EE end of contract charges

pmduk

Are you now proposing a test to examine a customer's mental capacity to enter a contract? Who would make that assessment and pay for it? Where do you propose that would end, an assessment before you buy a laptop?

You haven't addressed my point. The contract ends when the customer ends it, not before. If you want to buy just the phone then you're free to do that, taking out a contract that includes the handset is a different ball-game.

Meerkat16

Of course not and that would be ridiculous. What I was trying to say is that there may be something going on in a persons life that may mean they forget that their contract is at an end like going through a divorce, mental breakdown etc and then by the time they get their life back on track they have been put on a rolling contract and not known etc. I am just trying to point out it is sometimes not as simple as someone says " Your contract read the rules etc" Also if it is in the T&C's that the provider will make contact with the customer towards end of contract and they have not then they are in breach. I am trying to confirm this. ll don't understand why I am paying £13 a month for a phone that part of the contract has already been paid off and Ofcom have investigated this and EE aswell as Vodafone and 3 have been guilty of this. Thanks for your time and will see how I get on with my complaint

pmduk

Meerkat16 wrote: »

ll don't understand why I am paying £13 a month for a phone that part of the contract has already been paid off

You'll find your contract is for the provision of airtime, not the handset and as such the ADR (OS:C) is unlikely to uphold your complaint.

My best advice is to buy a phone separately in future and take out a SIMO contract for the airtime.

Meerkat16

3 have confirmed to me today that for the last three years which they have been takimg £27 a month from.me the breakdown of that is £13 for the phone and £14 for airtime. They also told me the cost of the phone was £549 and to date I have paid £780 towards the phone. Their calculations not mine? I will be buying phones separately in the future

System

Meerkat16 wrote: »

Just because someone is legally an adult does not mean they fully understand a contract and as I say sometimes a person's mental health can affect their decision making. The only reason network providers don't contact customers is because they are hoping people assume a contract terminates automatically. Remember most companies to write to or text the customer to remind them that their contract is coming to an end and even EE used to do this. So why am I paying £13 a month toward the cost of the phone which has already been paid as confirmed by 4 Phone was around £550 and to date I have paid £780 for it? The cost of the phone is in the original contract is it not? In summary it may be in the small print but network providers are not doing enough to remind users that their contract is coming to an end. You don't pay past the termination date of paying for a car load etc. You still use the car after loan has been paid. 3 got slated by Ofcom for this practice

its totally legal and has been like that since I took out a mobile phone contract in 2003 so you have no legal standing and unfortunately will have to put it down to a hard lesson learned.

Now going forward ofcom is looking into this and maybe in the future this will be sorted so that customers are not paying for a handset that they already own.

Considering some the flagship phones cost from £750 to £1250 I totally understand the reluctance for the networks to change because its free money for them if a customer does not deal with their mobile bill at the end of the contract. Your talking an extra £30 to £50 going to network each month your out of contract.

Meerkat16

Legal but scandalous. Ah well life goes on

pmduk

The whole industry has to change. 20-30 years ago phones were provided as part of the subscription in order to get people to use mobile phones, many for the first time.

The market has now matured, and at some stage, the selling of airtime and handsets needs to separate. Both networks and manufacturers will resist it to the bitter end, however.

mobilejunkie

Meerkat16 wrote: »

I have just found Out I have been paying £27 a month on a rolling contract since my two year contract ended in October 2015. I was not aware I had to contact them and just got rid of the aim and took a contract out with anorher provider. And before people shoot me down I am aware it's my responsibility to check the T&C's but sometimes there are things happening in people's lives around their mental health that impacts on them remembering things like this etc.

As has been pointed out endlessly to other people on here, contracts don't "end" naturally.

As for other things in someone's life; maybe people who get distracted should check their bank statements more frequently than once every three years. That would solve most problems and (in your case) may throw up all sorts of other things you've been paying for without noticing. Any mental health issues are unlikely to improve if mistakes are left to fester for months or (in some cases) years. Suppliers aren't there to look after their customers' mental health, so those who suffer may need to look for help and guidance before they enrter into any form of contract to ensure they actually understand it first. That applies to all sorts of products and services.

Meerkat16

Thanks for pointing out that the fact contracts don't end naturally which has already been pointed out and now fully accept this. Probably good practice to write to customer which they used to but just my opinion. Still does not excuse the charging for mobile phones once they have been paid for and identified by Ofcom which hopefully will soon end. Thanks for your reply.

[Deleted User]

My Ee contract finishes on 17th November and I want to go sim only as my DD has bought me a new phone, should I try again with EE or perhaps change provider At the moment I get 300 minutes calls, unlimited texts and only 300mb of data and its costing me £18.12 per month. I'm not very technical minded but I am sure I should be able to get a better deal than this