Three Ireland to refund customers €3.76m for breaches of roaming regulations
Of Ongoing Process €278, Three Customers An To Impacted Refund The Is Them, And 14,000 Average Were
Three Ireland is to refund €3.76m to customers for breaches of roaming regulations.
An investigation by Ireland's communications regulator ComReg found that certain Three customers had not received the appropriate notification on their phones when they reached either the €50 or €100 default limit as required under regulations. In addition, certain customers received a notification that did not include the costs associated with each additional unit to be consumed.
ComReg said 14,000 Three customers were impacted and the process to refund them, an average of €278, was ongoing.
The roaming regulations require that mobile phone operators make certain information available to their customers when they are roaming and keep them informed of the charges which apply.
In their report, ComReg said that as well as agreeing to refund affected customers, Three Ireland will ensure that the notification issued to customers when they reach both the €50 and the €100 default roaming limits offers information regarding roaming add-ons which can reduce charges. They will also include the per unit cost associated with each additional unit consumed while roaming.
ComReg has previously investigated Three Ireland for breaches of roaming charge regulations.
In January 2023, Three Ireland pleaded guilty in Dublin District Court to eight summonses over customers travelling to Monaco who did not have their data use stopped when they reached the €50 limit. Three identified 1,640 customers who were impacted and refunded them approximately €632,000 in overcharges.
In April 2022, Three Ireland repaid €334,970 in refunds to customers who they overcharged for making phone calls to local numbers while travelling.
In a statement to the Irish Examiner, Three Ireland apologised for the most recent incident and said it is in the process of contacting and refunding all impacted customers
"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. Three Ireland is in the process of contacting and refunding all impacted customers and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused," the company said.