Out of contract but still charged for my handset

[Crmck]

My contract ended a while ago but it appears I’m still being charged for my handset within the rolling contract. I called ee and was told a text was sent( no context) for me to contact them and that was it. All that happened during that call was mostly apologies, no resolution. Has this happened to anyone else? Does this even sound right??

[bristolian]

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@Crmck wrote:

the contract in its original form HAS ended as it incorporated a phone, try and argue that the PHONE is still relevant after a 36 month period…

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This is a fundamental misunderstanding, the phone is irrelevant for this purpose but is at the root of your query.

You have the exact same contract at month-37 as you did at month-3, unless you explicitly request a change - the T&Cs are freely available at https://ee.co.uk/help/terms-and-conditions/mobile/pay-monthly/network , you may benefit from reading the many references to "minimum term" in the documents.

You are free to change to a SIM-only plan at the end of your minimum term, but if you do not make that (or any other) explicit change, you continue on the exact same plan & terms as you had done until that point. Which is what has happened in your case. EE are following industry regulations by sending a text reminder when any individual phone is approaching its minimum term date - what a user does with that text message, must be for the account holder to manage.

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@Crmck wrote:

I’ve  only just realised that your responses are because you work for ee, you’re not joe public….

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I'm unsure what makes you think that, but all the replies you have had thus far, mine included, are from fellow users. No EE staff have responded on this community forum post as yet. Feel free to check on this link and this link for futher clarity on this.

[Crmck]

Sure….

maybe you don’t fundamentally understand what I’ve said then. Do we agree that sim only and an upgrade would be set at 2 different prices? Then do we agree that when you “sign” a contract you pay whatever cost you’ve agreed to? Therefore im not going to infinitely pay for the phone as it has a finite value, line rental potentially doesn’t. The phone part of the contract has been paid for and the contract has flipped to whatever else, it isn’t the original contract I originally agreed to. 
ee have made the contract changes now for this particular reason, sending  one text isn’t what I call due care as I’m sure when I miss a payment my phone would ring off and one text isn’t all I’d get. As I’ll repeat, morally this is wrong and not how you do business, we will see if it’s legal 

[bristolian]

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@Crmck wrote:

The phone part of the contract has been paid for and....it isn’t the original contract I originally agreed to.

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This continues to demonstrate misunderstanding of the legal construction of your contract.

You have one single contract covering all your services, both airtime & device. The newer FlexPay plans are constructed in a different way, with one airtime plan (similar to SIM-only) on a rolling basis and a device finance plan with a fixed end date.

You may wish to seek independent legal advice, but I am confident they will agree with the position myself & Xrayspex are explaining.

[Crmck]

Maths are a part of any financial contract. You  categorically cannot say if I didn’t respond to them it’ll be perfectly fine paying for potentially 10 years, a rate only designed for 36 months. Read back, one of you fully agreed the phone is not free… 

I don’t need a law degree to know that what you are coercing me to believe that even remotely sounds correct, as not once have you answered my question, just regurgitated terms and conditions 

[bristolian]

If you are attempting to argue the legality of particular payments, then the T&Cs are fundamentally the only relevant factor - unless you can find statute that specifically rules such terms unlawful.

Whether you find those terms agreeable or not is immaterial. As mentioned several times, a FlexPay plan will clearly be more suitable for you in the future. As regards the situation you find yourself in, I strongly recommend you seek independent legal advice - feel free to post back if that advice contradicts what you have been told here, and provide documentary proof of said advice for the benefit of others.

[Crmck]

Are you sure you’re not getting commission for repeating what I can do after the con? You still haven’t been able to answer how the phone is/ isn’t free if it’s a part of the package at point of sale… your other waffle is what it is, waffle

From the little I’ve looked up today everyone terms it out of contract, so I’ll continue to use that phrase thanks. Also there are some law firms willing to exercise the legality, so on the face of It doesn’t seem so black and white as you adamantly claim. 
And as I’m sure more light will get shone on this farce, it seems your company is willing to lose customers rather than to honour doing the right thing, so be it. I’m out of contract and have no qualms moving on

i just hope Joe Public in this situation reads this and sees it for what it is and uses their feet too

[BrendonH]

@Crmck did you read the T&C's before taking this contract out?

[XRaySpeX]

@BrendonH : He'd put his own spin on them!

[Chris_B]

@Crmck  It’s not about doing the right thing it’s about you understanding what happens at the minimum term of your current contract.  As per the T&Cs it changed to a 30 day rolling contract,  and you agreed to this when you took out the contract.  at this point you upgrade that can be to a sim only at a cheaper price point or you do a full device upgrade or you terminate the contract as per the T&Cs.    I’ll not go in to detail about what’s available now ie flex plan as this isn’t what your current contract isn’t.   

[Crmck]

You should’ve liked that one yourself spex… as no one else did

and let’s see if 100k customers are affected and want to walk if your scripted auto response holds or changes. 

and yes I read every word, didn’t see the part that said we will steal your money if you don’t respond to a  ahem “ whisper” I mean 1 single generic text. It’s even bad for business if it becomes more public, but yea keep regurgitating