EE DATA BURN

[Hamza_27]

I’ve switched from BT to EE and increased my allowance from 30GB to 100GB per month. When I was with BT, I was a student with no job, out and about a lot, and I would typically use 25–30GB by the end of the month. That allowance was more than enough.

Now with EE, despite having over triple the data, I’m somehow running out much quicker in fact, within 7 days it shows I’ve used 50GB. This makes no sense. My phone usage has decreased since starting my new job:

• Monday to Friday, I’m at work (9–5) where there’s no reception indoors, so I rely on Wi-Fi.
• At home, reception is very weak, so I don’t use my phone that much after work. 
• I don’t download files/apps, don’t hotspot, and I’m actually on my phone less than before.

There is no physical way I could be using this much data. Either there is a serious technical error or EE is miscalculating data usage. I feel I’m being scammed, and I need this investigated immediately.

I cannot be left with almost no data for the next 3 weeks when I’m paying for 100GB. Please resolve this as a priority.

[bristolian]

Android & Apple phones come with an in-built data counter which lists data usage app-by-app, and can also be synchronised with your monthly bill cycle.

Background updates are usually listed here too, under system functions.  With the counting & bill dates matched, does your usage broadly tally between account & phone?

[Hamza_27]

Thank you for your response, but I have already checked my phone’s built-in data counter. The issue is that I did not reset it in the last month, so the counter shows cumulative data usage over many months, sometimes totaling around 500GB or more. I have just now reset the statistics so it will track usage accurately going forward, but there is no reliable way to check exactly what I’ve used in the last 7 days using this method.

Regarding background updates, I have already disabled them, so that cannot account for this sudden, excessive usage.

The situation itself is simply impossible. Within the last 7 days, I have worked Monday to Friday, 9–5, where I am connected to Wi-Fi at work. When I get home, I use my phone minimally and also sleep for 8 hours each night, during which my phone is not actively used. I do not download apps or large files.

Given these facts, there is no plausible explanation for how I could have used 50GB of mobile data in just 7 days. This is why I am requesting that EE investigate this issue urgently, as the usage recorded is clearly inaccurate.

[bristolian]

Are you using Apple or Android?

50GB over 7 days is certainly not impossible to consume.

[Hamza_27]

Apple

I understand that 50GB over 7 days may not be impossible in general, but it is impossible for me given my actual usage. As I have repeatedly explained:

• I work Monday to Friday, 9–5, where there is no indoor signal, and I am connected to Wi-Fi for the full 8 hours at work.
• I sleep for 8 hours each night, during which my phone is not in use. That accounts for 16 of 24 hours per day where I am not consuming mobile data.
• During the remaining 8 hours, time is spent eating, commuting, and speaking to people on the phone—none of which consumes significant mobile data.
• I do not download apps or large files, nor do I use my phone as a hotspot.

I have never had this problem before; in fact, I used to go an entire month on a 30GB plan without issues. My usage has not increased, yet the system is showing 50GB in just 7 days.

[Hamza_27]

It’s quite telling and frankly a little funny that as I was browsing the EE forums, I noticed that many users have reported the same issue. In several cases, people who switched to EE from other providers, keeping roughly the same data allowance, suddenly found their usage much higher despite not changing their habits at all. This doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident but rather a common theme with EE, which strongly suggests that the problem lies with EE’s data tracking or accounting, not with the customers’ usage.

[Matt_124]

I will just point out that this is a public forum with other EE Customers and users - not a route to request EE to initiate any kind of investigation or action. The correct route would instead be contacting EE Customer Services and speaking to the tech teams, or raising a complaint directly with EE in line with the Complaints Code of Practice.

The webform for raising a complaint can be found here: https://ee.co.uk/help/contact-ee/complaint/complaint-form 

We can gladly offer advice and help to figure this out here as other users and customers, as @bristolian is doing, but if a proper EE "investigation" and the attention of EE staff on this is what you're looking for then you would need to follow the appropriate channels laid out above.

[Hamza_27]

Thank you for the clarification and for providing the links. I will be following the proper channels and have already sent an email to EE regarding this issue, and I will be calling them as soon as I’m available.

I’d like to post my problems here so that other people can also speak up about theirs. From what I’ve seen, this seems to be a common theme, and I don’t want it to be quietly swept under the rug. EE needs to sort this out, and it needs to be known and seen

When I said I wanted EE to investigate, I wasn’t expecting the forum to do it for me. I just thought it might be nice for everyone to see that this isn’t some “one-off” issue. 

[Matt_124]

You're very welcome.

One of the suggestions I've seen is ensuring that "Wi-Fi Assist" is switched off in the case of Apple devices as this can cause your phone to use Mobile Data when your Wi-Fi connection is performing poorly (as usual Apple don't really provide any details on the specific conditions, but it usually only applies to what is running in the foreground). This may be a suggestion you've already seen and something you have already disabled, but thought it was worth adding to the thread just in case.

Unsure of how you would have contacted EE by email about this, as they do not provide any email contact methods. Regardless, all of the routes are laid out above in the links provided.

All the best.

[Hamza_27]

Thank you I appreciate the advice. It’s just I work in hospital there is quite literally no reception or signal so even if the Wi-Fi is bad, I just can’t use my phone rather than it switching to data automatically.

p.s. It is disabled aswell lol