EE Claim Mobile Plan is No Longer Supported & Force Upgrade

400ixl

TrannosaurusBex said:

Thanks for the replies folks. I'm a bit shocked to hear it is a used tactic. 

It isn't a used tactic as you put it.

They will only want to run so many different plans and as such as new ones get introduced, old ones get retired. For example a number of plans were based around 3G which is now being switched off, so those plans will be getting retired and anyone on those as a rolling contract will get moved to the closest equivalent option.

It costs money to keep all of these plans running and the technology that is supporting them.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Know people who have ended up on plans which cost less but give the more, some where it is slightly more for the same or more. 

400ixl

pseudodox said:

The only thing I can see that seems different is that options 2 & 3 would have me 5G ready (does that mean I get a replacement SIM?)  I don’t need 5G. nor usually even 4G as I am an extremely light user and tend to keep a phone until it dies.  The phone is mainly for emergency cover, I am not glued to it 24/7, 90% of use is on WiFi at home (WhatsApp, banking, emailing, diary syncing with my PC etc)

Please note I don’t need advising to change suppliers but I am just trying to work out WHY I would change to options 2 or 3 above given my circumstances/use.

Option 4 is you go to another provider.

3G is being switched off so you do need a 4G compatible SIM, although one 2 years old should be.

Your minimum term is coming to an end as apposed to your contract which is why option 1 exists. If you are happy with what you have option 1 is the same price, then why not just kick the can down the road?

Your comment about keeping a phone until it dies and using it for banking in the paragraph is concerning. Is the phone you have still getting monthly security updates from the manufacturer? If not you are running a security risk and shouldn't really be doing banking on it as unpatched exploits will exist.

Cisco001

Honestly, I would move the business to someone else if I were you.
To much of hassle for all these contacting CS business.

Just to let you know RWG mobile has tariff for £40 1 year with 5GB data per month.

pseudodox

I'm with Three.  Where I live is generally a mobile signal blackspot & after several other suppliers tried by myself & neighbours this has proved the most reliable.  Vodafone is a non-starter.  Yes - I did answer my own question really & I assume they have to give me reasonable notice before they discontinue the current price.  I got a good deal 2 years back, talking down an initial £8/1GB offer down to £6/4GB with the "I am a poor old pensioner" card.  Of course it has risen each April but it's peanuts in the scale of things.  Maybe because I hardly used the phone they prefer to get £6.55 from me rather than risk driving me away!

Even when I know the answer it is always good to have the MSE sounding board.  And the point about the next price rise date is excellent advice.  Thanks.

lr1277

jimjames said:

lr1277 said:

In my experience monthly rolling contracts are more expensive that 12 month or 24 month contracts..

When you can get monthly rolling for £6.90 or less for decent data amounts I'm not sure that's entirely correct to say that 12 or 24 month are cheaper

As a potential new customer to EE  I looked up 'EE sim only contracts'.

I was directed to a page with monhly SIM only deals. It had defaulted to 24 month deals.

Unlimited £16.50 - which was half price for 6 months - so £33 normally

200GB £13:50 - which was half price for 3 months - so £27 normally

A different unlimited tariff £18 - half price for 6 months so £36 normally

Now choosing the option for 1 month deals

Unlimited £33

125 GB £28

A different unlimited plan £36

That was the basis of my impression. This impression has been formed over many years but this data was available now.

TrannosaurusBex

lr1277 said:

In my experience monthly rolling contracts are more expensive that 12 month or 24 month contracts.

I guess that is why EE could give your mum the cheaper eal by offering a fixed term contract.

You and your mum need to decide if it is more important to consider price or the ability end the contract.

For me, if I am moving either with work or my home life then I want a SIM on a rolling contract.

If I am not moving and I can get a signal everywhere I go regularly then I might consider a fixed term plan.

This is technically true, however, I can switch the provider and currently get a new monthly rolling sim only for £0.45 for the first 6 months, then £4.95 from then on, along with no yearly increases, and £13 cashback, all on a network who piggybacks off EE so I'll get the exact same coverage as before.

lr1277

TrannosaurusBex said:

lr1277 said:

In my experience monthly rolling contracts are more expensive that 12 month or 24 month contracts.

I guess that is why EE could give your mum the cheaper eal by offering a fixed term contract.

You and your mum need to decide if it is more important to consider price or the ability end the contract.

For me, if I am moving either with work or my home life then I want a SIM on a rolling contract.

If I am not moving and I can get a signal everywhere I go regularly then I might consider a fixed term plan.

This is technically true, however, I can switch the provider and currently get a new monthly rolling sim only for £0.45 for the first 6 months, then £4.95 from then on, along with no yearly increases, and £13 cashback, all on a network who piggybacks off EE so I'll get the exact same coverage as before.

I am wary of MVNO's. One was Easymobile which I thought shut down because their cheap rates meant they weren't making enough money. I later found there was significant legal action which probably caused the shuttering.

My other MVNO is Virgin and used to use EE and I found the signal very good in nearly all places. Since they associated with O2 the signal is not as strong.

savergrant

TrannosaurusBex said:

lr1277 said:

In my experience monthly rolling contracts are more expensive that 12 month or 24 month contracts.

I guess that is why EE could give your mum the cheaper eal by offering a fixed term contract.

You and your mum need to decide if it is more important to consider price or the ability end the contract.

For me, if I am moving either with work or my home life then I want a SIM on a rolling contract.

If I am not moving and I can get a signal everywhere I go regularly then I might consider a fixed term plan.

This is technically true, however, I can switch the provider and currently get a new monthly rolling sim only for £0.45 for the first 6 months, then £4.95 from then on, along with no yearly increases, and £13 cashback, all on a network who piggybacks off EE so I'll get the exact same coverage as before.

Which network is that with? Piggybackers don't always get the whole range of the ee signal. 

TrannosaurusBex

400ixl said:

TrannosaurusBex said:

Thanks for the replies folks. I'm a bit shocked to hear it is a used tactic. 

It isn't a used tactic as you put it.

They will only want to run so many different plans and as such as new ones get introduced, old ones get retired. For example a number of plans were based around 3G which is now being switched off, so those plans will be getting retired and anyone on those as a rolling contract will get moved to the closest equivalent option.

It costs money to keep all of these plans running and the technology that is supporting them.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Know people who have ended up on plans which cost less but give the more, some where it is slightly more for the same or more. 

So, the guy I spoke to today to request the PAC basically said what you have said regarding the 3G being switched off and that's why they needed to upgrade her. But it still sounds like absolute tosh to me because her sim was a 4G sim with 3G backup; if 3G gets switched off and she were to lose her 4G signal it just meant it would leave her without any signal. This still doesn't make sense to me since my sim is much older than hers and I've had no word of my plan 'needing' to be upgraded.

The guy (working in retentions) still didn't instil my confidence in EE, he said as the contract has only just been taken out and upgraded, even though it is still within the 14 day cooling off period, if he were to give me the PAC over the phone there and then it could cost me £90. Instead, I've had to fill out a form which has been sent to the channel returns team who will contact me in 72 hours and provide me with the PAC... what a load of crap.

At this rate, once EEs next annual price increase comes along next year, I'll also be leaving them.

TrannosaurusBex

pseudodox said:

I'm with Three.  Where I live is generally a mobile signal blackspot & after several other suppliers tried by myself & neighbours this has proved the most reliable.  Vodafone is a non-starter.  Yes - I did answer my own question really & I assume they have to give me reasonable notice before they discontinue the current price.  I got a good deal 2 years back, talking down an initial £8/1GB offer down to £6/4GB with the "I am a poor old pensioner" card.  Of course it has risen each April but it's peanuts in the scale of things.  Maybe because I hardly used the phone they prefer to get £6.55 from me rather than risk driving me away!

Even when I know the answer it is always good to have the MSE sounding board.  And the point about the next price rise date is excellent advice.  Thanks.

You could always look for a new provider who piggybacks off the Three network moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/piggybacking. I use compare-mobilephones.topcashback.co.uk/ to find the best deals.