Yesterday, EE annoyed me greatly by rejecting the IMEI number of a phone sold by them which I wanted unlocking.
My blog has been interspersed with updates about my experience with EE, which started off well and has quickly descended into the mire over the last eleven days.
Following on from yesterday's text from them telling me that they cannot unlock my phone due to the IMEI number I supplied being incorrect, their customer service centre was due to get another call from me today.
Here's what happened.
I explained the situation to EE's representative. He was polite and looked into the details and confirmed my IMEI code.
He then put me on hold whilst he checked some details, after which he said that the IMEI code has been rejected.
Not standing for this, I asked him to check again and - amazingly - the code was correct, but the lady who took it down the first time omitted the last two digits!
He went on to assure me that they would "Look into unlocking my phone in the next ten days".
I expressed (politely but firmly) that I was not a happy EE customer, as they had screwed up and I was going to have to wait yet another ten days for them to unlock my phone.
I was very pleased when he said that because I will have to wait, there will be no charge [£8.99] for the unlocking service, which I was very happy with.
The customer service representative went on to say that it takes EE ten days to obtain the unlocking code from the phone manufacturer. I quickly mentioned that Vodafone and the other networks do it on the spot! He then told me that EE is such a large network and the largest in the UK, that they have to deal with so many customers and that Vodafone are tiny by comparison!
Altogether, I'm not pleased with EE's customer service. Their representatives range from helpful and friendly to just plain impossible to understand. However I get the feeling that the "bad" customer service I and many others experience is actually down to poor management controls.
Maybe EE really is a massive behemoth now that it comprises EE, T-Mobile and Orange, but if they can't handle it, customers will vote with their feet.
Overall, I'm happy with the resolution provided today, but over twenty working days to obtain an unlocking code? Really??
