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Exodus from BT to EE (same company): mis-sold and without access.
SlugHerderJay
Posts: 4 Newbie
Preamble
After being with BT for fibre (fttd), phone, and TV since 2017, and having put up with the EE - BT takeover and subsequent rebrand, I decided to call EE and enter into a contract for the exact same services as had with BT. Same company, no problem eh!
With the new EE contract, I'd chosen to upgrade my wife's phone. So, now the BT services from 2017 - 2025 is the same, with a mobile phone contract.
BT package was Fibre, TV, Landline (unused PAYG), and BT sports (later becoming TNT Sports, and even later becoming Discovery+)
EE contract (what I had initially agreed) is Fibre, TV, and TNT Sports via Discovery+.
EE contract started a month ago.
Product Swapover, New EE Tech.
To get set up on the fibre, EE said that I "can use" the BT Hub, but a new EE Hub would arrive, and it would be my choice to swap out the products I chose to. I swapped out the Hubs.
No Tech to watch the EE TV on, but was told that the EE TV service would be available through the BT TV Box, the exact same as the EE service is digitally branded in the BT TV Box settings/about section (just the BT logo on the front of the tech remains). For all intents and purposes, this 8yr old BT Box is an upgraded BT to EE product fully capable of streaming TV and services from EE.
BT want me to return the BT branded TV Box and the BT Branded Broadband (NOT the fttd Openreach wall hub).
Problems
Just received an email requiring wife to pay £38 (?????) for something. After some lengthy phone calls to EE, and passed from agent to agent, I've been told that her account is a "legacy account," and it is only the legacy department who can deal with any issues. Explanation given: Wife's lengthy Orange/EE account from successive mobile contracts has been used to set up this Fibre, TV, and upgraded Mobile contract to retain a £5p/m loyalty discount.
Remembering that the agreement at order over the phone was for a complete BT to EE swap for identical services, we now find that we are not receiving a TV package. EE have bamboozled us (even in the contract [laughable] it doesn't actually state) with their naming of 'Broadband & TV' to obscure the TV part.
We don't have a TV package even though we were told to just use the BT TV Box.
Furthermore, the TV swapover was for the TV + TNT Sport (now provided via Discovery+), but we've now discovered the TNT Sport package we ordered together with TV is only accessible via the Discovery+ app (which is how we found out we don't have a TV package).
**Wife's just looked at the contract again, and it shows the direct debit requesting funds from a Bank Account with a typo'd number. The bill has been payed, so it's only a matter of moaning at EE about it, but worth mentioning.
Bamboozling
We were told we were agreeing to a complete like-for-like package from BT to EE (same company, broad account access for EE and BT), and the contract would be for that plus wifey's new Mobile. The bamboozling has come, when on the sales call, we questioned how we would be able to watch TV, and specifically the Sports, and repeatedly the reply was "through 'The TV Box' - the same as you do now" - even queried would we receive a new equipment to stream the TV services, and the reply, as ever, was yes. The sales agent stated "you will receive your new 'Box' on xx date, and services will change on xx date," and this was repeatedly queried through the sales call. To verify the meaning of 'Box,' we also questioned the sales agent about being able to "record the Sports and TV as we do now [as on BT]."
I'd like to point out, before any suggestion we haven't, my wife read the contract with the sales agent on the phone at the same time, so that any questions about the contract could be addressed there and then. Wifey actually identified an issue with the wording of the contract, and asked sales agent to edit that, which he did, she re-read, finality agreed. Our understanding of the contract (pre-agreeing) was like-for-like swap from BT to EE: it is literally the same company; the sales agent had been accessing my BT account, and was updating my wife's account with my BT services.
It would appear the bamboozling has come through the sales agent referring to a TV streaming box as 'the box', 'a box', 'your box', etc., and every possible manifestation of 'Box', implying 'BT TV Streaming Box' and 'EE TV Streaming Box' to mean one and the same thing. And, although the sales agent had stated we would receive new equipment, there is no evidence of this in written form. The EE account even states Broadband & TV section and lists the Discovery+ package under TV, even at third glance, implying a 'TV service' of some kind. Only after receiving a dodgy-looking spam-like email to my wife requesting payment of £38.06, and trying to resolve that confusion, has it come to light that hidden "within the depths of some obscure wording carved within the smallest corner of a digital contract, in a locked filing cabinet, in a disused toilet, in the disused and abandoned basement of very large and maze-like corporate building" [nod to Hitchhiker's], something refers to Broadband, and NOT Broadband & TV.
So, through the backdoor, we've been signed to a not like-for-like contract that we appear to be 14 or 20ish days past cancellation, when we had even repeatedly read through a contract (in an EE online chat session - important detail!)
The EE sales agent also used a method of sharing their computer screen with my wife showing the new contract, and the edits they had made to the initial wording, Looking now, and asking wifey about the method used to access the contract, it turns out no actual copy of the original, or edited, contract document exists in our devices, or realm.
Feeling a lot like, even though we've been very precise and deliberate in what we required and are willing to agree to pay for, smoke and mirrors have been used extensively in order to have us agree to less than what we asked for and thought we were agreeing to.
Contacting EE about the mysterious EE email requiring a payment of £38.06 became a fantastic journey worthy of a Joules Verne epic: after many phone calls with a digital voice, many options, and many buttons, we get through to an EE operative who tells us the eMail is actually a legit EE email, even though the amount is obscure to us, and we should speak to 'Broadband & TV' department. When we speak with the next EE operative, we're told the £38 amount is for TV, and when we remind the individual that we've only just started this contract so cannot possibly owe £38 for TV, they tell us that the amount is because we have a new account. And it is here where wifey and I begin forming a deep and cavernous frown across our foreheads, because now £38 not for TV, but a new account fee for opening a new account? We point out that it is not a new account, the EE account is wifey's SIM Only account, which a long term account starting the the early days of Orange, incorporating EE, and including the EE - BT takeover, so why are we being charged for a 'new' account, and why would anyone be charged £38 for opening an account with EE?
After approximately 60 minutes of debating the theories and scientific evaluations of life, the universe, and everything everywhere [another nod], and the numbers 38 and 06 (£38.06), we collectively witness a subtle whispery-like voice, almost insignificant at first hearing. "It's because your account is a legacy account, and I don't have access to legacy accounts, so you should ring them tomorrow when they're in the office, because they close at 8pm. Good bye."
Right now, we (wifey and I) have absolutely no single clue what is going on, what products and services we have, what we legitimately owe, what is BT and what is EE, what prices we've effectively unwittingly agreed to, what rights we have, who to contact for any of our concerns, and we just have no idea if we even have any liability for payments of products we think/thought we should be receiving but are not. After writing this lengthy tome, I still have no idea what's going on.
BT have requested their branded products back, and if not received, I'll be charged £65 for BT Broadband Hub, and £160 for BT TV Streaming Box. If I return the BT TV Box (digitally EE branded), how do we watch our non-existent (???) EE TV package?
Our questions now are:
We'd appreciate any advice/suggestions,
Help!!! Please!!!
After being with BT for fibre (fttd), phone, and TV since 2017, and having put up with the EE - BT takeover and subsequent rebrand, I decided to call EE and enter into a contract for the exact same services as had with BT. Same company, no problem eh!
With the new EE contract, I'd chosen to upgrade my wife's phone. So, now the BT services from 2017 - 2025 is the same, with a mobile phone contract.
BT package was Fibre, TV, Landline (unused PAYG), and BT sports (later becoming TNT Sports, and even later becoming Discovery+)
EE contract (what I had initially agreed) is Fibre, TV, and TNT Sports via Discovery+.
EE contract started a month ago.
Product Swapover, New EE Tech.
To get set up on the fibre, EE said that I "can use" the BT Hub, but a new EE Hub would arrive, and it would be my choice to swap out the products I chose to. I swapped out the Hubs.
No Tech to watch the EE TV on, but was told that the EE TV service would be available through the BT TV Box, the exact same as the EE service is digitally branded in the BT TV Box settings/about section (just the BT logo on the front of the tech remains). For all intents and purposes, this 8yr old BT Box is an upgraded BT to EE product fully capable of streaming TV and services from EE.
BT want me to return the BT branded TV Box and the BT Branded Broadband (NOT the fttd Openreach wall hub).
Problems
Just received an email requiring wife to pay £38 (?????) for something. After some lengthy phone calls to EE, and passed from agent to agent, I've been told that her account is a "legacy account," and it is only the legacy department who can deal with any issues. Explanation given: Wife's lengthy Orange/EE account from successive mobile contracts has been used to set up this Fibre, TV, and upgraded Mobile contract to retain a £5p/m loyalty discount.
Remembering that the agreement at order over the phone was for a complete BT to EE swap for identical services, we now find that we are not receiving a TV package. EE have bamboozled us (even in the contract [laughable] it doesn't actually state) with their naming of 'Broadband & TV' to obscure the TV part.
We don't have a TV package even though we were told to just use the BT TV Box.
Furthermore, the TV swapover was for the TV + TNT Sport (now provided via Discovery+), but we've now discovered the TNT Sport package we ordered together with TV is only accessible via the Discovery+ app (which is how we found out we don't have a TV package).
**Wife's just looked at the contract again, and it shows the direct debit requesting funds from a Bank Account with a typo'd number. The bill has been payed, so it's only a matter of moaning at EE about it, but worth mentioning.
Bamboozling
We were told we were agreeing to a complete like-for-like package from BT to EE (same company, broad account access for EE and BT), and the contract would be for that plus wifey's new Mobile. The bamboozling has come, when on the sales call, we questioned how we would be able to watch TV, and specifically the Sports, and repeatedly the reply was "through 'The TV Box' - the same as you do now" - even queried would we receive a new equipment to stream the TV services, and the reply, as ever, was yes. The sales agent stated "you will receive your new 'Box' on xx date, and services will change on xx date," and this was repeatedly queried through the sales call. To verify the meaning of 'Box,' we also questioned the sales agent about being able to "record the Sports and TV as we do now [as on BT]."
I'd like to point out, before any suggestion we haven't, my wife read the contract with the sales agent on the phone at the same time, so that any questions about the contract could be addressed there and then. Wifey actually identified an issue with the wording of the contract, and asked sales agent to edit that, which he did, she re-read, finality agreed. Our understanding of the contract (pre-agreeing) was like-for-like swap from BT to EE: it is literally the same company; the sales agent had been accessing my BT account, and was updating my wife's account with my BT services.
It would appear the bamboozling has come through the sales agent referring to a TV streaming box as 'the box', 'a box', 'your box', etc., and every possible manifestation of 'Box', implying 'BT TV Streaming Box' and 'EE TV Streaming Box' to mean one and the same thing. And, although the sales agent had stated we would receive new equipment, there is no evidence of this in written form. The EE account even states Broadband & TV section and lists the Discovery+ package under TV, even at third glance, implying a 'TV service' of some kind. Only after receiving a dodgy-looking spam-like email to my wife requesting payment of £38.06, and trying to resolve that confusion, has it come to light that hidden "within the depths of some obscure wording carved within the smallest corner of a digital contract, in a locked filing cabinet, in a disused toilet, in the disused and abandoned basement of very large and maze-like corporate building" [nod to Hitchhiker's], something refers to Broadband, and NOT Broadband & TV.
So, through the backdoor, we've been signed to a not like-for-like contract that we appear to be 14 or 20ish days past cancellation, when we had even repeatedly read through a contract (in an EE online chat session - important detail!)
The EE sales agent also used a method of sharing their computer screen with my wife showing the new contract, and the edits they had made to the initial wording, Looking now, and asking wifey about the method used to access the contract, it turns out no actual copy of the original, or edited, contract document exists in our devices, or realm.
Feeling a lot like, even though we've been very precise and deliberate in what we required and are willing to agree to pay for, smoke and mirrors have been used extensively in order to have us agree to less than what we asked for and thought we were agreeing to.
Contacting EE about the mysterious EE email requiring a payment of £38.06 became a fantastic journey worthy of a Joules Verne epic: after many phone calls with a digital voice, many options, and many buttons, we get through to an EE operative who tells us the eMail is actually a legit EE email, even though the amount is obscure to us, and we should speak to 'Broadband & TV' department. When we speak with the next EE operative, we're told the £38 amount is for TV, and when we remind the individual that we've only just started this contract so cannot possibly owe £38 for TV, they tell us that the amount is because we have a new account. And it is here where wifey and I begin forming a deep and cavernous frown across our foreheads, because now £38 not for TV, but a new account fee for opening a new account? We point out that it is not a new account, the EE account is wifey's SIM Only account, which a long term account starting the the early days of Orange, incorporating EE, and including the EE - BT takeover, so why are we being charged for a 'new' account, and why would anyone be charged £38 for opening an account with EE?
After approximately 60 minutes of debating the theories and scientific evaluations of life, the universe, and everything everywhere [another nod], and the numbers 38 and 06 (£38.06), we collectively witness a subtle whispery-like voice, almost insignificant at first hearing. "It's because your account is a legacy account, and I don't have access to legacy accounts, so you should ring them tomorrow when they're in the office, because they close at 8pm. Good bye."
Right now, we (wifey and I) have absolutely no single clue what is going on, what products and services we have, what we legitimately owe, what is BT and what is EE, what prices we've effectively unwittingly agreed to, what rights we have, who to contact for any of our concerns, and we just have no idea if we even have any liability for payments of products we think/thought we should be receiving but are not. After writing this lengthy tome, I still have no idea what's going on.
BT have requested their branded products back, and if not received, I'll be charged £65 for BT Broadband Hub, and £160 for BT TV Streaming Box. If I return the BT TV Box (digitally EE branded), how do we watch our non-existent (???) EE TV package?
Our questions now are:
- Are we truly in a 24 month contract of higher price for less services with EE, even though we thought, and still believe, we would be compact in a like-for-like contract?
- How do we go about anything we might be able to do with this contract?
- Can we do anything to get the thing we want, and thought we were agreeing to?
- Anybody have any clues about this whole debacle?
We'd appreciate any advice/suggestions,
Help!!! Please!!!
0
Comments
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No advice really, but I recently transferred from BT to EE. Broadband and line rental. I dropped the BT TV. My monthly cost reduced from £51 to £29. Very happy with EE throughout, everything very clear. This is a 24 month contract. 67 mbps. Full fibre is now available at no extra cost, but I would lose the landline.
Initially on a night time call centre an EE rep was saying it could not be cheaper, but if I took the mobile pack he said the prices would be £61, so effectively he was giving me 2 mobiles for £10 saying a good deal.A day time call obviously de-bunked the earlier night time salesman.Mortgage free
Vocational freedom has arrived1 -
On the horn to EE now. Explained everything to the 'leaving/cancelling department', and their response was [actual quote] "what the hell has the fella done to your account? Oh my god! Do you know your bill is £102 for the mobile, and another bill for £98?"
There's no direct debit set up, the account should have simply been a straight swap to EE by dragging the account details over from BT account, we've not received a TV box because the sales agent set us up on the Discovery+ app and not the tv service....Just a complete nightmare.We now have to get a credit check to see if the 'unpaid bill' has effected our credit score.0 -
I spoke too soon.
It's just gooing from bad to worse.
The billing are now asking for £98 and direct debit details, even though we've stated that £102 has been taken from my wife's account.
The mobile bill should be £50 p/m.
The monthly bill for everything should be around £160, and we've stated that we'd never pay that for phone, tv and broadband, let alone £98 p/m for a mobile!
A manager has credited £40 to the account. As if that fixes the whole mess.As for our stance on the whole situation, AI read the OP, and states that under consumer contracts act the contract may be void due to 'misselling by ambiguity' (referring to the 'Box') fiasco, and EE have not met the conditions of their own contract (referring to the TV). Also, billing state that a direct debit was cancelled due to a mis-typed number, and another department will have to deal with clearing the bad credit (???!!!)£38 is from BT final bill.0 -
sheslookinhot said:No advice really, but I recently transferred from BT to EE. Broadband and line rental. I dropped the BT TV. My monthly cost reduced from £51 to £29. Very happy with EE throughout, everything very clear. This is a 24 month contract. 67 mbps. Full fibre is now available at no extra cost, but I would lose the landline.
Initially on a night time call centre an EE rep was saying it could not be cheaper, but if I took the mobile pack he said the prices would be £61, so effectively he was giving me 2 mobiles for £10 saying a good deal.A day time call obviously de-bunked the earlier night time salesman.
Your voice landline just plugs straight into the broadband router, and you then make your voice calls on your normal phone, but the call uses the fibre line instead of the old copper landline.0 -
Ask for a copy of the recorded conversation. It can take up to 30 days to get the recording, but it would be worth having in your back pocket now.0
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You have to pay extra for the landline though.SlugHerderJay said:sheslookinhot said:No advice really, but I recently transferred from BT to EE. Broadband and line rental. I dropped the BT TV. My monthly cost reduced from £51 to £29. Very happy with EE throughout, everything very clear. This is a 24 month contract. 67 mbps. Full fibre is now available at no extra cost, but I would lose the landline.
Initially on a night time call centre an EE rep was saying it could not be cheaper, but if I took the mobile pack he said the prices would be £61, so effectively he was giving me 2 mobiles for £10 saying a good deal.A day time call obviously de-bunked the earlier night time salesman.
Your voice landline just plugs straight into the broadband router, and you then make your voice calls on your normal phone, but the call uses the fibre line instead of the old copper landline.Tall, dark & handsome. Well two out of three ain't bad.0
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