Are EE scammers?

[marcinx98x]

My question is: have you also been ripped off by EE? I’ve heard about this happening to friends; my parents went through it, and now it’s happening to me! EE "forgets" that a contract has ended and keeps charging for internet service for months on end. In my parents' case, it went on for eight months, and getting the money back took another four. Now I’m in a situation where they’re still taking payments after my contract has ended. This happens to so many people that I’m convinced it’s a deliberate scheme to cheat customers—I don’t believe for a second that it’s just a coincidence.

[JimM11]

@marcinx98x Good luck with it all! Mine's was perfect, OTS was switched over rapid 5 day's, EE said good by and refunded the day's with zero issues and no overcharge whatsoever. Ended 10 Mar 2025, 13 day's short and refunded those day's direct back into the Direct Debit account. All EE on the final bill below....

""You normally pay for services in advance. As you stopped your services on 10 of March, we've credited your account for 13 days you were charged for on your last bill""

What's changed since your last bill
11 Mar - 23 Mar
Broadband Package: £37.99/month
› This is a refund of the price of your Package which you paid in advance up to
23 Mar 2025-£17.64

[Chris_B]

@marcinx98x   You start with THIS to make that complaint. The ombudsman isn’t going to deal with you directly as alone case as it’s not their purpose. And you’ll need a few thousand people to join you for the ombudsman to actually do thing, 

[marcinx98x]

Filing a complaint about the company's conduct with that very same company is pointless. As for the ombudsman, you are very much mistaken; there is a phone number you can call to get help practically right away – I know because I've used the service myself. The mere fact that a representative confirms they receive dozens of calls regarding the exact same issue raises a red flag – after all, that's just one person, and there are many such consultants.

[marcinx98x]

"Usually"...??? BT and EE are the only companies where I’ve paid bills in advance; I haven't encountered this anywhere else. I’d happily tile the walls in your home if you paid me upfront—not just a deposit, but the full amount; what do you say to that? It’s not standard practice; it’s very bad business.

[JimM11]

@marcinx98x Think you are wrong about the BB side, all companies do the Instant one month as soon as the service goes active, they did that for sky before EE, refund no issue, after EE sky again upfront and the refund no issue, and now on vodafone upfront payment again they did it partial and added it to the 2nd billing cycle so higher cost but still upfront, and do not expect any issue's refund wise when that period ends. Big difference 1 month upfront to the whole 24 month contract, EE/BT/Sky/Vodafone etc etc are not taking the Full Payment for the Whole contract period.

[Richardr66]

The Ombudsman will look at individual complaints, for telecoms firms that is a mandated procedure under OFCOM rules, that is their job.

EE have six weeks after receiving a formal complaint to settle it to your satisfaction, and either receiving a deadlock communication before then, or six weeks passing, a complainant can take the issue to an approved Ombudsman.

 https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/help/terms-and-conditions/regulatory/ee-complaints-code-of-practice-apr...  goes through the process.

If anyone has a serious complaint, it really is in their interest to go through this procedure.

In the last quarter of last year, the Ombudsman EE use upheld 55% of broadband complaints against EE, and a further 10% were settled after submission before investigation by the Ombudsman.

They don't say how many complaints per provider, so it is impossible really to compare.

[marcinx98x]

But you don't quite get my point. I agree – if a company wants to charge upfront, let them (even though it's bad practice) – but if you have an 18-month contract and call to cancel it 30 days before it ends, where is the logic in charging a 19th bill?

Another issue is that the employee misleads you by saying, "Call a week before the end" (you foolish customer, because that's when we'll charge you for another 20 days).

And another thing: the service was supposed to be switched off on the 24th of last month – the app said so – and on the 25th, I received a return label for the EE equipment. Yesterday, I got an email with another bill; I logged into my account and saw the service was still active, a new bill had been charged, and there was even a date listed for the next billing cycle.

This isn't just happening to me; friends of mine went through this two years ago, and my parents did four years ago. My parents were billed for another eight months after their contract ended – my mom checked the account and was shocked. After filing a complaint, EE refunded the money over the course of four months; we had to call them repeatedly to get it sorted.

This is a problem; it's a systemic issue designed to cause these kinds of errors – something an employee actually admitted – yet the company has known about it for years and does nothing.

[JimM11]

@marcinx98x Due diligence is the one, YOU keep the eye on it so it DOES not happen, if you don't then you only have to blame yourself even if they promised it as a don't worry it's all in hand. Correct stop it all before BUT still do your part to be sure.

[Richardr66]

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@marcinx98x wrote:

This is a problem; it's a systemic issue designed to cause these kinds of errors – something an employee actually admitted – yet the company has known about it for years and does nothing.

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I can't answer your complaints of course, I have no knowledge. But it is worth going through the formal complaints procedure. Only this week OFCOM fined Virgin Media £28m "for repeatedly preventing customers from cancelling contracts". This came after 1,881 complaints over three years via their Ombudsmen [Virgin have used two different ones depending on the date]. Unless a deadlock letter was issued, you actually have six years to complain to the Ombudsman, so get your parents to complain as well.

[marcinx98x]

So, I'm supposed to make sure the guy from EE actually cancels the contract by the time he promised over the phone? I don't mean to offend you, mate, but you're talking nonsense. How many contracts do you have right now? Can you imagine calling them up every five minutes? And another thing: if someone tells you over the phone – and sends an email confirming – that they've cancelled the contract, then for God's sake, how else are you supposed to verify it yourself? Pop in for a coffee with the rep? And take a peek at his computer screen?