After spending more than now countless(!) hours emailing and on the phone to EE, and staring like a moron at the chat for hours at a time watching tumbleweed, I finally got to the point of successfully transferring from o2 after 15 years with them and the SIM was activated (thanks in no small part to this community). I am paying £150 a month but EE do not seem to treat customers fairly or act in line with FCA regulation. As a regulatory expert, I will be making a complaint to the FOS and FCA on various grounds but will also be complaining to Ofcom. I still do not have a functional EE contract, despite paying.
To summarise:
- EE failed to initiate my contract because they could not verify my identity with Equifax. I verified my identity by uploading documents manually with Equifax but this was apparently insufficient. EE kept moving the goalposts on timelines and failed to initiate my service in a timely manner. Their terms and communications were not fair and transparent in line with Ofcom regulations and I will need to pursue them through the routes available (Mis-selling)
- the way the contract was sold was misleading and I suffered significant delays and unexpected additional waiting for my contract to be activated (Mis-selling 2)
- I am being billed despite my number porting failing and not being able to receive calls or messages (Billing)
- The terms and conditions and advertising of the contract process did not in any way follow the reality, which was extremely burdensome and caused me material detriment (Terms)
- Despite EE agreeing to in-port my number from o2 by the end of Tuesday, I still cannot receive calls or messages on my new number (except from EE customers). This is in breach of the Ofcom General Conditions:
This condition requires all providers of public electronic communications networks to negotiate interconnection agreements with other network providers on request… aims to ensure that customers of communications providers are not overcharged and that they receive the services they are charged and pay for, that they can adequately control how much they spend on the usage of voice call and data services, and that they are treated fairly where they have not paid their bills.
in addition to the above, conditions B and C of the Ofcom General Conditions of Entitlement set out the disclosures and timelines that EE should have provided me and the information they should have obtained from o2 by the deadline of Tuesday at 6pm. This deadline passed and I still cannot receive EE texts or calls.
EE failed to mention the compensation requirements:
Once you have given your new provider the PAC, they will notify your current provider of the port request, and your number should normally be ported and ready to use with your new services within one working day.
Compensation if your switch is delayed
If the switch takes more than one working day or there is an abuse of the process by your provider, you are entitled to reasonable compensation from your provider. Providers must inform customers how to access this compensation and how it will be paid.
Right to port
When signing up with a new provider you can also request to keep your old phone number for free by contacting your new provider even if you have already cancelled your previous service (as long as you request this within one month of cancelling).
I am disappointed in many aspects of the EE service before and since joining and will address those separately in a comprehensive complaint to the FOS and FCA as a regulated contract is being provided here.
I feel as though EE do not care about my business and have made barely any effort to apologise for (let alone compensate for) the absurd delays since before I joined.
When I received my phone and SIM card, the SIM was not even activated. I had to wait days for that and EE were gormless instead of apologetic.
Now I have been promised a number porting from o2 but, here we are, 54 hours after the agreed deadline and many days after I called to ask for it to be complete, and I cannot receive calls or texts from non-EE numbers.
why did I not receive an apology? Why was this not expedited? Why has compensation never been mentioned?
why can’t they just get on with it and complete the port so I can use my phone and watch?
The watch, incidentally, does not work independently of the phone but that was to be expected and will be the next delay after this one. I’ve followed all the instructions set down online and reset network settings many times, reset phone countless times, spoken to EE who do not seem aware of their regulatory responsibilities or interested in a good customer journey or their duty to ensure good consumer outcomes.
o2 confirmed explicitly that they met and meet their Ofcom obligations. EE don’t even seem to acknowledge them.
why has joining EE and all the delays at every single stage been the most difficult customer experience of my life, been met with disinterest from the company, and left me now paying for a service which does not work? Why can’t they just get on and port the number so I can use it?
EE are looking like a stain on the industry and the worst contract a person can possibly take out.
