topic Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset in Contracts & Billing

Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 13:30:35 GMT

My contract ended a while ago but it appears I’m still being charged for my handset within the rolling contract. I called ee and was told a text was sent( no context) for me to contact them and that was it. All that happened during that call was mostly apologies, no resolution. Has this happened to anyone else? Does this even sound right??

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

XRaySpeX — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 13:43:42 GMT

@Crmck : EE's traditional contracts have no concept of paying off the handset. You agreed to pay the same price for the full duration of the contract. There will however be a 10% discount 3 months after the end of min. term. You may always choose to upgrade your contract to a cheaper SIM-Only contract from the last 45 days of your contract term.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 13:57:41 GMT

If they have no concept then why was it sold as an upgrade you pay during the contract length? In what way was the phone incorporated into the monthly? As I’m sure if I cancelled midway I’d have to pay for it or are you saying I’d have had it for free?

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

XRaySpeX — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:04:43 GMT

No, you didn't have it for free. It was sold to you as contract during which you pay monthly for the whole time you have it. The contract has a minimum term for which it must run before you may cancel it.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:19:37 GMT

So, as you say, it was sold as a phone and line rental in one price. The contract has now ended. If I didn’t query this, and I was specifically told this, I would still be paying for the phone into 2025 even though the 2-3 year expired contract incorporated the phone price…. Explain that..

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

XRaySpeX — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:23:58 GMT

A contract hasn't expired when you're still in it. Only the min. term has been surpassed.

You may always choose to upgrade your contract to a cheaper SIM-Only contract from the last 45 days of your contract term.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

bristolian — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:26:41 GMT

@Crmck wrote:

The contract has now ended.

Your contract had no end date, else your network service would also end. You had a rolling contract at an agreed monthly cost, with a minimum term date - this is often confused with "contract end".

At the end of that minimum term, you are free to either upgrade, give disconnection notice or change to a SIM-only plan.

The newer "FlexPay" plans where you have two independent contracts - one for your airtime, the other a finance agreement for your phone - may be more suitable for yourself.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:49:00 GMT

Of course there’s an end to your original contract, why would I have the option of 12,24 or 36? Or why would ee message me to contact them regarding this? You get transferred on to a rolling contract as part of the original contracts rules but your original contract expires. My original contract expired, dress it up however you wish.
Fact still remains that there’s no infinite payment towards a phone, even if iPhones feel that way, and my line rental certainly isn’t £80 a month individually. It was sold together , I’ve paid for the phone, I shouldn’t be continually paying for it in months/years time. Roll the on the line rental as I’m using it, fine but not the phone. I’m surprised this is even a debate

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

XRaySpeX — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:02:54 GMT

It's all the 1 & the same contract that you are on. It has no specified term, just a min. term when you are free to cancel it. You are never transferred to a "rolling contract". The original contract itself has provision for giving a "rolling" notice of 30-days to cancel it.

Anyway that's how it stands legally. I've nowt more to add on this matter as it is now rolling round in circles.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:19:33 GMT

the contract in its original form HAS ended as it incorporated a phone, try and argue that the PHONE is still relevant after a 36 month period…
I’ve only just realised that your responses are because you work for ee, you’re not joe public…. As I would have thought the world has gone mad to think normal people would think this process perfectly fine and you won’t get your money back.
No worries, divert the conversation away from my original problem if you want, fact still remains is money was taken and MORALLY that is a very foul move to try and brush it off with semantics. And I’m sure when I have time to dig it’s legally wrong too

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

bristolian — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:31:58 GMT

@Crmck wrote:

the contract in its original form HAS ended as it incorporated a phone, try and argue that the PHONE is still relevant after a 36 month period…

This is a fundamental misunderstanding, the phone is irrelevant for this purpose but is at the root of your query.

You have the exact same contract at month-37 as you did at month-3, unless you explicitly request a change - the T&Cs are freely available at https://ee.co.uk/help/terms-and-conditions/mobile/pay-monthly/network , you may benefit from reading the many references to "minimum term" in the documents.

You are free to change to a SIM-only plan at the end of your minimum term, but if you do not make that (or any other) explicit change, you continue on the exact same plan & terms as you had done until that point. Which is what has happened in your case. EE are following industry regulations by sending a text reminder when any individual phone is approaching its minimum term date - what a user does with that text message, must be for the account holder to manage.

@Crmck wrote:

I’ve only just realised that your responses are because you work for ee, you’re not joe public….

I'm unsure what makes you think that, but all the replies you have had thus far, mine included, are from fellow users. No EE staff have responded on this community forum post as yet. Feel free to check on this link and this link for futher clarity on this.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:04:38 GMT

Sure….

maybe you don’t fundamentally understand what I’ve said then. Do we agree that sim only and an upgrade would be set at 2 different prices? Then do we agree that when you “sign” a contract you pay whatever cost you’ve agreed to? Therefore im not going to infinitely pay for the phone as it has a finite value, line rental potentially doesn’t. The phone part of the contract has been paid for and the contract has flipped to whatever else, it isn’t the original contract I originally agreed to.
ee have made the contract changes now for this particular reason, sending one text isn’t what I call due care as I’m sure when I miss a payment my phone would ring off and one text isn’t all I’d get. As I’ll repeat, morally this is wrong and not how you do business, we will see if it’s legal

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

bristolian — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:15:35 GMT

@Crmck wrote:

The phone part of the contract has been paid for and....it isn’t the original contract I originally agreed to.

This continues to demonstrate misunderstanding of the legal construction of your contract.

You have one single contract covering all your services, both airtime & device. The newer FlexPay plans are constructed in a different way, with one airtime plan (similar to SIM-only) on a rolling basis and a device finance plan with a fixed end date.

You may wish to seek independent legal advice, but I am confident they will agree with the position myself & Xrayspex are explaining.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:51:47 GMT

Maths are a part of any financial contract. You categorically cannot say if I didn’t respond to them it’ll be perfectly fine paying for potentially 10 years, a rate only designed for 36 months. Read back, one of you fully agreed the phone is not free…

I don’t need a law degree to know that what you are coercing me to believe that even remotely sounds correct, as not once have you answered my question, just regurgitated terms and conditions

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

bristolian — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 18:00:22 GMT

If you are attempting to argue the legality of particular payments, then the T&Cs are fundamentally the only relevant factor - unless you can find statute that specifically rules such terms unlawful.

Whether you find those terms agreeable or not is immaterial. As mentioned several times, a FlexPay plan will clearly be more suitable for you in the future. As regards the situation you find yourself in, I strongly recommend you seek independent legal advice - feel free to post back if that advice contradicts what you have been told here, and provide documentary proof of said advice for the benefit of others.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 19:37:21 GMT

Are you sure you’re not getting commission for repeating what I can do after the con? You still haven’t been able to answer how the phone is/ isn’t free if it’s a part of the package at point of sale… your other waffle is what it is, waffle

From the little I’ve looked up today everyone terms it out of contract, so I’ll continue to use that phrase thanks. Also there are some law firms willing to exercise the legality, so on the face of It doesn’t seem so black and white as you adamantly claim.
And as I’m sure more light will get shone on this farce, it seems your company is willing to lose customers rather than to honour doing the right thing, so be it. I’m out of contract and have no qualms moving on

i just hope Joe Public in this situation reads this and sees it for what it is and uses their feet too

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

BrendonH — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 20:16:34 GMT

@Crmck did you read the T&C's before taking this contract out?

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

XRaySpeX — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 22:44:18 GMT

@BrendonH : He'd put his own spin on them!

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Chris_B — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 22:54:34 GMT

@Crmck It’s not about doing the right thing it’s about you understanding what happens at the minimum term of your current contract. As per the T&Cs it changed to a 30 day rolling contract, and you agreed to this when you took out the contract. at this point you upgrade that can be to a sim only at a cheaper price point or you do a full device upgrade or you terminate the contract as per the T&Cs. I’ll not go in to detail about what’s available now ie flex plan as this isn’t what your current contract isn’t.

Re: Out of contract but still charged for my handset

Crmck — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:41 GMT

You should’ve liked that one yourself spex… as no one else did

and let’s see if 100k customers are affected and want to walk if your scripted auto response holds or changes.

and yes I read every word, didn’t see the part that said we will steal your money if you don’t respond to a ahem “ whisper” I mean 1 single generic text. It’s even bad for business if it becomes more public, but yea keep regurgitating