EE - requested original copy of contract

Kroberts_2

Hi,

I requested my original copy of contract from EE and received this in the response:

I am writing with regard to your recent email in which you request a copy of your signed agreement.

The law that you refer to covers agreements which are governed by the Consumer Credit Act. The agreements that customers take out with us are regarded as Provision of Network Service Agreements only and are not covered or governed by the Consumer Credit Act and therefore does not have to be in writing or signed.

Is this correct? And if it's not credit, how come it appears on Equifax/experian as credit?

Also, if there is no credit agreement am I even liable to pay? They cannot pass this to a debt collector if there is no agreement surely?

Not sure how this works, but I'm sure they are wrong

tomtontom

Perhaps you could give us more details of your situation? Trying to get out of a debt by any chance?

Kroberts_2

No, not at all.

Consistent poor service since day one.

First they moved my direct debit by 2 days (to just before payday)
Then they charged me double for a few months
Then the antenna directed at my house broke and I don't get signal (I get a 50% discount because of it)
Then my phone breaks, battery broke and lock button, with it being and iphone I can't replace the battery, but it's still a 'consumable'. I expect a phone to last the duration of the contract but according to EE I'm not protected by consumer rights and expecting a product I bought for a 2 year period to last 2 years is silly.
Then I received a letter saying that my contract was going up by the RPI on the day RPI dropped and that was the straw that broke the camels back.
They're charging me more, for a service I can't use, on a phone that doesn't work. Even though RPI fluctuates monthly they seem to wait until the day it peaks to hike the price with no plan to reduce it.

I just want out. I pay every month but enough is enough, except they won't play ball.

MataNui

Yes, they are correct (to a point). Mobile phone contracts are not covered by the CCA and there may not always be written/signed agreements (for example when you do an upgrade over the phone or online there wont be a signed copy of the agreement). This is pretty interesting though because in case of any dispute evidence of any agreement is typically required. In other words at the end of the day though it is up to them to prove you agreed to the service under specified terms and not up to you to prove you didnt. I guess this is why mobile providers NEVER go to court to validate any debt, they just make your life hell.
#EDIT#
I should also say that signed agreements can be pretty good for the customer. I did an upgrade with Orange in store. It was for a 12 month sim only but my Orange online account said 24 months (i did have an issue in store that they tried to put me on 24 month but i noticed before signing and got them to re-do the paperwork correctly). If i didnt have that signed copy that said 12 months i would have been stuck. It always pays to read and keep any paperwork.

Kroberts_2

But I am still under a contract, so am I entitled to see the original copy of the contract from when it began? Even though I didn't physically sign?

The terms and conditions state that they can only change the price plan with RPI, would you argue that would involve them decreasing with RPI also, as just putting the price up every so often isn't a true reflection of inflation or growth and it means the price is consistently above RPI?

Kroberts_2

MataNui wrote: »

I should also say that signed agreements can be pretty good for the customer. I did an upgrade with Orange in store. It was for a 12 month sim only but my Orange online account said 24 months (i did have an issue in store that they tried to put me on 24 month but i noticed before signing and got them to re-do the paperwork correctly). If i didnt have that signed copy that said 12 months i would have been stuck. It always pays to read and keep any paperwork.

The problem is, I was never sent any.

I signed up to orange the month before EE began to operate. When EE started I requested to be moved to the new network to utilise the 4G.
I was told that NOTHING would change except the letters next to the signal bar.
A month later when my first EE bill came out they changed the direct debit date from my pay day, to over a week prior to that. When I questioned it they said it was a fault and took 2 months to change it back, on those 2 months I paid a direct debit 4 times. On the old and new dates.

The reason I am after a copy of the agreement is so I can compare it with the original Orange contract. If there are differences then it was sold illegally, right?

Then of I request all my documentation is sent through the DPA, including all recorded telephone calls, I should be able to prove, out right, that the EE agreement, in the guise which was sold to me, never existed.

They are absolutely the worst network provider going. If you try even look at their T&Cs you get errors, has been that way for over a month and no one does anything about it.

Anoneemoose

Kroberts wrote: »

The problem is, I was never sent any.

I signed up to orange the month before EE began to operate. When EE started I requested to be moved to the new network to utilise the 4G.
I was told that NOTHING would change except the letters next to the signal bar.
A month later when my first EE bill came out they changed the direct debit date from my pay day, to over a week prior to that. When I questioned it they said it was a fault and took 2 months to change it back, on those 2 months I paid a direct debit 4 times. On the old and new dates.

The reason I am after a copy of the agreement is so I can compare it with the original Orange contract. If there are differences then it was sold illegally, right?

Then of I request all my documentation is sent through the DPA, including all recorded telephone calls, I should be able to prove, out right, that the EE agreement, in the guise which was sold to me, never existed.

They are absolutely the worst network provider going. If you try even look at their T&Cs you get errors, has been that way for over a month and no one does anything about it.

You will not get the recordings of phone calls. They are only kept for 90 days max. Only ones you might get are most recent ones.

When you say the agreement was sold illegally, I don't think so. Technically nothing does change. EE uses exactly the same network infrastructure as Orange, the only difference being, EE has access to more in that it can also access the 4g parts too. As for your bills, you are sent a welcome letter and your first bill in the post. I imagine you might say this was never received. However, this bill tells you specifically when yr direct debit will come out. If you don't like it, you can change it I believe but even if not, if it was that much of an issue, you could have cancelled the agreement or 'reverse migrated' back to Orange.

The network problem you're experiencing would have happened regardless of whether you moved to EE or not. It is not BECAUSE you moved to EE. If you have accepted the 50% discount as 'compensation' for no service at home, I am not sure you can pursue that any more although it may be possible so might be worth a try.

I have never had an issue getting the t&c's online...

http://ee.co.uk/content/dam/ee-help/Help-PDFs/EE_PAYM_TERMS_2014.pdf

Kroberts_2

The EE contract is ambiguous when it comes to coverage. It says they will ALWAYS TRY provide a service. The second they stop trying then surely they've broken the contract. It's been 6 month since the fault and it's not resolved yet

Anoneemoose

Kroberts wrote: »

The EE contract is ambiguous when it comes to coverage. It says they will ALWAYS TRY provide a service. The second they stop trying then surely they've broken the contract. It's been 6 month since the fault and it's not resolved yet

I don't know the legalities of 'always trying'. How do you know they have stopped trying? If they have completely turned the mast off, then that is different and the leg you have to stand on may be stronger than if they were struggling to get access to a site to fix the mast.

Kroberts_2

Anoneemoose wrote: »

I don't know the legalities of 'always trying'. How do you know they have stopped trying? If they have completely turned the mast off, then that is different and the leg you have to stand on may be stronger than if they were struggling to get access to a site to fix the mast.

They admitted that they couldn't fix it, that's why I get the discount

mije1983

Kroberts wrote: »

They admitted that they couldn't fix it, that's why I get the discount

Then that was probably the point where you could have argued they had stopped trying. As you negotiated a discount with them instead I'd say you reached an agreement.