EE is committed to providing excellent "Customer Service"

Question

I act on behalf of the account holder, my sister Ms Katharine ***** who is unable to deal with the account due to being registered with mental illness. She has difficulty processing too much information and at times back ground noise and general conversation can confuse her. Therefore things like dealing with bills and accounts, filing in forms and understanding what is happening around her, can be difficult. With this in mind I act on her behalf for all her accounts, mobile, broadband, Tv, Gas Electric etc.
She has been an EE customer for 20 months now and only has a rolling one month Mobile Broadband account with EE. She is not a phone customer.
I raised a complaint against a member of staff Ms ****** ***** because she contacted me to appologise for another member of staff who implied they didn't need to deal with me as I wasn't the account holder even though I am named on the account and have only ever been the person who deals with the account. After appologising for that member of staff Ms ***** then proceeded to fabricate details concerning the account and make things up on the telephone as the call proceeded. Bearing in mind she is calling me from the "customer relations" department and has all the time in the world to check the account, confirm accurate details and then call me in her own time, I saw no reason for her to "wing it" and make it up as she went along. I asked her twice if she had checked the account details before calling me and I was twice given the response "thats irrelivant". She clearly wantd to avoid answering that reasonable question. I could clearly tell she had not checked the account and this made the situation more complicated and worse. This was dissapointing considering she was supposed to be calling to resolve an issue and was a representative from the Customer Relations department. Several things she stated during the call did not ring true and it was clear she had called unprepared and was fabricating certain things or making them up as she went along. On this basis I called EE back after she hung up with the intent to raise a complaint against her as I felt Customer Relations should be resolving issues, not making them worse.
Initially when calling EE on Wednesday the 1st July 2015 and speaking to customer services in Darlington, I was told I would be put through to Customer Relations and speak to Ms ****** *****s manager Ms ****** *********.
After explaining that I wished to raise a complaint, I was put on hold while awaiting transfer to the Customer Relations department. On that day alone I was on the phone for 2hours and 34minutes mostly on hold and being transfered between the departments of Darlington, South Wales, New Delhi and North Tyne. I never got through to customer relations. Eventually I was told by a Manager in North Tyne that they would get through to Customer Relations for me and then call me back that day, to save me being on hold any longer. The call back from EE never happened that day. Something I expected as I had been told this four times in the past over the last 20 months and those call backs never happend either. I chased the matter up the following day on Thursday the 2nd of July and that day I spent 2 hours and 17 minutes on the phone. Again mostly on hold or being transfered between departments. Again I was promised a callback later that day and again that never happened that day. An email was sent to the Customer relations department requesting that they contact me directly. I did get through to the "Complaints Escalation" department but they refused to transfer me to the Customer Resolutions department even though thats where three previous staff members said they were transfering me and even confirmed the name of the Manager of that department so there is no confsuion. Needless to say I refused the offer off the call back that hadn't happened on the two previous days or on the four other occassions in the past 20 months. And to be clear I was told that someone would call me back "today".
On Friday the 3rd of July I called again as I had received no reply and spent just over 1hour and 10minutes on the phone. This time I spoke to a lovely Lady called R*** M*** in South Wales and she was extremely polite and genuine which was refreshing and completely unEE like. Although she was unable to help due to the way in which EE set up its complaints system, she was very considerate and understanding of my frustration after 6 hours on the phone over 3 days and still getting nowhere.
On Wednesday the 8th July I received a call back from the original department I was supposed to be put through to (Customer Relations) and spoke to the Manager ******* ******** who was quick to point out that she had "just received the email" sent on Thursday the 2nd of July and was pressing in getting accross her point that she had replied quickly to the email knowing the call was recorded.
The call lasted 30 minutes and I felt from the moment she called, her aim was about resolving the issue with the intent of "closing the complaint" by offering money or requesting "what I would like" as a resolution. I clearly stated the experiences I had over the past three days to raise a complaint and the just over 6 hours on the phone to EE. Again the focus seemed to be to get to the end of the call and close the complaint via an obvious cash offer. On numerous occasions she seemed to want to lead the conversation in that direction yet showed little interest in the actual complaint. It wasn't until I asked her to accomplish what she had initially called me about, namely to listen to my complaint, that she stopped talking and actually listened. Prior to her call three managers, 2 in North Tyne and 1 in Greenoch near Glasgow all stated that the original call I received "would be listened to" and checked for the things I stated in the complaint. Unsurprisingly, when I asked at the end of Ms *******s call, what she made of the conversation when she listned to it, she told me she hadn't listened to it and was unable to, contradicting the three other managers.
When raising the complaint with ****** in North Tyne, he informed me he was taking the matter seriously and was going to raise an internal complaint as per protocal and the Ombudsmans guidelines. I spent just under 15 minutes talking with him. At the end of that call, after he asked "is there anything else I can help you with today", I asked him what the complaint was about. He couldn't tell me and started to list things he was trying to remember from the conversation but none were the actual thing I brought to his attention in the first place. Therefore, how do you take the matter seriously and raise an internal complaint if you can't remember what it is? I seriously doubt that these "internally raised complaints" actually happen and it is convenient just to say they do so that the customer can then be told "but we can't discuss the results with you due to privacy and work environment practices".
I spoke to New Delhi twice while being passed from pilar to post and the line was very bad when being transfered from North Tyne and New Delhi offered to call me back. I explained to the first chap that he couldn't call a mobile broadband device as it is not a phone but the guy persisted and needless to say I received no call back. Ten minutes later, exactly the same situation and this time the chap asked for my mobile number. I gave it to him and he replied "thats not an EE number, sorry I can't help you". He then asked me why I was calling if that wasn't an EE number. I explained the account concerned a mobile broadband device and he said again, "Sorry I can't help you" and terminated the call.
Also while trying to raise the complaint I was told twice that I wasn't the customer. Obviously some people may need the assistance of a carer, social worker, community nurse or family member to help them. This is lost on EE. When they don't know how to handle a complaint, or their hands are tied by interanl system structure or they get caught lying, they resort to the tactic of asking to speak to the account holder or telling me I am not the account holder.
I have also been told on three occasions that I was being transfered to a department that I could not be transfered to. Two managers later told me I should not have been told this and that it is impossible to transfer me to that department. There were numerous other things that happened during the 6 hours on the phone to EE. If I put them in this statement, you wouldn't believe me and think I was making it up. Then again, this EE and I have read some of the other statements on here.... and they don't suprise me either.
I was offered £10 on the account for my time on the phone by a manager. By that point I really didn't care at all or bother to wuestion if it had actually been put on the account. I declined any credit or cash offer from Ms ******* ***** in her call back as I felt the service was so appauling and the structure of making a complaint to lengthy and unreasonable. I didn't wish to be just another complaint "satisfactorily deal with" by being "paid off". I have also experienced such customer service in the past and was offered a £10 goodwill gesture. It is clear to me that EE resolve complaints and internal issues by paying off customers (they call it resolving issues), rather than properly handling complaints and taking them seriously. EEs complaints system is "designed" to be difficult to raise a complaint or raise it to another level. Something the Ombudsman brought to their attention in the recent fine they gave to EE. Clearly EE wouldn't have so many complaints if it provided a customer service that was fair and easy to use and had little to complain about in the first place. Even during the call back I was told that Vodaphone was most complained about company, yet the statistics from the Ombudsman for 2015 clearly show that EE has received the most complains concerning Broadband. The thing I was calling about. Even during a callback to resolve an issue, EE still were trying say someone else was worse and deflect attention.
I was very, very happy to see the £1 million pound fine they received from the Ombudsman on Friday. Before I am insulted by any more EE staff memebers, who tell me I have the right to leave at any time, as happened twice while raising the complaint, I'd like to point out that I am happy with the product and the price I pay for it. The Product isn't the problem. It's the Customer Service.
Just because I am happy with the product, it doesn't mean I forfeit my right to complain about reasonable issues. In short I feel, TalkTalk are just inept and a bit clueless whereas Everything Everywhere and deceitful and intentionally pervasive when handling complaints. I also feel that the actual amount of complaints may be far higher than the statistics show and that customers give up complaining when being left on hold for so long or realising the complaints procedure is worthless and too difficult to use. This then keeps the amount of complaints lower than they actually are.
The service I received trying to raise a reasonable complaint was atrocious and in My personal view, clearly reflects why so many EE customers complain about the company and the Ombudsman fined it so heavily. Clearly they have not learnt their lesson, despite their statement on Friday that that fine was for past issues. I would happily see EEs licence to opperate removed or atleast brought in to question based on this and other customers experiences. If you have a complaint, don't let EE tell you, "its only you" or "its just your opinion". It isn't.... And the Ombudsman says so.
This was easily the worse Customer Service experience I have ever had in my life.
8th July 2015

Answer 1

Hi ,
I am very sorry for all the problems you have stated in the post.
Can you advise me what the query was? I will try help as best I can.
Thanks.