Roaming, America and EE

DevilsAdvocate1

My 83 year old dad went to America to meet some first cousins he'd never met before (his dad died when he was a baby and his mum lost touch with the family).  Before he went, we went into EE to find out how best my dad could use his phone when he was there.  As he was with BT, they gave him a phone number to ring.

So, he rang the number, explained that he wanted the best way to roam when in America.  He was told he needed to up his allowance to £20 a month as the data on his current contract was too small for roaming to be available.  He was then told that his best bet was to go with an EE contract as they were cheaper / most cost effective.

The EE contract was setup - but there was no mention that dad would have to pay an early exit fee as his current contract still had a few months to run.  They want £60 for this.  I think this should have been explained and perhaps waived as they were doubling the cost of his contract.  They also sold him broadband.

So he gets to America and can't get his phone to work.  After 2 weeks, he contacts customer service using 150 - they charged him £21 for this.  He has also been charged basically whenever anyone from the UK texted him - 67p a time.  All in all, he's come back to a bill of £300.  His mobile data wouldn't work, so when he was trying to use google maps it wouldn't work.  He ended up getting completely lost and missed his flight home.

I went into the original EE store with him yesterday and they have said that roaming was not part of his contract and that is why he's got the big bill.  I think they've seen an old man coming and have basically sold him a load of stuff he didn't need and not bothered with the one thing he wanted.  He's now paying £20 a month where he was only paying £10 before, he now has broadband with them and a bill of £300.  They say there is no evidence of my dad wanting roaming on his contract but why else would he get in touch with them.  You don't agree to double the cost of your contract when you've never even come close to using the minutes, texts and data that you pay for.  There is no reason for him to change contract other than he knew he was going to America and wanted to roam (ie ring me) while there.

I've tried to complain and they've offered 25% off the bill as a goodwill gesture.  I don't think this is good enough, but not sure where to take it from here.  They basically say the calls were made and even though dad didn't make them or answer them (his phone didn't even ring), then he owes the money.  Also, I've been going through the list and checking the ones with my mobile and there are some that I didn't make.  For example, on 29th of August I'm supposed to have sent 2 texts.  I did not receive or send any texts to my dad from the 27th to the 30th.  The 5 I sent on the 30th are listed as well.

Of all the calls listed, dad only made 1. All the others were incoming, most seem to be from EE.

Please help.