posted August 09, 2016 11:53 AM            

I sure would like to know the starsign of the customer, he, he...

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Here is a communication thread illustrating the experience my friend is currently having with EE:

Dear EE,
I was interested (actually not – and I am not surprised at all) to receive the (attached) extremely stupid letter from you a few weeks ago.
My HTC 610 device had a broken screen at the time and I needed to have it replaced. In the interim, I had had a device that was previously stolen from me retuned (sic), and I inquired whether I could have my SIM card simply transferred to that one. I was informed that I could not, as the device had been blacklisted. I was informed that I would have:
a) A person come round to deliver a new device to my home and collect the broken one
b) An envelope to send the blacklisted device back to EE (as they claimed it was “their property”).
In the event, the broken device was swopped for another broken one. The replacement device did not work due to a faulty screen and faulty SIM card. I was fuming by that time and went back to the shop in XXXX shopping centre, saying that if I had one more issue with Customer Service from EE I would cancel my contract, and believe me, I meant what I said.
Net result:
a) Another person came round to collect the new, but faulty, device and issue me with another new one.
b) The envelope to send back my blacklisted device arrives, and I send it back.
All good, until –
A couple of weeks later, I receive a letter in the post (undated) together with the phone I DIDN’T send back in the envelope (ie. one of the phones collected by your drivers) saying that I had returned the wrong unit and that I should “return the correct unit in the Jiffy bag provided” and that “until we receive the correct equipment a charge for the outstanding kit (?) has been debited to your account”.
At that point I had had enough. The contract I currently have with you has been fraught with problems from start to finish – when I first took it out with you in September 2014 it took about 3 weeks to get the new device working, not least because I kept being sent the wrong equipment, including the wrong size SIM.
Additionally, I have been a customer of yours (through Orange) for a total of 10 years, and not once have I had a decent telephone signal. Irrespective of the phone plan I have been on, or the type of phone I have used, I have always been told by the person on the other end of the line that “you sound as though you’re talking underwater – I can hardly hear you”. This is unacceptable. You are supposed to be a phone company, for God’s sake.
Technically, my current contract ends in September of this year, but I am terminating it as of today (3rd August 2016) due to your consistent poor service and poor customer service. I am not paying you one single more penny of my money. I can’t be bothered to tie myself in knots, get upset, or get on the phone to your Customer Services complaining for hours. It’s not worth my time. I shall do what anyone with any self-respect would do with any supplier whose service was found to be unspeakably bad. I simply just won’t pay you.
What I mean by that is, that I absolutely won’t pay you following my cancellation of my direct debit to you, and won’t pay you the cancellation fee. I am not putting up with this rubbish from you any longer, as I wouldn’t from anybody – especially as you don’t even have the decency to date your letters or present them in a legitimate and professional format. As far as I can see you won’t lose out anyway, as there are technically only a couple more months to go on the contract, and I am sure your executive management pay themselves enough of a salary that they can easily forgo a couple of hundred pounds or more. I am also sure that you have many other millions of poor suckers signing up to your shoddy service, which will easily compensate for any loss of profit from my direction. I suggest you write the costs for the last couple of months off, and address some thought as to why you have lost a long-standing customer.
I have in fact recently transferred to another supplier, and people on the other end of the phone tell me I sound as clear as a bell!
I refuse to have any further dealings or discussions with you whatsoever. Do not even dare to pursue this issue, either through threatening letters or third parties. If you do, I will, first of all: a) plant this letter on Facebook and whatever other internet sites or forums I see fit; b) complain about you to the Ombudsman; c) complain about you to Watchdog; d) complain about you to Ofcom (following your recent “outed” performance, I don’t really think you need another one of those, do you?). You have been warned.
As far as I am concerned YOU owe ME, due to countless hours of my wasted time going to your stores and on the phone trying to get things to work, and/ or repeating myself during phone conversations, where no-one can hear what I am saying. Even when I call customer services from the mobile phones in the EE stores, there is a bad signal – which certainly says something!
I would say that over a timeframe of 10 years the compensation YOU owe ME for loss of earnings and wasted time probably amounts to about – oh, let’s say a nice round figure of 5,000GBP. YOU can pay ME. I certainly will not be paying YOU.
Yours sincerely
XXXX

EE response:
Hello XXXX
Thank you for your email regarding a complaint in connection with recent replacements and charges on the above account.
I am sorry if there has been some confusion in respect of the replacement HTC 610 phones and you are unhappy with the charges on the account due to the return of equipment. It’s disappointing to hear you are dissatisfied with the service provided.
I apologise for any inconvenience or stress this may have caused you. After checking the account it appears you were correct in returning back the HTC 610 that was lost but then found as we had already replaced this. I confirm this phone has been returned to us IMEI- XXXX.
However, we processed a replacement on 29 June 2016 due to a fault and this was delivered on 1 July 2016. It is the faulty phone that we need sending back to us in the bag with IMEI- XXXX. If you could return this phone that would be great and then we can resolve the equipment charge issue on the account for £132.79 inc VAT.
Your bill at the moment includes this amount as we are unable to amend it until the phone has been returned to us. The full bill amount is £279.77 inc VAT as this is for usage, line rental and insurance. I acknowledge your comments regarding the service and as a gesture I have applied a credit to cover one month’s line rental (£24.99 inc VAT). I appreciate you have already left the network and no longer wish to use our services. As a final gesture I am offering to close the account with immediate effect with no cancellation fee. However, the current balance will need to be paid with either the correct phone returned or the full amount.
I hope my explanation is helpful.
Kind Regards
XXXX
Executive Customer Relations

Customer response:
Dear XXXX
Everything was sent back that should have been, and it was a mix-up your end, not mine. I do not accept your explanation, as it is just plain wrong. I do not have anything more to send you other than the phone with the cracked screen which you claim is "the wrong one" (utter rubbish!), so as far as I am concerned you can sort this out your end, and I am not claiming any further responsibility for this matter.
I am not satisfied with the way you are approaching this. As promised, I am still not paying you due to my immense dissatisfaction, I refuse point blank to deal with your Customer Service (it being what it is), and I will proceed to advertise my complaint everywhere I see fit. I do not see the need to be patronized by the pathetic "waver" (sic)of costs you are "offering" and do not need to be treated as though I were an idiot. I consider this matter closed and would urge you to do the same.
Yours sincerely
XXXX

EE response:
Hello XXXX
I acknowledge your frustration regarding this matter and I am happy to investigate further.
You advise that you have a phone with a cracked screen which is the phone our Equipment Support Team has returned back to you as incorrect. Please can you confirm the IMEI number for me so that I can liaise with the Equipment Support Team and work towards a resolution to your complaint. It would appear this phone has been returned to you as it was not purchased directly from us.
It’s disappointing that you feel my offer to cancel the account without the early cancellation fee and one month’s line rental is patronising as it is not my intention to cause you any more upset and I am trying to work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible for you.
Kind Regards
XXXX
Executive Customer Relations

Customer Response:
Dear XXXX
You should already have the IMEI number for the phone with the cracked screen on record as it was returned to me by yourselves. I am not responsible for your faulty record keeping. Secondly, I have always purchased all my phones from EE/ through an EE shop, so don't know what you are talking about with this "not purchased directly from us".
This is the third time you personally have contacted me spouting a pile of tosh. Do NOT contact me again.
Yours sincerely
XXXX

posted August 17, 2016 06:31 AM            

Dear XXXX,

Furthermore, I will add that since the phone that was lost but then found was returned to you successfully by me in the envelope provided, it was YOUR DRIVER that lost ONE of the other two. I had someone come round on two (2) occasions, and THEY took the faulty phone EACH TIME, so I suggest you take the matter up with THEM.

It is a shame I have to descend to the use of capitals, but I feel it to be necessary.

Yours sincerely

XXXX

EE Response:

Hello XXXX

EE Account- XXXX
Thank you for your reply and I acknowledge your frustration regarding this matter. I appreciate your comments and the issue has been confusing.

Our Equipment Support Team has advised there may have been some confusion regarding a possible replacement via a third party and this is the reason we have returned the phone to you. They confirm proof would be required for this and then they would accept the return of the phone, alternatively if you are unable to provide this they would need you to return the last issued phone which is IMEI XXXX.

In order to bring this matter to a close I have spoken with a Manager on your behalf and I have been authorised on this occasion to remove the equipment charges on your account due to the amount of confusion surrounding the equipment on your account. I have applied a credit for £132.79 inc VAT which has reduced the balance owed to EE to £121.98 inc VAT. This amount will need to be paid as it is the bill amount for the July 2016 and August 2016 bills. Please ensure payment is made as soon as you can by calling 150 from your phone.

As previously offered I have amended your end of agreement date so that you will not have an early cancellation fee, in addition to the months line rental already applied on 8 August 2016.

I hope my response is satisfactory and brings the matter to a close for you.

Kind Regards

XXXX

Executive Customer Relations

Customer Response:

Dear XXXX,

I can indeed provide you with the current phone I have - however I will not return it to you until I have written proof (in both email and letter format) that ALL charges will be dropped on my account, and I should have nothing to pay - partly because, apart from the questionable "customer service" I have received from you over my 10 years with you, I have never had a quality phone signal from you. If you can do that, I will return the phone to you and I would hope that the matter would thereby reach its conclusion.

If you can't do that you will have to send me a letter of deadlock so that I can progress the matter via the Ombudsman.

Kind regards

posted August 24, 2016 05:36 AM            

Ombudsman Services Communications
PO Box 730
Warrington
WA4 6WU

Dear Sir/ Madam

Following my lodging a formal complaint with you about my mobile phone provider (EE), I am supplying you with a summary of the events leading up to my complaint, in chronological order.

• I have been a customer of Orange/ EE for approximately 10 years, but have never received an adequate signal when talking on the phone. This was irrespective of location, phone type or plan. I was constantly told that I sounded like I was “talking underwater”. This is completely unsatisfactory when one considers that they are supposed to be a dedicated mobile phone operator.
• The monthly contract I am currently on was sold to me over the phone in September 2014. From the very beginning the contract was fraught with problems. I did not have a working phone for approximately 3 weeks due to a number of technical/ customer service reasons, including being sent the wrong size SIM card for my phone (which was too large and “old style” – i.e. not of the “pop-out” variety which allows SIMs to be made smaller).
• The type of phone I have has tended to break very easily and develop technical issues. I have never had so many problems with any other type of phone.

For ease of understanding of the next story on which my decision to leave EE was based, I will refer to the various handsets by number:

1 – Phone with cracked screen
2 – Phone previously stolen, but subsequently returned to me
3 – Phone provided as a replacement for 1, but found to be faulty
4 – Current handset

• In July 2016 I wanted to replace my existing handset (1) as it had a cracked screen. However, I had had a handset that was previously stolen (2) returned to me. I took both handsets into my local EE store and asked if I could take my SIM out of 1 and use 2 instead. I was informed that I could not, as 2 had been barred.
• I was informed that 2 was the property of EE, should be returned to them, and that I would be sent a bag in the post in which to return it.
• I was told that a driver would come to collect 1 and exchange it for a new one.
• A driver came to collect 1, but the phone I received in exchange (3) had a malfunctioning screen. Irate, I went into my local EE store and requested a further exchange.
• A driver came to collect 3 and exchange it for my current handset (4).
• I received a bag in the post in which to send 2 back. I sent 2 back as per the enclosed instructions.
• All was well and good for about the next two weeks until I received 1, which had been sent back to me in the post. It was accompanied by a letter claiming that I had returned the wrong phone, and that I should send EE the correct phone, otherwise charges would be made to my account. In fact, as is detailed above, I had sent back all three phones - one via the envelope and two via the driver, and there were therefore no more phones to send back. I had done everything exactly as I was supposed to, but of course the same could not be said for EE.
• I was fuming by this time and deliberated my future course of action for the next couple of weeks, at the end of which I received a bill from EE. By that time I had had enough, and cancelled my direct debit. My 24-month plan had been taken out in September 2014, and in any case only had two more months to run (until September 2016).
• In early August I wrote a letter of complaint to EE stating that I was not paying them any more money due to the high level of dissatisfaction I had experienced. As can be seen from my communication with their Customer Service Team, there had been/ were numerous administrative and logistical errors made by EE, which showed an almost complete lack of understanding of their own products and process, and nearly non-existent communication between departments throughout.
• It transpired that one of their drivers may even have lost one of the faulty phones (possibly 3), and furthermore, EE questioned whether one of the handsets was purchased from them or from elsewhere. I have always purchased the handsets through their stores, so this is nonsense.
• EE also asked me to confirm the IMEI number of 1. This was impossible due to the cracked screen – it was unusable and I could not navigate to the correct place to confirm this number (the only way I had of doing so, as the phone body – on the inside of which it might be located? does not facilitate opening by a non-technician).
• EE asked me to return 4 (current phone) and I stated that I would certainly do so if they could provide me with written confirmation (both by email and letter) that I would not have to pay them.
• I asked EE to close my account and write off any charges on it. EE were unable to address this request satisfactorily and still insisted that I pay them. Owing to the history of service they have given me and the gross level of incompetence they have displayed, I refuse to pay them, and furthermore, request that they pay me compensation.
• I requested and was sent a letter of deadlock by EE. Once again, there is a wrong statement by EE in paragraph 3: “This device has not been able to be unbarred and so have had to have an exchange. This handset has also developed a fault so has been exchanged in the meantime you have received the envelope…” As well as being so badly written as to be incoherent and confusing as to its meaning, this is incorrect. The correct chain of events is the one described by me in the points above.

The outcome I require is that it should not be necessary for me to pay any more money to EE. Furthermore, I would ask that they pay me compensation due to the immense waste of my time, perpetually bad signal/ customer service, and basic but seemingly unresolvable technical issues - both during, and prior to, the course of this contract.

I look forward to your reply and to a successful resolution of this matter.

Kind regards

XXXX

posted August 31, 2016 04:19 AM            

This whole thing reminds me of Eminem's song "Stan". Stan is the customer, and Eminem's the EE.

" Dear Mister I'm-Too-Good-To-Call-Or-Write-My-Fans,
this'll be the last package I ever send your ass
It's been six months and still no word - I don't deserve it?
I know you got my last two letters;
I wrote the addresses on 'em perfect"