EE - Termination Charges

[ds23]

I signed up to EE a while back on 24 month contract, got a shared contract deal, basically got a phone for myself and my partner under the same contract. However, I was diagnosed with a heart condition earlier this year, I moved from being Employed to being on Disability Benefit, this had a major effect on my finances as you could imagine due to the decrease in my income.

 

I rang EE, explained this, not really much could be done, so I cancelled the contract. I now have a bill for around £1200, this being termination charges and line rental charges.

 

Spoke to EE today after hearing nothing from them in a couple of months, they've confirmed the balance was passed to a Debt Collection Agency however was passed back to them. (I've never had no contact from a Debt Collection Agency so not sure why that was), they've said the debt is due to be written off in August, at which there will be a default issued however I'll still owe them the money. In the meantime, I'll continue to get late payments issued on my Credit Report.

 

I'm just wondering where I stand right now, I can't afford to pay the £1200 of termination charges, the fact it's £1200 I find crazy, they have confirmed there's nothing they can do about the charges.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thank you

[martin2006]

Ignore any letters from a dca, they themselves are powerless, unless they instruct solicitors and issue you with a claimform from court.

I seem to remember a case where the remaining months service charges cant be claimed for. If i can find it I'll pop a link to it unless one of the other team beats me to it.

[silverfox1961]

Hi,

Just popping in to give my 2p. EE have been very unreasonable. They should have downgraded the contract to the bare minimum to ensure they get paid.

 

With the termination charges, they shouldn't be charging the full line rental, especially if there are extras added to it (minutes, text. data) It may also be the case that they have added admin fees when they transferred the debt. If so, they shouldn't have done this.

 

Surely EE would have a department to assist customers with this type of issue.

 

I would stop ringing them unless a recording of the call is made. Deal in writing only and either send by email (getting a read receipt) or by my preference, snail mail but by Signed For Delivery. Yes, it costs more but you then get proof it was received by EE.

 

If they refuse to assist then a Formal Complaint should follow. You want a full breakdown of how the termination charges have been worked out.

[BazzaS]

Hi,

Just popping in to give my 2p. EE have been very unreasonable. They should have downgraded the contract to the bare minimum to ensure they get paid.

 

With the termination charges, they shouldn't be charging the full line rental, especially if there are extras added to it (minutes, text. data) It may also be the case that they have added admin fees when they transferred the debt. If so, they shouldn't have done this.

 

Surely EE would have a department to assist customers with this type of issue.

 

I would stop ringing them unless a recording of the call is made. Deal in writing only and either send by email (getting a read receipt) or by my preference, snail mail but by Signed For Delivery. Yes, it costs more but you then get proof it was received by EE.

 

If they refuse to assist then a Formal Complaint should follow. You want a full breakdown of how the termination charges have been worked out.

 

I agree in part about EE's behaviour.

 

For there to be £1200 of termination charges on a 24 month contract, that's over £50/month.

Presumably then, the 2 handsets the OP got were both subsidised.

The OP needs to ask to be changed to the lowest possible tariff before termination charges and may need to offer to pay more towards the handsets.

 

If both were high end handsets and the OP got them "free" : the fee may not seem so unreasonable!

[martin2006]

The handsets are never "free", you simply pay them off within the 24 months of the contract.

So for that element there will be no negotiation from EE. The only area of negotiation is with the remaining tariffs of the contract. It is unreasonable for them to expect you to pay for airtime you will not receive, that's the only part you can argue about.

[BazzaS]

The handsets are never "free", you simply oay them off within the 24 months of the contract.

 

Precisely why I noted "free" in quotes.

O2 now sell their 'refresh' contracts with 2 components : the handset part (which is a 0% APR loan) and airtime part, so people known how much of the total is which component.

[ds23]

At the moment I've checked my Credit Report with Equifax and my EE account shows as "No Payment Due / Unclassified", it doesn't show any late payments, neither doesn't it show any default placed against the account.​

 

Today on the phone I've been told there won't be any default issued since I chose to cancel the account and this wasn't done by EE. As I haven't technically defaulted on payments, therefore the outstanding amount will just show on my report until paid.

 

Anyone know if this sounds right? I would of thought there would be default issued personally.

[martin2006]

Keep off the phone unless your recording the calls and never trust anything a dca says on the phone either.

Their job is to collect money by hook or by crook