EE Broadband renewal - Mistake, misinformation or lies?

[MBEE]

COOL STORY BRO! 😄 

Here goes...

My EE standard non-fibre broadband contract which has risen from £23 to £27 monthly over the last 2 years is up at the end of the month so I called in early last week to renew as it'll rise to £29 once I'm out of contract; I've been with EE / Orange for 16 years but the best they'd offer was the same as I was seeing under the current Summer sale online, which is standard fibre for £24 monthly or fibre plus for £26 monthly; they did offer me the first month free however. They agreed to call me back on the Friday whilst I gave it a thought but no one ever did.

Meantime, I got an email 2 days ago reminding me I'm about to go out of contract offering me renewal of my standard non-fibre broadband at £26 monthly or standard fibre at £31 monthly, no mention of fibre plus. Obviously these prices are nowhere near as good as I was offered previously so I ring back and get offered £24 fibre, £27 fibre plus (slightly higher and no free month offered this time) OR £21 standard non-fibre. I agree this last option with the agent as our standard non-fibre has been doing us fine all this time, still perfectly happy with it.

Agent then puts me on hold (not sure why), comes back on and tells me both his manager and indeed EE's systems are no longer letting him renew my standard non-fibre contract; very sorry and I should never have been offered it over the phone or email; I get told all this is because Openreach are actively trying to retire standard non-fibre connections in my area with a view to getting everyone onto fibre.

This strikes me as sales tactics, so I politely explain that being coerced into a 2 year fibre contract I neither need nor want doesn't sit well with me, especially given there's no EE fibre max in my area, whilst the very highly regarded Box broadband have already offered me 100mbps or 300mbps symmetrical FTTP at £20 and £23 monthly respectively (plus one whole year free to make up for any early exit fees should I need to break contract early with EE!), speeds which frankly wipe the floor with all the current EE offerings. I explain that at this point, I'm minded to simply allow my contract to run out and see what happens after month end as my current price will 'only' rise by £2. I'm betting Openreach aren't simply going to cut my non-fibre broadband off. Agent says he understands but there is nothing more he can do and suggests I watch for any further emails over the next couple of weeks which may provide some alternatives.

After the call, I have another look at my address on the EE online broadband checker and lo and behold, all special prices are gone, even though the Summer sale is still on at time of writing!

I guess if EE can't clarify and make this shambles right I'll be directing all this to Ofcom, as I was misinformed via both email and phone.

If anyone from EE Community Support wants to send me a PM and take this on, or arrange a callback for me, I'm all ears! 🙂

[XRaySpeX]

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@MBEE wrote:

I get told all this is because Openreach are actively trying to retire standard non-fibre connections in my area with a view to getting everyone onto fibre.

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Even the EE Fibre & Fibre Plus you've been offered are delivered over a copper landline & are no diff in this respect from the standard ADSL BB that you have.

What does BT Wholesale Broadband Availability Checker estimate for your phone number? Post just the whole table and the line above it, blanking out your phone number. If it doesn't recognise your phone number or you don't have one, use the Address Checker.

[Christopher_G]

Hi @MBEE 

I'm sorry to hear of your experience. The online address checker should tell you exactly what's available in your area. If the person you spoke to were able to put that offer through for you, I'm sure they would have.

If you would like to discuss this further, or form a complaint, I'd recommend getting in touch with our Mobile Care team. There is a form for complaints on our website too. The complaints team will look into it and contact you back.

Chris

[Mustrum]

@MBEE    the answer will become clearer from the results of the BTW Checker in @XRaySpeX  post.

The PSTN (phone system) is due to close by the end of 2025, and many exchanges will be closed before then.

Whilst your broadband is delivered over copper wires, it comes all the way from the exchange, whereas FTTC will come from a local cabinet, hence is different to what you have. My guess is your exchange is closing hence why you are not being offered ADSL. I also guess you don't use your phone?

HTH

[MBEE]

Nice checker link, not used before! Table below; it even shows my proper max download speed, up to around 20mb which is what I tend to get in practice and what I see in my router settings and speed tests, although my official estimates from EE are only around half that.

Re. the FTTP = not available: it's not available to my front door for now, however there is what looks like a new Box broadband cabinet nearby and lots of their black boxes mounted on the phone masts with brand new cabling up to them within spitting distance. Lots of engineers about over the last year. I was told they're liaising with Openreach over a 'collapsed conduit' which is to be fixed imminently; allegedly..!

 

[MBEE]

Thanks @Christopher_G and @Mustrum ; as @XRaySpeX  mentions, I am aware I am currently on FTTC copper. 

Yes, I do have a phoneline which is connected but no, don't use it!

[XRaySpeX]

No, you're not on FTTC but on ADSL BB (both are copper to the home).

[MBEE]

OK, so I'm on copper one way or the other; I've been happy with copper thus far and again, none of this changes the facts that I was misinformed over both phone and email, nobody from CS got back to me as promised and I can no longer see any existing customer sale prices (see pic).

If I could renew to fibre for £24 OR copper for £21, I probably would still but CS aren't ringing back.

[XRaySpeX]

What does it offer you from your MyEE for BB under Change your broadband plan ?

[MBEE]

£28 fibre, £31 fibre plus, so exact same as last post, unfortunately.

This is nowhere to be seen: