Impossible to activate my eSIM without a phone

[GraftyGirl]

This is getting beyond a joke. 

1. I ordered a new SIM after losing my phone - it arrives by post.

2. It takes 20 minutes for customer services to activate it.

3. It still doesn't work. After 20 minutes on the phone with tech support, they realise the SIM is faulty and order me an eSIM.

4. I download the eSIM onto my new phone but NEED A TEXT TO ACTIVATE IT. I DON'T HAVE A WORKING PHONE BECAUSE THE SIM ISN'T ACTIVATED!!!!!!!!

I am getting so angry now. The customer service from EE is abysmal. What are you going to do to get me a working phone?

[GraftyGirl]

Your customer service is so abysmal that I want a credit to my account. I spoke to EE last Sunday to notify them that I'd lost my phone and a replacement SIM was sent to me by post. I kept getting a SIM not provisioned message, but when I spoke to someone in customer services on Friday morning, it took her 20 minutes but she said she'd activated it. Today the SIM was still not working so I spoke to someone in tech support who told me the SIM was likely faulty. He issued me with an eSIM which I have just downloaded to my phone BUT I now need a OTC via text!!!!! And the problem is? I DON'T HAVE A WORKING PHONE TO RECEIVE A TEXT BECAUSE THE SIM ISN'T ACTIVATED!!!!

This is beyond a joke now. If you can't provide me with a working phone signal, then I don't see why I should pay you for the time you are not providing a mobile service. What do you propose to do about this?

[Matt_124]

You are shouting into the void here I'm afraid, this is a customer discussion forum and not EE Customer Services. 

All we can do on here is give advice as fellow users of the service. Posting on this forum is not going to help with your issue as there is no account access available on here.

You would need to submit a complaint here https://ee.co.uk/help/contact-ee/complaint/complaint-form

What I would say, is that if you have a local EE store they can get a replacement SIM for you instantly instead of waiting for dispatch from EE centrally. You would need to bring either a UK Driving Licence or a full passport (book passport) for verification.

[GraftyGirl]

So there is basically no way of interacting with ee other than by phone..... All the more reason for me to change providers. 

I don't live anywhere near an ee store unfortunately, but thanks for trying to help.

[bristolian]

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@GraftyGirl wrote:

So there is basically no way of interacting with ee other than by phone..... All the more reason for me to change providers. 

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All the major UK operators have similar contact methods.

[dghj]

Same here (MARCH 2025)

Customer can prove who he is and satisfy EE that he is genuine beyond any doubt.

The problem here is EE's insistence on authenticating a customer by SMS even in the already stressful situation of having a lost / stolen or broken phone. eSIMs were designed to avoid this, yet EE are stuck in the dark ages.

There isn't even an identity theft justification for this anymore. EE need a less archaic system to make SIM replacement by eSIM as slick as it is supposed to be, whilst remaining very secure.

[dghj]

Well shame on all of the networks therefore. Why don't EE take the lead on helping people, rather than you stating that they're no worse than the competition?