A little deviation from my usual sort of story, for a tale of rare success against the corporate behemoths...
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"On 28th September, I telephoned your customer service and asked to cancel my SIM-only contract with EE, as I would be moving to Singapore. I asked for an unlock code for my Nokia Lumia 635 (which I purchased last October, along with the contract, at an EE shop on Above Bar Street in Southampton, UK) so that I could use it with my Singapore SIM card. For some reason, your adviser [redacted #1] thought that I was still using my old phone, an HTC Desire, but I asked for that information to be corrected. He took my phone's IMEI number and told me that the code would be e-mailed to me in 7-10 working days (latest 10th October).
"I phoned back on 10th October because I had not received any information. Once again, the adviser [redacted #2] thought that I was using my old phone, so again I asked her to correct it. She took my IMEI number again and I confirmed with her that my e-mail address is correct on your system. She suggested I call back the next day if the code had not arrived.
"So the last time I phoned was on 11th October, 14 days after submitting my request, and still without the code. I spoke to [redacted #3] in the billing dept (and his manager is [redacted #3's manager]). For the third time, the adviser thought that I was using my old phone, and for the third time I asked for that information to be corrected. Once again, he took my IMEI number. I was then informed that mine was a "non-EE phone" (not registered with EE, apparently). [Redacted #3] said he would put in a request for my phone to be unlocked anyway as a priority and that I would have the code within 72 hours.
"It is now 21st October, 24 days after I first requested the code and 7 days after [redacted #3]'s 72 hours ran out. I am still waiting for the code. In making these three calls (including two unnecessary follow-ups that I should not have had to make), I have incurred charges for calling from abroad. Your customer service was happy to keep me running up a bill without helping me with my request. I do not expect to be billed for the charges I have incurred as a result of following-up my initial request.
"Please send me the unlock code within 72 hours of this e-mail. And please contact me only by e-mail, as I do not wish to incur more charges by receiving calls from you from abroad.
"I will have no choice but to lodge a complaint against your company with Ofcom if the unlock code is not provided to me promptly and if the unnecessary charges for calling you repeatedly are not deducted from my final bill."
It worked. Between phone calls, I cancelled my direct debit to make sure that no money was taken from my bank account without my permission. I now have the code, plus credit in my account to cover their charges.
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By
The Imperial Orange,
21st October 2015
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