Ofcom Investigates EE UK Over Clarity of Contract Information UPDATE
The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today opened a new investigation into mobile and broadband provider EE, which relates to a concern that the operator may have “failed to comply” with rules that require them to provide new customers with clear and simple contract information before they sign-up to a new deal.
In case anybody has forgotten, Ofcom introduced a number of new consumer protection measures on 17th June 2022 (here). The relevant change (General Conditions C1.3 to C1.7 and C5.16) for today’s case is the one that requires ISPs to provide customers with a short, one-page summary of the main contract terms before entering a contract, including clear examples of how any price increases will affect the price they pay.
The change was designed to help people avoid being caught out by surprise price rises, at a time when household budgets are under heavy strain. The summary must also include key information about the broadband speed of the service, price, and length of the contract. It also requires firms to set out the terms and conditions if a customer decides to end their contract early.
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Customers with disabilities can also request to receive the documents in an accessible format (e.g. large print or Braille).
“We have reason to suspect that EE may have failed to comply with these requirements. We will gather further information and provide updates as our investigation progresses.”
The regulator said they had received information that led them to open the probe, but they haven’t said where that information came from. We are in the process of contacting EE for a comment.
UPDATE 11:44am
An EE spokesperson said: “We want our customers to be fully informed and we make sales information upfront, clear and transparent. We are fully engaged with Ofcom during the course of this investigation.”
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Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Good to see this enforced. Hiding small print about CPI + x% was bad enough when CPI was 2%.
But showing this information at the final sign up stage is too late. We also need existing rules against misleading advertising around introductory pricing to be enforced.
Unfortunately, ASA have put enforcement on hold (p8 of https://www.asa.org.uk/static/cd21d488-bf53-455e-aebd7bac1ff2be0a/Guidance-on-the-presentation-of-mid-contract-price-rises-in-telecoms-ads.pdf) from 2021, until their consultation finishes.
I notice that the annual price increases have been brought forward from March to January.
Having been a customer since the one2one days, I’ve seen quite a few sneaky changes to charges and in most cases have them reduced at point of purchase using my lengthy customer loyalty stick.
Two year contracts should be banned immediately. A lot of things can change in Two years and what suited someone a year ago may not suit them now, but you are stuck in a contract that is no longer suited to your needs.
The flip side of that is there are plenty of ISPs that don’t do 24-month terms, so you have options to vote with your feet.
Should the same apply to 2, 5, 10 year mortgages
Will never ever have another contract. I was with EE for a lot of years
PAYG and buying a handset is a much much much cheaper option. Apple do 24 months interest free which you can pay off earlier if you wish. I took one out last September and finish paying in December as I paid extra each month.
I hated the RPI increase every year, it stunk and was one of the reasons I went PAYG plus I can manage my phone month by month and if Giffgaff no longer suits me I can move to SMARTY or Sky Mobile easily. My husband is on Sky and it was £6 a month on a 12 month Sim Only with the first 5 months free for Unlimited Calls, Texts and 2GB data
Pay as you go is rubbish more expensive for unlimited data so your wrong .
Pay as you go unlimited three £35
On sim £16 a month no brainier .
I never said anything about unlimited data Ben
I work from home and use less than 500mb most months, never more than 1MB and my husband is about the same
PAYG isn’t rubbish and no one mentioned unlimited data
I meant 1GB, wish there was an edit facility on here
Wouldn’t even give me a contract. Tried to take out a contract with the iPhone 14 Pro and got through to the confirmation page but told me to ring their number.
Waited 20 minutes on the phone and go through to an advisor who told me I’d “failed credit checks” (my Experian score is 900+) and I’d have to pay a higher deposit (+£50). I said sure and then he then told me I’d have to take another data plan instead and I wasn’t given the option of unlimited – only 50GB or something.
Politely told him that it’s not his fault but that’s ridiculous and I’m now happily on a new unlimited data contract with Vodafone with a shiny new iPhone 14 Pro (moved from O2).
Can’t say I’m surprised. Certainly on the BT side frontline staff and managers hadn’t been briefed on this or trained about it other than a short article on the intranet posted on the morning of the 17th June.
A very confusing morning for call centre staff!
I still say whist under contract they should be made to honour the price charged on signing , and stop this mid contract price increasing annually, if you pay 10 you should still pay 10 till end of contract , the same minutes the same data rules , the same roaming outside a contract it’s different but whist in it the government should now step in and stop this cash grab contract breaching
2 years sim only contracts should be banned. EE(BT)=gangsters
This is the company of criminals. I was with Vodafone and my contract with them ended. I moved to EE a month and a half ago and wanted to cancel the contract with them. They told me that you have to pay 500 pounds. Is this possible?
I just bought a SIM card from them
We have been without our phones since 21st November no service for a week have called 150 so many times and every time a different excuse no one gave us an answer til Friday 25 when we were told a mast down and nothing would be done until 29th November we were hoping it would be back today but we still have no service no one at EE seems to know what each dept is doing the way we have been treated is a disgrace