Being added to an A/C as a 3rd party contact via call with Customer Services

[Mellman]

Good Afternoon, 

Just seeking clarity on something - My father is the account holder and bill payer - however I am the primary user of the internet in our house. I did some research on these forums and found that it's possible for an account holder to nominate a 3rd party to be able to speak to EE via a call with C/S to set this up. All good there. We took the time to do this around 10 days ago, upgraded our internet package and were told we'd be sent a new router. 

Today, I called C/S as the 3rd party authority to consult about the location of the router as we've received no email or delivery and was told abruptly by a C/S representative (or whoever you get put through to 1st) that EE does not allow anyone aside from the account holder to speak regarding the account - they were adamant that this was a cut and dry situation - I explained that I'd seen information to the contrary time and time again on this forum and she said that will be "looked into" - my Father was not at home at the time to field the security questions as the account holder and the call was terminated. 

Who do I believe here? Did we waste our time with the very helpful C/S attendant 10 days ago setting all of this up? She was receptive to the idea and showed no hint of our demand being an impossibility. 

[JimM11]

@Mellman You completely wasted you time that's for sure.

[Mellman]

Thanks for the response Jim - so it's not possible?

These were the original threads I had seen:

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/EE-app-and-website/Adding-a-contact-to-the-account/td-p/1430303

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-Landline/Adding-my-partner-as-account-manager-to-EE-Broadban...

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Archived-Posts/Can-I-add-my-partners-name-to-our-family-account-so-he-....

These responses were provided within the last year, has a policy changed for EE to no longer be doing this?

[JimM11]

@Mellman My sister is in a wheelchair we live 50 miles apart, set the whole shebang up and fell over at the first hurdle with the first call, just gave up EE are just so stupid, got through all the security dialled new all about the account her status everything, can we talk to your sister, she's not here we are 50 miles apart, WELL we cannot talk to you, what's the point then, ""answer"" it's the way that it is. EE later sorry we are reviewing our policies is there anything we can do better, just laughed you are taking the P now... We are moving asap when the BB contract is up, and already the EE mobile has gone now that's how mad she is....

[JimM11]

@Mellman You need to look on the official EE documents. They will be somewhere in the help above, NOT what the Forum say's....

[XRaySpeX]

Do you think that Lord Muck in his Castle phones up himself every time he needs support with his BB? No, he gets his butler to do it .  (Slight exaggeration! 😉)

The A/c Holder needs to call CS to nominate you as a 3rd-party to discuss his a/c on his behalf over the phone. You'll then be able to deal with the day-to-day running of the a/c but not change any contractual matters, like upgrades or cancellation.

This is covered in Vulnerable customer account help :

Nominate someone you trust to help with your account

You can nominate a friend, family member or carer to act as an authorised user to look after your account.

All you have to do is set a password and give it to them and they’ll be able to help you with most things.

They’ll have near full access to your account, but for certain actions like changing ownership, closing the account or setting up a payment plan, they’ll need a power of attorney.

---

Alternatively the A/c Holder needs to effect a change of ownership to you as per Change My Account in The Case of a Life Event  .  The current owner of the contract wishing to be moved needs to call CS with both of you available on the line to effect a change of ownership. The other person will need to pass a credit check. They will then be paying for that contract. If you can't do it together CS will give the current owner a password for the other to quote when they call.

[Mellman]

Yes, this in theory is how it should work. We did call up together 10 days ago and set it up with the account holder present. Though in practice it was worthless when trying to call C/S the first time this afternoon - would you believe, I called a second time and instead of explaining my situation in depth like the 1st time, I simply presented the account number and stated I was the 3rd party and they spoke to me - a different rep that is. So it seems like it will be patchy at best, I just want the router and to have to deal with EE the bare minimum once received. 

[XRaySpeX]

So, what the Forum told you was correct but not all EE Staff are aware of their procedures. So, what's new!

[Mellman]

I guess I'll become suitably jaded as my time progresses with EE over things like this, what pained me the most was the sound of contempt from the C/S rep for me citing this community forum as the resource where I'd seen this was possible.

[JimM11]

@Mellman Why you have already stated, find out the router and minimal contact, so if you have now found out last part follows. With luck you will sale through the 24 months and never have to contact them again, look at the contact us and start to use the text options...