EE taking advantage

juppy52
juppy52 Posts: 7 Forumite
I am writing this on behalf of a friend of mine, mainly because she is not that tech savvy and would probably describe things incorrectly.
So my friend has epilepsey and has frequent episodes where she can collapse and possibly injure herself. She has also had brain surgery which has affected her short term memory. She just struggles with knowing or remembering what she was told when she went in and also does not fully understand about voice minutes, data usage etc.

Back in February this year as a result of an episode my friend was in hospital for a month with a fractured pelvis as she feel down stairs. Just after she was released she dropped her iPhone and it was damaged beyond repair. She went to EE to get another phone and came away with a contract for 2 years on an iPhone 7 with 20 gigs of data.

Now when she was in the shop I think what happened was they looked at her usage while she was in hospital where she did listen to the radio a lot due to boredom so uncharacteristically her usage was above her normal data usage. She tried to say she did not want to pay in excess of £50 a month because of it, however the salesman convinced her she needed to based on her recent usage, ignoring the reason for the artificially inflated usage due to the spell in hospital. He would not let her explain herself.
She does not really understand data usage and did not fully realise what she was signing up for.

She is happy to pay for a 2 year contract but does not need that amount of data usage per month. I feel she has been duped and they have taken advantage of her disability and trouble with her short term memory. Does she have any comeback with EE to reduce it to a more appropriate level of data usage and cost per month.
I am happy to go in with her and fight her corner for her, but I just want to know where she stands, in my opinion if nothing else it is certainly immoral if not illegal.


Regards,
Garth

Comments

  • d123
    d123 Posts: 8,621 Forumite
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    juppy52 wrote: »
    I am writing this on behalf of a friend of mine, mainly because she is not that tech savvy and would probably describe things incorrectly.
    So my friend has epilepsey and has frequent episodes where she can collapse and possibly injure herself. She has also had brain surgery which has affected her short term memory. She just struggles with knowing or remembering what she was told when she went in and also does not fully understand about voice minutes, data usage etc.

    Back in February this year as a result of an episode my friend was in hospital for a month with a fractured pelvis as she feel down stairs. Just after she was released she dropped her iPhone and it was damaged beyond repair. She went to EE to get another phone and came away with a contract for 2 years on an iPhone 7 with 20 gigs of data.

    Now when she was in the shop I think what happened was they looked at her usage while she was in hospital where she did listen to the radio a lot due to boredom so uncharacteristically her usage was above her normal data usage. She tried to say she did not want to pay in excess of £50 a month because of it, however the salesman convinced her she needed to based on her recent usage, ignoring the reason for the artificially inflated usage due to the spell in hospital. He would not let her explain herself.
    She does not really understand data usage and did not fully realise what she was signing up for.

    She is happy to pay for a 2 year contract but does not need that amount of data usage per month. I feel she has been duped and they have taken advantage of her disability and trouble with her short term memory. Does she have any comeback with EE to reduce it to a more appropriate level of data usage and cost per month.
    I am happy to go in with her and fight her corner for her, but I just want to know where she stands, in my opinion if nothing else it is certainly immoral if not illegal.


    Regards,
    Garth

    No

    As with every one of these tales of woe, if the person is an adult the law sees them as capable of conducting their own financial business. If you don't think they are mentally capable then you should take it up with their doctor and/or adult social worker and not allow them to go shopping on their own.
    ====
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 5,186 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    I'm not sure you'll get anywhere with the shop, I'd try EE direct. There's phone numbers or an online form here: https://ee.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/security/ways-to-complain

    Just copy & paste your post from above editing as needed.
  • Frozen_up_north
    Frozen_up_north Posts: 2,420 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Be aware that a week or so ago, EE hiked their SIM only prices significantly, to become the most expensive provider by a good margin...not sure if phone + SIM contracts went up by a similar amount.

    Before going for sympathy with EE management it's worth checking their current cost of the deal with less data. It's possible the "expensive" deal your friend signed up to is better value than the deal with less data today.

    I'm neither with EE, nor have ever gone for a contract that includes a phone... To see how unbelievably expensive EE are now on SIM only (not compared SIM + phone):

    http://shop.ee.co.uk/sim-only

    For comparison BT Mobile (who bought EE) are 1/2 the cost!
    https://www.productsandservices.bt.com/mobile/sim-only-deals/
  • d123
    d123 Posts: 8,621 Forumite
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    For comparison BT Mobile (who bought EE) are 1/2 the cost!
    https://www.productsandservices.bt.com/mobile/sim-only-deals/

    Not on handset contracts.

    BT charge £47 a month for 4GB and £57 a month for 15GB, which are quite similar to EE rates.
    ====
  • pmduk
    pmduk Posts: 10,655 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Combo Breaker
    d123 wrote: »
    BT charge £47 a month for 4GB and £57 a month for 15GB, which are quite similar to EE rates.
    Bear in mind EE is now part of BT Mobile so it's unsurprising that prices are similar
  • Frozen_up_north
    Frozen_up_north Posts: 2,420 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    pmduk wrote: »
    Bear in mind EE is now part of BT Mobile so it's unsurprising that prices are similar

    Except for SIM only, maybe one of the bean counters in EE has decided to not compete on SIM only prices?
  • d123
    d123 Posts: 8,621 Forumite
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Anniversary First Post
    Except for SIM only, maybe one of the bean counters in EE has decided to not compete on SIM only prices?

    EE sim only has always been expensive on paper, it regularly discounts prices and that's what most people sign up to. All the discounted rates ended with the new tariffs, perhaps we'll see some new discounts coming out soon.
    ====
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