Three takes hundreds of thousands of customers' payments early

Angry customers complained on Wednesday they had gone overdrawn and incurred bank charges after mobile network took direct debits before they were due

Customers who have had payments taken early can go directly to their bank to get the money refunded (PA)

Hundreds of thousands of Three customers have had monthly mobile phone bill payments taken from their accounts early.

A number of angry customers complained on Wednesday they had gone overdrawn and incurred bank charges after direct debits were taken weeks before they were due.

Three blamed the problems on a “processing error” and said customers who have gone overdrawn because of the mistake need to send proof to the company in order to get a refund.

Customers who have had payments taken early can go directly to their bank to get the money refunded under the direct debit guarantee.

Any customers concerned they may be left with a lack of funds are advised to call Three on 333. The company apologised “wholeheartedly” for the error and said, “we will do what we can to help”.

The problems have affected customers whose direct debit payments were due to be collected on 15-16 April or 26-29 April. This money was instead taken a number of weeks early on 3 April.

The network said on Wednesday that it did not yet know what had caused the issue but was in the process of texting customers about it.

Steve Nowottny, news and features editor at MoneySavingExpert.com, said it appeared to be a “major blunder” by Three.

“We’re already seeing a large number of complaints from very unhappy customers, with some saying they’ve been tipped into their overdraft," he said.

“There's a real risk many of these customers will then be hit with bank charges and left out of pocket as a result.

While customers should be able to reclaim any charges, Mr Nowrthy said “Three shouldn't underestimate the goodwill this kind of error can cost - and it should be urgently trying to do whatever it can to make things right with customers“.