iPhone order cancelled as EE accidentally gave me a discount

[droberts75]

I'm looking for advice.   I ordered an iPhone yesterday on the EE site.  I chose the phone and then looking through the list of tariffs I chose the Full Works as it wasn't much more expensive and I'm an all or nothing kinda guy.  It was £23 a month and the Essential below it was about £18 a month.   I signed the agreement, paid the upfront payment and received the order confirmation email.  So that's ordered in my book.    EE then cancelled the order saying they had accidentally applied a discount that wasn't applicable to me so I need to reorder.  I went through the reorder process and sure enough the Full Works is now £33, the Essentials is still the same as are the others.  So the exact tariff I wanted is now £10 a month more.  I've still paid the up front cost of the previous order.

Am I being ripped off here?  Are EE trying to get another £10 out of me thinking I'll just agree.  Have EE made a mistake and should they honour it?

Is it a mistake and I just have to accept it?  I made the order in good faith and have done nothing wrong.

By the way I should say I have Broadband and TV with EE plus I've ordered AirPods with them which arrive today.
I'm paying around £100 to EE already which I'm very likely to cancel after this and return the Airpods and buy from elsewhere.

Darren

[Chris_B]

@droberts75  the full  works is £33 a month and you’re getting £33 a month because you have EE broadband otherwise it’s £20 more a month so you are receiving a discount.  You can only have 1 discount per contract.   EE does reserve the right to cancel your original order if it’s wrong. 

[droberts75]

But I didn't apply any discounts, I've not idea why the Full Works was £23 and not £33.  The page said nothing about discounts that was just the price.   I think once it's ordered and I've paid the upfront amount the deal is done.

Or do I just have to accept this?  I'll never deal with EE again though.

[Northerner]

Hi @droberts75 

Try speaking to EE CS on 150.

Until the order is in your hands then it is cancelable especially if there was an error. 

Thanks 

[Matt_124]

The order system likely thought it could double-discount (EE One discount + Additional Line discount) before EE's billing system caught it as the order was placed.

The £10 difference seems to align to a £10 Multi-Line Discount applied in error to an EE One tariff which doesn't accept such a discount.

[bristolian]

In the distant past there was a high-profile case where Argos advertised a £300 TV for sale at £30 - the exact figures may vary but the principle remains. There were naturally large volumes of orders which Argos cancelled and many people pursued test cases.

The broad outcome was that the website offer was legally classed as an "invitation to treat" which is legal-terminology for "please make us offers". The attempts to purchase were then "offers" which the retailer was free to accept or decline. Order despatch was the acceptance.

I suspect a similar principle would apply here. Fair trading & advertising issues would be separate - this is purely a potential legal angle.