The ongoing saga of transferring from BT to EE...

[garywood84]

It's now over five weeks since I moved over from BT to EE on the promise that everything would be and work the same, except I'd have upgraded WiFi, from the Smart Hub Plus and Smart WiFi devices.

That has proved to be anything but the case, and I still have the following outstanding issues:

1. I can't pay by recurring card payment, despite this being an option with BT and the EE sales adviser confirming I'd be able to set this up with EE after the transfer.
2. DDNS functionality has been removed from the router, which is necessary given that EE only offers dynamic IP addresses.
3. Alexa functionality is no longer available for the Advanced Digital Phones with Alexa, despite the fact that the sales adviser confirmed I'd keep using my digital phones as with BT. EE has confirmed this functionality will not be reinstated.
4. Whilst initially accessible, my broadband account has now disappeared altogether when I log in to EE via the website or the app, so I can't access bills or manage the account because I have no way, on any platform, to access it.
5. When the broadband account was visible on the EE website and app, I couldn't use the Manage WiFi option, because it gave an error that I wasn't connected to my home WiFi, even though I was.
6. When the broadband account was visible on the EE website and app, I couldn't access my bills, because it would consistently take me to the login screen, log me in, then loop back to the login screen.
7. I can't use the EE-WiFi hotspots, because when I select to sign in with my EE broadband details, it accepts my login details, but then loops back to the login page and doesn't enable my network access.
8. The EE app now doesn't even work properly for me to manage my EE mobile account, because most of the fields where there should be information/function buttons say "Something's wrong".

I'm still in touch with BT/EE Executive Complaints, and have already been offered the opportunity to exit the contract without penalty, so that I can go back to BT (or, maybe give Vodafone a shot - it's advertising WiFi 6E routers, although it's speed guarantee is lower than BT/EE's). I'd tried to hold off doing that, in the hope that EE would resolve these issues. But I think the time is coming where I'll have to accept EE is in a mess and move on. EE is using paying customers as beta testers at the moment, and not even responding very well when we highlight the problems you'd expected beta testers to find. It's simply not good enough.

[garywood84]

I've just had a further update from my BT/EE Executive Complaints Manager. 

He has escalated the issues I'm having with the app to an offline team responsible for it, but hasn't had an update from them in over a week, despite chasing! Not sure whether to be reassured by that -- in the sense that even a senior contact in EE isn't getting answers -- or worried, on the basis that it suggests that nobody in EE really knows what's going on with this app...

I've agred to give it another week to see if they can get to the bottom of it. There remains the option of going back to BT, but that will mean losing WiFi 6, which was my whole reason to move to EE in the first place.

[XRaySpeX]

They should be shot whoever decided to config much of the router settings from an app necessitating a smartphone which not every user may have or wish to use for config'ing a router. We all notice how good  EE is at coding apps!

[garywood84]

@XRaySpeX I agree wtih you mate, although most of the settings are configurable directly in the router's control panel, via web browser.

The wider problem I'm having is that I can't actually access my EE accounts properly now, using the app or via the website. It appears as if my Broadband account has become unlinked from my mobile account, so when I log in, I can't see anything -- including billing -- related to my Broadband.

The whole thing is a mess!

[XRaySpeX]

@garywood84 : Not:

1. Device naming/discovery.
2. Access Control/Parental Controls
3. WiFi Enhancer, Work Mode , Game Mode , whatever they are.
4. ...

[garywood84]

@XRaySpeX I think you're right with (1) and (2) - I just don't use that functionality so haven't discovered that it's only available through the app. It is ridiculous that the app is the only way to edit those things - the primary control panel should be the web interface. 

(3) is just marketing hype, rather than useful functionality, isn't it?

[XRaySpeX]

@garywood84 : 3. Probably! I just haven't discovered what they are exactly. Probably just fancy names for tweaking some of the router's usual WiFi settings.

[XRaySpeX]

Of course EE being traditionally & mostly a mobile supplier just has to force users of a non-mobile product to purchase a mobile product 😉 !

[Sal_]

Hi Gary,

I am waiting on EE contacting me to move from BT to EE broadband as I am an EE mobile user with all my family and wanted to check what cost benefit it would be with the new offer of the unlimited data for all mobile users.

Anyway is it worth the hassle to move?

Cheers,

Allan

[turbotapeworm]

It's interesting to read that they have at least managed to provide someone moving from BT to EE with an updated router but the rest of your feedback is concerning.
 

I'm having issues of my own (as documented here) but wonder if I need to stop worrying about the BT Smart Hub 2 being replaced (and BT badgering me to send the old one back on a daily basis) given what I'm reading. The account side of things is still messy here too, I presume the features they're advertising like being able to control WiFi access on a granular level to shut the kids off at night is just a pipe dream at this point.

As I said in my own post it feels like they've been surprised by people moving from BT to EE rather than it being something they actively encourage and have the mechanisms in place for.