topic Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit in Pay as you go

Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Neziak — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 10:09:49 GMT

Is there a problem with the EE back end today?

I topped up my account with £30 credit and tried to buy the £30 / 100GB Pay as you Go pack. Both the website and the mobile app says that the purchase cannot be completed at the moment and I have not been charged.

if so when will it be back up and running? If not, please help.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Christopher_G — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 12:14:15 GMT

Hi @Neziak

Welcome to the community.

I'm not aware of any problems with our top up service today. Are you able to top up through the fast payment service?

Chris

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

XRaySpeX — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 12:23:07 GMT

@Neziak : What does texting AL to 150 from it fully report verbatim (it is free)?

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Neziak — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 12:49:42 GMT

I just topped up using a credit card and now have £30 of credit but can't use that credit to buy a pack via the website or the app.

I tried to call customer service however, as I am abroad (in Malta), I get a recorded message saying the "calls from this number has been suspended, therefore this call cannot be completed".

I tried to text "pack" to 150 but texts do not send even though the network is showing 4 bars of signal strength.

I want to have the card active before I get to the UK. The last time I used the card was about 23 months ago when we last visited.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

XRaySpeX — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:04:16 GMT

@Neziak wrote:

The last time I used the card was about 23 months ago when we last visited.

Sorry, that SIM & no. are long gone. EE PAYG SIMs are deactivated after 6 months of non-use. You then have a further 3 months to call EE to reactivate it before it is lost completely.

You needed to make a chargeable action like making a chargeable call or text, topping up or buying a Pack or Add-on, not just using your mins, texts or data from your pack.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Neziak — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 17:29:43 GMT

If the number is long gone, why did EE still take my £30 from my credit card today to top up a long gone account? Surely it would be more honest to put up an error message to say that the account can't be topped up?

Furthermore, the confirmation email is damn right fraudulent because my money has been taken and I cannot use it in whatever way:

"Thanks for topping up.

Just to let you know that your recent top up has gone through and you can start using it straight away."

CUSTOMER SERVICES - Please refund my top up or reactivate my SIM card so that I can use the credit.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

XRaySpeX — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 17:31:17 GMT

This is not CS. You'll need to phone them.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Neziak — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 17:42:47 GMT

TO CUSTOMER SERVICES - Further to my last message below are screenshots to show that you took my payment today, then send me an email inviting me to use the credit, when I am being told that it cannot be used. I have blanked out the phone number and email address for privacy but please PM me for further details.

Please either refund me or reactivate my account. As my account still has a phone number on it, I assume the number has not been taken.

Here is evidence that you took my payment todayHere is the email confirmation inviting me to use the credit. How do I use it?

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

XRaySpeX — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 17:47:09 GMT

@Neziak : Your msg will not be received at CS, only by your peer users on this user discussion board.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Neziak — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 17:58:22 GMT

@XRaySpeX thank you. I will call them for a refund?

For future reference, how do I know whether the SIM has been lost before topping up?

I put the SIM in my phone, it shows the network with 4 bars. I can log into EE app and online and I am able to top up using my credit card. It is only when I try to use the credit that I get an error message saying please try again later. At what point should I have known not to top up? At what point was it going to tell me that my SIM and number are lost?

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

XRaySpeX — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 18:07:36 GMT

By remembering when you last used it for a chargeable activity.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Neziak — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 18:22:35 GMT

Honestly? How many people remember when the last "chargeable event" was? Maybe we can remember when the last pack ran out but chargeable event???

There is in excess of 30 minutes wait on the customer help line.

This whole thing is a massive scam and perhaps fraudulent. I wonder how many people have topped up and not had the stamina to pursue a refund.

I think this needs highlighting to OFCOM and perhaps and some articles to highlight this malpractice.

If others are in a similar situation speak up here and let's get letters to OFCOM. After all this is a community for the user.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Neziak — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 18:52:23 GMT

@Katie_B It looks like this issue has been ongoing since at least 2019. I now see many posts of top ups being taken when SIMs have been suspended. There has been plenty of opportunity to resolve this by suspending the ability to top up at the same time as the SIM. You reached out to this customer below by private message for more information - please reach out to me. Your customer helpline is awful, my call was just dropped and I am back in the excess of 30 min queue.

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

XRaySpeX — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 19:20:04 GMT

Ofcom are already fully aware of this practice by all mobile networks - Pay-as-you-go mobile: use it or lose it

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

Neziak — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 19:44:43 GMT

@XRaySpeX I have no issue with the number being recycled and the account suspended due to lack of use. I'm sure its in the Ts and Cs.

What I take issue with is for the carrier to continue to take money into a suspended, hibernated, cancelled account, knowing full well that credit cannot be used and that the customer has to go through a time consuming process to get the funds back. That just isn't right. Do you not agree?

Re: Can’t buy a pack with top up credit

XRaySpeX — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 20:33:25 GMT

I agree that it shouldn't allow top up & it's stupid that it does.