EE Complaint

Mike12421

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've been on here however I could really do with some advice regarding EE demanding money which is not due.


I took out a 12-month sim-only plan with them around the 10th-14th of December 2012 (I can not recall the exact day as I have since thrown all my paperwork away). I only took out the contract as they were the first to offer 4G. The service was always poor at my house, however that is another story. The monthly payments were always paid on time directly by direct debit and there was never an issue.


Because of the poor reception and the fact that Vodafone have recently begun offering 4G service, I decided to leave EE once my 12 month contract was up.


I was aware that I had to give 30 days notice prior to leaving and so on the 10th November 2013 (my birthday, which is how I remember the day) I contacted EE. This was a whole month prior to the end of my contract!! I spoke with a lady in customer service and explained that I wished to give my 30 days notice. She did not quite understand me as she replied that if I wished to end my contract early there would be a penalty. I clearly explained that I did not wish to cancel my contract early, I was simply giving them the required 30 days notice as on the 10th-14th of December 2013 (I can not recall the exact date) I would not be renewing my contract and would be transferring to Vodafone. The lady stated that that was fine and that I simply needed to call back on the 10th-14the December 2013 and my account would be closed and my PAC code would be issued.


I recalled on the 10th-14th December 2013, again explained that I wanted to transfer to Vodafone and this was all completed promptly and my PAC code was provided. I was assured that my account was closed and that no money was owed.


On the 23rd December 2013 I received a bill from EE stating that a £24.60p "charge" would be taken from my account. I immediately contacted EE and spoke with a gentleman from customer services. He checked the account and stated that he did not know why the money had been taken and did not know why I had been charged anything as my account had been closed at my request at the end of my contract. He stated that if he processed the refund it could take up to a month and with it being Christmas and the money being needed, he stated that I was best to contact my bank (HSBC) and request that the money be "recalled or withdrawn" or something to that effect.


I contacted HSBC straight after my call to EE and explained that situation and the £24.60p was promptly refunded to my account.


That was the end of the matter, or so I thought.


On the 9th January 2014, I received an "intimidating" letter from EE stating that I had an "overdue balance" of £24.60p. It went on to state that my account had now been disconnected from the EE network and for service to be restored immediately I needed to pay the amount in full. Failure to pay the amount would result in several actions being taken, namely; referral to a debt collection agency, termination of my service agreement which ment I could not reconnect to EE at a later date, a cancellation charge being applied to my account for the remaining months left on my contract.


I immediately contacted EE and explained all of the above, however I was told by a gentleman in customer service that the £24.60p is due to me not giving them 30 days notice. I reminded the gentleman that I called on the 10th November 2013 however the gentleman simply stated; "it's not on your account so you have to pay it."


Because of this I have requested a recall from their complaints department as I find it unbelievable that because of an error on their behalf I am being threatened with referral to a debt collection agency.


I, like most, work extremely hard to keep my credit file in excellent order and I hope EE have not caused any issues.


Any advice would be much appreciated.


Regards,
Michael.

mobilejunkie

Forget all that. Send a formal complaint by email so you have it in writing. Don't expect a response from them, but at least you'll start the clock ticking on the 8 weeks before complaining to CISAS.

ste_wilko

Hi, I had an issue with 3 once. I ordered the iPhone 5 when it was first released.

The guy on the phone went through the credit checking process with me, including checking my payment card. I gave them my address, as with all phone companies the delivery address is the address the phone contract will be registered to (the address they credit checked me against).

He told me it would arrive in approximately 2 weeks from that date. I got an email from them, the day before the phone was due to be delivered, saying that the were out of stock and my order had been put back a week. Again, the day before the new delivery date I got another email stating that the phone was out of stock and that they would have it delivered to me within the next 2-3 weeks.

I was fed up of their crap, so I called them to cancel it. They said that they couldn't do anything until the phone was despatched and to call back then. So I left it at that, waiting for the despatch email.

I eventually got the email to say it had been despatched. Only to discover that they had got the postcode wrong on the despatch system and was actually sending the phone to an address some 100 miles away. I called them up to tell them and they insisted that was the address I gave them, even though I protested and told them that had they credit checked my bank card against that address it would have failed. They wouldn't listen and just told me to contact the couriers and have the delivery stopped. I did that and the couriers returned the phone to 3.

About two months later I received a phone call from a debt recovery agency telling me that I owed 3 over £100 and I needed to pay at least half immediately to stop doorstep debt collectors visiting me. I paid half of what they were demanding and immediately got onto 3.

3 confirmed that they had received the phone and couldn't understand why the contract hadn't been cancelled and that they would call of the dogs and get me the money back.

Well, fast forwarding to a month later I was still getting letters, phone calls and emails from the debt recovery agents insisting I pay the remaining balance. Every time I called 3 they insisted that they had cancelled the account and I would receive no more demand letters and they would get me a refund.

The whole scenario went on for about 3 to 4 months before I finally got it resolved, with an apology and refund from 3.

I know your circumstances are different, but what I will say is perseverance is the key. Keep on at EE about it until they give in and realise that they have screwed up!

Good luck!!

[Deleted User]

Mike 12421 - Whenever I cancel a contract at the end of its period I always send a letter by recorded or even special delivery (and keep a printed copy) and never rely on phone messages being acted on - this way I have something in writing to rely on in case of any arguments later.

It seems that you have fallen foul of a much used trick in the mobile phone business to extract more money from you.

I would just write to them refusing to pay and challenge them to take me to court but then I'm old enough to not care about my credit rating any more!

If you're worried about your credit rating you could offer to pay (by letter) and threaten them with action in the small claims court if they accept. Enclose details of your side of the issue in the letter and wait to see what happens.
You could also tell them that you are going to do what mobilejunkie suggests as well! - Give them both barrels so to speak!

If you're REALLY worried about your credit rating then just pay the money and put it down to experience - and next time cancel in writing only, not by phone call.

Pont

I've recently experienced similar. Despite me giving 30 days notice, my 'Non-Debt' got sold on a to a debt collection agency. I checked with experian to find my credit rating has gone from excellent to poor! Furious is an understatement!
As EE do not respond to anything, and I was receiving numerous threatening letters/telephone calls from the collection agency, I have forwarded a complaint to CISAS. I believe you have to wait 8 weeks from initial complaint before doing this.
Co-incidentally I received confirmation of my complaint today. I was told that EE have 10 days to respond but 'Don't be surprised if this matter isn't settled by EE without further action'.

[Deleted User]

People who work in consumer affairs always recommend that the general public only deal with companies online if their website shows the company phone number and address to show that it's a legitimate and honest company based in the UK.
I have just checked EE's website and I cannot find an address so you must draw your conclusions from that!
I also checked O2's website and found an address fairly quickly.

I know which company I would deal with online.

mije1983

Deleted_User wrote: »

I have just checked EE's website and I cannot find an address so you must draw your conclusions from that!

It's in their Ts&Cs

http://help.ee.co.uk/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1016&PARTITION_ID=1&secureFlag=false&segment=Consumer&TIMEZONE_OFFSET=&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=61474&CUSTOM_BRAND=EE

simax

When you ask for a PAC, you are essentially giving them 30 days notice. The £24.60 charge is the remainder of the 30 days notice that you didn't give as you ported your number out almost straight away after the PAC was issued.

[Deleted User]

mije1983 - Thank you for that information.
It's interesting that it's buried in the terms and conditions and suggests that they don't want you to find it as most people don't read all the terms and conditions, it would take all day.

It tells volumes about them that it's not on the contact us page which is where it would be with any decent company.
Perhaps EE are trying to beat Vodafone in the number of complaints posted on this website!