Contract has extended by a year

[nathan1231]

Hi all,

I switched to EE from BT in December 2023 and due to a billing error on EE’s side, I wasn’t actually charged for over a year. At the time the mistake was noticed and corrected I was told I wouldn’t owe them anything back and going forward I would pay my contracted amount. As I was in a 24 month contract, I checked my account for upgrade deals before I start shopping around and was surprised to find my contract doesn’t actually end until November 2026 with a start date of December 2024 showing.

Add to this when I spoke to EE at the time of taking out the contract I was assured I wouldn’t pay more than a new customer for my service and the deals are significantly cheaper than I currently pay. I can’t find any information about this promise apart from my confirmation email has a price promise but there’s no information anywhere as to what that means.

[Chris_B]

@nathan1231  basically you didn’t pay anything for a period of time so when this got sorted a tariff period was put in place.  That tariff has a start and end date,   Perhaps you should have called customer support and offered to pay for the time you didn’t pay so you could keep the tariff term you wanted.   You got free internet after all and now you’re in a contract term when that free period got rectified.   

[nathan1231]

I understand that I received the service with no payment and had I noticed I would have called sooner and informed them; however my understanding of the email I received was that as EE admitted it was their mistake they weren't asking for anything back. It wasn't clear this would change the dates of the contract. This is verbatim from the email:

Because this is our mistake, you won't have to pay any contract charges until your next bill.

[JimM11]

@nathan1231 But it is still a 24month of payments, so either 12 at double the price or 24 at the price you were given! You should also be able to upgrade but with NO payment history EE wait for six months before opening the upgrade window again for you!

[nathan1231]

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I can't find anywhere in the terms and conditions that says this; there is no mention anywhere I can find that explains what happens if a mistake or error is made on EE's part. If you can point it out for me I'd appreciate that.

[JimM11]

@nathan1231 Same rules for BB as Mobile.

Can I upgrade early?

Yes, we can let you upgrade early. But you’ll have to pay an early upgrade fee.

You need to be:

• on an eligible pay monthly plan with EE
• six months or more into your contract with more than 30 days until your current plan ends

Your early upgrade fee will depend on how long you’ve got left to run on your plan.

[nathan1231]

That's fine, but it doesn't answer the original question.

This shouldn't be an early upgrade as my contract should be coming to an end in November of this year.

In fact as far as I can see in the terms and conditions, my contract start date is the one listed in my order confirmation and the duration is 24 months from that date. There is no mention in the terms and conditions about errors on EE's part or what they would do. 

How long does a service last and when does it start? Each service will last for a minimum amount of time (the minimum term), as set out in your order confirmation. The service start date is shown in your order confirmation. We start charging you from this date

Yes they didn't start charging me from this date, however the email I received to make me aware of the mistake said:

Because this is our mistake, you won't have to pay any contract charges until your next bill.

So to the average person, this would say that the charges they failed to collect aren't owed.

My argument is that my original contract start date and length should still stand.

I'll be contacting EE on the phone with this information and if needs be, escalating to OFCOM.

[XRaySpeX · Accepted solution]

As you rightly point out EE had no right to extend your contract term. It was their mistake & they admitted it by email in which they in effect waived the missing fees & made no mention of extending the contract end date.

OFCOM don't handle individual complaints. You can make a formal complaint to EE & if you don't get satisfaction after 8 weeks or come to a deadlock you can take it to EE's ADR provider. See Complaints code of practice and here is the Complaints Form .

[nathan1231]

Thank you, I'll get in touch with them to see if I can get it rectified. And thanks for the information on OFCOM, I hadn't looked into it so I'll follow the procedure outlined above

[XRaySpeX]

@JimM11 : You are falsely extrapolating. There is no such thing as "early upgrade" à la mobile for BB. Nor is there a " early upgrade fee". You may upgrade to a more expensive / faster plan at any time. You can't downshift to a cheaper plan during min. term.

[JimM11]

@XRaySpeX I could not find a BB in the terms but it was somewhere at one time and also stated on the Forum, i for one could not upgrade during the initial period until EE released and allowed so! May be for new customers who knows, but you have been there way longer so bow to your knowledge on it!