Customer service

[EmmaEnt]

Hi,

I went into my local EE store today to ask why, despite my 24 month contract ending 4 months ago, I was still being charged the full amount of £65 per month. I was told it was my responsibility to update the contract and I should have had an email from EE when the contract was coming to an end - I received no communication from EE. I then said I would look to move back to o2, as they don’t charge you for not updating your contract - you’re automatically put onto sim only as should be the case here. The EE staff said that was fine, they were happy to see me go. When I questioned how many people complain about this they said ‘not as many as you think, some people leave it for years without updating it’ and then joked ‘I’d be furious if I were them’. I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing, the nonchalance and lack of care towards customers from EE I find truly shocking. Why are EE ok with doing this to customers?

[Schockwave]

Hello @EmmaEnt ,

Welcome to the community,

It is up to you to keep an eye on your contract and after the minimum term, you should have also received a text letting you know about being able to upgrade to a sim only contract, this is what you should have done, as only the minimum term ends, contract do not, unless you so wish, this is why EE have now got plans which, when you get a new phone, you can opt for flex pay and a sim only plan as a contract, so that when you have paid off your device you then continue with the sim only contract, this is relatively new.

The way that staff member has spoken to you, is not acceptable, I find and should not be tolerated. 

What I do not understand is why customers do not check their contract and change it to a sim only if not upgrading or wanting to change, now with devices with flex pay, it is much simpler as once the device is paid off, that payment will stop and the sim only contract will continue.

[bristolian]

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@EmmaEnt wrote:

I went into my local EE store today to ask why, despite my 24 month contract ending 4 months ago, I was still being charged the full amount of £65 per month. I was told it was my responsibility to update the contract

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To add to the previous post, your contract did not "end" 4months ago - the natural consequence of that would be that your phone would have been cutoff and your service terminated. I doubt many users would find this prospect appealing.

Your minimum term ended 4months ago, but your contract continued. You should have received a text message towards the end of this term, advising of your numerous options. The final choice has to be that of the account holder, it cannot be anyone else's.

EE have defaulted all new customers since a year or so, to "FlexPay" plans where you have two separate, independent contracts. A 24/36month fixed-term contract for your device finance loan, and a rolling contract with minimum term, for your airtime. At the end of the phone-loan fixed term, those payments stop and leave you on just an airtime-only plan. You may find this a better option in the future.

The EE shop was absolutely correct in their advice to you.

[EmmaEnt]

Hi @Schockwave 

@Thank you for your reply. I’m new to this forum - do you work for EE?

To your point that I should have received a text after the minimum term letting me know I could upgrade, I received absolutely no communication from EE via text or email, so I want to know why that was?

I would also like to reiterate that my initial message was about the customer service EE have provided here. EE have made it the customers responsibility to ensure they’re not being overcharged, whereas my experience from competitors is that they don’t overcharge customers in the first place, particularly customers who have been loyally paying them for over 2 years. I’m saying that customers deserve better than the service EE have provided. 

[EmmaEnt]

Hi @bristolian

@Thank you for your reply. I’m new to this forum - do you work for EE?

To your point that I should have received a text after the minimum term letting me know I could upgrade, I received absolutely no communication from EE via text or email, so I want to know why that was?

I would also like to reiterate that my initial message was about the customer service EE have provided here. EE have made it the customers responsibility to ensure they’re not being overcharged, whereas my experience from competitors is that they don’t overcharge customers in the first place, particularly customers who have been loyally paying them for over 2 years. I’m saying that customers deserve better than the service EE have provided. 

It sounds like ‘FlexPay’ offers a better solution, it’s a shame this wasn’t introduced sooner. 

[bristolian]

Neither myself nor Northerner are EE staff. Take a read of the following 2 forum articles to clarify that those who are EE staff are identified by "Community Support Team" under their usernames.

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/EE-Community-info-News/Meet-our-Community-Team/td-p/1415489 

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/EE-Community-info-News/Meet-our-Community-Stars/td-p/1421642 

[Schockwave]

@bristolian , you meant to write Schockwave!