Loss of phone coverage put Helston business 'at risk'
4:00pm Friday 24th August 2012 in News
A Helston shopkeeper has claimed her business has been put under threat after being without mobile phone signal for almost a month.
Elisabeth Hallam, owner of the Cornish Candy Shoppe in Meneage Street, is just one of the many Three network customers that have been without coverage since July 25 – a total of four weeks.
The company has confirmed that the entire TR13 postcode is affected, which spans the Helston and Porthleven area. Elisabeth has claimed the company has been, “completely unhelpful and ignorant to the issue,” despite her mobile being the only telephone contact in and out of her shop.
She told the Packet: “Myself and many others are trying to run businesses in Helston without any services on our network. I run a shop in the town centre and my business has been affected.”
Elisabeth said she, along with a number of other people she had spoken to, had been calling Three every day demanding answers, compensation and termination of their contract with no fees, but added: “In many cases Three are continuing to say that they’ll only terminate contracts if customers pay cancellation fees. “Three have breached their side of the contract and are not assisting their customers in any way.”
She said she has been forced to take out a new 18-month contract with another network just so that her business can function, despite being just three months into her contract with Three.
A Three spokesperson described it as “an ongoing problem,” telling the Packet: “We are working to fix this issue as a matter of priority. We apologise for any inconvenience to those customers affected.”
She added that she was unable to comment on the customer compensation, as this was determined on a case by case basis.
