EE.T-Mob.Orange. Change T&C From 26th March 2014

RandomCurve

uscool wrote: »

Hi, i been with tmobile for 2 years, my contract ends in 4 months, and would like to cancel , i don't mind paying the remaining 4 months just wondering what would the penalty cost be ?

Thanks

It would be your monthly contract payment x the number of months left on the contract (4)?


Why not go down this route to try and get a penalty free cancellation? If you are desperate to switch contracts you could send the email at post #24 to EE and still take out a new contract elsewhere, but continue paying your tmobile contact for the next 4 months. If you lose the case it has cost you nothing extra as you were going to pay a 4 month cancellation charge anyway, and if you win you will receive a refund of the 4 months you have paid (and possibly some compensation as well:))

burnzrox

Hello,

Thank you for your email addressed to the EE Executive Office.

We appreciate the time you have taken to write to us, however in order to resolve any issues you have, you would be required to contact our Customer Service team. Our Customer Service team is equipped to deal with all issues relating to EE products and services by calling 150 or 07973 100150. We are unable to provide an email address for this department or able to forward your email on, sorry for any inconvenience caused. Should you be unhappy with the response you have with Customer Service you have the right to make a request for your complaint to be escalated to a Team Manager and then if still unresolved to the relevant Operations Manager. In the unlikely event that your issue remains unresolved the Operations Manager will contact the Executive Office for further advice or alternatively they will escalate the issue on your behalf. For details of our complaints procedure please see the EE Code of Practice for Consumer Affairs, a copy of which can be found online using the following link.

Whilst we appreciate the above is not the response you had hoped for, the Executive Office is responsible for a variety of work practices and as such is not necessarily the quickest route to resolve an issue. Please be assured that resolving any complaint or issue as quickly as possible is our primary concern.

Kind Regards

uscool

RandomCurve wrote: »

It would be your monthly contract payment x the number of months left on the contract (4)?


Why not go down this route to try and get a penalty free cancellation? If you are desperate to switch contracts you could send the email at post #24 to EE and still take out a new contract elsewhere, but continue paying your tmobile contact for the next 4 months. If you lose the case it has cost you nothing extra as you were going to pay a 4 month cancellation charge anyway, and if you win you will receive a refund of the 4 months you have paid (and possibly some compensation as well:))

Thanks but i really like the number transferred over , so i dont mind just paying the 4 months off now and canceling , would that be the only charge ?

Thanks

sshariff

I too have got the standard email sent from EE. Guess they are using the very same template for everyone!

----
Dear Mr X,

Thank you for your email regarding the recent text message you received.
Please be advised the text message sent to you was not sent to notify you of a price increase but to advise you of a change in our network terms and conditions which will be made from 26 March 2014.
As a company we wish to provide clarity on the terms to ensure customers are provided with more certainty and transparency in the event of us making any changes to your price plan. The update in the terms and conditions supports the guidance Ofcom recently issued around fairness in contracts around several issues, including price increase in contract. The change in the terms provides greater clarity on price increase notification, which includes the instances when you as a customer have the right to cancel a contract without charge.
In addition to the above we have signed up to the government's Telecoms Consumer Action Plan which aims to improve the customer experience in a number of areas, including bill transparency and certainty over the lifetime of a contract, in line with the principles of Ofcom's guidance.
I trust the above explains more clearly to you why the text message was sent to you.


Yours sincerely

Executive Office,EE
---

nsabournemouth

RandomCurve wrote: »

You are not being dumb. EE have deliberately been vague. Post #24 on Page 2 of the forum tries to explain it.


In simple terms EE have realised that the current contract clause makes it difficult for them to increase prices, so they have changed the T&Cs to make it easier for them to increase prices in the future (my guess is April/May)



The rules and your contract (I and others believe) allows you to leave your contract without incurring a penalty if EE change the T&Cs (which they have done). This means you can stop paying your monthly charge, you keep your phone and then go to another network and switch to a SIM only deal - could save you £5-£40 a month depending on your contract.


If you want to try and cancel your contract then send the email in post #31 on page 2.


Good Luck

Just to let you know EE have decided to PAY out my complaint. I'll post up later the info I sent in for my CISAS claim. EE have offered the payment directly.

Basically I think the USD is the ammo the rest of you need to use. Do it now.

oxfordmark

So the result is that you CANT cancel the contract for the T&C changes?

But if the price rise is over the RPI you can?

SimonD316

oxfordmark wrote: »

So the result is that you CANT cancel the contract for the T&C changes?

But if the price rise is over the RPI you can?

That's what EE seem to be saying.

But, as they are changing the terms and conditions of the contract should be able to cancel without penalty. EE will try their hardest not to let you know that though!

atif85

Hi all, I have been studying this forum with great interest as I am an affected EE customer.

NSABOURNEMOUTH, please elaborate on what you mean by " EE have decided to PAY out my complaint ".

My Analyisis:

• According to EE they are changing their T&C wording in line with Ofcom's report/findings and this is to clearify and prove transparency to their customers
• But most agree that this is not the case and that the underlying meaning is that EE will be able to change their prices in the forthcoming months allowing them to do this without customers being able to cancel fee free
• Now I have read and analysied their NEW clauses as:

7.2.3 A cancellation charge won't apply if You are
within your minimum term and;

7.2.3.3 " We have given you written notice of an increase
in a price plan charge under point 7.1.4 and

(ii) You give us notice to immediately cancel this
agreement before the changes take affect.

Now As I understand this it meansd that as a customer you have the right to cancel if you get notified over a price change and even then ONLY if that change is higher than the RPI! Please notice the underlined red " price plan charge" above. So unless EE are notifying you oif a price charge increase you cannot cancel.

My Conclusion:

EE can change the wording of thier T&C as long as it does not cause a material detriment to the customer.
But if they attempt to change the prices (above RPI) then we CAN cancel charge free before the price rise takes affect.

So that means that we cannot cancel the agreement until EE actually announces a price rise!!!

Please if you dont agree or i misunderstood anything correct me.


My next action is to wait until EE actually sends me written notification that they indeed want to increase my price plan, in that case I will immediately contat them to cancel my agreement as outlined above.

nsabournemouth

atif85 wrote: »

Hi all, I have been studying this forum with great interest as I am an affected EE customer.

NSABOURNEMOUTH, please elaborate on what you mean by " EE have decided to PAY out my complaint ".

My Analyisis:

• According to EE they are changing their T&C wording in line with Ofcom's report/findings and this is to clearify and prove transparency to their customers
• But most agree that this is not the case and that the underlying meaning is that EE will be able to change their prices in the forthcoming months allowing them to do this without customers being able to cancel fee free
• Now I have read and analysied their NEW clauses as:

7.2.3 A cancellation charge won't apply if You are
within your minimum term and;

7.2.3.3 " We have given you written notice of an increase
in a price plan charge under point 7.1.4 and

(ii) You give us notice to immediately cancel this
agreement before the changes take affect.

Now As I understand this it meansd that as a customer you have the right to cancel if you get notified over a price change and even then ONLY if that change is higher than the RPI! Please notice the underlined red " price plan charge" above. So unless EE are notifying you oif a price charge increase you cannot cancel.

My Conclusion:

EE can change the wording of thier T&C as long as it does not cause a material detriment to the customer.
But if they attempt to change the prices (above RPI) then we CAN cancel charge free before the price rise takes affect.

So that means that we cannot cancel the agreement until EE actually announces a price rise!!!

Please if you dont agree or i misunderstood anything correct me.


My next action is to wait until EE actually sends me written notification that they indeed want to increase my price plan, in that case I will immediately contat them to cancel my agreement as outlined above.

I took out a contract back in October 2012 and in August I paid the early termination fee. Back in April last year Orange increased the cost and changed wordings of their terms and conditions. Here is the wording that was changed:

The terms and conditions that I signed tell me I can cancel if the charges are to my detriment but then Orange are saying the charges are not to my detriment and therefore I wasn't allowed to cancel. I understand that it is against the UCCRs for Orange to decide what is and what isn't material detriment. As for clause 4.3.1 this is how it stands on my T&Cs:

we have increased the Charges by an amount equal to or less than the percentage increase
in the All Items Index of Retail Prices published by the Central Statistical Office in the Monthly
Digest of Statistics in any 12 month period

The same clause now reads:

!we give you written notice to increase the Charges (as a percentage) by an amount equal to or less than the percentage increase in the All Items Index of Retail Prices or any other statistical measure of inflation published by any government body authorised to publish measures of inflation from time to time, and published on a date as close as reasonably possible before the date on which we send you written notice

However, I reckon that this has put the spook up them

Directive 2002/22/EC
Of the European Parliament and of the Council
7thMarch 2002
Chapter IV – End User Agreements

Article 20 – Contracts

Paragraph 4


4. Subscribers shall have a right to withdraw from their contracts without penalty upon notice of proposed modifications in the contractual conditions. Subscribers shall be given adequate notice, not shorter than one month, ahead of any such modifications and shall be informed at the same time of their right to withdraw, without penalty, from such contracts, if they do not accept the new conditions.

Ofcom even refer to this in their own findings - http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/price-rises-fixed-contracts/statement

The money I paid back in August will be with me via cheque within the next 20 days. EE have said that it is a commercial decision and they don't accept any liability. My case went to CISAS but EE contacted me direct.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

atif85 wrote: »

My Conclusion:

EE can change the wording of thier T&C as long as it does not cause a material detriment to the customer.

CORRECT

atif85 wrote: »

But if they attempt to change the prices (above RPI) then we CAN cancel charge free before the price rise takes affect.

Under the new T&C's this is correct, but IIRC under the old T&C's if they increased prices and it caused you "material detriment" then you could cancel.

Ofcom recently clarified the rules around material detriment to basically say that any increase in prices in a fixed price contract is material detriment. So essentially with the Ofcom guidance you could walk away without penalty if they made even a 1p increase on your contract (assuming the clarification was retrospective).

To get around the above EE are changing the T&C's but ask yourself, which T&C's would you rather be on, the ones above or the ones that let them increase your prices by RPI and you can do nothing....?

atif85 wrote: »

So that means that we cannot cancel the agreement until EE actually announces a price rise!!!

Possibly not correct. T-Mobile / Orange / EE will obviously tell you that it doesn't give you a right to cancel - what else would you expect them to do... However in my opinion this change in the T&C's could be a material detriment in itself and if so then you have a right to cancel.... but as above, T-Mobile are likely (certain) to fight this all the way to CISAS because if they just let you and hundreds of others walk away then it will cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds.

As I mentioned earlier, EE have sold this as doing you a great favour i.e. "if we increase your prices above RPI you can cancel and walk away" but in reality you could do that before anyway and on top of that, before if you could prove material detriment then you could walk away even under RPI.

So please people, DO NOT TAKE EE (T-MOBILE / ORANGE)'s WORD FOR ANYTHING, THEY WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE EASILY.