Extactly 24 days ago, I was at an EE store in Basingstoke, Hampshire. I was going to sign up for your iPad and iPhone connected deal. I spoke to a salesman named Simon, who explained that the deal was offered for 49 pounds, plus 61-66 pounds every month, in return for an both devices, unlimited calls and texts and a certain amount of data.
Since data was the most important feature for me, I asked if I could extend it, and after a short research, Simon announced that for an additional 5 pounds, I could extend my data plan to 8 times larger than the original amount, so 2GB becomes 16, and so on.
I wrote everything down, thought it over and compared it with other deals in the market and eventually went back to the store in order to sign up.
It was only then when Simon recalled that the iPad was unavailable in store but promised that we could pre order it and have it delivered within about 3 days. As I agreed, My passport, debit card and personal details were taken as well as an additional 25 pounds fee. Simon then gave me a receipt and seemed like he was ready to send me home. Since I was expecting the iPhone as well I was confused and ask him if he forgot.
He then recalled that I actually wanted the connected deal - as if we didn't speak about it for 2 days now, and said I wouldn't be able to pick up my iPhone until the iPad arrives. He now said it would take maximum a week to arrive. As in what I see in an attempt to make some more money, he offered I would buy another cellphone until the iPad arrives to use for a week.
A few days had passed and there was no sign of the iPad and worse, I read about people who waited for iPads for weeks. I then called customer service, only to be treated badly in 3 different attempts. I urge you to order recordings of these calls and listen for your self. I was told my my first attempt that the customer representative did not care about my situation since I bought my iPad at a shop. A second representative I spoke insisted I would purchase a second iPad from him because he would ship it quicker, and a third person promised to email me back with more details and never did.
Frustrated even before I started using EE, I called the store in the morning and explained what happened. The man I spoke to insisted my order would arrive the next day but if it doesn't, gave me his word that he would call me the following Monday and provide me with more details. I am sure you can guess - No one actually did.
I called back on Tuesday and spoke to the same person who claimed he had told his manager to call me back, but didn't. Fab insisted he was never told to call me yet failed to confront his peer or tell me where my order was. He said there was no way for him to know how long it was going to take and that he would try looking into it. So now, 3 days become unknown amount of time. After I emphasized how important it was to call customers back, he promised, again to call me back 2 days later after he looks into the situation again.
There is no need for me to mention again that I was never called. As I walked into the store, Fab claimed he was "just about to call me", I was on my way to London and suggested I would pick the iPad there and come back to sign up for the deal. Fab gave me an address in London where I actually went. When I told the London store salesman what I wanted, he insisted there was no such deal. I found myself insisting showing him the paper with the details only to find out that at least as far as he, his peers, or customer service, had never heard of a deal where I could extend my data plan.
Now, not only I was angry, but my trust had gone. I told him I would not sign until I speak to Simon, and instead, much like at least 2 other EE salesmen I had already spoken to, he insisted of selling me other products. A different mobile phone, a tablet, and even a broadband internet package, like a scene from a movie, where it felt like he would make an attempt to sell me his shoes at any minute.
Feeling like I was played with, I went back to the Basingstoke, and demanded answers. Fab and Simon were in a hurry to go home declared that I confused it with the the amount of memory an iPad has. I don't know if they were aware of 2 important facts:
A. I am a computer engineer - very unlikely to be confused with such details
B. iPad memory is doubled, 8 to 16, 6 to 32. It does not go 8 times larger for 5 pounds.
I went home very unsatisfied. For a few days, even though I expressed my frustration, nobody was bothered or made an attempt to call me. Several attempts to call the store, contact Customer Service, or EE/Orange on twitter were unsuccessful. My order could not be tracked. People in customer service suggested I would tell them what happened and they would write it down on a paper and send it for feedback. The twitter team paid little attention to the details of my complaint and insisted it takes up to 14 days for the iPad to arrive (it was already over 14 days)
I then went to another EE store in Basingstoke and explained what happened. I was told that they believed that the first store team were unprofessional and promised to resolve the issue. I spoke to a guy who claimed he was just hired so he was eager to prove himself. Him and the store manager made a few promises: They wrote down both my partner and my phone number as well as our email addresses, said they would stop at shops in Reading, where the store manager was apparently living and contact me back what ever the answer was.
I made a number of attempts to call customer service again and told that if I asked to speak to someone above the store manager, it was the store managers obligation to escalate the issue.
I waited a week and a half until I went back to the store. The new hire claimed he had been on a holiday and "just came back". As if I did not hear that before, said he told someone else to call me. To make things worse, the store manager did not even remember me or his lecture about being nice to a customer. As I expressed my frustration, I was asked to leave the store.
I then went back to the first store and asked to escalate the issue. Fab then admitted, or claimed (I do know what is actually real) he was an assistant manager, and yet again promised that a person named Daniel would call me the next day.
Daniel had never returned a call. It has been 24 days and yet, no one returns my calls. No one know where the iPad I paid for is, or when it is due to arrive, if it does at all. I have been lied to pretty much every time I contacted EE. I have already lost deals in other stores I could have sign up for, and the worst thing is, there is no one to talk to.
Since data was the most important feature for me, I asked if I could extend it, and after a short research, Simon announced that for an additional 5 pounds, I could extend my data plan to 8 times larger than the original amount, so 2GB becomes 16, and so on.
I wrote everything down, thought it over and compared it with other deals in the market and eventually went back to the store in order to sign up.
It was only then when Simon recalled that the iPad was unavailable in store but promised that we could pre order it and have it delivered within about 3 days. As I agreed, My passport, debit card and personal details were taken as well as an additional 25 pounds fee. Simon then gave me a receipt and seemed like he was ready to send me home. Since I was expecting the iPhone as well I was confused and ask him if he forgot.
He then recalled that I actually wanted the connected deal - as if we didn't speak about it for 2 days now, and said I wouldn't be able to pick up my iPhone until the iPad arrives. He now said it would take maximum a week to arrive. As in what I see in an attempt to make some more money, he offered I would buy another cellphone until the iPad arrives to use for a week.
A few days had passed and there was no sign of the iPad and worse, I read about people who waited for iPads for weeks. I then called customer service, only to be treated badly in 3 different attempts. I urge you to order recordings of these calls and listen for your self. I was told my my first attempt that the customer representative did not care about my situation since I bought my iPad at a shop. A second representative I spoke insisted I would purchase a second iPad from him because he would ship it quicker, and a third person promised to email me back with more details and never did.
Frustrated even before I started using EE, I called the store in the morning and explained what happened. The man I spoke to insisted my order would arrive the next day but if it doesn't, gave me his word that he would call me the following Monday and provide me with more details. I am sure you can guess - No one actually did.
I called back on Tuesday and spoke to the same person who claimed he had told his manager to call me back, but didn't. Fab insisted he was never told to call me yet failed to confront his peer or tell me where my order was. He said there was no way for him to know how long it was going to take and that he would try looking into it. So now, 3 days become unknown amount of time. After I emphasized how important it was to call customers back, he promised, again to call me back 2 days later after he looks into the situation again.
There is no need for me to mention again that I was never called. As I walked into the store, Fab claimed he was "just about to call me", I was on my way to London and suggested I would pick the iPad there and come back to sign up for the deal. Fab gave me an address in London where I actually went. When I told the London store salesman what I wanted, he insisted there was no such deal. I found myself insisting showing him the paper with the details only to find out that at least as far as he, his peers, or customer service, had never heard of a deal where I could extend my data plan.
Now, not only I was angry, but my trust had gone. I told him I would not sign until I speak to Simon, and instead, much like at least 2 other EE salesmen I had already spoken to, he insisted of selling me other products. A different mobile phone, a tablet, and even a broadband internet package, like a scene from a movie, where it felt like he would make an attempt to sell me his shoes at any minute.
Feeling like I was played with, I went back to the Basingstoke, and demanded answers. Fab and Simon were in a hurry to go home declared that I confused it with the the amount of memory an iPad has. I don't know if they were aware of 2 important facts:
A. I am a computer engineer - very unlikely to be confused with such details
B. iPad memory is doubled, 8 to 16, 6 to 32. It does not go 8 times larger for 5 pounds.
I went home very unsatisfied. For a few days, even though I expressed my frustration, nobody was bothered or made an attempt to call me. Several attempts to call the store, contact Customer Service, or EE/Orange on twitter were unsuccessful. My order could not be tracked. People in customer service suggested I would tell them what happened and they would write it down on a paper and send it for feedback. The twitter team paid little attention to the details of my complaint and insisted it takes up to 14 days for the iPad to arrive (it was already over 14 days)
I then went to another EE store in Basingstoke and explained what happened. I was told that they believed that the first store team were unprofessional and promised to resolve the issue. I spoke to a guy who claimed he was just hired so he was eager to prove himself. Him and the store manager made a few promises: They wrote down both my partner and my phone number as well as our email addresses, said they would stop at shops in Reading, where the store manager was apparently living and contact me back what ever the answer was.
I made a number of attempts to call customer service again and told that if I asked to speak to someone above the store manager, it was the store managers obligation to escalate the issue.
I waited a week and a half until I went back to the store. The new hire claimed he had been on a holiday and "just came back". As if I did not hear that before, said he told someone else to call me. To make things worse, the store manager did not even remember me or his lecture about being nice to a customer. As I expressed my frustration, I was asked to leave the store.
I then went back to the first store and asked to escalate the issue. Fab then admitted, or claimed (I do know what is actually real) he was an assistant manager, and yet again promised that a person named Daniel would call me the next day.
Daniel had never returned a call. It has been 24 days and yet, no one returns my calls. No one know where the iPad I paid for is, or when it is due to arrive, if it does at all. I have been lied to pretty much every time I contacted EE. I have already lost deals in other stores I could have sign up for, and the worst thing is, there is no one to talk to.