How to contact EE when there's no network?!

[Mercury80]

Does anyone know how to contact EE when they have no network? We're getting "Network not available" messages when trying to make calls. We have WiFi calling on as preferred method and WiFi is fine (Starlink). But WiFi calling is also not working. 

Tried using the app /Web forms to submit the issue and they just close it saying there's no issue in your postcode. I made clear the post code is irrelevant as it is a mile away due to being rural and stupidly nowhere near the houses for that postcode. Before you say contact Royal mail to change it's location on maps, don't think we haven't all tried! They don't care. Their response is "it's created for our own purposes. If other companies use the postcode for other purposes, that's their issue not ours"!! 

All other routes lead to being told to call them. Which Obvs I can't do!!

I even submitted a complaint explaining the issue. Setting it all out clearly. Lol. They called me and then sent me a No Reply SMS to inform me they'd tried to call me and would try again once more or close the complaint. 😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭 It's such a stupid tragic situation I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

If anyone has ANY idea how to contact a human at EE and have them take a paying customer (4 phones and a 4G router) who's reliant on comms in a rural location for safety reasons seriously, PLEASE let me know! I know I could go to the ombudsman as this is beyond poor service and now in the territory of a failure to handle a complaint, but I have no confidence that will get me a solution fast! 

[bristolian]

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@Mercury80 wrote:

Does anyone know how to contact EE when they have no network?

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You make the call from another working phone, there's never been a requirement for calls to EE-CS to be from EE phones. Either 07953 966150 or 0800 9566000 can be dialled from any network, landline or mobile.

The complaints process has never been intended to resolve time-sensitive service issues, it's never claimed to offer real-time responses or otherwise be an alternative to contacting CS.

Referrals to Ombudsman Services require either a deadlock letter to have been issued, or for 8weeks to have elapsed from a recognised complaint going unresolved - this is standard industry practice.

As an aside, there is a long-running thread regarding WiFi-calling on Starlink connections that you've already added to - https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Mobile-Network-discussions/wifi-calling/td-p/1557637 

[Christopher_G]

Hi @Mercury80 

Welcome to the community.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having some problems with WiFi calling on your phone. 

My best advice would be to contact our customer support team following @britolian's advice. If you're unable to do that, please take a look at your private message inbox. I've just sent you a message.

Chris

[Mercury80 · Accepted solution]

And if you live in a rural area with no land-line? 

Thankfully, someone has sorted the network issue this morning and EE finally got through to me. 

The lovely lady at the end of the line told me there's a new messaging service in the EE app. It was a bit hidden but I found it. 

So the solution, it appears, is to go to the EE app, click Help? Then scroll to the bottom where it says Talk to us. From there there's an option to Message us or Call us. The message app there provides the ability to web chat with someone.

Hoping I don't need to use it going forward though. 

As for the ombudsman thing, the "no reply" thing for email and sms along with the inability to call when signal is down, is valid. It's intentionally discouraging communication. I get that spamming is a nightmare for companies. But when there's a situation like exclusion of a specific demographic of customers, that's exactly what the ombudsman is there to prevent. All evidence provided to Chat Gpt, who agrees with me even though I asked it to disagree with me to ensure I was right. 🤷 Thankfully there is provision (the messaging app) and therefore no need to escalate. 

[bristolian]

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@Mercury80 wrote:

And if you live in a rural area with no land-line? 

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I never specified landline only! I just made the point that EE-CS can be contacted from any working phone.

It's pleasing that an automated bot agrees with your view, though I'm not sure what validity that has in the grand scheme.

Glad your issues are resolved.

[Mercury80]

I had no working phones. That's the point. Noone on our street had a working phone. EE is only one with coverage in the area. No landlines. Snowed in. Safety issue. I know it's hard to believe in modern society, but plenty of people do live in places like this. And the frustration is that we're always the minority outliers that don't matter. No mains water or waste. No recycling options from council (just a huge skip where the road meets an A road for us all to empty everything into). No mains gas. No Internet (we're all thankful for Starlink). It's just par for the course, unfortunately. But companies that do care and cater for rural people are like gold dust and we hang on tight! Very loyal customers! 

[bristolian]

I'm very well aware of areas such as this, from extensive personal experience. I frequent many locations around the Scottish Highlands (and occasionally islands) where there's either no mobile coverage, or only one MNO provides - most often but not exclusively EE.

It seems a direction of travel amongst urban dwellers to rely wholly on mobile, even to the extent of not having any other tech in their home. This is probably fine 99% of the time, but if there's an issue with that tech - then self-imposed catch-22 is the result. You of course have the opposite, and I have far more sympathy with your predicament!

However did we manage before mobiles....