Mast failure but cant tell me when it will be fixed

[Bobdylan55]

Hi,

I recently have had an issue with both mine and my wifes phones where we have no signal. I contacted EE and they tell me there is a mast failure in my area. They cannot tell me how long it is expected to be down for (its been 4 weeks already) - they cant even give me a rough idea i.e. this month or in a years time. Obviously I cant just keep paying for a phone I cant use. Seems absolutely outrageous that they dont have any info on when they are expecting to repair it. 

We have missed important calls from gps around our son and all sorts, so now I am at the point of getting another sim just so I can call people, not sure how EE can find that acceptable that I have to pay for multiple sims because they cant fix their own gear? 

Is there anyway this can be investigated?

[Schockwave]

Hello @Bobdylan55 ,

Welcome to the community,

It will depend why the mast is down, where it is and whether they have to order parts to fix it. EE may need permission to access the mast, we cannot investigate here, your only way is to ring customer service to see if they can give you an estimate as to when it will be fixed.

You should be able to get compensation if you are unable to use your phones, etc., but if you have a fixed broadband, you should be able to use wifi calling.

You can get updates by registering here and then EE will keep you up to date:

https://coverage.ee.co.uk/coverage/ee/keep-me-posted

[Bobdylan55]

Hi, 

I have already called customer service and they are unable to give me any details other than its down. If they were able to state for example "its this issue and we expect to have the issue resolved in 2 weeks" at least then I know where I stand. What I do not want to do is buy another sim, tell everyone my new number or PAC my number over, and then find the mast repaired in 2 weeks time. If its going to be 6 months tho then I need to change provider. 

With regards to compensation, one contract is with Lyca mobile who refuse to acknowledge the issue and so wont compensate me, the other contract is with EE and they have compensated me for one month, but no amount of compensation helps me if I cant use my phone. As for wifi calling, its sketchy at best, and again Lyca dont support it so my second phone which is my wifes isnt useable. 

I have registered for updates but I just get repeatedly told it is taking longer than expected. 

Surely there is a responsability on EE to repair this issue asap or allow the contract to be cancelled. 

[Chris_B]

@Bobdylan55  If Wi-Fi calling is sketchy at best then your Wi-Fi connection needs to be looked at.  I use Wi-Fi calling every at work without issue in four different buildings passing over from one connection point to another.   

[bristolian]

I concur with others that WiFi-calling is a very reliable service, and if you're having issues with it - then there will be a cause for this. A logical approach to fault-finding is likely to identify that.

As regards the out-of-service site, the vast majority of service-affecting faults are attended and rectified quite promptly and usually within a couple of days. If there's a delay beyond that, there will often be a reason outwith EE's direct control but these are numerous - there could be a third-party dependency, an access or legal complication - or various others.

[Bobdylan55]

Wifi seems fine, getting  400mbps down and 60 up, using teams on regular basis without issue for work. Its more the latency issues that arise from wifi calling that I find difficult to work with. Again my lyca account doesnt offer wifi calling so is unuseable entirely unless I stand 2 streets down outside. 

As its been over a month I guess there must be some difficulty with the repair, that isnt what frustrates me. What frustrates me is the lack of info from EE in regards to whats wrong, what theyre doing to fix it, when they hope to have it fixed etc. Even basic information would help so I can have some logic behind my choice to wait it out or have them cancel my contract early. It almost seems like theyre deflecting on purpose so I dont leave. 

[bristolian]

If you compare EE's approach here to that of other networks, they're quite open with outage information. Getting a balance can also be tricky - too much info and it becomes irrelevant for most users who "just want it fixed", or they're criticised when a repair doesn't go to plan. Too little info and perceived lack of honesty is criticised.

I'm not sure what relevance Lyca's functionality has to an EE account, but delays are always frustrating. Local coverage outages are rarely a reason of themselves for early-contract release, the T&C's cover this.

[Bobdylan55]

I get that sometimes too much info can just make matters more confusing, but surely its not too much to ask for an estimated time of repair? That seems like basics 101. If you took a car to a garage and they said ooh we dont know, cant even hazard a guess or tell you whats wrong, I dont think you would leave your car with them. 

Re: lyca, the relevance is that they use EE's network so the fault is identical on my wifes phone but we cant even get compensation. Effectively we are paying £8 a month on that account for nothing. 

Regarding local outages not being a reasonable excuse for cancelling a contract early, I might agree with that statement if the phone was to pick up another adequate signal from an alternative cell tower. But it cant, and I was rigorous in testing network speeds and signals before entering the contract to ensure what I was entering into was acceptable. At the time of entering into the contract I could get 60mbps download speeds over 4g, now I cant get a signal. 

I personally feel its extremely poor at best to even think that when entering into a contract you should be expected to have foresight that your local mast might get damaged mid contract and might not be repaired for an indefinite period of time. 

I would also like to point out that when I spoke to tech support they arranged for a manager to call me back within 2 hours and nobody has (this was 5 days ago now). This just adds insult to the whole issue for me. I have been with EE for over 10 years, as far back as it being called Orange. Normally they are spot on with any issues and resolve asap, but this time its making me seriously question moving to an alternative albeit inferior network. 

[bristolian]

Radio sites use carrier-grade equipment and are generally very reliable, but outages happen on all networks and are usually rectified promptly. There is often some degree of site overlap, but this doesn't always apply where site density is lower.

T&Cs reflect all this, and thus no network will guarantee 24/7 uninterrupted service. If you want to discuss an individual fault you should do this with CS, who should have the specific detail of your case available to them. Every fault will have an SLA which is met the vast majority of the time - but unforeseen issues & delays happen.

[Bobdylan55]

The point stands its been over a month down, and CS cannot give me any details on the repair time estimates.  Its fine to say in the vast majority of cases its fixed in a reasonable time frame, but it hasnt been. Unforeseen issues and delay, sure, I get it, but them unforeseen issues or delays must have some form of actionable solution, hence giving an estimated repair date should still be possible (im not saying the date will be accurate or correct, but at least if I have a rough idea then I can make a valid choice on whether to buy another sim for the meantime or just to wait it out etc) . I really dont think thats much to ask...