EE customer? You could be due a VAT rebate

A small number of EE customers are reportedly eligible for compensation, after being wrongly charged VAT on data used while roaming outside the EU.

According to EE, customers who travelled outside the EU between October 2012 and October 2015 may have been wrongly charged the tax owing to a system-configuration error. The network estimates that roughly 0.5% users are affected.

However, while the money was wrongly taken, it hasn’t been sat in EE’s bank account gathering interest. According to the company, the money was paid directly to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, and it’s from Her Madge’s vaults that the funds have been reclaimed.

EE’s spokesperson, David Nieberg stated: “Due to a configuration error in our billing system, made following a system change, a small number of customers were wrongly charged VAT on the Data Roaming bundle outside of Europe…This was a mistake, and we are now refunding these charges and contacting affected customers to apologise for the error.”

Eligible users can expect a payout between £2 and £80, but they shouldn’t expect actual money in recompense, because EE will only be offering the compo in the form of credit added to their account.

EE’s books have been under scrutiny in recent months, following a takeover approach from BT, and the wrongful charge isn’t likely to reflect upon the UK’s biggest mobile carrier positively. To further EE’s embarrassment, the company didn’t even notice the mistake itself. The problem was discovered after a user noticed the fallacious charge and complained to the carrier.

EE is busy texting users who are due a rebate. If you haven’t heard from EE but believe you’ve been wrongly charged and are eligible for compensation you should get in touch with EE directly, via customer services on 150 or 07953 966250, or alternatively you can head over to its customer service page and find some more contact options.