Stop paying for the airtime plan when it’s paid up since last year

[Charlotte199124]

Hi..

When I originally got my device and plan it was separate payments which is fair enough.

The plan payment was on a 24month contract and was all paid up as of March 2024 but I have still been paying £35.80 for it every month. My device payment was set for 36months and is coming to an end on the 10th of February this year, it says I have 8p left to pay but guides on the phone say my contract is until March this year.  When I check my billing it states my monthly payment is £67 and says nothing about a final bill.
All I want to do is pay the final Device payment and cancel the current airtime plan for something cheaper as my device would have all been paid up and boxed off. I have been to the EE shop today and they can’t help me, I have call EE many times and explain the situation and I get put on hold, spoken to, put on hold passed to another guide, explain the whole thing again, get put on hold….. it’s endless. When I do finally get through I’m told as I’m a flex customer it’s different to normal customers and this is where I get confused. Then I get told they can’t do anything cheaper when I tell them previous people I have spoken to have quoted me £6 or £9. I also got told that if I were to be a EE one. Customer I could get airtime for £16 but that’s if I signed up for broadband. All I want is a sim only that’s less than what I am paying now on a monthly basis not bound to a contract and keeping my device as it would be all paid for. 

and also would I get money back for paying £35.80 for the airtime plan all of last year and January this year that had ended its contract march 2024

[bristolian]

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@Charlotte199124 wrote:

The plan payment was on a 24month contract and was all paid up as of March 2024 but I have still been paying £35.80 for it every month. My device payment was set for 36months and is coming to an end on the 10th of February this year, it says I have 8p left to pay but guides on the phone say my contract is until March this year.  When I check my billing it states my monthly payment is £67 and says nothing about a final bill.

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You've mentioned a (combined) monthly payment of £67, and an airtime plan for £35.80 - this would suggest a device plan of ~£31.20?

The two payments should be separately taken, to reflect the independent contractual status.

[Matt_124]

Once your device balance is cleared you'll be able to upgrade to a SIM Only deal, nothing needs "cancelled" you just need your plan changed via the upgrade process once the phone has been fully paid off.

The airtime component has a 24-month minimum term, but the device was paid over 36 months and this puts restrictions in place for when you can adjust the airtime.

Airtime plans are a service component so can't really be "all paid up" as there is nothing being paid off just a monthly charge being fulfilled, and they don't end automatically (as otherwise customers would be without service and lose their number if it just shut off) Instead your airtime continues on a 1 month rolling basis until the customer does something to change them. 

You would be best waiting for the phone payments to be fully paid off (at which point they will stop coming out) and then calling EE to upgrade off your expensive airtime plan to a SIM Only deal which will suit your needs.

[bristolian]

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@Matt_124 wrote:

Once your device balance is cleared you'll be able to upgrade to a SIM Only deal, nothing needs "cancelled" you just need your plan changed via the upgrade process once the phone has been fully paid off.

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Whilst true, it's worth mentioning that the airtime element of a FlexPay plan is "effectively" a SIM-only already, although not in name. The whole basis of FlexPay is that when the fixed-term repayment of a phone-loan is completed, those payments stop and thus your monthly outlay reduces.

There will probably be occasions when a SIM-only plan is cheaper than the airtime element of FlexPay, and no doubt occasions when the opposite is true.

[Matt_124]

Yes of course,

My response had built in the assumption of said airtime plans often being more expensive by the end of 36 months due to yearly increases etc, as well as the OP's stated billing charges, but the opposite could also be true.

Indeed it is, as you point out, the same as re-contracting a SIM-Only deal to a different tariff at the end of the minimum term and comparative pricing entirely dependent on the promotions available at the time.

[Charlotte199124]

Basically… what im asking is once the device is paid will the £67 still be billed to me. As the airtime was contracted to end last march and i am still being billed… so will this be the case for the device also

[Matt_124 · Accepted solution]

Your device payments automatically stop as it is a Credit Agreement with a set number of payments, but your airtime doesn't work this way and that is why you are still billed for it.

Your total amount paid to EE will go down when the last device payment is taken, and all that will be left is your airtime (aka the charge for your SIM). You can then choose a SIM Only deal to upgrade to if you are not happy with your Airtime plan.

Your airtime wasn't "contracted to end" (as this would result in you being cut off) and that is not how contracts for a service work.

Your minimum term expired, at which point the service rolls on month-to-month and onus is on the customer to do something or let it continue as it is.

Think of your Device Payments and Airtime as one payment for your Phone Cost and another for your SIM.

A SIM or Airtime doesn't suddenly become free at the end of the minimum term, because it is a service with a monthly ongoing charge, and is not a product that you own outright by the end of the contracted term and will always have to pay something for it. 

[Charlotte199124]

Thank you!! I finally understand, that was basically like an idiots guide to billing lol 😂 but no one ever explained it like that, it use to be so simple when it was all in one payment for both device and airtime which is where i was getting confused. So when i was trying to get the point across before even i was lost in translation. 
Thank you so much ☺️