Partially upheld: Complaints handling failures complaint against EE Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs N complained that EE Limited misled her into taking out a fixed sum loan by offering to trade in her existing mobile handset for £550 and credit this to her loan account. After taking out the loan and handing over her handset, the loan amount remained unchanged. EE denied agreeing to any trade-in deal and provided no evidence of such an offer in their records. The ombudsman found no misrepresentation, as EE's documented records carried more weight than Mrs N's testimony. However, the ombudsman upheld the complaint in part, finding that EE poorly handled the complaint process, creating confusion between their store and complaint channels, and awarded £100 compensation for the resulting distress and inconvenience.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the legal test for misrepresentation, requiring an untrue statement of fact that induced the contract. While Mrs N claimed she was told about a £550 trade-in deal, EE's contemporaneous records contained no mention of such an agreement. The ombudsman found EE's documented records carried more weight than Mrs N's recollection. However, the ombudsman acknowledged that EE handled the complaint poorly, creating confusion and delay between their store and complaint channels, which caused Mrs N distress and inconvenience.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website