Ofcom has fined EE £1 million after the mobile operator failed to comply with rules on handling customer complaints.
The regulator found that between July 22, 2011 and April 8, 2014, EE failed to provide its customers with accurate or adequate information about their right to take their complaint to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme.
It also failed to send out written notifications to customers that should have referenced their right to take their complaint to ADR eight weeks after they first raised their complaint.
EE also failed to state in its Customer Complaints Code that, where relevant, customers could access its ADR scheme by requesting a ‘deadlock letter’.
Claudio Pollack, Ofcom’s Consumer and Content Group Director, said: “It’s vital that customers can access all the information they need when they’re pursuing a complaint.
“Ofcom imposes strict rules on how providers must handle complaints and treats any breach of these rules very seriously. The fine imposed against EE takes account of the serious failings that occurred in the company’s complaints handling, and the extended period over which these took place.”
EE has now amended its Customer Complaints Code to include a correct reference of its obligation to issue a ‘deadlock letter’. Information shown on paper bills has also been amended.
The £1 million fine is payable to Ofcom and then passed to HM Treasury.
In February it was announced that EE is being sold to BT for £12.5 billion.
