Cancel contract due to Roaming Pass price increase?

[Redmi]

When signing up to your 24-month mobile contract recently, the deciding factors were the price of the plan itself, as well as the price of the addons advertised as benefitting EE users. Your recent Roaming Pass price announcement, increasing the price from £15 to £25 per month from October is not only not in line with the Consumer Price Index, but is also a price increase outside of your annual price increase in March.

As such, please confirm EE customers can cancel their contracts without incurring penalties.

[James_B]

Hi @Bobbyboy169,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

I'm sorry to hear you didn't receive an update when your complaint was closed. Our Customer Care Team will be happy to check the outcome if you get in touch.

Do you have any inclusive extras included with your plan?

James

[Chris_B]

@Bobbyboy169   Roaming costs as per the contract you agreed to haven’t increased it’s still £2.29 per day.   Any add on you choose to purchase are your choice,  

And as I’ve said a tariff with a smart benefit it’s cheaper to have and you get to use the roam further add on with this and when it’s not being used for this you can have a different smart benefit.   It’s on average £5 more to switch ( not upgrade)  to a tariff with a smart benefit. 

[MG101]

Last year (2022) I spent 3 months, Sept-Nov, in Canada. I arranged with EE to have a roaming add-on for those 3 months at £11 a month. It was fine, no problems, great price, really useful. This year I called EE in August to arrange the same thing again. I was told it had increased to £15 a month. I agreed and assumed that was that. Less than 2 weeks into my trip, I got a text saying the price would increase on Oct 18 to £25 a month. Given that I’d already made a deal, I called EE to question this. I was told I would only pay what was agreed when I called in August. However, my bills still showed I’d paid £25. Then I got a text saying my roaming add-on was ending n Nov 20 … 10 days before I was due to return to the UK. I called again. They said there was nothing they could do as I had automatically been switched to a different plan (because I hadn’t responded to a text back in August), and if I wanted to carry on using my phone in Canada I’d have to call again and arrange another add-on for £25. Eventually they credited my account with £10 (whoop-de-do) and that was that. The guy on the phone was fine, but clearly had no authority to do anything. According to my partner, Sky are a lot more flexible and accommodating when it comes to customers. Anyone else have any other suggestions for providers I should switch to? I’ll be back in Canada for a much longer stay next year.

[bristolian]

It doesn't directly answer your question, but you may need to do some personal research rather than asking on EE's own forum. The Roam Abroad pass is indeed now £25/month.

All telecoms providers have pros & cons, and before changing networks based on roaming prices, you should test that network (Sky are an O2-piggyback) in all the areas you'll be using your phone, to ensure their coverage & service is suitable.

[MG101]

Thanks, Bristolian. Yeah, I do intend to research it a lot more - I was really just wondering if anyone had any particularly good or bad experiences with other providers. My main issue is that it was more than a bit cheeky of EE to up the price after we’d agreed on a deal. And the fact that they basically lied to me when they then said I’d only paid what we agreed in August. Had it been £25 right from the start I could have accepted it. You live and learn. 

[bristolian]

There is a very extensive thread discussing that very point, your post has now been merged into that thread.

[sarahrussell007]

Its absolutely disgraceful, I almost left EE in early September (I have 5 lines with them) ended up staying as they rang me once I requested PAC codes and offered me a decent deal on SIM only (after I had called the retention team and they didn't offer me anything!) Now me and my partner are off to Norway and they want £25 each for Roaming!! Vodafone who I almost swapped too, don't charge any roaming for Norway as its in zone 1. 

I would also like to know the reason for such a sudden and drastic increase - O2 charge nothing for roaming but I was in the same midset as you, £15 once a year isn't so bad, but £25 ? That's way above a fair increase. 

I will be taking my business elsewhere again it seems. Also with being on SIM only I can now do this with a months notice. 

[Chris_B]

@sarahrussell007   Only if this a 30 day rolling contract.  If you took out a 12 or 24 month contract you’ll be required to pay off the term of that contract if you give notice to terminate.   You could always call customer services and request to be changed to a tariff with a smart benefit as this includes the roaming pass 

[SteveS63]

same position here Redmi. Travel to EU and US often and chose EE for the same reason. Roam abroad has done from £10pm to £25pm in less than 2 years. Totally unjustifiable and I will leave EE together with all my family (who I pay for) at the end of my contract. Got to love Brexit eh.