@Bassett I can offer advice, I have recently finished a qualifying Law Degree and volunteer for a online law clinic.
@Staffie85 thank you, makes me feel useful lol
Far as I can establish it comes under tort law, which would be a civil wrong. Samsung are the supplier to EE, EE supply to the customers. They BOTH have a duty of care to make sure the orders are fulfilled, if not they need to provide a solution which would be deemed reasonable and to benefit the customer.
The T&C's on the email I received from my pre order states:
Whenever you pre-order (i.e. order a device before it is launched), or order a device that is currently out of stock, we will aim to send it to you within 30 days either of the launch date (pre-orders) or of your order (out of stock devices).
In my case, I pre ordered 53 days ago (28th February)
Sometimes, due to demand, we will not be able to send it to you within this time. If so, we will let you know and if you are unhappy to wait more than 30 days, you can cancel this order.
In my case, I have not received information of this sort
This means we will refund any deposit or amount you have paid for the device and cancel your account.
My order is still an open order....
If you are an upgrading customer, and you decide to cancel this kind of order, you'll still have to pay for any services used before cancelling.
Not if you have not received the handset, the contract starts from when you receive the phone, you should not be charged anything until that point.
When you pre-order or order a device that is out of stock, your contract with us starts when your order is accepted but your plan will start at (and you will be charged from) the moment we send your new device out to you (i.e. just before you receive it).
My understanding is that if EE have not been able to provide the phone within the 30 days which appears to be the maximum considered wait time BUT we are in the middle of a global pandemic, so therefore it would be considered reasonable to be offered a similar product, in this case the 128GB version in place of the 512GB - They should also not be selling the 512GB if they are NOT certain when or if it shall be re-stocked. In my opinion, you could only promise this based on the actual probability and certainty that it will come into stock.
It is not reasonable that people should wait over 30 days for a handset, nor should they loose out on any promotional offers due to the original orders not being fulfilled due to stock levels.
This is just my understanding of the situation, I accept no liability for any information deemed to be incorrect at time of writing.
