Flex pay 36 month 😥

[ste2]

Please bear with me here I upgraded my iPhone XS Max in 2023 like I usually do every two years. I was under the impression that come 2025 I would be able to upgrade but even though my air time contact runs out next year my flex pay contract runs out next 2026. I’ve tried to get some clarity with EE and I requested a transcript of the call back in 2023 but the rude lady at the complaints department said that wasn’t possible. I do suffer really badly with ADHD and she’s just basically hung up on me. And the outcome was this is all my fault. Since when was a phone contract 2 years and the phone contact 3 years. I’ve been with EE 18 years and always upgraded every two years I pay EE £90 a month for my iPhone and iwatch. This flex pay thing wasn’t explained to me on the phone I’ve never had this before ever. What can I do if I have to pay £500 to get out of this flex pay thing I’m leaving EE for good please help me 

[bristolian]

The basis of FlexPay is that you have 2 separate contracts, each with their own monthly payments.

The rolling contract for airtime continues until you explicitly stop it or make change, but has a minimum term. The fixed-term contract for your phone has 24 or 36 equal monthly payments and ends once the interest-free-loan is repaid.

Part of the process for a FlexPay plan is that you accept the legal documents where the structure is outlined.

[ste2]

Why isn’t the airtime agreement 3 years then? Wouldn’t that make more sense and why isn’t the transcript of my original telephone conversation available when I upgraded.

when I complained 6 months ago I was assured that I can upgrade next year but now I can’t when I was assured on the phone that I could. And the transcript of this conversation isn’t available either. I’m only going off what I was told on the phone.

[bristolian]

It's the customer's choice when going onto a FlexPay plan, whether the finance agreement is a 24 or 36month one.

[ste2]

Well i wasn’t given a choice 

[Schockwave · Accepted solution]

@ste2 , if you want to upgrade with a new phone, then you have to pay off your flex pay first, which you can do anytime, if you want to upgrade your plan, you should be able to do that and continue to pay for your phone as flex pay. 

Flex pay is  relatively new, as before the plan included the both phone and airtime, but now you have a choice, which is much better.

[ste2]

I was never told on the phone when i upgraded that my phone would be on a 3 year flex pay contract. I struggle to read things and my ADHD is bad.

I just thought when I signed the agreement it was a 2 year deal they won’t give me a transcript of the original telephone conversation stating that the phone I would be stuck with for 3 years and the airtime agreement was only 2 years. By the sounds of things yes it’s all my fault and EE are so perfect. I’ve never had a so called contract like this before ever 18 years is a long time to be with a company. But the rude lady this morning just put the phone down went I got upset. There a terrible company or I’m just plain stupid 

[Chris_B]

@ste2  Your contract is on your account so you could of looked at this.  This is both the airtime and the device contracts. 
With a flex pay tariff you can see how long you have left on each contract on your account so you could have got this sorted had you looked at that within 14 days of taking out these contracts. 

You click manage/billing/see your plan and device details.      

And you’ll never of had a contract like this before as it’s wasn’t offered before.   With a flex pay tariff any yearly price increase is only on the airtime contract not the device contract as it would of been on the old style contracts 

[ste2]

I’ve never had two contracts before so no I wouldn’t have looked. Mobile phone contracts have changed massively it seems since 2023. I thought I have a phone and I just paid over the 2 years then upgraded as I’ve done for years and years. Why doesn’t the flex pay contract match the air time agreement? 

look I’m sorry I’ve came on here asking for help it’s clearly full of EE staff in here  it’s clearly my fault I’ll swallow the £500 to get rid of this stupid flex pay contract and I’ll find another mobile phone operator that will allow me to have one phone over a 2 year deal with out having to pay for the phone for a further year. 

[bristolian]

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@ste2 wrote:

look I’m sorry I’ve came on here asking for help it’s clearly full of EE staff in here 

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Every reply you've had so far on this thread, is from other EE users - EE staff are identified by "community support team" in their forum title.

For many years, there's been criticism of the mobile industry for having the traditional contracts such as what you're used to, that require user intervention to reduce in price after "finishing". The response to this apparent customer demand are these FlexPay plans, where the phone loan & airtime payments are legally separated. Yours is an example of why the networks are sometimes in a no-win situation with how they structure customer plans.

If you are on a FlexPay plan, then you will have had 2 separate agreements and 2 separate monthly payments - this would have been evident on a review of your monthly payments. There is rarely an excuse for CS agents to terminate calls in the manner you imply, but equally customers taking out monthly contracts need to have some understanding of what they're signing.

Do you have any friends or relatives you could ask, to perhaps help you understand your next steps a bit more?