Elderly parents being fleeced

Detail_Merchant

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82002573#Comment_82002573

I am unfamiliar with ee packages.

But a search for that product name (Fibre 67 Full Works) found this thread on ee's own community board https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-Landline/My-Bill-seems-high/td-p/1560915

That post has a link to this (18 page) pdf - https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/help/terms-and-conditions/broadband/plans/ee-essentials-all-rounder-and-full-works-broadband-plans.pdf

On page 3 it lists what "Full works" includes, compared to cheaper packages such as "Essentials" and "All Rounder":

Full Works:

o Smart Hub Plus

o WiFi Controls

o Keep ConnectedPromise

o Expert Visit fromEE Guide

o Smart WiFi

o Smart HybridConnect

o Cyber Security

o Proactive Service

Whether that is stuff he wanted / chose or not, and whether it was sold inappropriately I don't know.

Sorry that I don't know of any way he can get out of this early, but hopefully this helps explain why the cost is so high.

Keep_pedalling

More details on the service he is paying for here.

https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/help/terms-and-conditions/broadband/plans/ee-essentials-all-rounder-and-full-works-broadband-plans.pdf

strawb_shortcake

The full works package is £81 as of 2023, so either it's a run a few years and had increases or he has an add on increasing the price to £90.99.

But far from a basic package and likely exceeds his needs.

I imagine you'd be relying on goodwill only as the terms are quite explicit

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82002581#Comment_82002581

So it's not just internet.

If the OP had started the thread with this info then the replies would have been different and not a drip drip thread.

oldernonethewiser

It is an expensive package and if it is more than required he needs to contact EE and ask about the possibility of downgrading.

No idea how they might respond but got to start somewhere.

iniltous

As others have pointed out , you couldn’t be more wrong when you said £90 was for basic broadband, and TBH didn’t the name ‘full works’ give you a clue to it not being a ‘basic’ package , it’s the exact opposite of basic 50 Mb broadband .

The ‘top of the range’ broadband that your elderly parents have bought may not be what they need and if you had claimed they were sold something far in excess of what they wanted , you may have a point , but your claim wasn’t that , it was that they were paying £90 for basic broadband, every ISP not just EE , try upselling products, that’s their employees job , what they don’t do is ‘sell’ £35 broadband for £90 ,somehow changing the price up from £30 to £90 , but supplying nothing in return for the extra money, it was always pretty clear that you were factually incorrect, no one in 2025 paid EE anywhere near that for just basic broadband.

QrizB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82002573#Comment_82002573

Ok, so that's a deluxe package. Nothing like the "basic broadband" that you claimed in your opening post.

On top of up-to-80Mb VDSL your FiL has signed up for:

• EE Smart Hub Plus with device-level parental controls, advanced web protection, device usage reporting, password sharing and guest WiFi networking
• The Keep Connected Promise and Smart Hybrid Connect, which supplies a cellular modem with unlimited SIM for fail-over in the event of wired broadband faults
• Smart WiFi where EE will supply WiFi extenders to ensure full household WiFi coverage
• An annual in-home visit from an EE Expert to check everything is working correctly
• A bundle of cybersecurity software "powered by Norton"

We might want to argue amongst ourselves whether this is all really worth £60 a month more than a bottom-of-yhe-range broadband bundle, but that's a value-for-money discussion; there's no doubt that your FiL is getting something extra for his money.

Whether or not he needs all those extras - are broadband outages likely, is his house large enough to need WiFi extenders, does he really need device-level parental controls, etc) is a discussion for you to have with him, not with EE.

p00hsticks

I do sympathise, but as others have pointed out unfortunately if your relative has capacity to have agreed to the contract (or if he doesn;t but you don;t have LPoa to speak on his behalf) then there is little you can do.

I have a similar problem with my elderly mother - she's paying around £100 a month for broadband, phone and basic TV with Virgin. I know I could get it cheaper but she won't let me 'meddle' with anything and wants everything to stay exactly as it is. (Also I'd be a bit reluctant to tie her into a new contact with anyone in case she has to go into care in the next year ….

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82002573#Comment_82002573

So, that is not the basic broadband but the "full works" with all the bells & whistles:

https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/help/terms-and-conditions/broadband/plans/ee-essentials-all-rounder-and-full-works-broadband-plans.pdf

Maybe it is possible to negotiate down to a basic package? Or do so at the time the contract minimum term expires.

Maybe your parents find value in the extras?

molerat

Likely he was "sold" this package by a smooth talking slimy sales person on bonus package. I have a pensioner relative who was cold called by BT and was convinced to upgrade their 1 Mbps ADSL to 900 Mbps fibre. They admit they did not really have a clue what the rep was talking about half the time and it seems there was little to no mention of the cheaper 74 Mbps / 150Mbps etc services which would cost the same as they were already paying instead of the £10 premium for a service they are never going to get any premium value from, they say they were exhausted at the end of the call. Even the BT "choose your service" checker gives 150 Mbps as the best service even when going OTT on their actual use.