EE angers customers by charging for priority service

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EE customers in the United Kingdom can now pay a 50p fee when they call customers services to jump ahead of other callers in the queue. The priority service puts those who pay in touch with the next available operator while everyone else must wait, and it has been widely criticized by EE subscribers.

Few things are more frustrating than being stuck on hold for an hour when you need to speak to a customer service representative. EE is hoping to eliminate that frustration for some of its customers, but rather than expanding its call center team it has simply allowed queue hopping for those who pay.

Understandably, the service has led to yet more backlash for EE, which has already had the highest rate of complaints from pay-monthly customers for the past two years, The Independent reports.

Many customers have taken to social networks to voice their anger, and some are even threatening to switch networks when their contracts come to an end. Some suggest the new service is simply a way for EE to make a profit out of its already poor customer service.

“Confirms I’ll be leaving @EE when contracts up,” writes Matt Hill on Twitter. Brian Martin adds, “@EE Just read [about] 50p charge to get to front of queue for call centre. Appalling. I shall change company.”

A spokesman for EE told The Independent, “It’s not that literally they would go straight through, all I know is it’s a queue jump… ‘priority answer’ is what we’re referring to it as.”

So, even after you’ve paid the 50p charge, there’s no guarantee that you won’t have to wait for at least a short amount of time anyway during busy periods. Furthermore, EE insists that it will still process all calls “as quickly and efficiently as we can.”

The new priority service is available now, but it’s initially for pay-monthly customers only.

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