Can I cancel EE contact early?

lucyAM

Hello,
As the title says really.

Bit of background...
Have been with EE for 15 months, contract due to end next April.
First month was great, then I lost signal with no warning whenever I was at home. They kept telling me the mast was down and would be repaired, then said the mast would never be repaired. 3 months ago they finally said they would send a signal boost box. That arrived last week, and they are now saying they are having issues with their systems and can't register signal boost boxes and the problem is "on-going".
I've asked them about cancelling my contract and they have said I can if I pay the remainder of the months off in one go. I feel this is unfair as I am paying them monthly for a phone that I cannot use when at home (where I work!) so it is effectively useless.
Is there anything I can do? Am I able to end it early with no charge based on them failing to provide me with the service I pay for?

Sorry for long post.
Any help appreciated. Many thanks.

JJ_Egan

Does the service exist in other places as its a mobile not a home phone .

ste_wilko

In short, no. Nothing in the T&Cs refers specifically to cancelling due to loss of service, other than EE's right to supsend or terminate.

You could formally complain to them and after 8 weeks if your complaint hasn't been handled satisfactorily you can refer the matter to CISAS for them to consider

grumbler

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Does the service exist in other places as its a mobile not a home phone .

Of course it does exist somewhere. What's the point in asking? Does it make any difference if, say, the service exists somewhere in London if the OP lives in Midlands?

Many people had their contracts terminated early without fees after loosing the signal as a result of ongoing decommissioning of EE masts.

ste_wilko wrote: »

In short, no. Nothing in the T&Cs refers specifically to cancelling due to loss of service, other than EE's right to supsend or terminate.

T&C aren't the last instance.
When buying a contract the OP made a decision based on the signal in his home location. As the mast was switched off, the OP does have rights to leave without charges. I don't expect this to be easy, but this is doable if the OP is persistent enough and doesn't get fobbed off by EE's frontline defenders.

ste_wilko

grumbler wrote: »

Of course it does exist somewhere. What's the point in asking? Does it make any difference if, say, the service exists somewhere in London if the OP lives in Midlands?

Many people had their contracts terminated early without fees after loosing the signal as a result of ongoing decommissioning of EE masts.
T&C aren't the last instance.
When buying a contract the OP made a decision based on the signal in his home location. As the mast was switched off, the OP does have rights to leave without charges.

As the T&Cs don't provision for loss of service as a right for the customer to cancel they'll be hard pressed to get the cancellation without penalty from regular customer services. That's why I suggested a formal complaint and raising with CISAS after the 8 week period if they can't resolve with EE

lucyAM

Thank you for your replies.
I am willing to fight this if need be, but I see it being dragged out until the end of my contract anyway. :-/
I get a signal when I go in to my local town centre, but as I spend the majority of my days at home, all day, I need that signal.
So angry a company can basically get away with not providing a signal/service yet can still charge someone.
I've complained several times through the year and had the fob-offs until they finally gave me the signal boost box, now it's back to the fob-offs as the boost box won't work. Is that sufficient enough to go straight to CISAS, or would i still need to complain again?

ste_wilko

CISAS guidelines state that you need to make a formal complaint to the network and then need to wait 8 weeks. EE should have a formal complaints procedure besides just calling customer service.

Have a look at their codes of practice for handling complaints. Read each step and then start at the step that applies to your situation, with regards to what you have already done

http://ee.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/my-digital-life/complaints-code-of-practice

grumbler

lucyAM wrote: »

I've complained several times through the year and had the fob-offs until they finally gave me the signal boost box, now it's back to the fob-offs as the boost box won't work. Is that sufficient enough to go straight to CISAS, or would i still need to complain again?

I think you can go directly to CIFAS if you have a paper trail and if you have their replies about 'ongoing problems' with signal boxes and their refusal to terminate the contract without fees.

Meanwhile follow their standard complaints procedure just in case.

d123

grumbler wrote: »

I think you can go directly to CIFAS if you have a paper trail and if you have their replies about 'ongoing problems' with signal boxes and their refusal to terminate the contract without fees.

Meanwhile follow their standard complaints procedure just in case.

You need an acknowledgement of deadlock, either a confirmation of deadlock letter from EE or a written communication that says they refuse to discuss the matter further (which is what I got in the form of an email reply from a pig headed woman in their Exec Office, and took to CISAS).

lucyAM

Ok, thank you. I'll get on to that tonight.
Thanks for all your help.