Bullied, threatened and harrased by EE staff

[Ruby74]

I just wanted to include my experience when I went to EE store. I am not sure if you will delete this or ignore but I want to share this so no one else go through the same. I hope atleast one person will read this. 

I have been with giffgaff for 10years and due to sone network issues I wanted to move to EE. Both my parents are using EE for over a decade so I thought I would shift to the same network. 

However, what followed made me realised that this was one of the worst decisions in my life. 

It started with me phoning EE customer service person who provided me with some good deals . She said she wanted my bank details to set up direct debit which I gave her. I only provided her with the details because she told me it was just set up my account.

She asked me to wait for a call back to verify my identity and I got a call within a few minutes, I gave out some basic information they asked me. Since I was told that I would be given a callback after the verification I waited for hert to call me back. When I did not hear back from her I made a call back to the representative and explained the situation. I was told that my verification did not succeed and I should take my identity card to the nearest EE shop. 

 I went to the shop where I was greeted by a very kind young man. He offered me a seat and it is best to find me a good deal. Then again I was asked for my bank card I said I have already given all the details to set up direct debit. He said this was for credit check and I mentioned that do not want any hard search since my mortgage got approved and more hard search can cause issues with my credit report. 

 He said there is no hard search and they will only do a soft search since this is only a SIM only deal. Due to my anxiety ( I am on medication) I asked again if he is sure about this, he mentioned that only for mobile phone deals they do hard search.

So we again waited for the call but there was no call and when he checked again it was denied. I was worried because I have impeccable credit record. He imensioned this might cause due to repeated hard checks and which in my case could be due to  mortgage approval. 

 During this time that was another customer service agent who sat next to us with customers and got frustrated because he couldn't figure out some issues. The agent who was working with me also helped him which was very kind. However when the customers left the agent dealing with them got really upset and yanked at his ID card. From what happened I understood that he was new and sent on his own to deal with the customer. This happened while I was waiting for the verification call. Overall it felt like a very toxic environment. So I just wanted to leave. I called my husband to discuss this and he asked me to go back and confirm that this was a soft check since our mortgage advisor have told us not to do any hard check before the first payment of the mortgage. 

 I went inside and the guy who dealt with me before was at the back end of the store. There were three agents sitting at the front of the store with out any customers so I asked them if I can talk to the person X to clarify something. They asked me what is the information I need and I requested them I need to talk to him because he got all the information about me. 

 They insisted that I share my query with them so I asked if x ran a hard or soft check on my credit. One staff was named Ollie who said it's a hard check and he conformed with  person standing next to him. I said that cannot happen because x told me it's a soft check which is the only reason I agreed to it. X was walking around the store at the time and I waved at him and he motioned that he will come to me. 

I again requested if I can just have ask x about this  so I have some piece of mind. I also said that he motioned with his hand  that he will come to me. But but they asked me to explain the situation again and why is that I am worried about a hard t check being declined. I said that our mortgage broker how advice does on doing hard checks and their response was that I should fire the mortgage broker. They also mentioned some other words about the mortgage broker which I can't really remember.

By that time I was feeling my anxiety spiking and and they told them that I have anxiety. Sweating and I could feel my hands trembling and only laughed with his co-worker and said that he can see that. I felt absolutely embarrassed  and wanted to sink into a hole. I still believed X me the right information and asked they are telling me X gave me the wrong information. And they said 'yes, we can't do anything about it'. There was not even a single apology. I said I wouldn't have done it if I knew it was a hard check. And I believe it might have been a soft check since x did it, I asked them it could help if he confirm it. 

 They said that they wouldn't call x to talk to me and that I should leave the store. I said it would really it would help me confirm the information if I I can't talk to x since we developed a rapport. And then they laughed and only pointed to his store jacket and threatened that he would start recording me if I don't leave the store. This is the first time at York I got treated like this.  It was two men against a brown skinned women on the verge of a panic attack. 

 I was shocked, out of words and at the verge of tears- thankfully got the presence of mind to call an uber, crying through out the time. Once dropped home I had a panic attack, my mom and husband helped. 

My husband went back to the store and raised the issue. Ollie claimed to be the store in charge which he never mentioned to me. My husband told me that they agreed their mistake and apologised to him. I did not raise this as a complaint because they apologised. Also, worried about the nice guy who talked with me at first will get in trouble and also because I cannot go through this ordeal again. 

I have still not recovered, going through pain nd tiredness - terrified to go to town again. 

I hope EE understand neurodivesity, and anxiety disorders are not something to laugh at, giving wrong information can really trigger anxiety attacks and that you need to stop harrassing /bullying people. Also, please teach the value of empathy to your staff - not just towards customers but also each other. 

My parents were with EE for years - they are leaving.

[Peter_W · Accepted solution]

Good morning @Ruby74.

Thank you for taking the time to bring your recent experience to our attention. 

I'm so concerned to hear about how this has left you feeling, and I definitely want to make sure we take a look into what's happened. 

Just so we can be sure this is clear, with any pay monthly contract, be it one with a handset or a SIM Only, this would require a hard credit search. 

On an EE pay monthly account you can add extra products at any time, upgrade, and also run up a range of extra charges, so a credit check is required at the outset so we can be sure we're lending responsibly.

We do have a dedicated team for any queries regarding credit files though, so I would definitely encourage you to reach out to them and highlight the experience you've had here. You can find all the info you need right here:

Credit Files Explained | Billing and Payments Help | EE

I'm keen to make sure we feed back the experience you had in store too, so I'm going to send you over a private message so we can take some more details.

Peter

[Ruby74]

Dear Peter,

I truly appreciate you getting back to me so quickly. I really don't want
to escalate this as a complaint because the gentleman who dealt with me at
the beginning was really kind. My complain can result in him also being
dragged into this issue.
I wrote this in the community because EE should be aware of people coming
from different backgrounds and not neurotypical shod also get human
treatment from EE. I am sure the first gentleman wanted to come and talk to
me and sort this issue but it was the two aggressive men in the store who
bullied me. I got a panic attack after managing its successfully for almost
3 years. It has now made me impossible to go to town alone.
York always welcomed me, never face such experience at shops or anyone
else. York was my safe space.
I now feel scared - panic when I need to go out. I dont know if you
understand this unless you have anxiety and related challenges it was them
laughing at me that hurt me the most. I havent slept well, it was
traumatising- please please train your staff to be kind.
Thanks again for your kindness.

Ruby

[Mod edit - full name and details removed, please don't share any identifiable personal information on these public forums]