Hey presto! Watch out for EE’s early exit fee trick
MOBILE phone gi ant EE is forcing customers who want to end their contracts early to pay more than if they just continued with their deals.
Not only do customers have to pay off the entire remaining cost of their contract but EE also imposes extra charges on them.
One customer, who was moving abroad but had ten months left on his two- year deal, was told he would have to pay an additional £80 on top of the remaining cost of his contract to end it early.
The 26-year-old software consultant, Michael, who did not wish to give his surname, was shocked to learn he would have to pay around £ 360 to end his £ 28- a- month contract even though he had been a longstanding EE customer.
He accuses EE of a ‘shocking lack of goodwill’. He says the firm told him he had received a 30 per cent ‘friends and family discount’ on his Samsung S6 contract.
So, if he cancelled early, he would have to pay off the remaining contract without the discount applied.
EE’s policy impacts on all customers with ‘loyalty discounts’ on their contracts. If they do not pay the extra charges, they are not allowed to switch their mobile number t o another network. According to guidance on ‘additional charges’ from regulator Ofcom last month, the charge for ending contracts early ‘ should never be more than the remaining payments left in the contract’.
James Daley, of consumer group Fairer Finance, accuses EE of ‘anti-competitive’ practices, adding: ‘You should be able to switch without punitive penalties.’
An Ofcom spokeswoman says: ‘Our rules state that early termination charges must be fair and not deter people from switching.’
Yesterday, an EE spokesman said: ‘When a customer wants to leave their contract early, they are required to pay the monthly charge associated with that plan for the remaining months. The monthly charge is the amount a customer agrees to pay for their plan before any loyalty or friends and family discount is applied.’
But he said VAT (at 20 per cent) and a small discount of around 4 per cent helped to reduce this final charge.
Michael refused to pay the extra and let his contract run its course.
Last week, EE said monthly mobile bills would rise by 4.1 per cent for those who joined or upgraded after March 26, 2014.