EE online ordering / upgrades broken ...

[Kjaerligkatt]

... Many?  All?

I've just had (another) very frustrating two days trying to choose an upgrade with EE.  This is using both the website and the app.

I've been with EE for 7 years, and currently have 3 SIMs.  I also have 2 mobile phone contracts (with another service provider).  I'm currently looking to consolidate everything.  To begin with I have one EE line for which the contract came to an end on April 4th 2024.  Since then, whenever I use the EE app, or go to the website, I've been reminded that I'm ready for an upgrade.

6 months ago I tried to upgrade the line with EE, but they messed it up (I still have an outstanding complaint about this, but it has not been followed up on).  Why do I stay with EE?  The mobile service is mostly excellent, and moving service provider takes effort across multiple lines.

Three days ago I decided to look at my upgrade options for this same line (with the aim of consolidating all 5 lines over the next couple of months).  In the app and on the website when I now try to upgrade the line, I get a variety of messages that say I can't (on a line that the contract ended for over 18 months ago, and has previously allowed me to browse the current upgrade offers).  I get a variety of notifications when I try to browse for an upgrade - not eligible, you are still paying off a phone (I haven't been paying for a phone with EE for years), you can't buy another product (even though I'm just trying to upgrade), etc.

Yesterday I chatted with an agent, who just wanted to sell me an upgrade based on their suggestions - even though I explained I want to browse all the available options at my leisure, and compare what's best to do across my 5 lines (I'm not even yet sure if I'll stay SIM only, or take a new phone with this line - hence why I want to browse online).  Eventually that agent said that I needed to chat with technical support.  I tried that this morning, and although I'm not sure the person was technical (rather than account/retention) support, after they took me through all the same questions, they said there is a "known problem for some customers with MyEE" preventing them from using it. and that it will be resolved "whenever EE fix it"!!!

I'm truly incredulous that EE accept that their system is broken, preventing customers from buying from them and it "will be fixed as some unspecified point".

Do they not know that they are losing business?  In my case, all five of my mobile lines might end up consolidated with EE, and some back on 24 month contracts (the line I'm looking at now has, as I mentioned, been out of contract for 18 months allowing me to leave at any point, and if I could upgrade, would be tied to them again for another 24 months),  And yet their broken system is driving me to instead cancel my three EE SIMs, and move them elsewhere.

Sorry for the rant, and I doubt I can get help with this on the forum, but am completely flabbergasted that a company like EE is so ambivalent about a broken online ordering system, when significant number of people prefer to conduct purchases like that these days.

[Lesley_W · Accepted solution]

Hi @Kjaerligkatt 

Thanks for coming to our community and sharing your experience.

I'm sorry it hasn't been a positive one and that the technical team couldn't rectify the issue there and then. I understand why this would leave you feeling disappointed and not want to bring your other lines over to us, especially since you have had issues previously that haven't been addressed. 

I'd recommend speaking to our complaints team so they can look into the issues you've had, and while they may not be able to speed up the process if it's a more complex issue being worked on already, they can discuss this further and work with you to try and get a resolution. 

Lesley

[Schockwave]

@Kjaerligkatt ,have you tried uninstalling the app, rebooting and reinstalling it, also ask EE to do an account refresh, that can sort things out, worth a try.

[Kjaerligkatt]

@shockwave yes, I have reinstalled the app.  It also happens on the EE website, so I think unlikely to be an issue with the iOS app.

Would EE support not have suggested an account refresh it that might have helped?  I guess anything's worth trying.  Thank you.

[Kjaerligkatt]

@Lesley_W it's hard to see the benefit in raising a complaint, since I've never had the complaint I raised 6 months ago followed up on, and the current complaint webform says it will take at least 7 working days for a reply.  In the meantime I need to make some decisions on my current mobile services, and cannot proceed with EE, forcing me to look elsewhere.

[Kjaerligkatt]

I’ve just spent another hour chatting with EE support, to no avail.  I pointed the agent at this thread, and the suggestion to reset my account.  It either wasn’t done, or didn’t work.

it was suggested to me that I didn’t need to browse the deals linked to me upgrading this line, and that I should just look at the SIM & Phone offers being shown when not logged in to the website, and those would be deals I could get.  Surely that can’t be right?  I always thought that upgrades for existing customers would be better than the standard deals, in order to retain customers and tie them into a new contract. Hence why it’s necessary to be able to browse the offers whilst logged into you account, and following the ‘you’re ready for an upgrade link’. 

I’m what the agent told me can’t be correct, and when I’ve previously looked at upgrades on contract expiry, I’ve been shown offers that were not available to new customers. 

[Linzi_H]

Hi @Kjaerligkatt 

I'm disappointed that you're not any further forward with this yet. 
I would suggest following the advice above from @Lesley_W and reaching out to our dedicated complaints team using the webform. 

I'm confident they'll be able to get a resolution put in place. 

Linzi 

[Kjaerligkatt]

Hi @Lesley_W 

Thank you for your advice.

I'm now going to move my three EE lines elsewhere since I can't get any timely help from the technical team.  It's a shame, since I've been with EE since 2018.  This is the second mess up by EE for my accounts in 6 months, and my complaint from April has never been followed up on, and I really don't have any incentive to stay.

Once again, thank you for trying - it's a pity other parts of EE don't seem to care as much.

Kind regards