So what are Three's rules on repairs and returns?

If the device is returned as faulty within 30 days of the customer receiving their purchase, the customer is entitled to a repair, replacement or a full refund. If the device is returned as faulty after this 30 day period has passed, the customer is entitled to a repair or a replacement.

It said if customers buy from a Three retail store, they cannot return their device or accessory if they simply change their mind.

However, customers who have bought a product from Three.co.uk or over the phone can return their device or accessory and cancel their contract within 14 days of receiving their purchase if they change their mind.

For purchase from Three.co.uk or over the phone, the absence of the box wouldn’t prevent the customer from returning their device.

'Fake' online reviews could be made illegal

Companies that post fake reviews on websites to boost their ratings could face fines of thousands of pounds as part of a new Government crackdown on misleading business practices.

The Telegraph understands that the Department for Business Innovation and Skills is considering banning the practice of writing or commissioning posts designed to boost a firm's online ratings by making it illegal.

British companies which have already posted millions of fake reviews could be forced to remove many of them to comply with the new rules. It comes shortly after warnings from watchdogs that £23 billion is being wasted each year due to untrustworthy website reviews.

· Shoppers 'duped' by millions of fake online reviews

Shoppers who use the internet to research hotels, books, electronics and other purchases are being routinely misled by millions of fake reviews orchestrated by companies to trick potential customers, according to the Competition and Market Authority.

More than half of the adults in Britain, around 25 million people, use online review websites such as Amazon, Tripadvisor, Expedia and Checkatradeto find the best deals. The CMA is now investigating whether these websites are doing enough to weed out fake reviews and paid-for endorsements.

· Can you trust online reviews? Director reveals how scammers operate

As well as creating new consumer protection rules the Government said it may build new powers to apply civil fines to businesses who do not comply. The new regime could also force companies to improve their terms and conditions which it warns are often "complicated and extensive".

According to Which? research into the terms and conditions for car and travel insurance, some policies were over 38,000 words, which is longer than Shakespeare’s "Hamlet" and "Romeo and Juliet".

From today BIS is asking people who have experienced issues when consulting their terms and conditions to respond to its "Call for Evidence" which is available on gov.uk.

A BIS spokesman said: "We are looking to enhance competition by creating more engaged consumers that demand better deals from businesses. Consumers need to understand what rules will apply to a transaction as a result of the terms and conditions and when they may be challenged."

James Daley, founder at Fairer Finance, a campaign group, welcomed the move but said it may be "very difficult" to enforce.

He said: "There are normally several shades of fake reviews and some are easier to pin down than others. For example only asking customers who have had the 'perfect' experience.

"If a company boasts very good reviews but is being heavily slated by other sources, that could be a good reason for the Government to investigate. It would only take one or two high profile examples of companies getting fined or prosecuted for others to change their ways."

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Schengen collapse will wipe ?28bn from Europe's economies

Europe could see ?28bn wiped off the value of its economies as it faces the imminent collapse of the Schengen system of open borders, according to a leading investment bank.

Up to 0.2pc of the European Union's GDP could be erased as a result of the spiralling costs of cross-border travel and disruption to internal trade that would return in a post-Schengen Europe, Morgan Stanley warned.

The bank's analysts estimate a 5pc surge in the cost of cross-border travel, while trade flows between countries could fall by up to 20pc as border checks and waiting times are reintroduced to Europe.

· Slow death of Schengen risks new crisis for Europe's battered economies

Unlike the process of negotiating an EU exit for Britain, Morgan Stanley said a chaotic dismantling of the 30-year old passport-free zone would plunge the EU into political turmoil.

"Contrary to the Brexit process, which would follow an orderly legal procedure if implemented, the risk surrounding a suspension of Schengen is that it could lead to disorderly political developments related to border controls, which in turn could cause a material hit to private-sector confidence", said Elga Bartsch, at Morgan Stanley.

"This uncertainty would likely lead to a material decline in investment spending, especially if the suspension of Schengen coincided with an exit of the UK.

Morgan Stanley's forecast is more than twice the economic costs estimated by the European Commission, which stands at 0.1pc of EU GDP. Separate analysis from a think-tank linked to the French government estimated that ?110bn would be wiped off the EU over a decade.

The prospect of a full-blown dismantling of the passport-free zone - where people and trade can move without restriction between 26 countries - is looking increasingly likely as Brussels buckles under the pressure of an unprecedented influx of refugees.

EU ministers will gather later this month to decide on whether impose a two-year suspension of the Schengen agreement - a decision that would "mark the first reversal of European integration" in more than three decades, according to Morgan Stanley.

 

Goods worth ?2.8 trillion travel within the Schengen area every year, while 1.7 million EU citizens commute across borders, earning their salaries in different European countries.

But an unprecedented wave of refugees and migrants has seen temporary border checks return to France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, and Slovenia - threatening the functioning of the single market.

A rollback of Schengen would also discourage long-term investment in a fragmented continent and reduce Europe's resilience to economic shocks, said the 16-page report.

Europe's small, open economies would be the biggest casualties, with Hungary emerging as the most vulnerable to the reversal of free movement on the continent.

Hungary's foreign minister has called on the EU to preserve the Schengen area at all costs to prevent a catastrophic decline in the continent's economic fortunes.

The likes of Estonia, Croatia and Luxembourg would also be disproportionately hit from a fragmentation of the single market.

But "larger and hence more closed economies such as France, Germany, and Italy would be less impacted" said the report.

 

 

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