Partially upheld: Account administration errors complaint against EE Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained that EE Limited failed to honour a phone deal agreed in-store while he was on holiday. EE staff incorrectly offered him a phone at £1 per month standalone, when the promotion required two phones to be purchased. After Mr H left the store with the new phone, EE called him back to return it as they had made an error. When Mr H returned the phone, he was left without a working device (his old phone had been wiped by EE staff) and had to borrow money to get home. EE initially paid £75 compensation, but the ombudsman found this insufficient given the distress, inconvenience, phone wiping, and a subsequent billing error of £3.07. The ombudsman upheld the complaint in part, ordering EE to pay a further £75 plus £3.07 for the overcharge.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found EE made a clear error in offering an ineligible standalone deal. While CCTV was unavailable to verify Mr H's claims about being surrounded by staff or thrown out, the phone call recordings from the day did not mention these specific allegations, though this does not mean they did not occur. The ombudsman accepted Mr H's account that his phone was wiped and he was left without a working phone, causing distress and requiring him to borrow money. The ombudsman identified a billing error where Mr H was overcharged £3.07 in January 2026 when reverting to his previous plan. The initial £75 compensation was insufficient given the distress, inconvenience, phone wiping, and billing error.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website