EE unwilling to provide what was sold

[Greenstick77]

Hi

Just wondered if anyone had experienced similar mis-selling of broadband services 

I was coming to the end of my BT contract and enquired on prices for an upgrade from the 150Mb contract and was sold an upgrade to EE 500Mb for 60p a month more with a new WiFi6 router.

Excellent, I thought.  Faster speeds and WiFi6 range from the router, what's not to like.  There is no WiFi6 router.  That's what not to like.

2 upgrade sales people and 1 online chat person has confirmed I should have a new router, however the orders team and the complaints team have said I can't have one.

This has been ongoing for 11 days now with false promises of calls back that happen days after I’m advised they will. The information given is inconsistent, saying the WiFi6 router is not compatible with the package I'm on.  Strange then that the WiFi6 router is given to new customers on the same package.

All I keep being told is that the BT Smart hub that I have will do the job but that’s WiFi5. If you were told "pay xx a month and you'll get a Ferrari” and when you complained that it hadn't arrived they said "just keep your fiesta, it does the same job" you'd understandably be annoyed.

it’s been passed to the elusive complaints department who seem to be uncontactable even internally. Several empty promises of calls back and still no progress, it's a pretty poor start.  Never had an issue with BT Broadband but this does not look good for the next 24 months.

The complaints team seems powerless to resolve this issue.  I've enquired about cancelling and moving elsewhere but the earliest anyone can activate a new account is 11th April which will affect home working, I don't see why I should be penalised for EE's poor service and inability to provide what I was sold.

Can anyone offer any advice on how to resolve this?

[Beancounter69]

Very poor service - see my post today of a similar situation of broken promises and inaction.  At least with BT I got responses and action. Beancounter69.

[jon_1103]

I've just came across your post, did you ever get a resolution?

I'm in a similar position, I joined EE 2 months ago and signed up to FTTC 75Mb and EE provided me a SH2 router, even though the website stated they provide a SH+ router. When I queried upon delivery they stated only FTTP customer get a SH+ router. 

Fast forward to this week and I had FTTP installed, I upgraded to 500Mb, but they never sent a replacement router. Even the Openreach engineer queried it during the install as to why I had 'older tech'.

I called EE today to hopefully get it sorted but instead I got a  jumped up guide who really irritated me more and simply would not help me. He had an answer for everything and even though I proved him wrong he still wouldn't accept EE had provide me the wrong router and quote me £300 to cancel as my TV services are still in contract. We even went through a new order together which clearly states EE provide a Smart Hub Plus router, except he stated the during the process the system generated a router to be ordered which would be a SH2.

I've logged a complaint today and we'll see where I get but I previously had a WiFi 6 router with Virgin Media and the coverage in my 3 bedroom house was far superior to the SH2, I no longer get WiFi in my garden but the jumped guide seem to think that he knew best and stated I need to pay extra for EE's Smart WiFi to get a better coverage 😑

[JimM11]

@jon_1103 ?Did you receive a confirmation e-mail from EE, it states what you will get as part of your package. Below is the heading on the e-mail, states speeds estimated etc also.

Thanks for choosing EE, James

[jon_1103]

I’ve just checked. I didn’t receive an email when I upgraded to FTTP but I’ve just found the two emails from when I first joined.
The first one stated  I’d receive a SH+, however, this order was cancelled by EE after a week with no explanation on their behalf. The second one stated I’d receive a Smart Hub, which is my current contact. Typical, but I’m prepared to argue this to the complaint specialist when they call me back.

I did call up again not longer to see if anyone else could help and someone did try, and actually could see where I was coming from, but they ended up raising a complaint because their only way was to upgrade me to FTTP 900 and this would cost me an extra £10 per month.

[JimM11]

@jon_1103 So i don't have any experience of the previous EE Routers as went straight to the EE Smarthub+ from sky when joined in March, do not see many complaints about the one you have, but many of the new version especially from BT hub2 user's. There are no two routers alike, it does have it's teething problems, and i absolutely HATE that you have to use a mobile app to do control, it's just not my type of thing. The router is HEAVILY strapped down to stop fiddlers that's for sure, but it's OK as far as ISP routers go. It does not have a very strong wi-fi, so if you do get one, expect to get some form of booster you will need it. Not sure which VM router you had, but my son has the HUB5X as he has G-PON and i had to install a booster for his ring doorbell that is about 25' away... The 1.6gb package requires for sure the new router but the 1gb is on the cusp. For £10 extra, i would put it towards buying a REAL router. ISP make plug and go so not to have any or much problems. HTH

[Greenstick77]

That sounds like a re-run of my experience. I believe the arrogant **** I spoke to was called James from the “loyalty” team

I think he has issues and is paid to wind customers up so they leave.  He suggested I leave but due to the lack of response from the complaints department I was over my 14 days.

he advised me that as I had an open complaint the 14 days was suspended. I said I didn’t believe him and he tried to reassure me that all calls are recorded. The smart **bleep** didn’t have an answer when I said that means nothing as the original promise of a new router was recorded but is still not being honoured. 

We decided to take the risk and move elsewhere but it had to be open reach so they could do a line takeover as we couldn’t afford to be without internet. We switched to Sky and it’s been faultless.  Will look at CityFibre when it’s due. 

my advice would be to tell them they are in breach of contract and suggest they allow you to cancel pro-rata and allow a live line transfer to another provider or you’ll take it further and be loud about it.  For me they never denied telling me that’s what they offered, just that I wasn’t getting it. I think trading standards or small claims would be a possible option. Seems drastic for the cost of a router but for me it’s also the principle. 

my feelings are they know exactly what they’re doing.

I have never (with the exception of Dreams beds) had an experience with a company like this and will never go back to BT or EE for any service.

good luck

[jon_1103]

@JimM11 I agree, controlling the EE hub via the app, which appears to not work half the time, isn’t a great way to manage the features available. I had the Hub5 with a WiFi pod (although I didn’t use it) and in my 3 bed house the coverage was absolutely fine. The Hub5 is WiFi 6 compatible, the same as the SH+ so I know my coverage based on existing devices and coverage would be fine for what I need.

I agree, I won’t be paying extra as my plan has always been to purchase either a mesh network or WiFi 6E router, which offer free parental controls via an app. I’ve narrowed it down to ASUS as they offer free parental controls for life. I just simply want the router EE advised I would get on my original order, except, their guides won’t acknowledge this so a complaint has been logged.

@Greenstick77 my guide was Jack, they must be twins! 😂 
Yes I’m starting to change my mind about the ‘guides’ as some of them simply just love winding customers up, well that’s how I feel.

As it stands my complaint is being looked into and I’ve even found the original email that EE sent me stating that I’d receive the SH+, so I don’t think they’ve got a leg to stand on now!

It’s a shame to hear you had to move ISPs. I don’t want to as the TV package with the Apple TV is the main reason I choose EE.

 Hopefully, it gets resolved soon.

[JimM11]

@jon_1103 Keep an eye out for the Asus XT8, special pricing just now as the XT9 is front runner, excellent router unless you like spider antenna...

[jon_1103]

@JimM11 I’ve got the ET12 in my wish list atm, which is the WiFi 6E version in that range, I'm just waiting for it to drop under £300 as it’s a bit pricey.
I was thinking if I’m going to upgrade my network I may as well get newer technology for a bit more. WiFi 7 mesh networks are way too expensive atm and so it’ll have to be WiFi 6E. It’ll be nice to have that extra frequency, which should help, even if my iPhone 15 PM is the only device I have to take advantage of it.

Spider antenna routers are cheaper but not sure my OH would appreciate it in our dinning room 😂