Being charged for a “free” tablet after upgrading.

[johnmallorca]

I’m hoping someone from EE or the community can help clarify my situation.

About a year ago, I signed up for a SIM-only plan. I was offered a deal for £26.70/month which included a free Lenovo tablet — no additional cost. I have screenshots of the conversation with the agent confirming this.

The way the deal was set up, it appears that I was being charged around £15 for the SIM-only plan (with discounts applied), and about £11 for the tablet SIM — totalling the agreed £26.70/month. So far, that made sense.

However, since upgrading my phone recently and moving onto a new plan, the previous arrangement hasn’t carried over. I’m now being charged separately for the tablet SIM — even though the tablet was offered as a free item with no additional cost.

I’ve contacted customer service, but haven’t had much luck getting this resolved. Given that I have evidence of the original agreement, I’m hoping this can be looked into.

Has anyone experienced something similar, or have any advice on how best to get this sorted?

Thanks in advance.

[XRaySpeX]

Show us the screenshots of the conversation with the agent confirming this, obscuring names.

What are you now paying for the new plan & the tablet SIM separately?

[johnmallorca]

 

So my upgrade is about £70 a month. The sim on the tablet I was given is £13.13.

[Mod edit: Image rejected due to it containing private information.]

[XRaySpeX]

1. The offer of the tablet at no additional cost is misleading. It makes no mention of an ongoing SIM plan that you will be paying for monthly. It just offers you free hardware.
2. The upgrade contract is for a new phone & so you would expect its price to be much higher. The tablet SIM contract has probably been subject to 2 CPI + 3.9% annual price increases, so £11.30 (say) + 9.3% 2024 price rise (as best I remember) = £12.35 + 6.4% 2025 price rise = £13.14.

You should have queried at the time the monthly charge for the tablet SIM or cancelled the deal within the cooling-off period.

[johnmallorca]

Sorry I think there was some confusion. My new upgrade price has nothing to do with my query. 

So my Sim only plan was offered at 26.70 - as per the picture of the conversation. My bills before the upgrade & price increase was £26.70 - which was what was offered to me, and the breakdown of this was as follows: 

 

 

Sim only plan @ £15 and the tablet was @ £11.70 which adds up to the agreed price of £26.70 - what was not mentioned was that the bill would be split on the two devices, but not only that, I had signed up for a 1 year contract on what I wanted, got offered a “free tablet” but they discreetly sign that tablet up for 2 years? This only became apparent when I recently upgraded my phone. My new plan no longer includes the SIM discount, so I’m now paying separately for the tablet SIM — which was supposed to be free in the first place. 

The first year’s pricing hid this issue because the total matched what I was originally offered. But now it’s clear that this was done in a misleading and unfair way.

I tried to contact EE on this but every time I bring up the issue I get disconnected from the call or the chat ends abruptly.

[Mod edit: Images rejected. Please do not post personal information on the public board. Thanks!]

[XRaySpeX]

All I can say is why have you been paying for over a year for what was supposedly a free tablet when it was shown plainly on your bill as a separate item, no. & payment?

[Northerner]

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@johnmallorca wrote:

 

So my upgrade is about £70 a month. The sim on the tablet I was given is £13.13.

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A bit misleading but there is only these messages in the screenshot nothing after which would suggest this is not the whole conversation. 

Technically you haven't paid for the tablet but for an additional SIM plan. 

Thanks 

[Mod edit: Image rejected due to it containing private information.]

[johnmallorca]

I completely understand what you mean when you look at the bill like that. I will add, however, looking at your bill on the EE app doesn’t immediately show the itemised bill, so you can see where I have been mislead to. 
 My point is, when the deal was offered to me, I was explicitly told by the EE agent that the tablet would be included at no additional cost. I had no reason, being with EE for so long, to suspect anything foul.

The way the deal was structured — £15 for the SIM and £11.70 for the tablet — still added up to the agreed price of £26.70, so it didn’t raise a red flag initially.

It was only after my SIM-only plan ended and I upgraded that I realized I was being tied into a separate 2-year contract for something I was told was free.

So while yes, the tablet was technically listed on the bill, I had no reason to question it at the time because:

The total matched what I was promise.

I was told there would be no extra charge.

There was no discussion regarding a 2 year contract for a tablet that was offered for no additional costs.

I’m raising this now because I believe it was misleading and unfair. I didn’t agree to pay beyond the original 12-month term for a “free” device.

[johnmallorca]

Totally fair point — and I get that one screenshot doesn’t show the whole conversation.

To be honest, I only took that particular screenshot at the time because I wanted to show the offer to my partner. It was purely by chance that I even have it, but it clearly shows the agent stating that the tablet would be included at no additional cost.

You’re right in saying that the charge is for the additional SIM and not the tablet. But that’s exactly the issue: the agent specifically said the tablet was included at no extra cost, and I had no reason to think I’d be tied into an additional 2-year contract for a SIM I didn’t ask for separately.

[XRaySpeX]

Yes, I agree that the original transaction was misleading and unfair.& that you would have no impetus to look at the details of your bill when the total was as agreed.