OAP Missold Tablet & Apple Watch

[Greg37]

Hi all

I'm after some advice on pursuing a complaint against EE for misselling products to senior citizens in their Angel branch in London, under the Misrepresentation Act 1967.

I have a family friend who is 80 years old, until recently we didn't know how much she was paying for her phone contract or that she had received some "free" gifts with her most recent two phone contracts with EE.

To say we were disgusted when we saw all the details of the contract would be an understatement.

For her most recent phone contract she has been paying the best part of £100 per month, which included insurance (she didn't realise was included) and a contract for an Apple Watch at £24 per month! She had come away from the store believing that it was a free gift with the phone - and that there was no additional cost. 

I recently spoke to someone from the EE customer services team on her behalf, and they informed me that they couldn't locate a copy of the signed contract for the watch (hmm) and they would agree to refund her 6 months of the payments at £144.

Given that she has paid out £576 for this free gift - which she switched on once and never used, along with the ridiculous price of her phone contract in the same period - I think it's ridiculous that EE could make such an offer.

She came away from the EE store genuinely believing that both of the gifts were exactly that - gifts - and had no idea she was contracted with a monthly fee. According to EE Customer Services the Apple Watch contract seems to have started a couple of months later than the iPhone contract, which along with the paperwork issue sounds suspect.

There was a previous phone contract with EE which also included a "FREE" tablet, unfortunately we can't check that far back in her EE account to see what EE were charging her for that little present.

To anyone meeting this 80 year old lady it would be obvious she is not tech savvy, and she went to the EE store believing she was getting good advice about what she needed - we have since told her that it's likely the salesman involved with helping her likely picked up a little commission for the phone contract sale, phone insurance and watch contract. 

Once she found out, she did try to go back to the Angel store with the complaint, but they actually tried to sell her ANOTHER NEW CONTRACT!! What fantastic people you have working for you on the sales floor, EE. 

This is my last port of call before I take this complaint to Trading Standards, the Ombudsman, and potentially a lawyer - because I truly believe EE have fallen foul of the Misrepresentation Act 1967 - and it's about time such shady practices were highlighted in the media - to prevent other vulnerable people being mis-sold to.

To top off the complaint, we are still waiting for an unlock code for her phone some 6 days later, so we can switch her to SMARTY - where she will be paying £12 per month (with EE this same package was costing her closer to £80 per month).

If there's anyone from EE who can check this complaint and offer her a more substantial refund than £144, please leave me a reply so I can send the details - otherwise, if there's anyone here who has experienced similar please let me know.

Thanks
Greg

[Leanne_T]

Hi @Greg37

Thanks for coming to the community. 

I would like to help you both, to do this I have sent you a private message on here for some extra details. 

Speak soon. 

Leanne.

[Greg37]

Thanks for your reply and the PM, Leanne.

Unfortunately if you can only pass the case back to the same outbound customer services team I have spoken with (on her behalf) then ultimately there's not much point in me pursuing the complaint any further with EE - I will contact Trading Standards, the Ombudsman and a local law firm to pursue further.

I realise that customer services aren't to blame in any way for the sales tactics of EE staff in-store, so I do have sympathy for what you must have to deal with as a result.

I plan on taking this as far as I possibly can to expose the shocking tactics of EE sales staff, and hopefully create change in company culture so that another OAP isn't ripped off in the future. It must be like an episode of Channel 4's Phoneshop to work at EE.

Greg

[mikeliuk]

Hi @Greg37 ,

You may wish to review a recent similar post on a similar matter where that customer was eventually able to make progress: https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Other-phones-gadgets-tablets-and/Mis-sold-Free-Tablet/m-p/1071784#M199...

[Greg37]

Thanks for the info/link @mikeliuk, since we rejected the £144 compensation EE have now retracted their offer and will be sending details for us to contact the Ombudsman.

I had another call today from their social team (off the back of this thread), but they weren't able to do anything more than the 'executive team' I had spoken to previously.

Their reason for the signed watch contract missing on their system was "the scanner must have stopped working in-store" - but yet, they had the signed contract for the phone issued the same day.

I've found numerous other threads with mis-sold gifts, where the device was free but people weren't correctly informed of the contract they were signing into for the data/associated services.

I will be contacting a local law firm whilst we wait for the EE letter, and will also be posting on the MoneySavingExpert forum, and every social media outlet I can find. 

The treatment our family friend has received from in-store staff has been scandalous. It's all commission motivated, with not an ounce of empathy for the person they are 'selling' products to. 

[mikeliuk]

Hi @Greg37 ,

I'm saddened to hear of the customer experience you have outlined here. I've only been a customer of EE for four months but would not wish to have been put into the situation you have described and would be horrified if my friends or family were to be put in the situation which you have described.

I only hope that a representative of EE will read of the issue here and be able to step in with an acceptable resolution to restore the situation to before any contact with EE, or to such an early situation which matches the verbal contract agreed and compensates for any distress caused by any failures on EE's part.

I don't believe that anyone's life or time should be wasted fixing a mess which appears to be of EE's making (this is how it appears from the many reports of such mis-selling). To shorten the ordeal, I think it is worthwhile discussing with a legal adviser to write down an airtight list of things that EE can do to restore the situation to an acceptable state such that the customer is made whole.

There are various consultations on the Ofcom website in regards to mis-selling but the correct steps already seem to be in motion. Hope things work out alright as this seems to be the worst issue I've read of to date on this forum, in my brief time with the service provider.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/complaints/complain-about-phones-or-internet-services/the-way-a-service-was...