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How to get out of a dreadful contract with EE
batsintheattic
Posts: 3 Newbie
in Mobiles
I am completely fed up with EE & thinking of just cancelling my contract even though I originally set it up for 2 years in August 2014.
The problem is that, despite many phone calls & personal shop visits, they have set up the contract in my husband's name(!), even though he is not mentioned anywhere in the paperwork & the bank account used for the payments is mine alone. Consequently, they will not allow me to access any information about the contract or deal with me when there are problems. They insist that my husband would have to come into the shop with me to authorise any changes!! Why should he, it is their mistake & his time is precious.
Well, now it gets worse. For the last month I have had absolutely no mobile reception at home despite paying for 4G on an iPhone 5s!! They cannot tell me when or if this will improve. This is the final straw.
As I see it they are not providing the service I signed up to & will not help to rectify the problems they have created. There is a data protection issue because why should they be allowing my husband access to private information about my phone & they are treating him as the account holder even though they have no signatures/contract with him.
If I just refuse to pay any more direct debits can they do anything about it? Obviously I would not want my husband's credit rating to be affected, but clearly he has no legal responsibility for their bills. What are my rights and how should I proceed?
Can anybody help please?
The problem is that, despite many phone calls & personal shop visits, they have set up the contract in my husband's name(!), even though he is not mentioned anywhere in the paperwork & the bank account used for the payments is mine alone. Consequently, they will not allow me to access any information about the contract or deal with me when there are problems. They insist that my husband would have to come into the shop with me to authorise any changes!! Why should he, it is their mistake & his time is precious.
Well, now it gets worse. For the last month I have had absolutely no mobile reception at home despite paying for 4G on an iPhone 5s!! They cannot tell me when or if this will improve. This is the final straw.
As I see it they are not providing the service I signed up to & will not help to rectify the problems they have created. There is a data protection issue because why should they be allowing my husband access to private information about my phone & they are treating him as the account holder even though they have no signatures/contract with him.
If I just refuse to pay any more direct debits can they do anything about it? Obviously I would not want my husband's credit rating to be affected, but clearly he has no legal responsibility for their bills. What are my rights and how should I proceed?
Can anybody help please?
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Comments
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batsintheattic wrote: »I am completely fed up with EE & thinking of just cancelling my contract even though I originally set it up for 2 years in August 2014.
The problem is that, despite many phone calls & personal shop visits, they have set up the contract in my husband's name(!), even though he is not mentioned anywhere in the paperwork & the bank account used for the payments is mine alone. Consequently, they will not allow me to access any information about the contract or deal with me when there are problems. They insist that my husband would have to come into the shop with me to authorise any changes!! Why should he, it is their mistake & his time is precious.
Well, now it gets worse. For the last month I have had absolutely no mobile reception at home despite paying for 4G on an iPhone 5s!! They cannot tell me when or if this will improve. This is the final straw.
As I see it they are not providing the service I signed up to & will not help to rectify the problems they have created. There is a data protection issue because why should they be allowing my husband access to private information about my phone & they are treating him as the account holder even though they have no signatures/contract with him.
If I just refuse to pay any more direct debits can they do anything about it? Obviously I would not want my husband's credit rating to be affected, but clearly he has no legal responsibility for their bills. What are my rights and how should I proceed?
Can anybody help please?
Where was the contract taken out? And has your husband got any other contracts with EE?0 -
Do you really want him to spend next year on proving this to EE, ombudsman and, possibly, to a court?batsintheattic wrote: »...
If I just refuse to pay any more direct debits can they do anything about it? Obviously I would not want my husband's credit rating to be affected, but clearly he has no legal responsibility for their bills. ...
If "his time is precious", write a letter of complaint and get him to sign it. If EE typically ignore it, submit a complaint to the ombudsman.
Meanwhile, get him to call EE and make you a nominated person allowed to access the account or, possibly, just transfer the account to your name.0 -
If your husband was never mentioned anywhere, how on earth did they get his details? They aren't mind readers.0
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batsintheattic wrote: »Well, now it gets worse. For the last month I have had absolutely no mobile reception at home despite paying for 4G on an iPhone 5s!! They cannot tell me when or if this will improve. This is the final straw.
As I see it they are not providing the service I signed up to & will not help to rectify the problems they have created.
The contract you signed up for would state that the service is not guaranteed at all locations at all times, you agreed to that when you signed up. They may offer a refund for line rental, there may be a case if a repair is not done in a reasonable time, however the law does not define what is reasonable.batsintheattic wrote: »There is a data protection issue because why should they be allowing my husband access to private information about my phone & they are treating him as the account holder even though they have no signatures/contract with him.
Actually thats correct, why the contract was set up wrong is one issue but as it stands the contract is not in your name, and if your not named as a contact then EE are right not to let you have access.batsintheattic wrote: »If I just refuse to pay any more direct debits can they do anything about it? Obviously I would not want my husband's credit rating to be affected, but clearly he has no legal responsibility for their bills.
Again Yes he does. If the contract (however wrongly) is in his name, he is responsible for it. If you cancel the direct debit and the account goes into arrears you may get penalties, black marks on a credit record and possibly cancellation of the account. If EE cancel the account due to non payment then he would get the Early termination fee charged against the account (Probably 17 or 18 month line rental as you have not hit the minimum term). If its paid there no issue if its not then it will proably be passed to debt collecters.
As others have said you need to start by finding out why its in his name, and take it from there,0 -
When I set up the contract it was done through Carphone Warehouse. One of the questions (I think for credit clearance) was if I had any other contracts with EE. I said I did not, but that my husband paid for one for our daughter. Therefore, this was referenced at some point, but he was not with me and his details were not used for my contract, nor did he sign the contract, I did!
It could well have been the case that we were separated, or indeed we could become so - therefore it would be a huge breach of privacy to give him control/access of my private phone records.0 -
If this is true, then it's CPW that messed everything up and that has to put everything right, not EE.0
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If this is true, then it's CPW that messed everything up and that has to put everything right, not EE.
Quite!
AFAIK, the activation of an EE account via CPW is all done automatically in that what CPW input into their systems is transferred to the EE systems, so EE will have had no control over it. EE basically put in what CPW tell them to.
It is up to CPW to sort it but if you have any issues, then you may be able to send the paperwork (well a copy) to EE to see if they can amend based on that.0 -
I would disagree with the statement: "If the contract (however wrongly) is in his name, he is responsible for it."
No one is legally responsible for contracts that are nothing to do with them.
The fact that you are married is a red herring. You are separate legal entities. If he didn't agree to the contract then he is not bound by it anymore than someone in the next street with a similar name would be or a previous tenant or whatever.
Perhaps he can get the contract made void on these grounds???0
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