Charged for picture messages I didn’t make

[ZimOfBritannia]

Hi there, tried ringing the help line but no use so thought I’d post here. Recently checked my bill and saw it’s shot up from £29 to about £40 because I’m being charged for “picture messages”. Did a quick look and these messages:

- went to numbers not in messages or contacts, never messaged before

- on days I did not send messages

rang the helpline and he initially tried to tell me it was due to emojis (I don’t use emojis anyway but 83p to send an emoji?! [**comment removed by moderator]) and then just said “well what do you want me to do?” when I explained this didn’t match with my phone records. Is there anyway I can EE to stop doing this and reimburse me the money? If not looks like it’s time for a chargeback and switching to a new provider.

Thanks in advance

[Mod edit: Swearing removed as per EE Community Guidelines]

[ZimOfBritannia]

It's a multi-million pound corporation pal, they're not your friend. You can admit that upselling a vulnerable person after telling them they're going to be cut off (because their now deceased parent wasn't able to pay the phone bill) is a [*redacted] business practice, and not exactly the fault of the buyer. The EE board won't get angry if you do.

[Mod edit: Language adjusted for tone]

[ZimOfBritannia]

For anyone looking  for advice on what to do, complain and demand to speak to someone senior, preferably in cancellations. EE have conceded my number has 'been compromised' and will be releasing me from my contract early as well as refunding this month's bill. They don't know how this is happened but have been profusely apologetic so that's something. Anastasia from Stockport was a huge, huge help in getting this resolved and escalated up the chain so if you're reading this thank you again!

[bristolian]

I have based my comments on the information you posted - nothing more, nothing less.

I stand by my previous posts in their entirety, but this thread is going nowhere. Good luck resolving your issues.

[XRaySpeX]

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@ZimOfBritannia wrote:

So it's almost as if they were cherry picking what they told me.

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The list of exclusions from your allowances of chargeable things you can do with phone is as long as your arm. They're not gonna rattle them all off in a phone convo about some point. It's up to you to read the T&C's & match them with what you intend to do with your phone.

[jsmdwyer]

I’m being charged for picture messages I haven’t made and at 98p each someone is making a huge amount of money

[XRaySpeX]

@jsmdwyer : Maybe you've been using emojis/emoticons in your texts & your phone's Messaging app has been converting them to MMS.

[Chris_S]

Hi @jsmdwyer 

Welcome to the EE Community, and thanks for getting in touch.

If you'd like to discuss any extra charges that you've noticed on your bill, just give us a call, and a guide can look into it for you.

Chris S

[Schockwave]

@jsmdwyer , if you and the other person either has IMessage or RCS, which you can find when writing a message, then you will have to pay for picture message, you should check in settings , messages, it should show whether it is on. It depends whether you have an IPhone or Android, but IPhone does have a setting which allows RCS, which is what Android has, whereas IPhone has IMessage and RCS, but need to be enabled in settings by scrolling down to messsages.

[XRaySpeX]

@Schockwave : If iMessage or RCS was being used then you won't have to pay for picture messages. These use data not MMS.

[Schockwave]

@XRaySpeX exactly, that is what I meant, you are correct.