EE Miselling

waningsleep · 20 March 2017 at 3:30PM

An elderly friend who uses her mobile pnone for mainly protection purposes and even according to EE own records uses about 5 pounds a month on PAYGO when for a 10pound topup on Sat.and came out with a written contract
for 12 months at 9.99.I rang the manager who would not even give his name or discuss this action I rang Head Office who informed that because she fell for it in store then she could not cancel for 12 months but if she had used on line facilites ,of which she had no access to or understanding then she could give I think 30 days notice.What a way to treat the most vunerable in our society.EE yes EE should be ashamedChange you rules,

powerful_Rogue · 20 March 2017 at 3:37PM

waningsleep wrote: »

An elderly friend who uses her mobile pnone for mainly protection purposes and even according to EE own records uses about 5 pounds a month on PAYGO when for a 10pound topup on Sat.and came out with a written contract
for 12 months at 9.99.I rang the manager who would not even give his name or discuss this action I rang Head Office who informed that because she fell for it in store then she could not cancel for 12 months but if she had used on line facilites ,of which she had no access to or understanding then she could give I think 30 days notice.What a way to treat the most vunerable in our society.EE yes EE should be ashamedChange you rules,

What does your friend say about this?

Elderly does not automatically make someone vulnerable.

Of course EE won't discuss this with you - Data Protection.

RoonilWazlib_2 · 20 March 2017 at 4:03PM

"because she FELL for it in store"

goodness!

wealdroam · 20 March 2017 at 4:12PM

Waningsleep, is there a consumer rights issue you would like help with?

Perhaps you should ask a Board Guide to move this thread to the Praise, Vent & Warnings board.

Oakdene · 20 March 2017 at 4:14PM

RoonilWazlib wrote: »

"because she FELL for it in store"

goodness!

She fell for what? An offer of a product/service which she was accepted?

esuhl · 20 March 2017 at 4:25PM

If she's too old to understand how bills work, maybe someone should apply for a lasting power of attorney so they can make financial decisions for her?

DoaM · 20 March 2017 at 4:44PM

She "fell" for a salesperson's spiel, where said salesperson didn't take into account the needs of an obviously elderly and easily-confused (with technology/options) consumer and foisted on her what was best for the salesperson not the consumer.

Granted she entered the agreement seemingly willingly, but I also believe she was "taken advantage of".

OP - this sounds like a good story for the local papers, Facebook groups, EE's Facebook and Twitter pages etc. A bit of local and social media pressure will probably get this reversed.

DCFC79 · 20 March 2017 at 4:55PM

Oakdene wrote: »

She fell for what? An offer of a product/service which she was accepted?

The person in question got hood winked/tricked into signing up for a contract that is double the amount she spends on payg.

Fosterdog · 20 March 2017 at 5:08PM

£5 a month just to have a phone for protection seems like an awful lot, my dad has a mobile for emergencies for when he is out (due to a medical condition) and doesn't even use £5 a year. It has a £5 top up on it that we check the balance on ever so often just to make sure it hasn't expired but as it is just for emergencies and there have been no emergencies it has not been used.

Does she really just use it for "protection" or is she just a very light user, more like my mum who sends the odd text and rings home now and again when she is out (to check on said ill father) maybe calls me if she is in a shop and sees something she thinks I may like, rings places if she is running late/delayed by public transport.

If the former I'd find it very strange that she would need £5 a month and can't see why she would sign up for a £9.99 a month contract that she doesn't need. If the scenario is more like the latter then the salesman probably smooth talked her with no longer needing to go in to purchase top ups so more convienient, no longer needs to worry about running out of credit and possibly even instead of being economical with its use because it was PAYG explained that she would have much higher limits for her texts and calls way above what she would ever need so no longer needs to worry whether she has the credit to make a call she may otherwise reconsider making. It's probably more a case of it sounded really good in the shop but now she is not so sure and has changed her mind.

Being elderly doesn't mean she didn't understand what she was signing up for, it could even be argued that she has much more life experience on how these things work than someone younger. Maybe it should just be put down as a lesson learned, it will cost her £60 over the course of the year then she can cancel and not sign up for contracts without more research in the future.

takman · 20 March 2017 at 5:15PM

Is your friend actually unhappy with the contract and wanting to cancel or are you the one who says she should be unhappy?

If she only currently uses her mobile for protections purposes then she must use her house phone for all her calls?. If that is the case then she might actually save money by paying £10 a month for a mobile contract and use that instead of her house phone, especially if she regualrly rings mobile numbers.

You also say she has no online access so if she is paying line rental she could get rid of her house phone completely and just use the mobile for all her calls.

DoaM · 20 March 2017 at 5:17PM

giffgaff airtime never times out. As long as you make a chargeable action (e.g. send a text) once every 3 months then the SIM remains active. There may be other providers who don't even require that for the SIM to remain active.

But takman raises a very good point above. Who is it that's upset about this? You or your friend?

EE Miselling

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