EE special gift scam?

Johnny_Disco

Hi, I had a search for this and couldn't find anything, my apologies if it has already been posted elsewhere.

My girlfriend got an early xmas pressie today, from EE.

It has a card which says " A special little gift, just for you"

It contains a SIM card which is referred to as 'a shared data sim'.

inside the card it says 'share your data for free on another device'

then when you go on to read the small print it continues to say

We hope you're enjoying life on 4GEE and making the most of our superfast network. As a way of saying thank you for choosing EE, we've got you a little gift. It's called a micro SIM. And it's quite special.

What to Do Next

Just pop this SIM in any tablet, laptop or mobile wifi device and it will let you browse the internet using the data allowance from your 4GEE phone plan. It's set up and ready to share the data you've already paid for. Easy.

If you want to use this SIM in a phone you'll need to call our customer services team. At the moment it doesn't come with any inclusive minutes or texts so calls will cost 35p/min and texts are 12p. Just dial 150 from your 4GEE phone and we'll find a plan to suit you.

A Free Glimpse of the future

Normally an extra SIM like this would cost £8 for a 30-day rolling contract but were giving it to you for FREE because we think sharing one pot of data between different devices is the way everyone will do it in the future. (It's cheaper and easier than having lots of seperate contracts).

Even though it's free, if you decide to use it, you'll be entering into a contract and our terms and conditions are explained on the back of this pack.

It then goes on to try to sell you a camera or a tablet incase you don't already have one.

But on to the worrying bit on the back. And please bear in mind this has arrived unsolicited through the normal mail, activated, connected your account and ready to go. And more importantly, ready to use your data allowance or run up a massive bill for over priced calls and texts!

Any Questions?

If I use this SIM, will I be entering into a new contract?
Yes. If you use this SIM in any device, either to share a data allowance and/or incur other charges, you will be agreeing to the terms and conditions of a new 30-day rolling contract.

I don't want to use this SIM, how do I cancel it?
You can securely destroy the SIM and simply not use it, however it will still appear on your bill (there will be no charge). If you want to cancel it and get it removed from your bill please call us on 150.

I've noticed "Shared 4GEE" on my bill. Does this mean I've entered into a 30-day rolling contract?
No, you will only enter into the 30-day rolling contract with us when you put this SIM into a device. The "Shared 4GEE" bit on your bill is simply a record of the offer which can be removed by calling us on 150.

There are a few more bits again about call charges (as already stated above) and adding call/text packages or buying a 4G tablet. And then the last FAQ.

What happens at the end of the 30 days?
The free shared data SIm plan is a 30 day rolling contract. The shared data SIM plan will be free of charge until you decide to change or cancel the contract with 30 days notice. You will not be charged any termination fees for cancelling this plan.

My girlfriend was going to just throw this away in the rubbish, luckily I said let me just read it first.

If someone else had got hold of this and started using it we wouldn't have been any the wiser until we got a massive bill and queried it. And then probably had lots of trouble trying to prove that we hadn't used it.

Anyway, lets just say EE will be getting a call in the morning.

Just thought I would share with you guys here, to me it just seems like a big mess waiting to happen.

grumbler

Johnny_Disco wrote: »

And more importantly, ready to use your data allowance or run up a massive bill for over priced calls and texts!

What calls and texts if it's used in a "tablet, laptop or mobile wifi " as supposed?

I still don't understand why this is 'scam', but it's late and possibly I missed something when reading this far too long post.

Techhead_2

grumbler wrote: »

What calls and texts if it's used in a "tablet, laptop or mobile wifi " as supposed?

I still don't understand why this is 'scam', but it's late and possibly I missed something when reading this far too long post.

.


Not a scam, but It's pre-activated and unsolicited. So could be used by anyone to set up a new contract in the OP'S name and run up a bill. As its unsolicited, the first you would know is when you are billed.

By the way, some tablets and laptops can make calls/texts and mobile WiFi can send texts.

prowla

It seems OK to me, if a little convoluted.

The new SIM is intended as an add-on to the phone one, to allow you to share your phone plan's data allowance in a tablet device.

It's not saying to use the calls/texts from the new SIM; it's saying to use your phone to call/register it.

The 30 day rolling contract is no big deal; if you don't overrun your phone's data allowance then it's cost nothing.

(Me, my tablet doesn't have a SIM slot, so I couldn't use one anyway.)

Johnny_Disco

Techhead wrote: »

.


Not a scam, but It's pre-activated and unsolicited. So could be used by anyone to set up a new contract in the OP'S name and run up a bill. As its unsolicited, the first you would know is when you are billed.

By the way, some tablets and laptops can make calls/texts and mobile WiFi can send texts.

Thanks Techhead, you got where I was coming from. :beer:

Sorry for those that thought the post was too long, I just wanted to give as much detail as possible. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think companies should be able to send things like this out, unsolicited and in the normal post where it could easily go missing. And seeing as its set up and connected to your account and ready to go I think its an accident waiting to happen. Maybe I'm a little paranoid, but in North London where I live it is fairly common for things to go missing in the post (especially stuff I order from amazon and similar) and I'm expecting them, so when they don't turn up I can chase them up or put a claim in.

So maybe scam was a bad choice to describe it, but it just goes to show you need to read the small print on everything.

Thanks to everyone that took the time to read my post and merry christmas.

pepdavies

I don't understand why this requires a new contract if it uses your existing bundle.

grumbler

It uses only the data bundle. If used for calls/texts, this will cost extra.

Pippin12

I fail to see why this is a scam. Yes, it might be unwise of them to send it unannounced and unsolicited through the post because of the dangers of fraud, but how is that a scam?

Nice_Weather_For_Ducks

Like the OP I would be really angry about this, and in fact I would cancel my contract and move company if I experience anything like this.

Herongull

This is unbelievable!

As had been said above, if the sim is lost in the post or you chuck it in the bin before you've read all the fine print, then anyone can run up a huge data bill on your account. They could take the sim abroad and then the bill would be £thousands within less than 24 hours.

It is made even worse by the fact that it is unsolicited and unexpected. If it doesn't arrive or is lost or stolen in transit, you won't know to report it.

This is bound to happen to a certain percentage, and then when the massive bills start arriving (or people's phones are blocked due to the credit limited being exceeded), all the customercare lines will be swamped...

custardy

personally sounds like a great idea,if they made it requiring activation