Overcharging on EE phone contract 2 June 2021 at 9:09PM in Mobiles 12 replies 251 views

aav

Hi, I would be grateful if someone could advise me on overcharging on a phone bill. My mum is on a sim only EE contract which had 500 minutes and unlimited texts. The monthly cost is around £20. She has just received her bill and its £140. Looking at her bill she has been changed extra for going over her minutes.  I have also gone back over some older bills and one is March was over £200. Could someone advise if EE are likely to do anything. It seems as her bills have been coming outautomatically as a direct debit she hasn't noticed..

PHK

It’s normal to be charged extra for going over the allowance. Extra minutes are generally quite expensive. 

So the fact that they’ve charged her for going over her allowance is not overcharging. Unless you think that they’ve charged her at the wrong rate. 

Ideally, she would be on a tariff that has enough minutes for her use. 

aav

PHK said:

It’s normal to be charged extra for going over the allowance. Extra minutes are generally quite expensive. 

So the fact that they’ve charged her for going over her allowance is not overcharging. Unless you think that they’ve charged her at the wrong rate. 

Ideally, she would be on a tariff that has enough minutes for her use. 

Thanks for the reply. I might be wrong but I always thought there'd be a charging cap. Does that not exsist or should they not tell her se has gone over her a allowed minutes before it gets too high?

[Deleted User]

If she didn't set a cap, there won't be one.

It sounds as if she should set one.

carly

She should change her contract ASAP. Most EE sim only deals come with unlimited minutes these days.

PHK

aav said:

PHK said:

It’s normal to be charged extra for going over the allowance. Extra minutes are generally quite expensive. 

So the fact that they’ve charged her for going over her allowance is not overcharging. Unless you think that they’ve charged her at the wrong rate. 

Ideally, she would be on a tariff that has enough minutes for her use. 

Thanks for the reply. I might be wrong but I always thought there'd be a charging cap. Does that not exsist or should they not tell her se has gone over her a allowed minutes before it gets too high?

Spend caps are available. I can’t say what happened when she took out the contract but in recent years you’ve needed to select an amount or turn it off. 

The most important thing is to get her on a contract with a suitable allowance to cover how she actually uses the phone. 

eDicky

For some years already EE have been giving unlimited minutes and texts with all their SIM-only contacts, so I'll assume that your mother is well past the minimum term of her contract.

She needs to contact EE and at least move to a new contract, the cheapest currently being £13/mth (12 months contract) if she needs little or no mobile data. The unlimited minutes will end any danger of out-of-allowance call costs.

EE will often discount their tariff on a new contract to match that of another network that the customer intends switching to, which can be as low as £4 - £5.

A little research for the cheapest deal, then a request to EE for a PAC (to port phone number to another network) will usually prompt them to offer a discount to retain custom. If not, just go ahead and switch.

sdduk

£20 a month you can get a lot better than that for that amount. if she is mainly talking and text then switch to Plusnet which runs on EE and they are both owned by BT.
Have a look at the link below they are all unlimited Mins/Text and no where near £20mth also they are only 1 month contract.
or go direct to Plusnet.
https://www.plus.net/mobile/sim-only-30-day
https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_deals/

nyermen

Unless the big bills are because she's called a number that isn't included...
But agreed wrt changing contract - for £20 today you can get unlimited minutes & texts plus 160Gb data (according to a Facebook advert thrown at me earlier).

luvchocolate

I'm with EE sim only £8 a month unlimited calls and text 

niktheguru

She needs to change her contract NOW. £20 for 500mins and unlimited texts is rubbish. If she wants to stay with ee, their retentions/upgrades department will easily give her unlimited mins, unlimited texts and 2gb data for £6 a month on a 12 month contract. I took this for one of my lines the other week.