EE Insurance Fraud on iPhone handset

JackBowman2018

Hi all,

First time post, and hopefully the last! Nice to meet you all.

So I recently a switched to a sim-only EE deal, with a view to purchasing a new handset - iPhone 8 - and reduce my long terms costs.

I bought a handset of what appeared to be a reputable online store with excellent feedback, and in August received a brand new, sealed iPhone 8 Red locked to EE.

Everything was fine - the phone worked beautifully, the PAC moved me from o2 in the space of two days, and I insured the phone with Nationwide. I have been using it for three months now through EE regularly.

Last Wednesday night, the signal died. I called EE via WiFi call Thursday evening and they informed me that they had a mast down, which explained the blackout. So I got by but come Saturday afternoon, having travelled all over London, there was still no signal and my partner's EE handset was fine.

So I called again, and the Tier Two(?) Tech team in South Wales had a look.

Turns out that the previous owner of the iPhone had waited three months, then reported it stolen to EE, so they have blacklisted the IMEI and bricked the phone. EE were vaguely apologetic, said it now happens all the time, there was nothing they could do about it, offered me £20 credit for a new phone and discouraged me from reporting it to the police ('it's a civil matter so they won't investigate, even though you'd think this is fraud').

I have all the paperwork to prove purchase (luckily, it went through PayPal) and I have reported it to Action Fraud.

However, a few things concern me still:

1) PayPal say I have to return the phone to the seller to get a refund on my purchase. With my filing a police complaint, is the phone now evidence?

2) As I use my phone for business, I have lost an estimated £600+ on earnings, which exceeds the cost of a new handset. If EE have taken - unwitting - action against me, am I right to think a £20 towards buying a new handset to them feels incredibly below par?

3) Also, there's been no offer to remove the unused time of my contract from my next bill, even though I have lost nearly a week of call time and data usage. I can't use my contract because of their actions.

4) EE are refusing to comment on whether they are taking action against the other customer; while I understand this is likely to be because of GDPR, if it is a civil matter and I decide to press civil charges against the seller, do they have a duty to assist with that?

5) I am also unable to recover work data from the phone as the handset, when locked, will not allow my to use iTunes to recover the information contained within that's beyond email form.

To clarify a couple of other points - the iPhone was virtually brand new, so still within any manufacturer's warranty, and I am three months into a 12 month contract with EE.

Has anyone got any advice on this? Thanks in advance.

AndyPK

I don't think you will get loss of earnings, if the items were purchases for personal use.


Why would EE refund you any of the air time, if you didn't buy the phone from them? You should be able to remove the sim and put it in an old phone to get back up and running.


You need to resolve the issue with the seller of the phone

JackBowman2018

Thanks for the reply. The phone is for me as a freelancer, just to clarify. The number has been used for over a decade for work-related matters.

E: Also, the reason for the £20 has been offered on a new £700+ handset is because they've acknowledged their actions are damaging my income.

pmduk

Your contract with EE is for the provision of airtime only. It is your responsibility to provide a working handset. The £20 goodwill is generous and is more than you would be entitled to for the service disruption you suffered.

Put the SIM into a different handset while you take action against the seller. who has indeed committed fraud. Report it to Paypal, eBay and Actionfraud immediately.

JackBowman2018

Thanks for your reply. As I stated, I've already taken those steps already, so it's good to know I am on the right track.

[Deleted User]

JackBowman2018 wrote: »

E: Also, the reason for the £20 has been offered on a new £700+ handset is because they've acknowledged their actions are damaging my income.

I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion as I'd bet very good money that that is not what they've said. Is the £20 credit to buy a phone from themselves? If so that's just good customer service, not admittance of anything. How you can possibly blame EE for this is beyond me.

pmduk

On point 1, there is some dispute as to who actually now owns the handset. YOU have proof of purchase and payment. Have EE or their insurance company made a payout for the handset? If not, I'd argue strongly that the handset remains yours and needs to be unbricked (they'll say initially it can't be done, in which case escalate the call, because it can, they just prefer not to do it.)

Jon_01

pmduk wrote: »

On point 1, there is some dispute as to who actually now owns the handset. YOU have proof of purchase and payment. Have EE or their insurance company made a payout for the handset? If not, I'd argue strongly that the handset remains yours and needs to be unbricked (they'll say initially it can't be done, in which case escalate the call, because it can, they just prefer not to do it.)

I'm not saying you're wrong pmduk, but don't EE say in their T&C's that they own the phone for the first 6 months? In which case they have the right to do what they want with their property?

JJ_Egan

Did OP buy phone from EE ???
Judging by the OP EE are not the vendor .

Jon_01

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Did OP buy phone from EE ???
Judging by the OP EE are not the vendor .

The Op says 'I bought a handset of what appeared to be a reputable online store with excellent feedback, and in August received a brand new, sealed iPhone 8 Red locked to EE.' So not EE direct.

3 months is the time it would take EE to realize that they weren't going get paid (from the date the handset was taken out) and apply the blacklisting.

I can't see that there's anyway EE will doing anything, the handset was probably bought with fake ID and just so someone could sell it on.

Cornucopia

I'm not sure that there is enough info in the OP's post to determine what has happened (or what is likely to have happened).

I'm also unclear as to why the OP has chosen to title the thread as he has - does s/he have information that is not disclosed to show that (a) the phone was originally an EE contract phone, and (b) the phone was the subject of a fraudulent insurance claim.