Three Ireland mobile customers set for refund
Three Ireland is to refund €3.76m to about 14,000 customers after admitting to breaches of the roaming regulations
Comreg, the industry regulator, says it has come to an agreement with Three Ireland that the refunds be paid out following an investigation into suspected breaches of the EU regulations that cover roaming on public mobile communications networks.
The investigation looked at whether Three Ireland provided customers with the required information when they were roaming, such as keeping people informed of the charges that apply.
The settlement brings to €4.9m the amount of consumer refunds that have been paid out this year following inquiries by the regulator. In addition it has levied fines of €24,300 on companies on foot of those investigations.
In the case of Three Ireland, ComReg concluded that some of its customers had not been given the appropriate notification when they reached either the €50 or €100 default limit. Telecos have been required to give this information since July 2022.
In addition, some customers received a notification that did not include the costs associated with each additional unit being used. These breaches affected approximately 14,000 customers.
As well as agreeing to refund those customers, Comreg says that Three Ireland has undertaken to ensure the notification issued to customers when they reach both the €50 and the €100 default roaming limits in each monthly billing period offers information about add-ons that can reduce roaming charges.
The company has also promised to include the per-unit cost associated with each additional unit used when a customer is roaming.
The process of refunding €3.76m to customers is ongoing. ComReg says it will also continue to monitor Three Ireland’s compliance with its obligations, and to investigate consumer complaints as they arise.
In a statement to the Irish Independent the company said; “Three Ireland acknowledges that, regretfully, some customers did not receive an appropriate notification when nearing their roaming limits, while others received a message that was not adequately clear regarding roaming rates.
“Three Ireland has since changed its roaming messaging and related information to make it clearer for customers. We are in the process of contacting and refunding all impacted customers and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
