trading ?
Good luck everyone ….
Hey FedupwithJust3G, good to hear your story, and glad you got your money! The fact that you met your demands but they still gave you trouble is no supprise. They would do anything to get out of paying up.
I think the only reason they agreed to pay my second cash back is that the same morning they should have received notice of issue from the county court in my attempts to get what they owe me for my first cash back through Moneyclaim.
If you could forward me a copy of those T&C’s I would greatly appreciate it. (ian@innovation-station.net)
And as far as I know they are still operating, but I think the site has gone down whilst they wait for the heat to dissipate.
Hi Ian
Thanks for setting up the site. I hope everyone else finds it- there are quite a few from the other sites who will be searching for this. I doubt that I would have done the court route had I not read about the others - Mark was the one who got me going on that track. In fact I have his email address so I will let him know about your site - expect to hear from him !
My copy of the T&C are only in hard copy which I printed from the web when I got my phone. I think you also have to be careful about when you bought the phone because they have changed the conditions at different times. However, I think we may be similar as I have just received my 2nd claim successful notification as well. - my contract started 1st Nov 05
It states - “Cash backs are payable within 60 days of Just3G processing your bills, by BACS payment directly in your account. Cash backs will ONLY be payable in the nominated account for direct debit “. If you send me an email with your address then I will happy to post a copy to you.
Hi!
So glad i found this page… Can you help me? They did the same to me, and said I sent in 6 instead of 7, so wouldnt pay me.
I followed all the advice on blagger.com, and did the Moneyclaim thing, and went to court for my first instalment. But the only copy of the terms and conditions that I had were the updated ones from them asking for 6 months worth of statements. now I’m sure when I got my phone in April 05, it was just 6 statements, but have no proof.
the judge said it is unfortunate I sent 6 statements and didn’t read correctly that I needed 6 months worth of statements. He said they had done nothing unlawful.
I have another court date booked middle of September, because he allowed me to book another date, as I was thinking that they wouldnt pay the 2nd and 3rd installment. However, they have, so now is it pointless me going back to court, as the judge has already said i wont get the 1st payment? Or does anyone have a copy of the terms and conditions from last year?
Why did the judge not side with me, even though Just3G didn’t even turn up to court? I felt like a stupid little girl, and it was very embarrasing. Does anyone have any ideas that might make the judge rule in my favour? any bits of law i can quote?
Any help will be most appriciated.
Many thanks,
sam x ** x
Is anyone able to provide me the just3g’s cashback claim form? Please I have 3 days to send it and I can not find it.
Hi everybody. I am in the same situation as u all. Could u tell me what docs i need to file a claim.
Thanks
Hi Turker,
I have got a claim form but it is hard copy only - if you can send your address to me then I will post it to you. Ian who manages this web site has my email address so he may be able to forward me your address to send it to (I wouldn’t go posting your address on the web and I won’t publish my email address either !) … sounds like time is rather short though. Good luck !
I’m glad you have all found this article, and thanks for your responses. I see this article is now on the front page of the Google results for ‘Just3G’ so hopefully everyone can find the information they need.
FedupwithJust3G: Thanks for the clarification of the Terms & Conditions there! There is something dodgy about that 60 day wait though, I am fairly convinced they will have disappeared by the time they are due to pay me!
Sam: I am sorry to hear you have had such a tough time in the courts, everyone else who has got that far has won their case, and to my knowledge you are the first who has had the Judge rule in Just3G’s favour. Unfortunately in situations like this, it is down to how the Judge sees things. I can’t say whether they have changed the T&C’s, but when I bought my phone (October ‘06) they were purposely written to mislead people in my opinion. As far as I see it, 6 months means just that, 6 months worth of line rental, the first 6 bills you receive. Just3G state what they actually want is 6 months of calls. (As you pay line rental in advance, the first bill doesn’t include any calls - you won’t have made any!)
It’s a shame but the Judge must have agreed with Just3G’s way of seeing things. If you have a copy of your Terms & Conditions you could forward me for comparison, which would be interesting reading!
As for trying to take the same case to court again, I am not sure about that one, perhaps the best plan of action would be to go and see someone at the Citizens Advice Bureau. In the first comment on this page, The Nemesis quotes The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Have a look as that piece of legislation could be useful to your case.
Turker: There is a link to a PDF download of the redemption form at the top of these comments. Alternatively it is available here. Don’t forget to send the paperwork by recorded delivery so you have proof of postage.
Hi Monika,
To file a claim you need the correct bills (is this your first claim?) If so you will need bills 2 through 7 inclusive (Effectively the first 6 bills that have phone calls itemised on them).
You also need a copy of the redemption form available here.
Don’t forget to send the documents by recorded delivery to ensure you have proof of postage.
Good luck!
Ian,
Still waiting to receive the payment. The judge did make a point of mentioning that the judgement didn’t mean I would see the cash.
I still have some confidence in getting the money as I received the second payment a under a month ago and they still have a week or so before non-payment of a count court judgement (ccj) becomes trouble for them. I have since found out that if someone pays a ccj within a month of the judgement then it can be removed from the public record, i.e. it will have no adverse affect on their credit rating. Therefore it is feasible that a company could operate by only paying up when a ccj is issued.
If I don’t get the payment soon, I am looking at chasing them further.
As for the 60 day payment period. It is in the terms and that is how long they took fork-out my second cashback.
Sam - I have a copy of the terms from July of last year if that is any help. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (see the link at the top of these comments) supports your case.
How much does Moneyclaim.gov.uk cost?
Nemesis, you seem to be quite a way down the road with your claim…how much has it cost so far?
Cheers
Ian -Thanks for your advice, i dont have a scanner, but i could certainly photocopy them and post them to you if this is an option?
Nemesis- that would be great if i could see your copy, to see if they changed them since then!
how do i go about giving you my email?
sam x**x
der…i will type them out and post them on here! i am not sure where i have put them though, so hang on a while.
sam X**X
Thanks Ian
I have already sent the bills by recorded post and have the proof and everything . I just wanted to ask if people had any official letter from them re the contract because when I took the contract from them they did not send any paperwork and just said to refer to online terms. I am planning to file a claim as well but am not sure if i need some more paperwork to present to court. Could anyone help me with this query?
Sam - sorry to hear about your court experience with “Just3G Communications”.
You should argue that their T&C’s are contradictory (see my previous post)
They have changed their T&C’s
They rely on the ambiguous nature of theit T&Cs to minimise the ammount of cashback they pay.
Lets face it if “Just3G Communications” were a company who wanted to benefit froam good reputation they would not behave like this.
Nemesis: Thanks for that info regarding CCJ’s. I wasn’t aware that there was a period of time before it affected your credit rating.
Brian: To persue a claim on Moneyclaim.gov.uk costs £30 per claim. If you loose your case you loose this, but if you win it is added on to the ammount the defendant must pay you.
Sam: If you could either type up or post me a copy of your Terms & Conditions that would be extremely helpful to see if they have been changed or not.
Monika:I’m sorry I thought you meant claim your cashback! I did not receive any paperwork other than a redemption form when I first took out my contract. Have you been told that your claim has been unsuccessful? If not I would hang on before you make a claim via Moneyclaim.
I have just finished writing to BBC Watchdog, Trading Standards & The national papers to inform them all of what Just3G are up to. I implore you to do the same, as the more of us that speak out, the more likely someone will listen. On another forum I heard that someone had already contacted BBC Watchdog and they were very interested in this case.
Oh and if anyone wants to contact each other directly but do not want to post their addresses, just leave a message or email me and I will put you in touch if both parties agree.
Can somebody link the terms and conditions. I don’t have a copy. Thanks.
Ian ; I am going to speak to trading standards today and would also make a complaint to bbc watchog.
I have received a reply from just3g.co.uk today regarding my cashback. They said my second cashback application was succesful and I should be receiving my money within 60 days, which is 28th of August. My email regarding second cashback was sent almost 2 months ago. Better then nothing isn’t it. I just send the form and invoices for third claim just on time. I hope this will be ok as well. But still they don’t want to pay me for the first 6 months cashback. I will be waiting till I get third cash back and I will take them to court for my first claim. I hope it will be succesful too.
Here are the terms and conditions from about July last year. These are the ones I used for the judgement. At the bottom of the first page is the section on the cashback process.
http://www.easy-share.com/613520.html
http://www.sharebigfile.com/file/1964/Terms-Cashback.pdf.html
The main argument in brief is;
- the terms ask for 6 months of statement which would be understood to be 6 statements not 7 (use the unfair contracts act to support this). Also each statement covers a one month period so that is 6 months of statements.
- you are not the only one to have this problem so just3g know their terms are being understood in this way (print off this page to support that argument)
- the terms could be contradictory with the 7 month limit to claim.
Forget to say.
The two links above are to the same file, so you only need one of them. Just put two places to download it in case there was any trouble.
Turker: Glad you have finally heard from Just3G, Shall keep my fingers crossed that you receive your money on Monday!
Nemesis: Thanks for those Terms & Conditions mate, they are the same ones that were available when I bought my phone in October ‘05. From those T&C’s it is clear that Just3G are talking rubbish when they say our claims do not meet those T&C’s.
I will also host those Terms & Conditions on this site in case there are any problems with those filehosting services.
Thanks again!
Hi
Unfortuately i have also fell victum of Just3G’s terms & conditions. I will pursue the moneyclaim avenue. I couldnt get hold of the T&Cs so if some one can help. I also cant seem to remember my order number? is it a 6 figure number, as i had lost all my correspondance with Just3G!
My six months have just elapsed so i will be starting my claim now. Do i send the claim form with the statements via RD and how long before they should reply? before i start proceedings.
Thanks
Neo, am I right in thinking you have yet to file any cash-back claim with Just3G? The Moneyclaim service is just a web front for the county courts, and should only be used if you have met all of Just3G’s terms & conditions when applying for your cash back, but they have refused to pay. Moneyclaim.gov.uk is not a guaranteed way of getting your money.
As for your order number, I cannot be sure, mine was a six digit number but yours could be different. Did you not keep the email’s you got when you first bought your phone?
To make sure you have the best possible foundations for a case should Just3G refuse to honour your claim, you need to read through the posts above to make sure you understand the situation, and send the first 6 bills that have calls itemised on them to Just3G, along with a completed redemption form (link is above all these comments) by recorded delivery. Just3G will not reply until the cut off date for your claim (7 months from connection date).
The terms & condtions are available for your reference thanks to Nemesis and are linked in his post above.
Some interesting snippets
http://cellphoneforums.net/uk-telecom-mobile/t200977-just3g-squirming-out-cashback-offer.html
Seems that Just3g have already come to the attention of Which.
Ian, you soon may be receiving a letter that is going around.
http://forums.mobileburn.com/showthread.php?t=17931
From the website of the solicitors mentioned. “The law allows you to report on what is true or comment on a fact based on truth.” The threats are pretty empty.
hi
thanks for posting the link to the terms and conditions but i couldnt access it. is there any other way i can access them
Just checked and works fine for me. Click on the first link (easy-share) and in the middle of the page you will find the link “Click here to download”. Viola!
So, have you already received an intimidating letter from Just 3G law firm?
I hope you manage to keep this site going.
Monika, if you have any more problems accessing the PDF file from the links provided by Nemesis, then the file is available here
Notsohappy, I haven’t had any threatening emails yet, unlike some it would seem, and as far as I am concerned, no one here has said anything that is not true, thus we have nothing to be afraid of!
Hi Ian,
Your site HAS to have the most comprehensive advice for us like minded people. I’m just waiting for my 7th bill to drop through the letterbox and armed with your copy of the redemption form and the T & C’s from Nemesis I’ll be sending the bills off,by registered post of course, will a corresponding letter and e-mail.
How long did you guys leave it until you started court procedings?
Has any member of Which Legal Service found Which to be pro active in their claim?
Keep up the good work everyone,
Thanks,Dickymint
I have also been had a similar problem in getting my cash back. When I mentioned the Court, for the first time at least I got a response. I suggest that a claim for punitive or exemplary damages would be appropriate. The argument is that because only a small percentage of people sue, it is more profitable for them to await a Claim before they pay up.
Julius
Hi,
I am also a victim as I signed-up in January 2006 and sent in my Claim at the end of August, 2006 and it is a challenge to get any response from Just3G via e-mail or phone, in fact their phone 08700801817 seems to revolve to the initial pick-up which ever option is selected. The funny thing is that Three.co.uk is not interested in the plight of it’s customers as I spoke to a manager by the name Peter De Souzer (off Shore?) and he said that the Cash back claim is with Just3G and that Three.co.uk has no concern with the issue. I just wonder if we all would have been daft enough to patronise Just3g if they were NOT SELLING services on behalf of Three.co.uk, am I alone in believing that Three.co.uk should play an active role in the resolution of this situation on it’s paying customers?
Dickymint: Welcome to the site, I think my site is one of the few that haven’t been threatened by Just3G’s solicitors.
Best of luck with your claim, and don’t forget, Just3G will not acknowledge receipt of the documents until the cut off date, so if you don’t hear anything do not panic too much!
As far as waiting to begin court proceedings, I again must remind everyone that you are only in a position to proceed with a claim in the County Court if Just3G have refused to honour your claim even though you have met all their terms & conditions. If they refuse to pay, a good idea would be to send a warning letter informing them that you intend to take the issue to court, and give them 7 days to reply. If they still refuse to pay, then go ahead and start proceedings on Moneyclaim.gov.uk.
Julius: Welcome, and thanks for your input. Where are you with your current claim? Have Just3G refused to pay or are you still awaiting a response on that? Personally
I don’t think there is much grounds for suing Just3G, as a county court judgment should suffice when it comes to acquiring your cash back. Not only that, but that course of action could also make things difficult for others trying to get their money.
Hafeez: Thanks for the info regarding Three (Hutchinson 3G - the service operator). I must say that I too am very disappointed with Three’s attitude towards this situation, then again why should they want to rock the boat when the work of the likes of Just3G will bring them vast numbers of subscribers who are then locked into a minimum 12 month contract. It’s fair to say that Three is benefiting from these companies.
In the long run I think it is a sad reflection on Three, and I will be writing to them again to implore them to make resolving this issue a top priority.
I know many forums have been threatened by Just3G’s lawyers and I do not want to give them grounds to affect what is said here. After all we have a legal right to inform people of the truth, so as long as everyone is accurate with their information we have nothing to fear.
If nothing else, I hope we will be able to prevent others from falling prey to similar companies, and prevent Just3G and its owners from doing anything like this in the future.
Thanks for your co-operation and comments so far, and keep them coming in.
Ian
I have recently purchased a phone from just3g. I have not received my promised £20. As for my cashbacks in two months - I’m not holding any hope. For people like me who are not yet due to send thier bills but know that the address in B’ham is no longer live, what should we do?
Also Whats the best 3 can do for me as I’m not far into my 12 month contract? Help…….
Scottie - you know that their Birmingham address is no longer live? How so? I mailed them documents about 3 or 4 weeks ago and eventually got a response.
Unfortunately as you may have gleamed from the information above, Three are not interested in this case, and the only way you can get out of your contract is to buy your way out. It’s really a case of sticking with your contract and sticking with the cash back claim process.
Hi, it’s really helpful to read everyone else’s experiences. I have just had my 1st 6 months claim refused. It was unsuccessful as I sent bills 1,2,3,4,5, and 6, but apparently should have sent the 7th. I even have an email from just3g from February, when I asked them to clarify to me what I needed as the t&c’s were contradicting themselves. They said, and I quote them “‘months 1 to 6 bills”. I am trying to get Three to sort this out for me but they are obviously not too concerned as they are profiting so much from all of us. I for one know that if I hadn’t been promised all this in the contract with Just3G, then I wouldn’t have one of the 3 contracts, so they are probably best friends with Just3G.
By the way, it was confirmed to me yesterday by someone I spoke to at 3, that they still sell their contracts via Just3G. Unbelievable! I am now at the point that I have told Just3G that I WILL most definitely be taking them to court, where they will not only have to pay me but also my costs, and telling Three that they will lost more customers when their name is slated in the press than they would do by making sure I get my money back. Has anyone else been down that route?
I also I don’t know whether to wait until the end of my contract when no doubt I will have all 3 lots of cash back to claim back, rather than having to take them to court 3 times. In my situation would Moneyclaim be a good idea in anyone’s opinion? Thanks
thanks ian, got the terms this time
The Just3g website is not there, it’s been up dated for the last month. Is it worth a county court claim? I’m still waiting for 2 sets of cash back, sent bills recorded delivery and no record of them being reiceved !
hi, i have already submitted my 6 mnth claim, have not yet received anything. for the next submission, is it 9mnth bills or 12 mnth bills that need to be sent.
Good comment Shelley, I think it is time to let OfTel or some resposible body know about Three.co.uk’s unconcerned attitude, does anyone have useful numbers or links? It is not fair that a Service Provider continue to allow the public to be caught out by such questionable terms & conditions. So i would like us to make some progress on this front if nothing has been done and if something is already in progress, any update would be appreciated.
Regards………
Just a heads up - Just3G’s website is back online.
My contract and dealings with Just3G are over now, but I am not done with them. I will be around and about to help anyone who needs help.
Mark.
I have just won my second county court claim against “Just3G Communications”.
I was awarded £200
£120 cashback
£30 court fee
£50 for a day I had to take off work
Advice to anyone who thinks they have been conned by “Just3G Communications” - If you have made a valid claim for cashback, take them to court - www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
Also if you need to make a Statement of Claim, then get some rudimentary legal advice as to how to construct the statement. You can get it free if you look around, its no big deal at all.
Even their ropey 7 statements instead of 6 wont stand up. My Judge accepted that the T&Cs were unreasonable and mutually exclusive. I argued..
“Submitting 6 full months of statements would inevitably meant submitted part of the 7th month. This would have invalidated my second claim as I wouldn’t have been able to provide the second 6 months of statements.”
This actually had nothing to do with the reason I was going to court with them as I had already won that case the first time.
Good luck and keep letting us know how you get on.
Thanks for that heads up Mark! I am absolutely shocked!
I cannot believe they have made a comeback, and even better, Just3G make a fantastic promise…
Of course, this is tied to their questionable terms & condtions, which have been changed, but as far as I am concerned still read the same. No doubt they have had legal help to revise these t&c’s to avoid people like us being able to question them.
Seeing this, I once again urge people to write to BBC Watchdog, Trading Standards, and Three in order to stop others being sucked by these cashback promises. I will post the relevant contact details soon.
Congratulations on your win in the county court Mark, Just3G have just made an Acknowledgement of Service on mine, which gives them 28 days to mount a defense. They must be getting used to the procedure by now.
Thanks for sharing your experience, I am sure it will help many others get what is owed by Just3G.
Hafeez: I had not thought of contacting Oftel, great idea! Oftel has now been absorbed by Ofcom, and I shall be ringing them to discuss this issue asap. Their contact details are available here, and I urge you all to phone them, and discuss Just3G’s dodgy dealings, and the fact that Three is not bothered that their services are being sold using underhand tactics.
Monika: Glad you got the terms & condtions. For your next claim you will need to send doucments up to month ‘9′. In effect you will need to send the 8th, 9th and 10th bills.
lionkingdad: Have Just3G refused to pay either of your claims, or have you not received any communication from them at all? Or do you mean they are not shown as being received by Royal Mail. (You can check on the Royal Mail website, all you need is to enter the 13 digit code on your Recorded Delivery receipt.)
Shelley: Glad the site has been useful for you, all I ask everyone is that you publisise it as much as possible! We need to get the message out to stop people being sucked in by this and other similar schemes.
It would appear you have done what we all have, and in response to your question, don’t wait to persue a claim in the county court, do it now, for your first claim at least. Go to Moneyclaim.gov.uk and register to start the process. It is very simple, and there is some useful info in the above posts to help you on your way.
As for your next claim, assuming you are yet to make it, make sure you send the 8th, 9th & 10th bills so they have absolutely no excuses. Again, make sure you send it by recorded delivery, and do not expect acknowledgement from Just3G till the cutoff date for that particular claim.
I couldn’t believe it when you said Just3G were still selling Three contracts, but as it turns out, Just3G are back with avengance! The best thing I can recommend here is to make a complaint to Ofcom. (The link is above).
Best of luck Shelley, and any questions just ask, and please keep us up to speed with how you are doing.
Ian,
No coummunication from Just3G at all! Bills and claim sent recorded delivery, first claim recieved proof of recorded delivery but letters and second claim, I have received no proof of delivery. On the Royal Mail website, it says they have not been recieved yet. Are Just3G not accepting recorded delivery letters? Also, I live in Nothern Ireland, I don’t think I can claim via Moneyclaim.gov.uk
thanks hafeez for the link, would ring them up
Just to let people know, I called 3 quite a few days ago to complain about Just3G and to ask them about their stand on the issue and responsibility towards us. I was informed that 3 does not endorse Just3G and have taken their business off them but Just3G have again started selling phones which is a shame. We should be doing something to stop them doing this to other innocent people
I have sent a letter by recorded delivery to Three today, saying that if they dont pay me all the cashback that I should be given up to the present date, and let me end my contract without charges, then I will be contacting the media. I explained that if they don’t either get the money from Just3G or Three don’t give me it themselves then I will be informing the media exactly how they happily profit from their customers losses by using companies like Just3G.
I also explained that they would lose alot more money by me doing that than if they just give me what I am owed. I have given them until 14th september to respond, and will let you know how I get on. I don’t know if anyone else has already tried this.
lionkingdad: I’m not sure what to recommend there. Just3G will only acknowledge receipt of the claim documents once the cut off date has passed, but you are way past that already. A swift email to them may be in order in that case. And as for the second lot of documents, which have not been signed for - how long ago did you send them? As far as I am aware any letter sent by first class is deemed to arrive by law. However you might want to check with Royal Mail, As it was either refused, in which case it would be sent back to you I guess, or been lost.
As for living in Northern Ireland, as you are still part of the UK, I would have thought things will be the same, we but will have to check on that one, which is easy enough. Moneyclaim has a complete guide to using the service on their site, which should answer any questions.
Monika: I’m not supprised three dont care. Whilst they don’t endorse Just3G, they don’t care about their customers problems as long as they get their line rental, which is pretty much guaranteed for them. The only thing you can do is spread the word Monika. Get in touch with Ofcom, Trading Standards, BBC Watchdog, the national press, anyone you can think of!
Shelley: The chances of Three themselves paying you anything are next to nothing, and there is no way I can see that they will let you out of your contract without paying the rest off. The only thing you can do is do as I have suggested to everyone else. Get in touch with the media, Ofcom, etc. I look forward to hearing what kind of response you get.
I cannot see how any of us here have commited libel, as we have only spoken the truth, and I have written back asking for clarification on this matter. Until I get a reasonable explanation this page will not be taken down or heavily edited.
As far as I am concerned, the information here is extremely important, and I believe passionately in helping others to recover what is owed to them, and preventing new customers falling foul of these cashback terms & conditions. I urge you all to continue posting your updates.
Ian,
I’d just like to say I hold you in the highest regard for the time and effort you have put into providing the information on this site.
The genuine and accurate information found here is of the utmost importance and without it many of us would be at a loss in our attempts to claim our cash back.
I myself began Legal Proceedings against Just3G using Moneyclaim.gov.uk yesterday.
Remember: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight…it’s the size of the fight in the dog!
Hi all, here is the Cashback Claim update I got from Just3G today, their intepretation of their terms & condtions is RUBBISH, six months bill should mean exactly that, 6 months bills and no time travel. Please read below……………
Rather than post the whole document in here, I have put the letter into a PDF, which is available here.
Ian
One would think Just3G is clever enough to make sure their contract terms are actually available at the link sent, “Full details are at http://www.just3g.co.uk/terms.html in the terms and conditions”
Their new site is of a completely different design Hafeez, and the terms & condtions are now available here.
I have read the posts and now I do not know what to do. My 6th bill is arriving in about 2 weeks and I face the dilemma of either sending my first 6 bills and being turned down, or waiting for my 7th bill and not submitting them within the timescale. I even e-mailed Just3g and asked them, but they haven’t replied. I have noticed on their website that you can chat to an operator online, so I think I will give that a go as well.
Alan, you probably would be okay to wait for your 7th bill (depending on which version of the terms and conditions you have got), because they say that they need it within 7 months of your contract start date, and i think you get your 7th bill a couple of weeks before that. You may actually be quite lucky as you know exactly what they say they expect now, from reading this site, whereas I think alot of us were caught out by them saying they want the 1st 6 months bills.
I don’t know, but after speaking to Three, apparently they send a total of 13 bills to us for a 12 month contract, so you may find if you send bills 1 to 7, then 8 to 10, then 11 to 13, you may be ok. Obviously I don’t want to give you advice that they then say is wrong, but all I can say is that those are the reasons they said they’re not paying me. Good luck.
Brian: Thank you for your kind comments, all I aim to do is help give people the correct information to be able to meet the terms and conditons to complete their cash back claims correctly and know how to proceed if they come across any problems.
Alan: I agree with what Shelley said, they best thing for you to do is wait till month 7, and send those 7 bills complete with a redemption form to Just3G by recorded delivery. This way you will meet their interpretation of the terms & conditions and hopefully have no problems. Best of luck!
It has been agreed that whilst we are legally entitled to discuss the terms and conditions and the cash back claims procedure, it is not appropriate to directly attack the image and reputation of Just3G as a company or imply that they operate in anyway other than in total accordance of the law.
Any comments which pass judgement on Just3G or the proprietors will be edited to remove such content, however I ensure you any valid information will remain.
I am sure you can all appreciate my position and why this must be done, and why Just3G must be granted freedom from potentially untrue and unjust comments which could harm the reputation of their business. What ever you may think Just3G are legally entitled to protect the integrity of their name just as we are entitled to contest their terms & conditions in the county courts.
I appreciate all your input so far, and welcome further discussion on the cash back procedure. If anyone would like to contact me directly, feel free to use the contact form in the top navigation to get in touch.
Thanks,
Ian.
As far as I am concerned, the information here is extremely important
Here! Here! It is very important and thank you Ian for working around the situation and keeping the website online, allowing us all to help each other.
Don’t worry Ian, about the solicitors and about having to edit our comments. We fully support you and appreciate your efforts. You are most welcome to edit the contents of our posts. I
also wanted to mention, Today I have received a cash back of £91 for the first six months. According to my calculation, it should have been more as my contract was “-e338/tt600-49p/12m £35 bonus”. How much have other people on similar contract received?
I agree with mark, thanks ian, as i am so glad i found this site. HAFEEZ - guess what, your email from just3g was almost word for word the same as mine, they just changed the dates over and a couple of other little bits, do you think this may be cos they send out hundreds of cashback refusals every day - i think so. I bet they havent got a standard letter to print out that says you are succesful, as they must be so few and far between!
I e-mailed Just3g and asked them which bills I should send, and to be fair to them, they explained more clearly than their terms and conditions did.
Just3G reply:-
“we need the bills covering the first 6 months not the first one, the bills from the next 6 months as you were connected in Apr so your first monthly bill will be May and for the cash back you have to send the bills of May Jun July Aug Sep and Oct before 19-11-2006″
It looks like I should get my cashback without the trouble everyone else seems to have had. I hope all of you are successful with your claims and I hope Just3G are as clear with all the new customers as they have been with me.
Good Luck
Alan
Alan, that’s great news. That shows that Just3G have realised their previous stance was wrong, and gives those who had their cash back claims refused based on Just3G’s previous stance a cast iron case for our claims in the county court.
I would like to think it is the contribution of all of us here, and on other forums that has caused this shift in policy, and I am glad that you are seeing the benefits of our efforts Alan, it makes it all worth while.
If you could forward me the email in question it would be greatly appreciated, as this will help others with their claims. You can reach me at ian@innovation-station.net.
Thanks
Hi Ian,
Very impressed. Some great information to assist. I have started my online claim and recently received my letter outlining that they intended to contest my claim, which is fine by me.
I actually spoke to somebody on the phone after 9 months of sporadic attempts to get through. I nearly didn’t know what to say - but I soon found my rhythm!
And I had a particularly unpleasant email indicating that I was ‘manipulating’ the feedback I had been given about the problem of the sixth/seventh bill. Lovely.
So I lost patience, sent my 7-9 month bills and still nothing. So I thought I’d do it a little more formally this time around. I seriously didn’t think I’d see the website come back online. But there you go - it’s back again. But in my personal opinion, and wholly based upon the facts of my personal experience, I’ll look forward to explaining my personal plight to the County Court and hope that they see that simple terms and conditions are the way forward.
Now I have a phone through a mainstream provider, no cashback, no problems. Helplines that you can get through to - and emails that are responded to.
Some companies clearly have different ideas about what good/great service looks like.
I will update you on how I get on.
Cheers,
Michael
Hi,
It seems just3g.co.uk is off air again? Even their 08700801817 keeps looping whichever option one selects, this is not service is it? At least one should be able to get to whoever sold you a service in order to sort things out?
Does anyone know of the exact Law or Statute being violated here by this company. Please whatever happens people, Let us stay the course. If they get away with this now, they will get away with it at all times, everytime.
Many Regards Amigos
Hi,
I would really appricaite if someone could help me if this question.
I signed a contract with just3g last november and I acutally did send my 7th bill (i think this is what they require) via recorded delivery sometime in may. They still have not paid me.
The problem I have is that I only sent the 7th bill and not the first 6. Does anyone know if they required all the bills? and if i try to take this matter further i.e. to court will they just win on that fault.
Thanks
Hi,
It seems Trading Standards had visited our “friends” sometime in March, 2006, http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/content/1640.asp?men=&sub=1&txtSearch=just3g
Is there anyway to take Just3G through the courts in order to stop them from giving us such shoddy service?
Thanks, all concise suggestions would be appreciated.
Hello to all,
This has all come as shock to me! I was just browsing for another just3g contract to see if there was a ‘refer a friend’ deal for my brother. The website was down and to my surprise, have just realised what I! have gotten myself into!!
Here’s some background:
Contract started 9th May 06
VTT1100 12.99 @ 12months
(First Bill dated 10th May)
I have already received up until my 5th paper bill (10th Sept) and will be receiving the 6th next month.
Do I, or do I not send my 1-6 received bills or wait for the 7th but then miss the deadline?
Do I send it all registered/Special delivery/1st class?
Or am I really in a lose / lose situation?
Apologies to all…I understand how, by now, repetitive this may all sound to all the active members but I just don’t know what to do with my cash back claims. I will not let them get away it!
Thanks and Kind regards,
Jordan
Michael:I’m glad you found the information here useful, and that is largely down to the contributions of everyone here.
I’m impressed you actually managed to speak to someone at Just3G, that is impressive to say the least! I am interested to know more about this issue of ‘manipulating feedback’, as that sounds very interesting!
Best of luck with your claim in the courts, and I look forward to hearing how you have got on.
Hafeez: I am afraid I don’t think Just3G are violating any law directly so you cannot do anything about this situation other than take up your individual claims in the county courts.
Oh, and thanks for that information regarding trading standards!
Peter: Unfortunately as you may have gathered from the information here, you need to send all 7 bills, not just the 7th on its own. If you are still within your deadline I suggest you send the other 6 off A.S.A.P.
If you have missed the deadline then unfortunately you will have failed to meet the requirements, therefore you don’t have a case to present in the courts. The only thing you can do is make sure you send the correct documents for your next claim.
Jordan: Don’t panic, you have come to the right place to get this straightened out!
To make your first claim, you will need to send your first 7 bills, along with a completed redemption form (linked at the top of this page) by recorded delivery to Just3G.
If you do this as soon as you receive that 7th bill you will meet the deadline and should not have any problems. Just3G will notify you of your success or otherwise after the deadline date.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask, and let us know how you get on!
Hi, I took a contract out with Just3G in October alst year. Like everyone else I sent 6 bills to them. However, I phoned them up before cut off date and was told to send the 7th bill as well which I duly did.
I heard nothing, so sent a breach of contract letter to them requesting my monies. I was then sent a rubbishy email with about 10 reasons to why they couldn’t pay; them main one being they claim I sent scanned copies even tough I did send the originals.
I have since sent bills 7-9 about nearly 2 months ago and still received nothing to date. I have all the recorded delivery slips and emails that I have sent to them and them to me. So now I have gone through Moneyclaim.gov.uk. The court process frightens me a little, can anyone offer any advice?
Hello all,
I am having trouble…
I sent off 7 Bills to Just3G however they have still not paid my cashback. The original bills were received at their office on 25/07/2006. Am I being impatient?
I sent the Email below to them today, doubt it will make any difference though.
What would i put in the particulars of claim section on the claim form?
Thanks
Hello all,
I am currently caliming via HMCS and i am at the claim amounts section of the application. there is a section that says solicitor’s costs, will i need a solicitor..?
Thanks
I am also a victim of Just3G. I wrote letters to Three Mobile every time they said they escalated this matter but still nothing has been done. I received my 2nd claim but not the first claim which is £240 pounds. I did apply for third but still no response.
Shall I apply through county court for my first claim?
Paul
You are being just way too impatient! 60 days is barely a blink of an eye for this company
From the information you have supplied you have been more than patient and have made a completely valid claim. I would start legal proceedings against “Just3G Communications”. Providing “Just3G Communications” remain in business you will get your money and it is worth the time and effort. www.moneyclaim.gov.uk if you didnt know already.
Jason
First off I am no legal beagle.
You do not need a solicitor. Small claims court is meant to be accessible and so going in there claiming for huge solicitors fees may well be frowned upon. This is in your advantage if you ask me as the same applies for the company you are claiming against - “Just3G Communications”
If you are required to make a statement I would get some rudimentary advice as to how to phrase this. It is no big deal. There were parts of my statement that didnt comply to how a statement should be phrased but the judge allowed me to express in my own words in person the problems I had with “Just3G Communications”
If you want any advice on what to expect please feel free to use me for the experience I had taking “Just3G Communications” to court.
Ian,
Thanks for your advice, I shall do that and send the first 7 recorded. I will also send the original copy of letter from three to say that I had changed my phone number to keep with their ‘’T&C s'’. But lets say they DO pay on my first installment, Would they also require me to supply this same, original letter for the subsequent claims?
Has anyone actually heard of any successful cases of claims via chequeback other than through court???
Right up until now the website is still ‘’under construction'’. I sure hope they stay in business long enough to pay me, but then again I wouldn’t want any other person lured into their schemes. One word for them though. Karma.
thanks again
Jordan
Hello all my comrades:
Such a shame. I am still waiting for the cash back. After I found www.just3g.co.uk was suspended, I felt somthing is wrong. Then I searched on google, I found that I am in a trap.
I am so shock and really angry with this. I have ordered a 3g phone via www.just3g.co.uk in Feb and sent my bills 2 month ago. No response at all.
I am so grateful for all of you posted such useful information on this site. Yes we must fight with just3g community, never give up.
Hi Everyone, is the Just3G group still trading? I have am also taking them to court, if they don’t respond in the 14 days that they are allocated, what can I do then?
Hi All,
I purchased from Just3G on 21/04/2006 (3 state contract commenced on 24/04/06) and my Reduced Line Rental Redemption Offer Form - APRIL 2006 “For connections made between 09/04/2006 and 30/04/2006″
states -
To claim please send your bills from your 1st to 6th month from connection ….. to arrive no later than 7 months from your contract start date.
submit a completed voucher plus your copies of the network bills from the months specified.
Is my situation the same as, or different from, the rest of you? - because, to me, the statement quite clearly requests the 1st to 6th Bills?
Hi everyone
I must say that this page was a big relief for me as I thought I was the only person having problems with this company.
It’s the same story, I sent the required bills for my 6th month cashback claim and received nothing.
After contacting Consumer Direct and Sheffield Trading Standards, I have been advised to refer the case to www.moneyclaim.gov.uk.
Just3G Communications need to reply by 08/10/2006. I have copies of all my letters, emails and bills.
I hope that I will get my money by taking Just3G to county court.
Hi,
Does anyone know how much the first payment should have been from Just3G after the first 6 months of the contract bills are processed.
The deal i was on was 1.99/8months (224.08 cash back) 20 pounds & was started in nov 20
05.
They promised me a bacs transfer by 21st sept 06 but it never arrived.
I need this information so i can claim it back in the courts.the cashback was split into 3 payments (6,9 & 12 months) but i cant remember the amounts.
Thanks,
Mark
Has anyone actiually received any monies from JUST3G when they have had a judgement against them?
Hi,
IF YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT SHOPPING WITH JUST3G.CO.UK - DON’T!! STAY AWAY FROM THEM AND TAKE YOUR MONEY ELSEWHERE.
——–
I was actually paid by Just3g 2 years ago so ordered another phone with them. The second year however, meant that I was owed £180 in January 2006.
I sent off all the paperwork, recorded delivery and everything. They IGNORED MY EMAILS and their calls are never actually answered. They just ignored it all. I did let it slide as I didn’t know what else to do.
Document your paperwork and take them to court - someone I know is doing the same and I hope you all win against them.
Cheers,
Gav
HI
really good to see all of you have managed to claim your money back.I would probebly have to do same thing(moneyclaim court)but, the question is :How much the moneyclaim court cost? Thanks
Hello everyone,
I recently received my Judgement, but Just3G have ignored it. This, coupled with the fact that their website is offline again leads me to think that Just3G may have folded. If this is the case, you are wasting your time and money proceeding with a county court claim on Moneyclaim.gov.uk.
If I hear from Just3G I will let you know, otherwise I think it is best to leave this one on the back burner for the time being.
All the best,
Ian
Thanks Ian,
Thanks for the update and Info. If thats the case then maybe I might have to cut my losses and lower my contract to get another phone from somewhere else…
I still have 5 months @ £45 = £225
and I could spend less and have a new phone e.g £120 inc K800i for 12 months with another company.
Tell me how it goes and good luck
Jordan
You’re welcome Jordan,
I think if there is a lesson to be learned here, buy from a reputable, well known, big name company like dialaphone or e2save. Or even better, buy off the high street!
Hi guys,
Currently I am waiting for a reply from Just 3g with regard to my first cashback claim.The first 7 bills were sent by recorded delivery 24 days ago.
With the current situation with Just 3g possibly folding I am thinking of cutting my losses,canceling the contract with 3 and going elsewhere for a new phone contract.
Does anyone know if we cancel or reduce our contract with 3,while we have a claim for cashback pending,will that
on going claim still be valid?
It seems futile to keep paying the full monthly contract when we were all tempted with the cashback carrot.
Can we cut our losses?
Thanks to everyone, Dickymint
Hi Ian,
Thanks for your message but I am not sure as to how to proceed from now (my first claim would be due to be submitted at the end of October) - it seems that it is not certain that Just3G have ceased trading - correct?
So before giving up trying there must surely be some way of establishing the exact situation. Obviously there is no point in throwing good money after bad but it would be infuriating to discover that they were still trading after failing to submit a claim.
What does anybody think? - is the relevant Trading Standards the way?
*Mike:* Sorry if I caused any confusion but when I said it may be a good idea to put this on the back burner I was referring to making claims through the courts, as after all there is no point paying the £30 fee if Just3G has gone.
By all means I think everyone should complete and send any remaining claims just in case they have decided to lay low again for a bit. I have one claim left, and will be sending it in shortly. As you say it would be disappointing to not file a claim only to find they are still trading.
As for others who still have plenty time left on their contract I am not sure what to recommend. Mine ends in a week’s time, but you will all have to evaluate your situation and decide what is best for you. Don’t forget if you try to cancel early Three will most likely demand you pay a large percentage if not all of the line rental for the months you have left on your contract.
At the end of the day phone operators, and in this case, Three, have the customer by the balls when it comes to situations like this. There is not much you can do unfortunately.
Regards,
Ian
I too am owed money (£280 cashback) by Just3G and have complied completely correctly with their terms and have received alternately encouraging and discouraging messages from them about how soon I’ll get my money.
But I didn’t know till reading all this that people have had to sue them and now they may have ceased trading!
I have complained to Northamptonshire Trading Standards and have been advised that if they’ve ceased trading there will be no point trying to take out a court judgement against them.
However I suspect this is like the Tulip case, where the trader keeps opening and then shutting down a variety of companies in order to cheat a series of customers and gain impunity by hiding behind the “limited liability” concept. Surely such behaviour is unlawful and the chap can be held personally liable?
Does anyone know if it’s worth pursuing this further?
I wish I had found this site earlier! I bought a “too good to be true” phone deal last September and fell into the same 1-6 month trap. With my 2nd claim (June) I sent off and have proof of delivery, but they are not replying to my emails now. Maybe because they’ve folded? I am due to send my final claim, which I’ll do, but if anyone can tell me if they’re still in business so I can pursue a county court claim I’d be grateful. I was going to write to newspapers etc too, but if they’ve folded…
Any local brummies know what their address is? Is it an office? A semi? A small hole in the ground?
Just3g Communications
205 Swanshurst Lane
Moseley
Birmingham
UK
B13 0AR
I am about to issue a warrant and I am just checking that they are still ‘trading’. If anyone knows if there is still activity at this address could you please let me know and I will go ahead with the warrant.
*Mark:* I am in the same position - thinking of obtaining a warrant, but unsure what to do, as it is just a waste of money if Just3G have ceased trading. If I find anything out I will let you know, and would greatly appreciate it if you could do likewise.
As Mark has been kind enough to provide us with the director’s home address, people wishing to write to Just3G should write directly to Mr Robia Ashfaq & Mr Raheel Ashfaq, the directors of the company.
*Anne:* Sorry to hear you have been caught out too, but I would suggest holding on to see if Just3G are still trading before you go ahead with your claim. However, I would advise you still write to the papers, BBC Watchdog etc, as you can be sure that Just3G aren’t the only company that have caught people out with similar terms & conditions.
Hi Guys,
A quick update…
I submitted my claim online at the end of August, they replied on 4th Sept indicating that they were going to contest my claim in full.
So I have taken the next step by acknowledging the claim to give them 28 days to reply. For the benefit of others, once they have replied, you can request the above immediately. This isn’t particularly clear when claiming online, I originally thought that once they had replied, I then had to wait a for their reasons.
I’m sure it’ll be very interesting to see what the feedback is, I am sure they will find time to reply to this method of communication.
Sad really, as it’s one hell of a lot easier just to answer the phone!
Will update as soon as I can.
Cheers,
Michael
I got three phones from the Just3G site last December and have sent all the bills to them but didn’t keep copies as I was totally unaware of any problems.
I have not received anything from them, not even an e-mail. I have still got 3 months to pay on all three phones at £35 each thats another 300 pounds. What should I do? Can I cancel or do I have to continue to the end? Do I have to have proof of postage etc. to claim in court?
I have just phoned Three themselves and the lady is passing on to relevent dept for cash back escalation she said. Ss maybe they are taking some resposibility for their agents. She also told me Just3G are still in opperation.
Ian,
Just had an idea - If Just3G are still trading then presumably they would again get their lawyers to ‘chase up’ any postings on here that they did not like, therefore if a posting of such a nature were to appear then we would quickly discover whether they were still in business or not depending upon a response or not from their lawyers (who I am sure would only respond if they were being paid).
Nice one Mike, I think we should leave that upto Ian to submit any such postings… hehe… go on!
I have been told by Birmingham Trading Standards that “Just3G Communications” are still trading, as far as they know. They seem to be well aquainted with them
For all of you who wish to issue a warrant then the best address to do this to is
Mr Robia Ashfaq & Mr Raheel Ashfaq
Just3g Communications
205 Swanshurst Lane
Moseley
Birmingham
UK
B13 0AR
I am off to issue mine now
6 of us did contracts with Just3g on the claimback redemption, we were lucky enough to get the 1st claim paid, 2nd claim sent, e mail received from Just3g confirming that payment would be made 30/9/06 but guess what - no payment and no response to our e mails.
On Monday we sent our 3rd redemption and phone bills to just3g by recorded delivery and we also sent another letter addressed to their complaints dept by recorded delivery and today all 12 letters have been returned unopened. Any help anyone can give us would be appreciated, we don’t understand how Companies are allowed to trade like this. Presumably if we were to resend the bills etc to the directors home they just wouldn’t sign for them so we would get them back again.
Not sure what our next step should be?
This may be helpful to see if they go under.
http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/b20f488f09fc68b8243889671c78d221/companysearch?disp=res&frfsh=1160654850#result
I have totally misunderstood the process!
The claim was ackowledged on 04-09 but they never provided written details of why there were contesting my claim.
I opted to pursue a ‘judgement’ which has been accepted by the court and I can now view this info online.
I now have a copy of the written statement raised by the court requesting the 232 quid immediately as no defence was filed by Just 3G.
I guess that the only potential issue is the fact that they may have gone out of business… but I will then look into the ’serving a warrant’ aspect which permits the court to seize goods to the value of the money owed. I am sure they may have a few handsets knocking around that may be worth a few quid!!!!
Just for yor amusement, this is the very first email I received in response to my concern about some very strange looking T’s and C’s…
‘For the first claim You need to send months 1-6 bills before month 7 from your connection date plus the voucher (A4 photocopy headed ‘redemption form’
sent with your handset)’
A little snippet of an email from ‘Grant - Contract offers Management’…
As you can apprieciate, where you ‘lift out’ words from a sentence this can change the entire meaning of the sentence. You are stating that you were told to send ‘months 1-6 bills before month 7 from your connection date’.
[Sorry? Didn’t the first email say send months 1-6 bills before month 7 from your connection date’?!]
‘This is a very simple request, it is not unreasonable to expect that before sending your bills to us you would check paperwork, as in any other business situation’
[Simple being the very pertinent word!]
Fingers crossed I’ll get a result…
Add me to the list of Just3G victims - 2 phones through them. Have just fired off an e-mail to person in Cambridgeshire Trading Standards who is dealing with this with me. Will advise if anything good comes of it.
Hi,
I have having the same problem with Just3G, I have just seen all the responses from customers on the net today after searching on Google. Where can I get hold of the claim form.
Ru
Hi Ian
Many thanks of behalf of the consumer for challenging Just3G. My girlfriend and I have had a similar problems to everyone else, and I’ve been following various threads for months, so I’m not surprised by any of it!
I was pleased to see the old terms and conditions turn up, as I never saved them at the time - an expensive lesson well learned by now! Anyway, no one else seems to have interpreted them in the same way that I did. There is a section near the bottom which reads:
“With regards to any line rental offer on a Three talkplan (for connections from 1st April 2005 onwards), cash backs can be claimed in months 6, 9 and 12, in 3 equal amounts of the total cashback amount. You must provide original copies of you 6, 9 and 12 monthly three statements, showing prompt payments. You must claim each of these within 7 months of contract start date (6th month bill), 10 months of contract start date (9th month bill), 13 months of contract start date (12 month bill). All other terms apply as above.”
And in another section: “Late claims cannot be processed and will invalidate all subsequent rebate payments.”
I started my contract in Dec 2005, so I think that these are terms that should apply. It also seems to suggest that if you are on the Three network (I am) you only need to send in one bill (which I did - my 6th bill, but not the 7th showing payment of the first 6 bills.) Am I the only one who interpreted it this way? I feel a right idiot!
Also, when time for my second claim came about, the website was down and I had given up on trying for any more. Now I’m thinking I may as well try for the third, but the second point noted above might suggest that if you missed any claims, all further ones will be refused regardless. Does this seem right?
Even if I do submit a claim (assuming the company has nt gone under) what should I send in? I don’t trust my own judgement any more!
Many thanks, and I look forward to following this thread wherever it takes us!
Neil
Hi everyone.
Well Just3G had til yesterday to respond to my claim via moneyclaim, i have had no response from them from the notice of issue so do i now enter judgement by default or bt admission…?
Hi Ian
I will not bore you with the details, but I too have been caught, my contract finished this month (October 06)and have never managed to get any cashback. I have just written to Watchdog, the more people that do, the more likely that this case will be taken up. I’m not a tech wizard, but is there some way of sending a link of this forum to Watchdog so that they can read all the problems?
Will wait a bit before I take them to court, as you say, not much point in spending the £30 if Just3G are no longer trading.
I dont feel so stupid now that I have read that so many of us have been taken in!
Paula,
If I were you I wouldnt be too reluctant to take action for fear of Just3G going under. I get the impression that they (ok, got to be careful here) are a company set up to take advantage of the cashback T&C’s but I also think they are stricken with incompetence. I wont bore you with my reasons but I have just gone ahead with a warrant against them despite the obvious risk of them folding. I will keep you updated if I see any signs of primitive life from them
Godd luck
Hi everybody
I went to the local citizen advise center. The adviser
told me that the company still trading, and she suggest me we can put all the victims together to against just3g rather than individualy.
What a very sad state of affairs.
I am still awaiting feedback on the judgement, it’s been approx one week since it was filed and a copy of the letter was sent to me.
I will not let this one lie either, I am really not bothered about the thirty quid, it’s the principle of the matter now. That old statement of ‘if it appears to be too good to be true… it probably is’ comes to mind.
On reflection, I had a crap handset on a relatively crap tariff on a crap network.
I should have known better!!
Roll on the warrant.
Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in replying, I have been very busy recently, so haven’t been able to thoroughly read through all your comments.
Jackie: Unfortunately the only action you can take as far as your three contract goes is to continue, as to cancel now would incur the remaining line rental anyway. As far as proof of postage goes - I can’t be 100% sure, but if you sent it first class, it is deemed by law to have arrived, however when it comes to WHEN it arrived, proof is probably needed.
Mike: Good point about the lawyers - and I haven’t heard anything yet, so we shall have to wait and see on that point!
Jacqui: As you may have gathered from this page, Just3G are operating within the law, and there is nothing at all to stop a company behaving in this manner. The only thing you can do is go ahead and make a claim on Moneyclaim.gov.uk, and write to as many official bodies, and media agencies as you can think of.
Michael: It sounds like you are at the same point as me; trying to decided whether to proceed with a warrant or not! Unfortunately you are not guaranteed your money even if you take out a warrant against Just3G.
GunJack: Sorry to hear you are yet another victim of this situation, and best of luck with your claim.
Ru: You can find the claim form linked at the bottom of my original post towards the top of this page.
Neil: Don’t worry about feeling like an idiot, Just3G’s terms & conditions are designed to make sure they are impossible to follow. The best advice I can give is to make your remaining claims as per the advice on this page, and make sure you send in all bills, with a redemption form, by recorded delivery, and that way, you have all the angles covered.
Jason: You need to request a Judgement by default, as they have not replied, thus defaulted on the Judgement - they have mounted no defence so the law says they must meet the demands of the Judgement. Whether they are still around to do so is a different matter though.
Paula: You are right not to feel stupid, no one could have known how things would turn out, and at least one good thing has come out of this - we are all a bit wiser about consumer law, and just how useless the little protection we actually have against companies is! It’s good to hear you have written to Watchdog, and I urge everyone to write to as many organisations as they can think of! As for sending the link to this page, just copy the address out of the address bar and paste it into your email - simple as that!
Mark: I think you are right, as others have said before, Just3G are playing it for all it’s worth before they finally disappear. The only problem is that I can’t justify wasting £30 on a warrant if they have gone already, so I’m in limbo really.
daonny: That’s a good idea, about getting us all together in a case against Just3G, that’s something I will have to look into.
Michael: You are right there about the old adage there. Let us all know how you get on with the warrant.
If anyone is interested in doing this, I am happy to organise it, I would just need names and addresses to put together a document. All those in favour let me know!
Hi - I’m another one who’s been sucked in by these false cash back claims. No replies are coming to my emails despite having followed their T&C’s. I’d be very up for all getting together and trying to alert watchdog or do some form of joint claim against them. I don;t think they should be allowed to get away with this!!
Thanks for the reply..i have requested the judgement by default ( i have already paid £80 for this so i am going all the way ) What now are the next steps…? will i be contacted by the courts..? I’m just unsure what the next step is…
Jason: Once you have requested your Judgement by default, it should only take a working day to be processed and then it will show up on your Moneyclaim account, within a few days you should also receive a paper copy.
The next step then, is to either wait and see if Just3G respond, or request a warrant (which will cost £30). A warrant means that bailiffs will attempt to recover your money, although this is not guaranteed.
Ian..is it possible for you to e-mail me so we can discuss this further, there are a few more questions i have..
If I am honest, I do not expect to hear anything. The warrant will be £55 quid because of the amount I am looking to claim.
How frustrating - if I don’t go for it, I lose the chance for justice, if I do, that’ll be £85 paid out in the mission for justice - without a guarantee I’ll be able to recover anything.
So, not only would I lose the 85 quid, but also not recoup the 200.
If someone told me I had a 50/50 chance to have £200 for a stake of £85, I don’t think I’d be too keen to chance it.
Any thoughts?
Just for reference, here is a PDF with charging information on it for using the Small Claims Court.
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex50_0406.pdf
I started my contract on October 4 2005. The contract was £14.99 per month for 12 months. Three would charge me £20 for the first three months and then £40 for months 4-12.
On April 15 2006 I sent the first 7 bills to J3G for my first cashback claim (for £90.06). After 4 emails to chase my claim I received an email from J3G to say my claim was successful and a BACS transfer would be made on July 5 2006. This payment was not made so I started chasing them. Emails didn’t work but I eventually got through on their helpline. Although they said they could not find my name or order number on their database I received a payment of £69.53 on September 11 2006.
Having sent the second claim in on July 17 2006 I have received no confirmation of whether the claim was successful or not (though there’s no reason it shouldn’t be). Further emails and calls have not led to any further cashback being paid.
On October 16 2006 I sent the final 3 bills for my last claim. They were sent recorded delivery but the Royal Mail website says they are being returned to me as they were not able to deliver them. Is Lonsdale House, 52 Blucher Street, Birmingham, B1 1QU still the address to send cashback claims to? If so, why would my claim be undeliverable (postage paid was correct)?
I have also paid my fees (£80) and will follow this to the end, i am still unsure what the next step is, my judgement was issued on the 18th this month, but i thought it then went to your local court..? i am now getting a tab for a warrant, how soon should i apply for the warrant ( another £30 ) and would the baliffs visit another address for the money, ie not the premises that they claim to be in..?
Hi everyone. I send the invoices for my last claim with just3g abaut 60 days ago and send them five or ten e-mails asking if they received my documents and when are they going to pay me. So far I havent heard anything from them. I am afraid we will not heard anything from them any more
Does anyone knows if they are still traiding or atleast answering the e-mails?
Jason:
I have posted the address to which you should issue a warrant to further up this list. The 52 Blucher Street address is just a facade to their real address. I was recommended by Birmingham trading standards to send it to the Moseley address. It is a semi detached residential house ( I have people on surveilance
)
Hi All,
I sent my last 3 bills to the Lonsdale House address but had them “returned to semder without being opened. I suppose thats one way of getting round recorded delivery!
Called them on the 0870 0801817 number but all 4 options on the automated service loop back to the beginning.
Spoke to 3 and they said they would look into it - wont hold my breath.
Trying to get hold of Birmingham Trading Standards at the minute on 0121 303 6031 but they are very busy… Help!
If there is a campaign afoot put my name down.
Chris & Bert
The 52 Blucher Street address no longer seems to be valid. I say this because I sent a cashback claim to that address by recorded post on 16 October and it was returned to me with the annotation “Addressee has gone away”.
Has anyone successfully sent their cashback claims to this adddress recently?
Thankyou Mark, just what i was looking for…
Well i have just issued a warrant, can anyone tell me what happens now..? who will i hear from..?
Jason, I take it the warrant would have to be issued to the domestic address, if business post to their registered business address is being rejected, I can’t imagine for one minute that documentation from the Court will be getting through to them either?!
The warrant was issued to their domestic address, i’m just unsure of the next step..
Javed - I have just had my second claim returned as well. I wish I had done an internet search on this company earlier! Thanks everyone for your suggestions of how to try to get your money back. Will have a good read through and start the complaints and legal process. Sigh!
Jason - have a look at this, it may help…
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/enforcement/warrant/court.htm
Thanks Michael, very useful info
I too have so far been unsuccessful in my claim. However I have found out that 3 are still using the Just3 dealership despite knowing that they are not paying the cashback. Has everyone phoned up 3 and complained? those with contracts on 3 should bombard the Customer Operations with their complaints as they may be able to exert pressure.
What do you think?
Hi.
I sent my first 6 bills about two months ago and had no response from just3g.I have rang them many times times and press the options and it always returns to the main menu.I am due to send my second lot of bills from 7-9 in and see others have had their bills returned because the company seems to have moved.i am due to receive cashback of £331.82 for the year and i need to know what to do please.
Hi all
I was just about to send off my final bills to Blucher Street, now not sure whether I should send them to the private address instead? Perhaps I should send copies to both addressess?
Ian
You can add my name and address to the list, just let me know how to email them to you.
Hi,
I have been to the Blucher St address to hand deliver my 7th bill - although have not recieved and money. Does anyone want to visit the actual Office with me?
Hi,
I sent a 6 month cashback claim for my phone, and one for my wifes phone in July by recorded delivery, and have not received any money. I have e-mailed and telephoned but no responce to either. I sent my 9 month cashback claims on the 19th July 2006 by recorded delivery, and when I checked today on the Royal Mail website I got the message that they were being returned either because the item wasn’t picked up by the recipient, or because they couldn’t deliver it
John
Basicly this company is a fraud and lied about the cashback offers and should be reported to the main 3 network so they could deal with them.They do not reply to emails and do not answer the phone.
Bad News I’m afraid.
My recorded delivery letters sent to the original address and the 205 Swanshurst Lane Moseley Birmingham address notifying them of small claims action have been returned by the post office as undeliverable. Trading Standards in Glasgow have now also told me that there is no point in perusing the claims any further as no action will be successful. They are not even willing to try and take any action.
John, am I right in taking that to mean you wrote to their home address but the letter was returned as undeliverable? Do we think this means they have moved, or have they just refused to accept the mail? If it is recorded delivery, all they have to do is refuse to answer the door or sign and there is nothing we can do.
At this point I think we need to shift the focus of our energies. As I said before I suggest we make a petition to send to the media, Ofcom, Parliament, who ever we can. I might not have managed to get my money back, but I sure as hell plan to make sure that nobody else gets caught up in this, and that companies like Hutchinson Three Ltd think twice before allowing their distributors to pull stunts like this.
I think the only way anyone is going to get in touch with Just3G is if a group of disgruntled Just3G customers were to get together and visit the company in person in order to air their concerns. If there are any individuals who feel strongly enough about this case is not, of course something I can second guess.
If you could forward your details to ian@innovation-station.net it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ian
I spoke to 3 at least twice in the last 6 months about the problem with Just3G. I’m quite sure many of you did too, which leaves me to believe that 3 are not without blame in all this - they should have called a halt to the deal as soon as they realised something was wrong.
Anne
PS If I lived near Birmingham I join any group planning a dawn raid, but alas I live in the north of England…
Hi,
I had informed Three.co.uk about the troubles with Just3G.co.uk and there not honouring their contracts, but Three.co.uk do not seem to be bothered as just3G seems to be pulling in the punters and they are getting signed contracts, it is a win-win for both of them.
I’ll be interested in any collective action or initiative and I can obtain my call reference number with Three.co.uk if needed.
Thanks, please keep the momentum going!
Further to my previous response,As both recorded deliver letters have been returned I guess we are stuck. Trading Standards in Birminingham know all about them but will not deal with anyone outside there area as they are funded by the local council tax payers it means that each Council’s Trading Standards are acting alone thus Just3g will get away with thousands of pounds. I would suggest that we all ask our own Trading Standards Dept to pass the complaint to Birmingham so that some idea of the scale of this rip off is known. I would also suggest that we all complain to BBC Watchdog about the way Judt3G operate and the way that they are being allowed to by Three.
Well i have forwarded my details to Ian for the petition and have just filled in the contact form for BBC Watchdog, if anyone needs the link its here…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/contact_index.shtml
Hi
I get dozens of e-mails every month requesting legal advice on taking Just3G to court for not honouring their cashback payments.
However I’m now advising Just3G customers to wait a while before issuing proceedings as they may lose their issue fee, because:
“The company’s website at http://just3g.co.uk has been pulled, they are ignoring judgments that other customers have obtained from their local county courts and they are redirecting mail from their current registered office back to the senders as “gone away”.
This may be an indication that they have either become insolvent or have gone bust.”
If this is the case then litigants won’t get their cashback or their issue fee.
Mark
Hi
I have recently started a contract with them. I have been trying to get intouch with Just3g in regards of some outstanding accessories they owed me when I came across with this forum. Does anyone know if it would be possible to stop the contract before it goes any further? I do not what to wait until Dec that is when my 6 month cashback is due.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
I have been going through moneyclaim to get the £200 they owe me - and have paid the £30 and had no response, so have paid another £55 approx a week ago for them to issue a warrant to the blucher st. address. I don’t know quite when moneyclaim do this (send the baliffs round) and if no one answers the door what happens? Do moneyclaim just send me an email saying that its unsuccessful, and then i’ve lost another £85. Has anybody got to this stage yet that they have had a response since issuing a warrant, with no response previously from just3g.
Also, I have called Hutchinson3G probably about 30 times and complained that they use such a dodgy company, and that they profit from our loss and don’t seem to really care. They did an investigation for me into my cashback claim, and just came back to me with the same rubbish as Just3G - about the seventh bill - and that was the end of that as far as they were concerned. I then called and said I wanted the name of their chief executive and the address, she wouldnn’t give me a name, so I wrote a private and confidential letter to the chief exec, at their head office, and got another completely useless response, saying it’s not their responsibility if Just3G don’t keep to their promise. Personally I think it is, as I never even would have taken a Three contract (two in fact as we got 2 phones), if I’d known I would be giving them £80 per month without a glimmer of hope of getting £70 of that of cashback for months 4-12 as stated on agreement.
THREE ARE AS BAD AS JUST 3G AS THEY KEEP KNOWINGLY USING THEM TO PROFIT FROM OUR LOSSES. When I have sorted out what is happening with Just3G, I will hopefully have more time to then concentrate on bringing Three to light in the press and anywhere else that people will see how much they DON’T care about their customers, even though they are giving them hundreds of pounds per year. THREE KNOW FULL WELL THAT HUNDREDS OF THEIR CUSTOMERS ARE BEING RIPPED OFF WHILE THEY SIT BACK AND SMILE ABOUT ALL THE EXTRA MILLIONS OF POUNDS WORTH OF CONTRACTS ARE COMING THEIR WAY. If you call and ask them, they won’t admit that they have had so many problems, and they say they just take each case seperately. Maybe it’s time they started looking at their thousands of unhappy customers and realising that in the long run they aren’t doing themselves any favours, as their reputation for bad customer service will be proved to be an absolute disgrace.
Sorry, now that i’ve got that rant off my chest slightly, could anyone let me know if they’ve heard back since their warrant was issued?
Thanks, Shelley
If Just3G have ceased trading and gone into liquidation then there is no point in anyone ‘throwing good money after bad’ by paying to issue warrants etc. - so we just need to establish conclusively their current trading status to know how to proceed. I am not a legal expert but surely there must be a way of determining this? - Companies House / Trading Standards / Citizens Advice Bureau or am I being naive.
Hi again
I just contacted 3 themselves and they still have Just3G as an active company. I’ve told them that a number of customers have not been able to contact them by post and all they say is that they are not aware of the company not trading and they couldn’t just take my word for it.
Does anyone know whether legally we have a contract with them?
As I understand 3 sales their numbers to the retailers who then gives them to us with an incentive. If Just 3g is not doing what they promised to us (ie cashbacks) surely they’ve broken the contract so therefore the contract with 3? Just3G must have a contract themselves with 3 to get something from them for signing new customers?
Karen
I emailed Companies House yesterday to see what their current status is, still awaiting a reply but will obviously post an update when I get it. My frustration too is increasingly turning towards 3 now for letting these jokers do what they do.
I have just spoken to Companies House and as far as they are concerned they are still trading. They have had accounts received off them on 13th October. Make your own minds up but personally I am continuing to do all that I can with the risk of losing some cash.
********** UPDATE ***************
Just had an e-mail from the nice person I’ve been dealing with in my local (Cambridgeshire) Trading Standards office. She informs me that her colleagues in Birmingham Trading Standards have a meeting with Just3G next Thursday, 2nd November, and I have been told that my case will be discussed as part of this meeting !!!!!!!!!
IF, and it’s a big IF, this helps my case and avoids the court route, then obviously I’ll be a happy bunny. To all those considering court action, don’t ignore the help that may be available to you through Trading Standards.
Obviously, I’ll keep you all posted on the outcome !!
I have the same problems as everyone else, returned the bills, had no contact, no replies to emails etc etc. All I can suggest is that everyone contacts BBC watchdog as I have and maybe they will start an investigation and sort these con artists out.
Hi all,
Having lost out on £240 of cashback, I have done a bit of investigating, maybe some of this info. will be useful.
The Ashfaqs are also directors of a company called “Superstrada Ltd.” (Italian for motorway) set up around a year ago. Their addresses here are different to the ones for J3G in spite of being submitted within days of each other - the Company address is:
19 SHORT STREET
DICKENS HEATH
SOLIHULL
WEST MIDLANDS B90 1TG
Robia’s address is:
3 YARN LANE
DICKENS HEATH, SHIRLEY
SOLIHULL
WEST MIDLANDS
B9O 1TU
and Raheel’s is:
4 DARWIN HOUSE THE ACADEMY
WAKE GREEN ROAD
BIRMINGHAM
WEST MIDLANDS
B13 9HW
Note that the first two address, so far as I can see do not exist - the last one is just round the corner from Swanhurst Lane and appears to be residential.
I wonder if any offence is being commited by providing inconsistent and possibly incorrect information to Companies House? I get the impression that Mark may be a lawyer - any thoughts?
Also I believe it is a requirement for a Ltd. company to make certain information available at their registered office address. As J3G are clearly not doing this at Blucher St., could this be something that Companies House may wish to pursue?
If a company is to cease trading, they are required to post a notice in the London gazette. I have searched their website for J3G and the Ashfaqs and this does not seem to have happened, so for the moment they seem to be still live.
Finally, Ian, you have obviously been contacted by J3G’s lawyers - would it be possible to ask them if they are still trading or even to pursue legal action against J3G C/O their lawyers address?
Terry.
Very useful info Terry, as have already issued a warrant would i be able to add this address to the warrant..?
Thanks Gunjack for the info, would it not help if all the Trading Standards around the country were as helpful and passed the details even just a brief to the Birmingham Standards to co-ordinate action against Just3G. Unfortunately you cannot directly contact another areas Trading Standard Office, but I’m going to have another go at the Glasgow office tomorrow and point out the forthcoming meeting on the 2nd Nov, pity we do not know the name of the Birmingham Trading Standards case worker to give to them, Suggest we all try the same with our local Departments. Iain has the details of many of us for his petition maybe he would be so kind as to try and pass this info to Birmingham Trading Standards before the meeting. I’m sure the more they have the better ammunition they have.
Good luck to you all.
A quick Hello from another gullible just3g customer. Their phones do not work, their website is down, they do not reply to e-mails nor to registered letters and yes, I am owed cashback. I claimed in both month 6 (as t&c’s) and then again in month 7 having read the comments here.
I have e-mailed three and have now enjoyed recent conversations with three customer services about their dealer, the last one was for 40 minutes. They have taken all my details, they tried to phone just3g while i waited only to discover that you cannot get through(what a suprise!!). Of course this is three customer services, the three dealer management organisation must have known this fact for weeks. They are escalating my case within their organisation - this will be interesting - i am not holding my breath lol.
They have also taken many notes of the stories I have read on the various internet sites. In my opinion,there is factual evidence that just3g were serious failing to meet their dealership obligations by deceiving their customers more than 6 months ago and Three have closed their eyes to this situation all in the cause of get more sales .. sales ..sales … sales.
By chosing to ignore the events at just3g, Three now have an ethical and moral responsibility to their customers who have been duped by a rogue dealer.
I am happy to help ramp up the press and help to get airtime at BBC watchdog if the final conclusion of my exchanges with Three are unsatisfactory. Maybe the organisation of a coach trip to a couple of private addresses in the Birmingham area could be a better solution lol
Gunjack, that is very useful information I am going to try again today with the Glasgow Trading Standards Dept. It seems that each area deals seperately with the problems. I wonder if it would not be a good idea if we all asked our local Trading Standards to make them aware of the meeting between Just3g and Birminghams Trading Standards Dept (BTS)(pity we have not got the name of the case officer), as surely the more info they have before the meeting on the 2nd Nov the better as it would make the case stronger. I wonder if Ian who has some of our names and email addresses could possibly supply these to BTS before the meeting.
Good luck to all of you
does any one have the registered email address for just3g, currently i am in the process of taking them to court, have been in touch with my local county court have discusssed the problem, they basically say that u will need there registered address and so when they have sent a letter out to them they will have to respond, they cannot ignore. It is a very simple process advicse many people surffering the sme course to take action, i will let u knw how i did n weather my court appeal goes through if so i advise people to do the sme!, btw i need the registered addres thank you very much Ranjit
Thanks Terry! 3 have a lot to answer for if they cant see thin facades of companys and let these jokers operate.
You can add the address to the warrant, I just have
You need to write off to Wolverhampton County court quoting all relevant references and ask them to pass the information onto the baliffs.
Good luck!
Knowing the fact that Just3G are not responding via phone or website is their much point in taking them to court? Will they even turn up?
Basically I still have been waiting to be paid for my 2nd claim and as usual have not heard from them, however in their terms and conditions it does state I have to wait 60days and it only has been 30 days, so I still have to wait before i take them to court which is a real pain in the arse. I just need a bit of advice after a month do you really think Just3G will be around to be able to take them to court?
I am now due to send my bills covering the first 6 months. Would it be worth waiting until Birmingham TS have had their meeting with Just3g to see whether it is worth sending them off?
Things seem to have moved on considerably, it will be interesting to hear what comes out of this ‘meeting’.
My judgement documents were returned to me today by Northampton County Court, requesting me to send info of an alternative address.
They can hide all they like, but like you all, I really have no intentions of letting this one go.
Just got off the phone - gave Three some real shit. The lady would not let me speak to her Manager and I think she really hated me, I wasn’t very nice but then again, why should I be?
Watchdog have been contacted, and I even backed up my conversation with a nice little message via email to Three:
Just 3G.
I have left your network as a matter of principal, the fact that you are happy to endorse such a vendor selling your products is disgusting. You know all about Just3G, yet do nothing to recognise the fact that they are ripping YOUR customers off by creating terms and conditions for cashback that cannot be fulfilled - FRAUD.
I have called your customer services this evening and have been told that you need a few details to investigate the matter over the next 28 working days. Let me save you a job - you will not have any joy in contacting Just3G, just like every other Three customer that has been ripped off.
They are not contactable by phone, mail or email, so I think it’s about time you think about some loyalty to the customers that paid their bills EVERY month to you regardless - and show some support to YOUR customers that are hundreds of pounds out of pocket because of a company that YOU are willing to continue allow to vend your products.
The matter has been escalated to Watchdog, I am certain that you could do without such negative publicity, especially in such a competitive industry. I am sure the likes of Orange are laughing at how easy it has been to retain customers in light of this shocking insight into 3.
Now is the chance for you to reciprocate some loyalty by putting some of your corporate weight behind the issue. After all, Just3G are the face of your company for many customers. They represent your values, your service, your Company.
Doesn’t say a lot for three, does it? As things stand, you are associated with the behaviour of the Vendor. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that this is not good for your business.
Here’s a thought for you. Maybe if Just3G do go into liquidation, why not use this as a great opportunity to demonstrate your Corporate Social Responsibility by redeeming each and every one of us who have been conned by your representatives?
I await your comments with anticipation.
Michael Rabone
PS. Just for luck, I also completed an online form for Consumer Direct Online. I will update you as soon as I hear from somebody!!
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/
Cheers.
Hi, just spoke to birmingham trading standards and in short he said forget it, its disgusting 3 can wash their dirty little hands of it!!!
I have contacted BBC Watchdog and my local trading standards office today by email. I plan to call Consumer Direct tomorrow. I urge all of you who haven’t yet contacted Watchdog to do so now, for maximum impact.
Anne
Since 2 months , I have been to get cashback from Just3G Communication without any success. Of course ,noone answer the phone and the website is under construction.
I need to think about what could be done and minimise my losses
I am on my 12th month. Can’t contact just3g like many other people and have sent an email and writen letter to say that I want my contact ending after the 12th month. I gave them a months notice.
Dilemma:
I want to try and reclaim the money (over £300) for the year as I have not received any cashback. Do I pay my last direct debit and honour the contract and then seek legal action or cancel my direct debit now and then I will have at least saved £30 and then try?
Answers on a post card please!!!
Also, why doesn’t everyone chip in a certain amount of money to pay for a solicitor and then collectively take just3g to court with a bit of financial muscle. Then we could see some results??
Elliot Veale
I like most have failed to get any feedback from Just3G after various submissions. I think Elliott has a point that we could club the £30 for county court fees together and get a solicitor to represent us as a group action against Just3G. If 15-20 of you are interested I will look into the solicitor costs. If we get enough positive replies perhaps Ian can gather our names and emails off-line and pass them on to us.
Elliot…
Your contract is specifically with 3 and therefore you could have some problems if you do not pay your final bill as Just 3G were effectively only the broker/middle man for your deal with 3.
It’s not worth affecting your creditworthiness by not paying your final bill.
Just 3G gain a substantial amount of commission from 3 for brokering your deal, that’s why they were willing to offer it back to customers as cashback.
Sometimes people get greedy and just can’t help themselves, then do a runner leaving some very unhappy individuals to debate on the best way to find justice.
That’s a cracking suggestion, the only issue will be - if Just 3G (or the guys behind it) have hidden/lost/sold/’mislaid’ their assets, there will not be anything of any value regardless of whether we have the best solicitor in the world.
My daughter is having same problems as you all. Sent off claim for first 6 months cash back - no response. We’ve had mail returned from Blucher St and Swanshurst Lane addresses - does anyone have an address where mail has been accepted? Also those who have gone through Court process - have you actually had any money back? Does one need to attend Court as we are miles away from Birmingham? Need an address to send off claim for months 7 to 9! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Hello everyone, I haven’t been on the ball for the past week or so as I have been unwell.
However, I have some good news in that I have around 30 names & addresses now for the Just3G petition, and tomorrow I intend to call the BBC and speak to someone directly from Watchdog regarding this case.
At the moment it is becoming increasingly apparent that we aren’t going to hear from Just3G again, but I urge you to keep on contacting relevant authorities & media organisations to try and at least stop anyone else pulling any similar scams in the future!
I’ll be back with a more in-depth update tomorrow.
All the best,
Ian
hi all
and well done Ian, hope u r feeling better.
to anyone that hasn’t already emailed their contact details to Ian (to join the petition)may i suggest that you all do so asap, as the more names and numbers he has, the more likely the relevant media are to take notice!!
And remember Winston Churchil
“never,never, never. give up!!”
Ian, you’re doing a great job by the sounds of it. Count me in too! How do I get in contact with you on this site..?
Thanks,
Jonny
k ppl im happy to hear your talk about watchdog etc..but we need to hear about people wining cases in court, im near my 12 month and have not stil recived any cash abck, can someoen jus telle me weather i have lost it or is there still a chance of gettin it bak? plz reply
Hi Ian, just wanted to check you had my name on the petition for watchdog. I also have a friends details who would like to be put on who has also been caught out by Just3G, Thanks !
Hi Ian, not sure how to email you directly - sorry ! Just wanted to check you had my details on the petition - and i’ve got details of a friends who has also been caught out by Just 3G to pass on for the petition too. Thanks !
Hi Ian
I need to email you directly to add my name to the list for watchdog.
Hi guys
I’ve spoke to trading standards. they advise to write a letter telling 3g they will receive a county court judgemment against them. if no response. We could club together and get a group court judgement and get the baliffs in together.
Dear all,
I am another annoyed just3g customer. Again, I sent off my bills in good faith, and then got the message back re. the 7th bill. Did everything by the book for months 7-9, but haven’t heard anything. Am unsure at the moment whether to submit a claim if the company has ceased trading…
I would be happy for my name to be added to the petition.
As for current concerns about claims, I feel it is time we all accept (as I did a while back), that none of us will see any money from Just3G. That company has gone, and the owners will have no doubt made a tidy profit.
I would suggest you all direct your concerns to Three for allowing this to happen and allowing their customers to be fleeced. I would also recommend you all make it your personal mission to write to any organisation you think will be interested in this case.
Unfortunately as it stands I don’t see any way in which any of us will recoup any costs from Just3G. We all need to accept this, and concentrate on making sure something like this never ever happens again.
I would also like to add that professional legal help cannot help us. Just3G traded as a Public Limited Company, which means that the directors are NOT responsible for any money that the company owes, e.g. outstanding county court judgements. Put simply, there is no money to pay our claims. That money is lost to us.
Sorry it’s not better news.
All the best,
Ian
Hi everyone,
More news, but still not good I’m afraid. Had a lengthy chat with Companies House. Just3G filed early with them, on 6 Oct, which they said was strange. In this filing they also changed their director’s address (to a false one at which they couldnt be contacted..?). They are not due to file again until Sep 07, and so until then they are not in default. It seems that they filed early and then ran for it.
According to Comp. House, they can only dissolve the company once they are in default, and seeing as this cannot happen until Sep 07 then Just3G will certainly have long gone by then. Mind you they probably already have.
Jonny
Jonny: The thing is, if they were going to run, why bother updating the addresses with Companies House - there would be no reason.
Just3G are sticking around, probably to take more money off Three. I must hand it to those guys, it’s a cleverly engineered scam.
Anyone hear what happened between Birm Trading Standards and the Just3G Directors? Their meeting was today.
I guess the only reason to update addresses would be to give false home addresses…
Just in case anyone wants to know what they’ve done with our money…….
http://www.laing-homes.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6D933D4C-B640-455F-A54D-92F42B463AA5/10336/Moseley_Brochure.pdf?region=Central&devName=TheAcademy
Looks pretty impressive. BTW the correct postcode is B13 9PF. If Ian’s right about them sticking around it may be worth pursuing them here. Can anyone do a Land Register check and see if they own the place?
Terry.
Has anyone tried this contact address??
Robia Ashfaq
4 DARWIN HOUSE THE ACADEMY
WAKE GREEN ROAD
BIRMINGHAM
WEST MIDLANDS
B13 9HW
Hiya All,
just checked my e-mail, nothing to report yet from my contact in Trading Standards, but will let you know when I do.
Hi All, (sorry if this is a bit repetitive but thought i would document this..)
well, where do i start? i am joining the ranks of you who have been scammed. im so pleased to have found this website, always nice to know youre not alone!
so, i am in the 9th month of my contract, and like all of you have sent my 1st 6 bills with no reply. i have emailed twice and tried on numerous occasions to call them.
i would like to say that prior to my cash-back claim just3g have always answered my email queries promptly which i find very strange. I HAVE NOT RECIEVED ANY EMAIL REGARDING MY CASHBACK!
anyway, after finding this site i have just called Three and spoken to a very nice guy who got the short end of my temper.. gr. he claims no personal knowledge of the just3g problems and told me that Just3g are still classed as an active supplier of Three contracts. (interesting?)
Three say they will forward my comments and contact just3g and let me know what they say. again, they quoted 28days. in answer to this i asked him to note on my account that if i havnt had a response from Three by monday i will be persuing other avenues. (watchdog,court etc etc) he said this was not very long for me to wait.
so. my response was this. There are a LOT of people who are loyal Three customers being scammed by Just3g. we will not sit back and accept it and we can do considerable damage to Threes already shakey public image. if Three consider this matter important it will not take them 28 days to get back to me.
i will not let this go, by the end of my contract i will be owed £410.10 in cashback claims. I am currently unable to work due to ongoing health problems so fighting this will be very difficult for me, im hoping we can all help each other.
hope you are all ok, keep posting on here i will keep you updated.
1) is cashback meant to be paid by them direct into customers bank account?
2) has anyone had a response from watchdog?
3) some people have said theyve won their court case but has anyone actually RECIEVED money?
Just3G
My comments as at 09:50 03/11/2006:
1) These villains set up a limited company with the idea of cheating customers via a scam which would allow them to hide behind the concept of “limited liability”.
2) This means that if the company ceases trading then there’s theoretically no longer the entity in existence from whom we can demand the money owed to us!
3) Worse still, some of you successfully got court orders against them while they were actively trading, but there’s no evidence they have made any attempt to pay up even when so ordered.
4) Ian has taken a very logical and commendable position in advising us about what’s happening and leading some sort of petition. (This is ian@innovation-station.net - Thanks Ian - please count me in on any such action - my contact details are below.)
5) Meanwhile I agree that we should encourage any publicity to shame these villains, but we should not personally invest any serious money into legal action as we could merely be “throwing bad money after good”.
6) Also there is no point asking technicality questions about whether Just3G staff promised payment by cheque or direct to bank accounts or by what timescales. I expect the staff were being exploited almost as much as us customers, and any such data would be irrelevant in the context of Robia and Raheel Ashfaq’s cleverly organised scam.
So what can we do?
(i) Well let’s do the publicity stuff properly (points 4 and 5 above), as we’ve nothing to lose on this.
(iii) There is a (very slim) chance that we could persuade a court that these villains are personally liable (rather than protected by limited liability), on the grounds that all this deception was pre-planned by them as individuals before they set up their company. It would not (in my opinion) be worth any one of us going to the expense of suing them on these grounds, but the “clubbing together” idea of Ian’s (earlier blog) might reduce an individual outlay to only a few pounds each. What do you all think about this? …and Ian, do you want to organise it?
John R. Talbot
e-mail : John.Talbot@networkrail.co.uk
landline telephone : 020 7983 6730
mobile telephone : 07920 276 401
facsimile : 07092 111 861
The villains at Just3G:
It might have been “David I” , not “Ian” who was talking about “clubbing together” to pay for legal action against Robia and Raheel Ashfaq; so apologies if I got someone’s name wrong.
Apart from that, everything in my earlier blog should make sense.
John R. Talbot
e-mail : John.Talbot@networkrail.co.uk
landline telephone : 020 7983 6730
mobile telephone : 07920 276 401
facsimile : 07092 111 861
Mark,
The full address is:
Apartment 4
Darwin House
53 Wake Green Road
Birmingham
B13 9HW.
Raheel is on the 2006 electoral roll at this address.
They didnt run far then!! Just spoke to Birmingham Trading Standards, after they met with the just3g directors yesterday. They said the outcome of their deliberations will be posted on their website this afternoon…
Hello everyone, Just a quick update:
According to Companies house, the above address Terry posted is the correct and current address for Just3G.
It’s back on everyone! Send your claims & court documents to this address!
I’m off to the post office!
Hi All,
I agree with a lot of you who have been saying that Hutchinson 3G should be held as much to blame as Just3G for allowing their customers to be ripped off by these cowboys. My suggestion (and what I have done) is to hit 3G where it hurts and disconnect from them as soon as you have fulfilled your contract. I’ve just given my months notice and have written a very strong letter to the chief exec, head of customer services and Retention manager to let them know exactly why. So that’s 100 quid less a month that they’ll be filling their greedy pockets with. If enough people do the same then they’re bound to sit up and take notice !
Raheel Ashfaq does own for definate
Apartment 4
Darwin House
53 Wake Green Road
Birmingham
B13 9HW
Message from Birmingham Trading Standards
We are writing to clarify Birmingham Trading Standards position in relation to these postings and Just 3G Communications Limited.
Birmingham Trading Standards has not and will not give out any information in relation to Just 3G Communications Limited, that is not already in the public domain. We would also like to state that this website has no connection to Birmingham Trading Standards.
We had a meeting on 2nd November 2006 with Mr Raheel Ashfaq the sole director of Just 3G Communications.
Please find below an abridged statement from the Director of just 3G Communications:
‘Just3G Communications Ltd. Stopped trading at the end of June 2006, it attempted an unsuccessful re-launch in September and again stopped trading (in early Sept.) as it had become insolvent. No supplies have been made since 30/06/06.
Unfortunately, due to internal and external problems the website updates that Just3G originally went offline for took longer than the one month originally planned. In addition, a Distribution contract with that was to be the basis of the new launch became commercially unviable.
Customers may have experienced problems getting through to advisors during these months as calls were being routed overseas. Just3G did however maintain an e-mail service which was working effectively for customers during this process.
Due to the larger than expected period of non-trade and large monthly commitments coupled with upgrading costs the company had very little working capital remaining to re-commence trade.
The poor impact of a new marketing campaign in September and the company’s overtaxed call centre due to the ‘hate campaign’ sites that had by then appeared with Just3G listings further created cash flow problems due to the negative impact on sales – many people advising each other to issue CCJ’s before claims had been submitted. Just3G couldn’t market via normal channels nor via the new ones that had been set up during July/August.
The further action of Just3G’s banking partners to remove drawdown facilities in early September led to the decision by the company accountants to advise to cease trading immediately as the company was insolvent.
The company is currently awaiting the appointment of an insolvency practitioner by it’s accountants to wind up the company. The finalised accounting position is “insolvent with no assets” as Just3G relied heavily on outsourced partners to handle departments of processing, customer services and warehousing/sales.
The companies registered office will accept post until the Insolvency practitioner takes over matters. However, no responses are likely as all staff have been dismissed. The overseas customer service centre is also now closed.
Network Provider Hutchison ‘Three’ has been advised of the above information as have the company’s distribution partners.
Unfortunately without any cash flow the business cannot continue.
Director
Just3G Communications Ltd.
Lonsdale House
52 Blucher Street
Birmingham
B1 1QU’
From a Trading Standards point of view we have advised Mr Ashfaq to take advice from the Official Receivers Office and to wind up the company as soon as possible. It is highly unlikely that customers will receive any redress through court action as we have been told that the Company has no assets.
We would advise members of the public who have a dispute with this company to act within the parameters of the law and the jurisdiction of the court and not to take matters into their own hands.
In conclusion we are afraid that we are unable to answer any more communications through this website. If you have any further queries please contact your local Trading Standards Department.
Birmingham Trading Standards
So that’s it then? He gets away with his fancy new development, having knowingly ripped off customers, and we just hold our hands up and give up? I don’t think so.
Thanks to Trading Standards for updating us all.
‘Hate Campaign’ ? … yes true, but why was that hey? These couple of Jokers knew exactly what they were doing. I for one am not letting it lye.
Let this be a lesson to us all hey. My contract with the 3 Network stops when my contract finishes.
Just2Jokers were a company that with even minimal public domain research you could see were not a legitimate company, something that 3 just didnt want to know about.
Just for reassurance, the message from Birmingham Trading Standards, whom I would like to thank for their input on this matter, is in fact genuine and came from a Birmingham City Council computer.
HiI have already sent off by RD my first claim including my first 6 bills but not the 7th bill as I now see they want.Should I send the 7th bill off now even thought I will not have a cashback voucher to acompany it as it is just within the cut off time.Also which address should I use.I feel very foolish to have used this company and also very angry.Thanks Julie
Some excellent information has been posted on this site, many thanks for working to keep us all informed.
I just found this article on ‘Mobile’, so ‘3′ intend to axe 20 dealers this week !!!!! they are about 9 months too late with ‘just3g’ as they were behaving irresponsibly over 9 months ago.
I firmly believe ‘3′ have a moral responsibility to make good the damage, problems were rife with just3g and ‘3′ ignored it completely.
I will cancel my contract immediately my 12 months is up and so will all of my friends who are connected to ‘3′ unless we are compensated, lets face it ‘3′ could offer us all a 12 month extension to our contracts free of charge, what would it cost them? If they do nothing, we all spread the word and ‘3′ will lose 100’s of contracts.
Here is the article link:
http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/content/15083.asp?men=2&sub=6
copy and paste it to your browser.
If there is to be group representation to ‘3′ or bbc watchdog or the media, please add my name.
Hi, I have just had my court judgement returned unopened today. I have also paid £55 for a warrant, which I obviously have completely wasted more money on - as if we haven’t all wasted enough already. I am now £685 down because of just3g - and three are just as much to blame as far as i’m concerned, for knowing we were all being ripped off, and still continuing to sell their contracts via just3g, because of course thier profit was more important to them than their customer satisfaction.
I am trying to work out my options, as I am not giving up yet. These are the only things I can think of.
1. We collectively try to expose Three for their disgustingly bad customer service, and hope that they will try to make themselves look better by compensating us.
2. According to an above entry, Just3g are insolvent with no assets - what is the Laing Homes thing as mentioned above, because if they have profited from Just3g enough to put the money into this then they surely have enough to pay us what they owe us.
3. I don’t know if anyone reading this would know whether they are actually allowed to still be directors of other companies when they have already claimed insolvency with one company - does anybody know?
4. It says on the Trading Standard entry, that their ‘accountant’ says that they are insolvent with no assets. This means nothing. For all we know Mr Ashfaq’s accountant may be just as dodgy as Mr Ashfaq, or he may even be his own accountant. Surely the important thing is whether they have had an INDEPENDENT AUDITOR to verify that they really are ‘insolvent with no assets’. It may well be that they have used all our money to build Laing Homes, but if they have then it wouldn’t be legal for them to claim insolvency.
5. I am going to still get my judgement resent to the new address at Darwin House as above, and will let you all know if I have any response.
Any other ideas would be very welcome. I can’t afford to waste any more money, but am still determined to make Three admit some responsibility, or at least show some decent customer service by compensating us if all else fails. I am also really annoyed that we have all been complaining to Trading Standards for months and months, and just when it seems to be those couple of weeks too late, they give a response. I’m sorry but I have to say that I think Trading Standards should have sorted this out for us months ago - I thought that’s what they were there for. I reported this to them around 4 months ago, and I know that other peoplke had reported them before me.
Director’s responsibilities of a Private Limited Company:
_____
If a company in insolvent liquidation can be shown to have traded while insolvent before the liquidation, the Court may make an Order under the Insolvency Act 1986 requiring directors to contribute personally to make-up any deficiency in the company’s assets - providing the directors knew, or ought to have known, that there was no alternative to an insolvent liquidation and failed to take every step necessary to minimise loss to creditors. Trading while insolvent in these circumstances is known as “wrongful trading”.
Directors of a company which has gone into insolvent liquidation may also be ordered to contribute personally if it can be shown that any business had been carried on prior to liquidation for any fraudulent purpose or intent to defraud creditors. This is known as “fraudulent trading”.
_____
Perhaps these points of law could apply or be proved here? This sort of court case would probably be a bit more than just a money online claim though I think, but if a lot of customers clubbed together maybe it would be possible?
If just3g stopped trading early September, then why oh why, does 3 network still list it as a stockist of their products. I’ve just logged onto 3 this morning and they are still listing it!!
Not that it is going to do us any good now, but come on 3, play the game properly or not at all.
I surely shall terminate both my contracts with 3 when they expire and hope that a lot of others do the same!
in answer to someones question, yes, the directors of an insolvent company can continue to work and be directors of another company. (my parents have been on the rough end of this situatin before) i think this is totally ridiculous. how can that be legal?
also, if as stated in tradig standards posting, just3g have ceased trading since jun 06 why were we not notified by Three?
i totally agree in that Three have a moral obligation to compensate us, if not in punds then at least in free extension of contract. VERY LEAST. Anyone who wants to contact watchdog please let me know as i am definately in on that one.
thanks, L
Hi everyone.
I recieved the defendants copy of the judgement letter this morning from moneyclaim saying it was returned as the addressee has gone away. Now if this was the case why did they let me serve and pay for a warrant to be issued if the first stage of the process had been returned…? Is it worth me putting the other address’s down and returning it as i have now paid for it anyway…?
Hi,
I have also been ripped off by Just3G, luckily I did receive my first cash back claims (I’ve got 2 contracts) at the end of June but have now lost out on £480 including £60 to make 2 claims through money claim online. I have just made the mistake of making another claim before I read the latest information on this website.
Like most people I also raised my concerns some time ago to the 3 network and yes nothing was done. All the representitive could say was that Just3G was a third party dealer. We all know that at the start of the year 3 were in a position to restrict the number of connections or at least contact Just3G giving some sort of warning but again nothing was done. 3 have now started to listen but this is all too late for most of us using this blog.
I’m a member of the Which? legal service and will contact them on Monday, I don’t expect any of us are going to get our cash back and will post the outcome of our conversation on Monday.
Scott
Further to L’s point - also, why did Just3G file with Companies House in Oct if they were already insolvent?
I can’t believe they are going to get away with this!
I’m definately up for sending the watchdog heavies in..
I am going to be over £700 out of pocket based on no cashback for two contracts I took out with Just3G.
I doubt if there is anyway any of us will get our money but I am up for spending a few more £’s to see this guy go to jail for what I see as deliberate fraud. In retrospect there was no way he could honour the last deal I did with him but that does not make it okay.
Three promised to sort this matter out and escalate my concerns to the account manager, it turned out that the account manager was in fact Ashfaq. Probably find out it was a relative of his in Three’s customer service centre in India that kept him on the books, oops not allowed to think that am I!!
I just got in touch with an associate @ bbc to ask if they know anyone at Watchdog I can contact directly. Will keep you all posted. I am so livid about this situation.
Once contact has been made we must all stick together and email/write to the person at Watchdog in order to show what a big problem it is and try and persuade them to follow it up.
Hope you’re all well
L
Well, I have just spoken to a “3″ customer advisor who informed me that as of “today”, “3″ no longer deal with Just3g. I vented my anger at him saying that should of happened 12 months ago and not after the company goes bump. He told me he was sorry (thats not going to get me my £360 back) and if I cancelled my contract I would still have to pay my line rental. But as long as you are six months into your contract you can change price plans, as long as you only step down one plan at a time. So I have dropped from £35 to £25 (it’ll save me another £50 as I never use the minutes up anyway). I have not even sent my cashback bills off, no point wasting another £1 on recorded delvery is there. I have just sent my other cashback off, for my other phone, to the mobile outlet. I just hope that they are a decent company, otherwise I really have been shafted.
This is ridiculous. Three should honour the deal.
12.05 midday monday 6th november
i am on the phone with 3 customer services and have just been told that they ARE trading with Just3g.
what the hell?
just spoken to a ’supervisor’ who has assured me on no uncertain terms that just3g are ‘a very active dealer’ on their system….
my blood continues to boil.
i am on hold waiting to speak to the supervisors superior. (or the person sitting next to her?? who know)
im still getting the ‘wait 28 days for a response’ line
If what Mr Ashfaq is aledged to have told Birmingham Trading Standards is true why does the Just3G website not reflect this. I am suspicioues that this is just a front. We should all e-mail watchdog about this matter. Does anyone have an email address for Watchdog so at least we are all consistant.
I went to the BBC Watchdog web site & filled in the onscreen form under mobile phones & miscellaneous. If enough of us do the same may be they will help, but I think we might have some competition from a Christmas hamper firm who really have gone into liquidation.
For Alan, who posted on 6 November,
I have just bought from the Mobile Outlet, they have had a wibble on cashback claims, but appear to be working hard to sort it out. As a dedicated user of Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert site, you may wish to check out the particular thread on TMO, link:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=130782
TMO have joined the community and appear to be getting most people sorted out now, so I’m hopeful of not getting a Just3G repeat situation.
I also have just downgraded my priceplan on one of my 3 contracts, and the other one (both through Just3G) I have just agreed, direct with 3, to go on their retention deal rather than cancel completely as of 7 Nov. 12 months of 100 mins and 100 txts for….£5.50 for the year. I see it as some sort of recompense for the Just3G scam.
Hello everyone,
I’m going to wait until my county court claim is returned. Once I have received it I will be contacting the Which? legal service, it’s good to know that we have the name and address of the idiot who was running the company. Just gets me so angry that Mr Ashfaq thinks he is going to get away with this by winding up the company and then gives a number of excuses, this guy has received payments from 3, our cash back. I’m pretty certain most of this hasn’t been ploughed back into the company. What a lifestyle this guy must have been leading.
Also as mentioned in a previous post ‘hate campaign’this is a joke. What were we expected to do, recommend this cowboy so more people could lose out. Also mentioned in the post by trading standards below:
We would advise members of the public who have a dispute with this company to act within the parameters of the law and the jurisdiction of the court and not to take matters into their own hands.
I know what I feel like doing to this idiot.
I’ll keep everyone posted
Scott
Interesting to hear how many people are having the same problem. I have received none of my cashback, and my sister and boyfriend have only received one lot each after persistant emails etc (back in June). I suggest everyone does let watchdog know and see if we can rally together to find out exactly what is happening and if there is any chance of seeing our money again.
Does anybody know who is the insolvency practitioner so we can find out more?
John G that is naughty. For a start I don’t think Asfaq is an Indian Name
Well I’ve just had my bills returned by Royal Mail today and came straight on here.
I’ve put in a claim to moneyclaim.gov.uk so hopefully that will help.
I have written to watchdog and needless to say I will do anything anyone can suggest to see this cowboy never trades ever again and/or gets jailed (Unlikely I would have thought though knowing the justice system in this country).
hi liseyone, that doesn’t surprise me at all, 3 customer services don’t actually seem to have a clue what they’re talking about,One particular week a couple of months ago, I was trying to find out if they were still using Just3g communications. I made 8 calls to 3 customer services as I just wanted a proper answer. In 3 of the calls I was told that they didn’t use them anymore, and in 4 calls I was told that they did, and in 1 call I was told that Just3g communications are actually a part of Hutchinson3g!
I am interested in clubbing together to see if we can get our money back in any way at all, or to go to watchdog. I did put in a complaint on the BBC Watchdog website a while ago but got no response, but am quite willing to do it again if alot of people are going to.
Has Ashfaq really built Laing Homes using our money? Does anyone know? (From Terrys entry on 2nd nov)
I see Sainsbury’s are going to honour Farepac customers who have lost their money in the recent collapse by giving the customers who chose store vouchers 25% of their money back (in coupons I assume) Why, for customer relations reasons I expect as they are not responsible for the debt. Wonder if 3 will do something similar
I got a county court judgment against just3g in 2005 over the 6th statement / 7th statement scam they’ve been operating for years. At that time I lodged an official complaint with Hutchison 3G UK Limited for turning a blind eye to their agent’s dishonest dealings.
Their response? …. “We cannot take this matter further due to the Data Protection Act.”
It doesn’t take more than a moment’s reflection on this absurd comment to realise that the Data Protection Act has absolutely no connection whatever with a consumer complaint about a business.
The upshot of it seems to be that Three didn’t, and doesn’t, want to know about their agents’ dishonest dealings so long as those orders keep coming in.
Their response to reports about their agents’ dishonesty is to play ostrich and bury their heads in the sand and put up a smokescreen of bullshit. The Data Protection Act is there to protect the privacy of consumers – not companies!
For those of you who remain dissatisfied about the directors’ claims that Just3G Communications has no assets, anyone with an unsatisfied judgment outstanding can summon the directors to court and cross examine them under oath as to the company’s finances, assets and liabilities. If they fail to appear, this is a contempt of court which can earn them a spell inside.
Have we seen the last of them? Well the valuable part of the business – the domain – does not appear to belong to the “insolvent” company – check here: http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=just3g.co.uk
This means they can start up in business again tomorrow using the same website but a different limited company name.
And will Three back the new site and take their orders?
Judging by past performance … YOU BET!!
I am interested in clubbing together also. There has been mention of fraudulant trading. If someone thinks there is a sound case for this then I would be more than happy to form a prosecution and share the legal expenses.
JONNY - you highlighted the possiblity of fraudulant trading, do you think we have a good case to take to a solicitor?
OK, here’s the link.
BBC Watchdog contact form - Mobile Phones
I think what we see here is yet another well constructed play from the Just3G gang. They have probably done this before, so are well rehearsed. They will also do this all again in the future. After all, Mr.Ashfaq could have siphoned off anywhere upwards of £10,000 using these tactics. The nice new apartment proves that it works!
As for what we should do - I keep calling the Insolvency Service to check the status of Just3G, and as soon as they go into Insolvency I am going to declare myself as an unsecured creditor. At that point I will inform you all here to do the same. This means that we will be able to attend the Insolvency hearing and make sure our comments are heard. If during the proceeds of the hearing, Mr.Ashfaq is proven to have been paying himself more than the company could afford - e.g. siphoning off cash for his own use, he will be in very deep shit.
He’ll also get a shock when upwards of 20 of us turn up at the hearing to make sure we are heard.
The short of it is, we don’t even need a solicitor, we just need to turn up to that hearing with all the information we have amassed and make sure the law works for US this time round.
Once that is done, we can move on to making sure that the general public see Hutchinson 3G for the money grabbing organisation they are.
Mark: As for the domain name, it has been registered in the name of ‘Living Solutions’ for a fair while. I have no idea who that might be, it could be a third party or it could be another Ashfaq ploy. The address and company number however, belong to Just3G. (Or the address did should I say).
Javed: To link to a page, simply put your link ‘title’ followed by the link URL (address) in the following format:
<a href=”http://www.link.url”>Link Text</a>
So for example,
<a href=”http://www.innovation-station.net”>Innovation-Station</a>
That will then show as:
Innovation-Station
MARK EVANS - you referred to my earlier post:
If a company in insolvent liquidation can be shown to have traded while insolvent before the liquidation, the Court may make an Order under the Insolvency Act 1986 requiring directors to contribute personally to make-up any deficiency in the company’s assets - providing the directors knew, or ought to have known, that there was no alternative to an insolvent liquidation and failed to take every step necessary to minimise loss to creditors. Trading while insolvent in these circumstances is known as “wrongful trading”.
I’m sure that this would be the case for Just3G, but perhaps these are matters that could be brought up at the insolvency hearing?
IAN - what do you think of this? How much of a say would we actually be given at such a hearing?
Jonny, you are spot on there. As far as I can see that covers Just3G, and if we can prove Just3G, or should I say Mr.Ashfaq used company money to invest in property, or for his own personal use, he will be held personally responsible for money owed to creditors.
This should be brought up at the insolvency hearing, and we should all be given chance to have our say. Although in that circumstance it is of utmost importance that we stick to the facts, and refrain from making any statements that could be regarded as libellous, which could in turn jeopardise our position.
So the best plan of action for us all is to individually collect and organise any evidence you have (all communications with Just3G, returned bills, Judgements & Returned Judgements, records of phone conversations etc), and have them ready for the hearing.
Ian - sounds like we could all be getting somewhere with this. Keep us posted on the hearing. Perhaps those of us who want to go can meet up just before to gather our thoughts etc, hopefully we can finally nail this.
There’s a lot of sense being contributed here. I particularly mean stuff from Mark Evans, Ian, Jonny and a few others regarding fraudulent trading and insolvency.
There’s also a lot of noise/hot air around arguments with Just3G staff over timing and submission of six or seven Hutchison 3G bills, etc.. It is obvious the directors of Just3G instructed their beleaguered staff to use any means to confuse customers and make them feel inadequate in their perfectly genuine cashback claims.
I’m personally getting phone calls and e-mails since I posted my details here from people seeking advice about court judgement procedure, etc..
I’d rather publish my thoughts centrally here, as I think the issues are quite simple:
1) There’s no point personally risking the cost of an individual small claims court action, as we are unlikely to actually get any money back from a company which has ceased trading even if we win judgements.
2) There may be point in supporting any publicity which damages these villains’ reputations, as they should not be trusted to trade with the public in the future.
3) If a trader tries to hide behind a limited liability company, but can actually be proved to have planned a scam and traded when insolvent (and Just3G’s business plan was so dodgy that they could be argued to have been insolvent from the start), particularly if he has awarded himself a high salary and level of benefits (cars, expenses, etc.) during a difficult trading experience, then he may well have personal liability for debts. Whilst a court action on this basis has only a very slim chance of success, and no single one of us would want to pay the costs of such an action, it might be a good idea (assuming there are many hundreds of us) to club together to fund such a legal action.
It’s these last two points, as well as possibly shaming Hutchison 3G into helping us, that we all should be considering now.
‘Just3G Communications Ltd. Stopped trading at the end of June 2006, it attempted an unsuccessful re-launch in September and again stopped trading (in early Sept.) as it had become insolvent. No supplies have been made since 30/06/06
i recieved a cashback payment fron just3g of £91.04 into my bank on 09.08.06
if they were truley insolvent at the time period stated could they get away without paying that payment
or is the payment proof they was not insolvent at the time stated ?
John, well put, I think that everybody on this forum agrees with the points that you have just made. Also, while we all want some form of retribution against Just3g, the majority of us are not sure of the legal stuff and what we can and cannot do. Some of the posts here are very informative and are pulling all of the aggrieved customers together, but until we can find out the approx cost per person, and if we have a real chance of winning, then nothing on the legal side will happen. Does anybody have any ideas of the cost of such court cases?
I have contacted Watchdog, as many others have, and I think this is another way to raise the profile of the sort of scams that are happening and that companies like Hutchinson 3G are willing to let it happen, as long as they are gaining from them.
Let’s hope all of this is not in vain, and all of us get something back. Even if it is a subsidised deal from “3″
Hi all,
I think I have a plausible explanation for what’s been going on over the past few months.
Just3G give away ‘phones, then offer cashback equivalent to 12 months line rental. For every ‘phone they sell, ‘3′ give them a commission fee - which is presumably more than the cashback they offer the end user. This is how they are meant to make their profit.
However, ‘3′ are not stupid and don’t wish to get into a situation where the end user stops paying their line rental and they have already paid the dealer (Just3G in this case) their commission. So they agree with the dealer that if the end user stops paying their bill within a certain time, they will take the commission back from the dealer (they call this a clawback).
What if the dealer goes bust and subsequently lots of the people who bought their ‘phones stop paying their bills? Or maybe the dealer was just a fraud in the first place. Well knowing ‘3′ I’m 100% sure they will cover themselves here and the only obvious way to do this would be to retain a proportion of the commission fees until a certain time after the ‘phones have been connected (probably several months).
Thus it is perfectly feasible that ‘3′ owe Just3G a large sum of money and that would explain why Just3G are reluctant to close up shop until they get every last penny. It would seem likely that ‘3′ would have a clause in their contract which says they will only pay out to companies who are still trading. Perhaps this explains the brief re-launch of the Just3G website in September.
I can think of no other reason why they have not closed everything down already. Surely the Just3G brand image is irreparably damaged by now - it would be easier to start a new company with a new web address.
What do you think - does this sound likely?
In case no one here knows. Just3G has shut up shop and done a runner! This information was given to me on 06/11/06 by the Northampton county court. The bailiffs went to the premises in Blucher street, Birmingham, to try to get items from the Just3G office to sell and recoup monies owed to me. When they got there, ‘the cupboard was bare’.
This happened in the 2 weeks after the bailiffs had delivered the necessary paperwork informing Just3G of what was to happen. No one will be paid now. Unless I can give the bailiffs a new address for them to go to, this and I assume, all other cases against Just3G will cease.
Anyone with info as to their new whereabouts or even the name of the bas***d that had registered the company, please contact me. I have already paid £100 for court action, this money has also been lost and I have been told that I will have to pay again if I do get a new address.
The public loses yet again! The criminal walks, yet again! Good old British justice!! I don’t think!!
KEVPC - Join our club
READ THE PREVIOUS POSTS THOUGH TOO!
Hi Terry
My understanding of the cash back offer is based on the network paying a major part of the commission very soon after the contract is signed however they do have a claw back option on this commission for up to 6 months if the subscriber defaults for whatever reason. I assume there must be a terminal bonus as well because if you change your price plan this inevitably knackers your cash back with any dealer. If you read Just3G’s T & C’s closely mine state that the final cash back would only be paid if you were still connected to the network, therefore if on a 12 month contract you cancelled after 12months you would not be entitled to your final claim. As with every offer there are a percentage of people who for whatever reason do not claim their entitlement and I would wager that Just3G pitched this percentage far to high. I personally got very nervous of this company when it took them 2 months to give me my first gift of £40 payable after the first month. Couple this with my bluetooth taking nearly 3 months to arrive despite a lot of correspondence they were a dodgy lot all round.
Based on the terminal bonus theory “3″ will be contractually obliged to pay this to Just3G no matter how they treat the final customer as long as they are still in business & again I will wager that Just3G will not be put into receivership until as many of these bonuses are received as possible. Collectively we could chip in and have the bank account frozen but this will cost money.
what must i do to join? sorry if stupid question
KEVPC - sorry, yes stupid question for my stupid response. ‘Club’ = we are just in the same boat
Hi Mark. Up the creek without paddles, I think, is more like it! I have done as others have done and filled in the Watchdog on-line form. had no response from them. I’m really cross that the court must have been aware of Just3G’s circumstances and yet still took my money, even though they knew that nothing would come of having a warrant served or sending in the bailiffs. Almost as bad as Just3G it seems to me, taking money under false pretences.
I agree with the general opinions here that Mr Ashfaq should be made accountable for what he has done and am willing to ‘pitch in’ for the expense. We obviously need a legal person to take the case and someone to collect the monies. Suggestions?
I also agree that 3 network should at least do something to reimburse all former Just3G customers, whom they were quick enough to welcome on board and take their money. I have had no joy with from 3 at all either. What a complete shambles! And as for the trading standards people, why didn’t they step in sooner? I thought they were supposed to be a protection body for the consumer? Again, in my opinion, a complete shambles.
I have just received my 1st claim back as returned “no answer”. ANy ideas how to proceed if I can’t even get a receipt for my documents. I have sent a tracked email to them asking how to proceed which has been “relayed” whatever that means. Clearly I signed up with the wrong company here.
Fortunately as an accountant I have full access to companies house records. Not sure how to attach documents but I have pdf copies if someone wants to explain how to insert them on the website.
From 1 September 2006 the director Raheel Ashfaq (who owns the whole company) and the company secretary Robia Ashfaq (looks like his wife or sister) moved to this address:
4 Darwin House
Wake Green Road
Birmingham
B13 9HW
I have also got a copy of a charge registered by HSBC which would seem to indicate that the company’s bankers are HSBC.
The last filed accounts seem to indicate that the company had cash of just over £150,000 at 28 February 2006. However at the same time it was overdrawn by £29,000 presumably explaining the HSBC charge. Whilst some of this cash may have been withdrawn since then there could be something worth having a go for here.
The company’s accountants are
Heathcote & Coleman
Heathcote House
136 Hagley Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B16 9PN
I’ve tried to contact trading standards but they are constantly engaged. Wouldn’t mind thoughts on how to proceed and how much it would cost to freeze the company’s assets.
Any thoughts anyone
Hi Guys
Yesterday evening,I e-mailed Mr. Canning Fok, HWL Group Managing Director. In my wisdom (maybe not) I thought it a good idea to appraise him of the problems in the UK with ‘3′ dealers, cashback promises and more specically the case of Just3g.
I received this e-mail early this morning (very fast reply)……………….
Thank you for your recent email to the HWL group.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns about retailer trading specifically in regards to the offers of cash back.
I appreciate the matters you have raised in regards to retailer ‘Just 3 G Communications’ and I can only assure you that 3 have not ignored this matter and have been working closely with all regulatory groups including Ofcom, Otelo & Trading Standards.
The issues around cash back claims are not unique to the 3 network, and is something that exists with most of the UK Telco Companies.
Hopefully you will have seen the ‘Cash Back Minimum Standards’ statement that was issued to all ‘resellers’ of 3 phones which strict guidelines that must be followed if said resellers wish to offer consumers cash back deals. This action has been applauded by consumers and retailers who see this as a massive swing in customer favour having simplistic offers and claim terms, but also bring a level playing field for retailers to attract customers.
I’m sure you will already be aware that 3 is responsible to the customer for terms of the 3 service (which are contained in 3’s customer terms and price plan documents) and the retailer is responsible for the sale of the handset and any additional promotions or free offers (such as free iPods or cash back offers) made by them directly. Retailers in all sectors must be free to offer discounts and promotions on goods and services that they sell as this promotes competition and better value for customers. 3 does not become involved in the terms of any such promotions or offers made directly by the retailers. If a retailer fails to make the details of their promotion clear, then it is a matter for the customer to make a complaint to the appropriate authorities.
On this basis, and in response to the points you raised, I must advise that 3 would not be making any gestures / compensation to consumers who have been unable to receive any cash back monies via 3rd party companies.
I hope this information covers the issues raised, however feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
Kind Regards
Steven Cocker
———–
OK, so now we all know exactly the official stance to be adopted by 3. They do not value us as their clients.
I wonder if press and media exposure will change their attitude???
If i now cancel my 3 contract within the 12 months contract period, will 3 take me to court for non payment??
Any views from our legal experts??
If I lose and also get fined, at least i will make sure it is done in a blaze of adverse publicity which will further damage the reputation of 3.
Meanwhile in my office there are 7 people with 3 contracts, they have all been made aware of my recent experiences, two have now cancelled and the others are still within their contract period. They will cancel as soon as they are out of contract. Let the meltdown begin…..it seems to be our only means of satisfaction.
I take Mr Cockers comments on-board and understand what he is saying
BUT
If Three were aware of the fraudulent dealings of Just3G and continued to let them vend Three products to maximise their own profit (knowing they were legally unaccountable for the situation) then they should be exposed and accessories to fraud and should be held responsible
Hello All,
I’m in a more fortunate position than most in that I at least received 2 out of my 3 cashbacks (after suing Just3g of course). I received a judgement order for my last claim, but this was returned last week marked as “gone away”.
I dropped a line to companies House as the Directors of a company have a duty to notify the Registrar of a change of Registered Office. Their reply, and information covering compulsory liquidation are pasted below (it’s long).
It is apparent that there is no point in taking legal action against these people if they have no assets, but reading the comments here, this may or may not be the case. If the company does have assets, then my advice would be to petition the court for a compulsory winding up order of the company. One of the grounds for a compusory winding up is that the company is unable to pay it’s debts. If there is one creditor, or a group of creditors who are owed £750 or more, then it is possible to proceed. From what I have read, it seems likely that several of the contributor’s here have obtained judgements that total more than £750. The modus operandi would be to:
1. Appoint one person to co-ordinate the action and collect monies to be paid.
2. Appoint a solicitor to commence action after taking advice and progress the case to completion.
As part of the process, the Directors would have to make statutory declarations to the Court regarding the assets and liabilities of the company. If the petition is successful, the Official receiver would be appointed as Liquidator who would then “freeze” the assets of the company and carry out a detailed investigation into how the company failed etc. If they believe that any fraudulent activities have occurred as a result of the Directors actions /inactions, they are able to hold the Director’s personally liable for any loss that occurred.
The bad news is the cost. As well as paying for the solicitor, there will be a minimum £700 odd for bringing the Court petition, suggesting you would need a minimum starting fund of £1000 - £1500.
The good news is that the director’s would be badgered and harassed into supplying information, appearing in Court etc. and the OR has wide powers. I would love to join you, but I’m working on a contract outside the country for the next 3 months.
Whilst we’re here, what about Tulip UK Ltd (or maybe they are now Sapphire Global Ltd) who trade on the websites mobileclub7.co.uk and tulipplus.co.uk (probably amongst others), and who show the same traits and customer disrespect as Just3G. I have had personal experience of these people, having (once again) had to sue them for my cashbacks. There are hundreds of adverse comments about these on the website www.blagger.com. This website had to remove adverse comments regarding Just3G, as they were threatened with legal action (funny how Just3G can rip off customers by not paying what’s due but still have the money to pay for briefs to defend their “good name” - the law is an ass !)
Copy of what was sent to me Monday 6/11
Dear Sir/Madam,
Company Number: 04891852
Company Name: JUST3G COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED
Registered Office:
LONSDALE HOUSE
52 BLUCHER STREET
BIRMINGHAM
WEST MIDLANDS B1 1QU
Status: Active
The above company is still registered.
I have forwarded your enquiry about the ineffective registered office on to the relevant section of Companies House and am awaiting a response. You will receive a more detailed reply within 2 working days.
We have not, to date, been notified of the appointment of any liquidators to the above company.
Please note that if a liquidator is appointed they have up to 14 days to notify us. If we are notified, we will change the company’s status on our records and place the liquidator’s name and address on the public record.
You can check a company’s status and obtain the name and address of any liquidator appointed, free of charge, by ringing our Contact Centre on ( 44) (0)870 3333636 (Mon-Fri, except national holidays, 08:30-18:00 UK time) or using the WebCHeck service on our website at:
With regards to your enquiry about forcing the company into liquidation:
Compulsory liquidation is when the High Court, or a county court with the appropriate jurisdiction, orders the winding-up of a company.
This may be, for example, on the petition of a creditor or creditors on the grounds that the company cannot pay its debts.
A company is regarded as unable to pay its debts if, for example, a creditor:
is owed more than £750;
presents a written demand in the prescribed form (known as a statutory demand (Form 4.1)) to the company; and
the company fails to pay, secure or agree a settlement of the debt to the creditor’s reasonable satisfaction.
There are other situations where a company is deemed unable to pay its debts. Please read the relevant legislation.
The court may also order the company to be wound up on the petition of:
the company itself;
the company’s directors or one or more members;
the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry;
the Financial Services Authority (formerly the Securities and Investment Board); or the Official Receiver.
For more information, see our guidance booklet “GBW1 Liquidation and Insolvency”. This is available to view or download on our website at the following link:
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/gbhtml/gbw1.shtml
If you would prefer us to post you a copy of this guidance booklet, please let us know.
However, if you are seeking the compulsory liquidation of a company, we would suggest you seek legal advice.
I called their accountants, and naturally they were able to tell me next to nothing because of data protection, apart from the fact that they have stopped trading.
According to B’ham Trading Standards they are “insolvent with no assets”, and yet Companies House and the Insolvency Service know nothing about it. Call me a cynic, but something’s not right with that.
KEVPC - I agree we need to take proper legal action, as matters are perhaps a bit out of our depth now. I think MARK EVANS, IAN and JOHN R TALBOT may be keen on this action as well (sorry to you if in fact you are not). Perhaps PETE and TONY would want to join as well? Clubbing together is the only way forward though, otherwise individually we will be put massively out of pocket. I’m sure we could pin the directors on the charge of “wrongful trading” (KEVPC see my earlier posts) which makes the directors personally liable for company debt.
I am afraid that I couldn’t really organise the legal effort myself as I’m in my 4th and final year of a maths degree and time is not something I have much of at the moment! But I would be willing to support anything we can organise.
Cheers
We have today e-mailed GMTV who advised us to to contact Consumer Direct, we managed to e-mail them, also Watchdog. So it may be halpful if everyone bombards these people with e-mails, to let them know there are hundreds of us out there with these cash back mobile phones.
Sure I am willing to pursue this matter.
I have no appreciation of what legal ground we are on. I suppose I am leaving it upto someone else to make a start and perhaps say that there is a case worth fighting.
Agree with you as well about not knowing how we stand. Is there someone here that does know enough about the law or lucky enough to know a solicitor? As said, I am willing to contribute, but have no idea how to go about things or what the cost may be.
Further info received from Birmingham county court yesterday:
To pursue my case any further, must deal with Nottingham C.C. Birmingham only interested whilst the Blucher Street address was relevant. There appears to be no liasing at all between the trading standards office at Birmingham and the County Court. The onus is put fair and square on to the injured parties (us!) to sort everything out, including finding out what the various protection bodies should, and so it seems, do already know and should have shared with similar organisations. Yet again the consumer is left in the lurch and footing the bill! sorry to have to repeat it but, British justice. what a shambles!!
Will mail Nottingham later today. would like to include info from here about the other companies and private addresses Ashfaq is (supposedly) involved with. any objections from those who posted that info?
If anyone can start something going on the legal front, please let me know.
I am also willing to support a group effort financially although living up in Aberdeen I may not be best placed to take much of an active role in the process. Does anyone have an idea of how many disgruntled Just3G customers are in this forum, i.e. how many e-mails Ian has received.
I am struggling with a comment made by Pete, if they had cash of around £150K why would they also have an overdraft at the same time?
I may have made a mistake with “Three”, at the prospect of no cash back I have reduced the tariff on my 2 Three contracts. As previously mentioned by someone else you can only reduce your tariff by one price range a month (i.e. a £45 month plan can only be reduced to a £35 plan, then next month it can be reduced another step). A week or so ago I got quite emotional with one of the managers of “Three’s” Indian customer services & when I protested to the guy on the end of the phone this time that “Three” should not be enforcing this rule under the circumstances he applied credits to both my accounts to give me the equivalent of £20 per month tariffs. Not such a brilliant offer but I have to reduce my outgoings to “Three” considerably now Just3G have blown quite a large hole in my budget.
Cheers
I think everyone on here is up for taking action. The main thing we need is a plan of action and a leader to put it into place. Any volunters?!
Is anyone aware as to whether we would be eligible for legal aid. I think it’s only if you are a defendant?
i see people have been emailing various media companies, it would be useful if you posted the names & address of the people you have contacted so we can all do the same….
Hi i agree with everything said. i am owed over £30, when someone has volunteered to take this matter up i am in it. i am only 17 and so cannot take such case on…..if we need to chip in or anything i am in….let me know…my no is 07984399047 if you need to contact me…I think it will be a good idea if everyone has email addresses or some sort of contact for each other so we can maybe meet up somewhere and discuss this properly.
I had a recorded delivery letter from Trading Standards, stating what we already know and saying that further action is not appropriate as no money will be available. I wonder why it took the T&S depts to take some action as they have known the problems for nearly a year. If they had got there act right then none of us would be in this situations. The Authorities let this happen and have cost us all money. I will continue to support the actions allready given and have wriitten to my MP about this. I would suggest you alll do the same.
John
I would love to help guys, but living in Newquay creates a bit of a geographical nightmare!
Please let me know if you would like my support. I have been away for a week and I am genuinely shocked (but not particularly surprised!) at what I have read here.
I am still waiting for a response from three about the ethical position of endorsing such a service (See above) and also have received a voicemail from a consumer advice service, which will probably tell me exactly what you guys have fed back above.
There appear to be some serious integrity issues with some individuals/organisations named above, I find it amazing what a bit of transparency can do.
Can somebody collate a post with all of the links to all of the organisations that we could contact, so that everybody can do the same and create a bit of noise about the whole thing?
The law is complexed and not particularly supportive of the end user.
But that does not mean that we can’t cause a bit of discomfort to the scamming b******….
A bit more info folks. I had a conversation with a 3 network customer services rep, then a customer services manager. I have been told that 3 will do absolutely nothing for any customer who signed up through Just3G. When I asked about cancelling my contract (had just renewed with 3 at middle of October, drat!!), I was told i would have to return the upgrade phone I had received (no problem with that) and pay them £500!!. To that I told the person that I would be leaving 3 at the first ‘cost free’ opportunity i had and would not be going back! Seems they would prefer not help, then keep people only for the short term rather than the long term. Bad business strategy to my way of thinking; hope it serves them right!
As there appears to have been no objection from those that posted alternate addresses for the Ashfaqs, have mailed this info to Northampton county court. Will post back if I have any joy.
new to this site and have spent a long time reading.
For me, we have two phones costing us £35 per mth each and zero cashbacks. I would love to contribute to anything that will do as much damage to the directors as possible. It’s disgusting that these people can get away with this and even though we will never see our money, I would consider it an investment to contribute to bringing some payback!!!
First of all I would like to thank you guys for running such a useful forum.
Secondly it was mentioned in this series that 3 are not dealing with just3g now. Does this mean that there is no point in me even trying to get cashback??
I am at the point that I should be sending off my first claim. Should I bother so that I have taken the correct steps for legal action?? Is it now impossible to get cashback the normal way and when was the last time someone was successful??
Apologies for the questions but I am due £355 cashback which to a student is a shed load of money.
I would much appreciate your advice.
Hi All,
John G,
Thats interesting news, I had the some problem with 3 re lowering the tariff from £45 to £20 and they would not budge.
Now, if they have done it for one, they must do it for all that ask
—
John,
can you email me your mobile number to -
cmmolloy1@hotmail.com
So I can call 3 and prove that they have done it for someone so they must do it for me.
—
I intend to then close the account once the credit has been added (I have 6 months left), sell the handset on ebay for around £150, use that money to pay the rest of the contract (6x £20) and start a brand new contract with another network.
Incidentally, the onestopphoneshop are offering some superb deals on orange and o2 and they have never failed to pay cashback in 3 years of being with them.
Lets hurt them in the untlimate way and all leave 3!!!
Good Luck,
Chris & Bert
Hi there,
Can anyone please confirm whether statement 1, the one you receive a couple of days after first receiving your phone, counts as a statement? I’m really confused as to exactly which statements I’m supposed to send. I know it states first 6 months statements but I’ve read that Just3G come back and say that you need to send the first 7 statements, not 6… I’m confused, please help!!
Hi there,
Does anyone know whether Three will take me to court if I cancel my contract? I have 6 months remaining of a 12 month contract and really just want to cut my losses and cancel the whole contract instead of fighting for my cash back. I really don’t see that there’s any point now that just3g have ceased trading….
Hi all,
Just to let you know what District Judge Mitchell of Truro County Court ordered in my case:
1:The claim in respect of the cash back due in month 6 is dismissed
2: no order in respect of the expenses associated with the litigation or interest, save that the defendant do pay to the claimant the court fee of £30 by 4pm on 26th oct.
Brief reasons:
The contractual requirements to qualify for the first cash back instalments are clear and set out in the defendants terms and conditions, namely, statements confirming the claimants connection for 6 months to be submitted.
It is common ground that statements for only 5 months were supplied.
No one from just 3g attended either court hearings, and i clearly informed the judge of all the legal bits i found on this page.
Of course, my letter sent by the court in respect of the £30 was returned marked ‘gone away’.
I have been lucky in the fact that i did receive my last two instalments. (well 4 as i had two contracts.)
My last 2 were for £61.04 and £92.04 on 16th august 06.
i don’t understand why this judge did not take my side like the other judges around the country did for others in my position, but not a lot I can do now, as it is pointless my paying more money to appeal against his decision if the company have gone.
Sorry I didn’t post this earlier, but I was just so disheartened!
Sam X
Hi all,
This is the email I received from Just3G about my 3rd claim on the 8th September:
Dear Mr Hussain,
I had to inform you that your second cash back was unsuccessful as you sent your documents late and your third cash back was successful and the cashback payment will be made by BACs transfer on 16-09-06.
Kind regards,
Kevin Anderson
Just3G Communications
Third Generation Today!
No suprise that I actually nenver received anything from them on the 16/09/06 or after that.
I will support any action against these scumbags.
Just wanted to share what Three actually did for me. Same story as all of you with regards to no rebates. I wrote closing my contract after 12 months and they offered me a 12 month deal at 50p a month for 12 months (100 voice 100 SMS). I had to keep my Nokia handset. As this was a means of clawing some of my rebate loss back I accepted. They credited my account with cash worth £209 and I will not have to pay a penny until month 12 when I will pay just £6.
So for those nearing the end of their contract - worth seeing if you can get a similiar deal .. if they do it for one they should do it for all!
We are having a lot of communication from other mobile users, asking us to do different things.
We will do all we can, if one can be more specific in how to get the lists going and then where we are intended to send them.
Thanking you Peter Laird
I was offered the same contract as above, though they did not offer this until the contract was cancelled (ie they did not offer this at the time of me phoning and cancelling the contract - it was a couple of weeks later that someone from Three phoned me and offered me the deal). I took it up as it feels that at least I am getting something back.
It sounds to me that these ’special deals’ people have been getting from 3 when they come to the end of their contract are completely unrelated to Just3G. It is just a way of them trying to keep you on the network and I would imagine they offer this to all customers.
Because they do not have to provide you with a new handset they are more than likely still making a good profit out of you. They will of course be relying ont he extra charges for when you use more than 100 mins and 100 texts which is very likely if your phone use is anything like mine!
There is no way I would have gone with 3 if I had any idea I was going to be paying anything close to standard line rental. I was expecting to be paying around £12 per month after cash back - not £45. I didn’t think I would ever say this but I miss you Vodafone!
Further to Coopsmeister’s comment, Three offered me some great deals when I called to cancel my contract.
As the call progressed, the agent offered me progressively better and better deals, until she offered me a new top of the range Nokia N73 along with a great contract for next to nothing. I declined, having taken great offence that this was not offered to me in the first place as seen as I was “such a highly valued customer, having been with Three for 3 years” (the agent’s words - not mine).
In my opinion you would all do much better by telling Three to stuff these insulting offers where the sun does indeed not shine rather than looking at this whole situation from a purely financial viewpoint. As Coopsmeister says, Three are counting that you will run over those 100 mins & 100 texts and then charge the hell out of you.
I’ve switched to Orange and found the whole experience much better. I have told every single person I know to steer clear of Three, and shall not be going back to them again.
The only way to damage Three is to take your custom elsewhere!
Hi Ian/Coopsmeister
You’ve both cancelled contracts, do you know what Three will do if I just cancel my direct debit and refuse to pay the remaining 6 months of my contract? do you think they’ll take me to court or will it affect my credit rating? i’m getting nowhere with three when i rang to reduce my monthly payment down to the minimum price plan, yet from reading comments above it appears others have done this??? any advice would be greatly appreciated… thanks
Laura: I would strongly advise against cancelling your direct debit, as like it or not you are in a contract with Three, and should you wish to cancel your service, the contract states you must pay the remainder of the fees on cancellation.
If you were to simply cancel your Direct Debit, Three would try and claim the money via a debt collector and then through the courts. This would also effect your credit rating.
The best course of action is to limit the damage by reducing your contract fees if possible.
Sorry it couldn’t be better news,
Ian
Hi Ian
Haven’t visited for a will but I see a lot has been happening.
I, like many others, have a CCJ outstanding against Just3G for my first cashback that was denied, and have never received payment of the final cashback despite emails saying it was due in September.
Reading the response from the Trading Standards was very interesting. I have evidence of a payment into my back account on 07/08/06 for the second cashback. So they had not ’stopped trading’ as Mr Ashfaq stated in his interview. Also, further accounts have been recently been submitted with Companies House and Just3G is still showed as trading.
With the weight of numbers here and the persistant nature of Mr Ashfaq activities we must be entering into some sort of ‘fraud case’ and so negating the protection offered by a limited company. Just3G is nothing more than some legal papers. Mr Ashfaq is the responsible party here.
Pete, to share those file you have, go to
http://www.easy-share.com/
and upload them there. You will be given a link that can be posted on this website for everyone to access.
Regarding the development, how do we know Mr Ashfaq is involved in this?
Crown Prosecution Service website on fraud. May be useful.
http://cps.gov.uk/legal/section8/chapter_b.html
Sam - the Judge in Truro - sounds like a complete loon. As I live in Newquay, I guess there is a chance that this decision may set precedent as my claim would be of a practically identical nature.
It is so frustrating that somebody in a role of such magnitude could fail to observe such flagrant breach of contractual responsibility.
Michael.
JUST 3G ARE BAD NEWS! They have now actually declared themselves insolvent and have no funds to cover the money owed to debtors. I was told this by Citizens Advice Bureau upon seeking help from them in claiming all of my cashbacks. They have done this before under a different name and no doubt will do it again so all BEWARE.
They used the same excuse for me with my first claim that they have with loads of other people - a large email explaining that i didn’t send enough bills in and therefore didn’t adhere to their terms and conditions etc etc.
Their T & C’s are designed to trick you and are completely ambiguous. I was unlucky and didn’t get any money back from them except the original instant cashback of £35.
A couple of months ago 3 themselves contacted me to offer me a further 12 month contract with them directly and offered 6 months free. They credit the cash straight to your bill and there are no claims processes to go through. It’s the best move I made! I recommend everyone currently with Just 3G on one of these cashback offers contacts 3 directly ASAP to avoid any further loss of money.
3 and Just 3G are separate entities and 3 are not responsible for Just 3G not honouring their offers. Cancelling your contract is a bad idea but do ring them to see what they can do for you.
Hi all
Just thought I’d update you on further information received from three today, I hope I’m not repeating things that have already been said or that people already know:-
I contacted three today and informed them that I was owed money by just3g and that we had confirmation from trading standards that they had ceased trading. Three confirmed to me that they have indeed ceased trading and they are no longer affiliated with three in any way shape or form.
I requested that my monthly tariff be reduced down to the minimum payment of £20 per month. After a very lengthily discussion the customer service rep informed me that he would only be able to reduce my tariff down by one increment, i.e. down to £35 per month. I informed him that I was not satisfied with this and that being as though I was going to be out of pocket by £440; three ought to at least meet me halfway and cut my £45 per month tariff down to £20, which would leave me just over £200 out of pocket instead!
ended up demanding to speak to a supervisor and after standing my ground was informed that my tariff would be reduced to £35 this month, but that as a ‘goodwill gesture’ she would apply a £10 credit to my account, so that I would effectively only pay £25. Three have confirmed that I’m to contact them again in December to reduce my tariff down again to the minimum payment.
For me personally this is the best solution all round, as it’s obvious we’re not going to get any of our money back and I’ve already wasted further money issuing a summons. I intend to do as chris&bert is doing and sell my phone on eBay to pay off the remaining contract. I’ll then be free to use another network altogether and let the nightmares of three fade into the distance…
Jenny: Sorry to hear that you too are a victim of Just3G.
Unfortunately, whilst Three have not acted directly to cheat any of us out of money, they have been only to happy to sit back and let Just3G do the dirty work and cheat customers out of money, safe in the knowledge that Just3G’s tactics were bringing them lots of customers who would get locked into 12 month contracts. Three refused to offer any assistance, and have effectively told a great number of us that they couldn’t care less about us.
Three’s attitude towards this whole case stinks, and I say that the best thing to do is to take your custom elsewhere. Three have lost nothing by giving you such a fantastic deal Jenny, but retained a customer on a contract. That is the only thing they care about.
Hi again,
As my previous posting, I have been exchanging many e-mails with Mr Cocker from three Executive Office. I am impressed by the speed of his replies (always within 24 hours) and there is no doubt in my mind that three take the whole situation seriously.
Unfortunately that is as far as it goes, they know their reputation has been damaged by rogue dealers, they have implemented measures to prevent it happening again.
As I said to them ‘Whilst it may be applaudable the problems have now been addressed it is far from applaudable that you continued to allow Just3g to continue act as your reseller despite the 100’s of complaints received by you. You should have immediately ended their reseller agreement a year ago and thus mitigated the damage done to your customers and to your reputation. This was very irresponsible business behaviour. Unfortunately it seems that ….sales and more sales and increased market share was your main business focus.’
——
So for the past events,Three hide behind the contractual agreements and take no responsiblity at all. All they do is wax lyrical about what they have achieved in the industry in bringing about legally binding reseller agreements.
One very interesting point was on the subject of Dealer commissions, I have been trying to encourage three to distribute the unpaid commissions due to Just3g to the defrauded Just3g customers as a gesture of goodwill.
Amazingly, this is what i now discover:-
‘I must advise that your understanding of commissions maybe accurate for other mobile phone retailers, but this is not the case with 3.
Commissions are paid at the start of contract terms, with a restricted time frame allowing 3 to recall such commissions such as 14d MBG periods etc for returns.
To be specific in my response, 3 are not sitting on unpaid commission claims and there would be no situation where 3 would offer gestures in response to 3rd party deals.
We continue to work along side the relevant regulatory groups as they complete their own investigations.’
——
In my opinion, this method of ‘up front’ commission payment encouraged dealers to act fraudulently..the dealers were in a position to take the money and run before the end of the 12 or 18 month contract period expired.
Hey Ho! at least i tried, we know exactly where we stand with three……if you want to stay with three, then you can negotiate good deals (they are desperate). Personally..orange here i come (my local coverage is better than that of three) and if i ever meet the three directors…no guesses as to where i will stick my mobile phone…..
In my experience, following the legal processes to bring about a fraud case against Ashfaq will be both time consuming and expensive. If you can get a fresh faced investigative journalist from the media or TV interested then I think this may be a better option.
I understand where you’re coming from but at the end of the day 3 are no worse than any other organisation. They’re all businesses and they are all out for profit.
Orange are actually owned by the same umbrella company as own 3 so they’re the same! Going to them gains nothing. Orange won’t associate themselves with 3 because of 3’s reputation but in Orange are only bothered about profit as well. They just haven’t had the bad press that 3 have.
I guess it depends on who you speak to. Indian call centres make up most of 3 Customer Services but if you’re lucky enough to speak to someone in England like I was (for sales I might add where it’s for their benefit that you understand them!) then they are more sympathetic. I was told they could step in if there was a problem caused with my Just 3G cashback claims by entering in to another contract with 3 directly as it shouldn’t affect my claims with Just 3G. I haven’t spoken to 3 as I know this most likely isn’t true.
At the end of the day, I chose to have this new contract with 3 in order to recoup some of the money I lost and because it’s a good, cheap contract. I’ll probably not stay with them after the 12 months is up.
3 rang me as part of their new initiative to ‘cut out the middle man’ of dealers apparently because they’re trying to improve their customer services and reputation. I think they are recognising their mistakes and correcting them - perhaps too late but at least they’re doing it. Some businesses like Just 3G never bother. They just setup a business with the intent of ripping people off then incorrectly claiming themselves to be insolvent.
Are we taking action against them? I’m well up for getting involved and actually taking action as part of a group of the little people fighting corporate scum. Do I sound like a communist?
I’m not getting at you Jenny, as you should do what feels right for you, but Three are worse than other companies. There is a difference between a company which can be profitable and look after its customers or a company that makes a profit by taking advantage of its customers. Three definitely fall into the latter category.
I am aware about Orange, but the reason they don’t have a bad reputation is that they haven’t built their business on offering cut price deals and the latest 3G services, they built their business on providing a reliable product and good customer service. That’s why I chose to go to Orange.
In the long run it may ‘cost’ me more than if I took up one of Three’s offers, but to me it is a matter of principle. Firstly because Three had no interest in my welfare as a customer during my contract, and secondly because they only offered me a decent deal on a new contract after 15 minutes of telling them I wanted to cancel my contract.
Despite that, I hope this contract works out for you Jenny, and that you don’t have any problems with Three.
If you look at the following link:
http://www.agreements.plus.com/web/just3g/
you will see a judgement dating back over a year. If Three were aware of this and kept J3G as dealers surely this makes them culpable?
Does anyone have an earlier judgement or has anyone made a complaint to Three prior to this date?
I am also interested to find out if the Ashfaqs or any of their associates have any other websites selling mobile ‘phones. Does anyone have any info?
I have found the following:
www.3g-online.co.uk
www.threemobile.net
neither of them are live at the moment - but steer clear if they come back online.
Also of interest - Three have a dealer on their books called “PARKER HEYWORTH CONSULTING LTD.” owned by Sobia and Faheem Ashfaq, funnily enough they both used to stay at 205 Swanhurst Lane and now seem to live in the same building as Raheel and Robia. This company is definitely still an approved dealer with Three. Oddly enough there is no answer on their publicised ‘phone number.
Finally, I have found a website:
www.talk-mobile.co.uk/terms3.html
Their T&C’s mention Just3G - I wonder if they’ve just copied the terms or if they are actually connected - any ideas?
I would be happy to contribute towards any court proceedings that are to be actioned. I have been reading this site for several weeks and one thing that has occured to me is that we are considering the owner of just3g’s actions to be fraudulent and thus criminal. is there any way that there could be a police investigation into this? does anyone know who would need to be informed or even if this could be a possibility? surely someone must want to take an interest?
I’m not particularly pro 3, I’m just focusing most of my anger on the people who actually ripped me off - Just 3G or Just3Jokers/Just2Jokers - previously coined more apt names used by somebody nearer the beginning of this conversation!
I know 3 haven’t run their business well, I was just saying that they are now rectifying this. Every individual has to make their mind up as to what they want to do, stay with them or leave. I wanted to at least get the use out of the contract that i’m paying for rather than cancelling near the beginning and still being charged for the whole year.
Just 3G are the ones who we need to take action against. Whether it be through the courts, or media as Tony suggests. We definitely all do need to take action though as it seems there are lots of people on here who feel strongly enough to actually achieve something. There is too much apathy in this country and that’s why businesses get away with it so much.
I want to know what 3 did to verify Just3G credentials as a company. If they performed acceptable checks on Raheel Ashfaq then perhaps we have little ground for complaint. But they clearly didnt. They knwoingly left the whole situation open to abuse.
This was a company set up by some kid who knocked up a website in his bedroom and then proceeded to fleece us all. He is a web designer, thats all. He operated along with his brother, there was no customner services team. No ‘Grant’, No ‘Andrew’, No ‘Kim’ or whoever… nobody, he probably pretended to be Kim in chat rooms in the evening
It was just him and his brother. Did anyone actually get to speak to anyone other than Raheel? He has been seen regularly at his home address… pockets full!
So when my contract ends with 3, what happens if I dont pay my last bill? Can I delay it as long as possible just to make a nuisance of myself? Any ideas?
What about ordering phones willy nilly from three and then cancelling the contract before the 14 day deadline, can you do that?
Ian, I endorse completely your latest Three comments, it reflects my experience today.
I have just finished a 45 minute telephone conversation with Three.
My contract has 4 months remaining and in no uncertain terms they told me they would persue me for breaking the T & C’s if i cancelled now. I am still thinking about having my day in court, anyone with any experience out there?
Three accepted they had to take me down one payment step this month and then to their lowest level the following month.
Then when I mentioned the possibility of a new Three contract on a new phone, their attitude changed completely. I was not being serious, I would never sign up with Three after this experience, I just wanted to test their reaction.
It says it all, what a disgrace they are!!!!
Unfortunately as a consumer we have no rights if we cancel a contract as in their terms and conditions they state that we have to pay the money back. Holding off paying your last bill will only harm you in damaging your credit rating.
I agree that they haven’t done rigorous enough checks and I think people aren’t understanding I’m not condoning their behaviour. They just aren’t the ones who owe me £280!
I have to say I thought the exact same thing about Raheel creating fictional people and sending emails out to people pretending to be Lisa or Grant.
He’s had a company before that also went insolvent. The authorities should never have let him start another business so they failed us as consumers as well.
I had four contracts with Just3G from which I have had no cashback. I have just received a Court Order for about £1550. I am particularly angry with the Court as I made the application on . It took the Court until 14 September 2006 to list my case and then until 24 Octiber 2006 to write to Just3g advising them of the outcome.
I have only become aware of the recent cessation of trading since starting to pursue my order. As there is obviously no point in setting the bailiffs on them I have applied for a third party debt order against Hutchinson in the hope that they still have some commission due to be paid to Just3g.
My order will have reached Hutchinson today and prevents them making payments to Just3g. A court date of 19 December 2006 has been set to determine whether Hutchinson should pay my claim. I will post again when I get some news.
Whether this works or not I think it is the best way to treat these sort of dealers as it might make companies like Hutchinson take more notice of who they are trading with.
Des
Sorry, missed the date of the application from the above post as I had to go look it up it was 28 March 2006. I am now going to read the HM Court Service web site to see if they have any service standards or duty of care that they should adhere to.
Des
Des: That’s an interesting angle you are taking there, and the best of luck with it. I wasn’t aware such court orders were available! Does this mean if Three actually have any money due to Just3G it will go your way instead? I hope so mate, as £1550 is a hell of a lot of money!
Yes, you can take a third party order against anyone who holds money belonging to the debtor. It is usually used to take money straight out of a bank account, but as all of just3g’s income comes from Hutchinson I thought it would be fun to start there.
Yes, good luck! I’ll be following with interest. I’ve just got my court judgement in my favour for £300, but read with (unsurprised) dismay that they had become insolvent.
I spent quite a bit of time yesterday talking to Trading Standards. First I phoned Birmingham, who told me that they could not give me any information as I was not a Birmingham resident, but said that my local Trading Standards office could get any information taht they have.
So I phoned Worthing trading STandards who told me that they could not get Birmiongham’s information!!!
However, speaking generally I outlined Just3g’s trading practices and behaviour and ssuggested that it was Trading Standards job to assist people who had been taken advantage of by clearly Fraudulent traders. She agreed and told me that the problem with mobile phone cashback claims is that very often customers assume that the company that they are dealing with is honest and don’t protect themselves by having adequate proof that they have complied with the companies terms and conditions. I told her that there are many tens if not a few hundred people all with County Court Judgements. She agreed that if we have been able to satisfy a Judge then we clearly do have adequate proof.
That being the case if a number of us get together and prersent our Judgements and are prepared to make witness statements then the Birmingham Trading Standards should act for us.
Apparently Trading Standards have recently been granted new civil powers that will allow them to use Civil Law to pursue the Directors personal assets to pay the companies debts.
If my claim against Hutchinson fails I will certainly be pursuing this route, it needs one person to collect up all the complaints and submit it to Birmingham Trading Standards.
What I would really like if trading standards take successful action against Just3g would then to then go to the Police as I believe that most of the work required to prove a Criminal Fraud charge would have been done.
Losing his home and getting re-bored in one of Her Majesty’s finest hotels might just encourage Mr Ashfaq to behave a bit better in future.
I do have been conned by Just3g. I took out 2 x 18 month contracts in January 2006. I didnt receive my first cashback and started e-mailing and ringing only to get no reply. I sent my 2nd cashback claim in last week special delivery. It was returned to me 2 days later marked “gone away”.
I then rang “3″ and was told it was nothing to do with them and that I had to keep the contracts running for the full 18 months.
Any advise anyone could offer would be appreciated. Ive e-mailed the trading standards but am still waiting for a reply.
des, thank you for the info, please keep updating on your progress with this. just3g owe me £410 and as i cannot work at the moment this is a huge amount of money to me. i will follow your lead in whatever you deem fit so let me know!
thanks
When starting court proceedings you should commence them both against Just3G and Hutchinson as co-defendants. Just3G acts as Hutchinson’s agent and, therefore, Hutchinson should be liable for Just3G’s performance of contract. Contracts made by the agent on behalf of the principal are treated in law as the principal’s contracts and are directly enforceable against him. However, if you have already commenced proceedings against Just3G you may have formally and legally elected to sue them only which may extinguish your right to subsequently sue Hutchinson. Therefore, if anyone is to sue Just3G they should add Hutchinson as co-defendants.
I similarly have failed to obtain first two cashbacks.
I agree these crooks should be pursued and pilloried. Just to say I asked the legal service linked to my home insurance to pursue the case on my behalf and they ended up in paying me my full cashback on the basis that pursuing the case using solicitors would prove more costly than the £300 Just3G owed me. Nevertheless, I am up for pursuing these sharlatans.
Don Miguel
Hmm… I’ve just read everything on this forum and i really feel sick. I sued Just3G on behalf of myself, uncle, mum and dad and we actually got our first cash back paid but they still owe the 4 of us over £800 in total. my problem is that I’m from northern Ireland and trying to get info is even harder. I’d gladly get involved in any group court action.
I’ve just checked www.duport.co.uk and managed to find out that Robia and Raheel Ashfaq are just 23 and 28 years old. that actually makes me angrier. also i found this, anyone think this could be him http://www.expansys.com/zoompic.aspx?type=user&i=915 yes i know, i have little to do!!!
I am also willing to submit a witness statement and my documentation but I don’t have a court judgment.
Des, I was thinking of taking a third party debt order against J3G as well. They now owe me in excess of £400. What address did you use for Q1: Judgement Debtor? Q3: Third Party? And how did you list other persons’ interested? Thanks so much.
Guys,
Thanks for all you tips, I have not received my first 6 months of cash backs and now I have sent the next 3 months worth and it states that the company no longer resides at the B’ham address.
Anyone had similar problem?
If they have gone bust then it is pointless going to court?
As regards the third party claim - 3 have stated to several people on this forum that there is no money outstanding in commission as they pay it all up front to the dealers. Hence unfortunately your claims will most likely not work. I would suggest focusing your efforts on joining in the action to claim from Raheel Ashfaq’s personal estate as above comments.
Amanda - Great picture - that looks like it could be the little blighter!
I’m finding this very frustrating now - there are so many of us who have been ripped off, yet there appears to be so little we can actually do. This country really is a shambles…
There has to be SOMETHING we can do. Does anyone know a solicitor?!
For the 3rd Party Dept Order I used the following addresses:
Q1: Lonsdale House
52 Blucher Street
Birmingham
B1 1QU
Okay so it will get returned, who cares?!
Q3: Hutchison 3G UK Ltd
PO Box No 333
Glasgow
G2 9AG
I left the other persons interested blank, I can’t possibly judge the scale of Just3g’s debts to other people.
I phoned the three customer service number yesterday to try to discuss my application. I know that they state that they do not owe Just3g any money but without a Court order they cannot give us money they do contractually owe to Just3g and they are not going to give us their own money so they may be lying.
I argued at length with a women the other side of the world to be put through to Glasgow so that I could speak to someone who would have received and be dealing with my application. She eventually agreed to arrange for someone to call me back within 2 days.
When (if!) they do I will post again.
In earlier posts there was discussion of serving a warrant at the home address, has anyone had any success doing this? What was the reaction from Mr Ashfaq?
Hey all,
I have thought of adding some input. With regards to ‘JUST3G Communications Ltd’, their liability is limited as a company. This means that only shareholders and creditors lose out if there is no asset left.
I do not think you can claim off the main people who run this business pathetically such as the directors.
Setting up a limited company and making money for fraudulent purposes and then shutting it down is common practice and is on the increase in the UK.
With regards to JUST3G, I believe their tactics are obvious. They will wait for 12 months till things settle down and people forget about them, then they will start trading again (less likely). Or they may keep the company alive and after a few years sell the company name to the next buyer, as the value grows higher, the longer the company name exists.
The only way to stop those people from repeating a similar shoddy business practice is to sue them criminally rather than civil method. Then the Companies House will ban them for at least 5 years I think.
Thats as far as I know from the business degree I undertook. Its a great shame we all lose out, thats just the wa