Unable to make calls

[AlisonOM]

My husbands and both daughters phones are unable to make or receive calls.  They all have Smarty Sins but it shows the 3 network instead of Smarty.  Following advice from Smarty my husband put his SIM on my daughter's phone  and now her phone has reverted to 3 network.

They were all working perfectly fine until 1st May, payments have been made.

Can anyone help? 

Cheers Alison 

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Three is the parent company of Smarty, so I guess it’s entirely possible that some phones may show the network as “3” or “Three” rather than “Smarty”.

its now 4th May. As the phones where working until 1st May, has anything happened in the intervening 72 hours which may explain why the phones are now longer working, such as updating the operating system, going abroad, using VPNs, moving to a new address, etc ? 

Have you checked the ‘Network Status Checker” to check if there are any reported faults with masts in your area ?

https://smarty.co.uk/network-status-checker 

[MSF]

@AlisonOM  I did note in a recent post that there have been some mast issues in some areas - could be that. May be worth having a web chat with Support Team after the check as advised by @JJP2RidesAgain .

I received a message from Smarty saying that there is likely to be work on a local mast - fingers crossed, nothing has happened as yet.

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Hi @MSF 

Driving around south Bristol today,  mainly the BS4 postcode, the three / smarty network is offering dire coverage, but the network status checker does say that there is a fault in this area. Hope it gets fixed soon.

[MSF]

@JJP2RidesAgain  ....A car!.....and money for fuel to put in it!  All can be attributed to your wise choice of a good value mobile network😂

[DanielD_1707217]

Smarty modified there network to 4G volte, my phone is compatible but i guess smarty are using a proprietary version that only works with specific phones. Basically smarty have not informed us then modified there network but kept taking the money.file a complaint, if they dont offer a full refund immediately then just ignore them and take the matter to the watchdog and once they rely you can file a small court claim, speak with citizens advice regarding them there service without informing customers and you'll be able to claim around £200-£300 in compensation.
*source My brother who's a county court solicitor*

[MSF]

@DanielD_1707217 I think you may need to carefully read the T&C's. Smarty provide a sim but I don't think they guarantee that it will work in all phones.

Once you have followed their complaints process, you could take the matter to an ombudsman who may make a ruling (non-enforceable)

As far as taking the matter to the County Court Small Claims track, you would need to complete forms and pay a fee upfront (unless exempted by certain benefits - another form needed here). In any claim, you would need to show how you hade arrived at the sum you are claiming. You would be expected to also show how you had mitigated your losses. My experience as an Advice Manager for CitA is that the process can be very stressful and will take many months - probably better to change networks if things are so bad.