EE shops offer cheap deals, but the company seemingly did not extend the same courtesy after a reader’s husband died. A widow from Norwich, identified as SP, discovered after her husband’s sudden death that he had been paying £171 per month for an EE broadband and TV contract. Despite initial offers of a reduced monthly deal at £44.99, she faced a series of bureaucratic hurdles.
Letters Addressed to Deceased Spouse
Two letters, arriving just a day apart, were cheerily addressed to her late husband. The first stated he would have to pay £1,007 to terminate his contract; the second gave a termination fee of £520. The letters even suggested he could take the contract with him when moving house.
Multiple Calls, Unfulfilled Promises
SP made numerous calls to departments titled bereavement, value, life events, loyalty, and connections. Each call elicited promises that were not kept. The first agent offered a deal for £56.99 if she had a gap in service. A second agent said, “if this was BT (which owns EE) I could do it,” and gave her £60 credit. A third agent admitted, “I’m stuck.” A fourth persuaded her to pay £112.63 to enable him to sort things out, only to discover the system would not allow the cheaper deal.
While the agents were kind and helpful, they repeatedly said “the system” would not let them do what was necessary. SP expressed frustration that this came from a communications company.
Resolution After Intervention
It seems “the system” would not allow the account to be changed to her sole name and insisted on a new contract, hence the early termination charges. However, after the issue was flagged to a customer service manager, the situation was resolved within two hours. EE immediately placed her on the £44.99 deal, refunded the extra charges she incurred, and added a month’s credit as goodwill.
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