Mobile Calling Bug Still Impacting UK Vodafone, EE and O2 Users UPDATE2

Some customers of mobile network operators EE (BT), Vodafone and O2 (Virgin Media) are this morning continuing to report problems with making and receiving calls between the aforementioned networks (this also impacted some landline calls), which is an issue that first began around midday on Monday (4th Sept).

Just to recap. Yesterday afternoon quickly turned into an ugly affair of customer frustration after some of EE and Vodafone’s customers began complaining of problems with calling between the two networks, which also appeared to hit a much smaller portion of O2’s customer base. A tiny portion of Three UK’s customers also complained.

At the time, Vodafone denied that there was a problem on their own network and pointed to “an issue with the EE network“. A spokesperson for EE soon apologised and acknowledged that some customers were indeed “unable to make or receive calls from a Vodafone number” and that they were “working quickly to resolve this“.

The BBC later added some colour to all this by reporting on an update from Vodafone, which said that numbers transferred or “ported” from EE to any new network, including Three UK, O2 and Vodafone, were also affected – apparently because three of the digits in the mobile number still identified them as “EE” numbers (this messed up the call routing). While those former EE customers could call within their new network, calls to other networks were being affected by the problems at EE.

Fast-forward to this morning and customers on EE’s community forum are still reporting problems with calling (examples here, here and here), albeit not to the same level as yesterday, but then it’s still early doors. The Downdetector pages for EE (here) and Vodafone (here) are also showing a similar up tick in complaints as people slowly wake up.

Some EE customers have also reported that not even EE’s own support team can call their customers about the ongoing issue, which would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.

Example EE Complaint 1 on 5th Sept

Sill not working. If I call my mobile from works landlines I get the ringing tone but my mobile is not ringing. If I call my other mobile (voxi) from my mobile I get the engaged tone. If I call my ee phone from voxi that call can’t connect. And in all of this EE are not keeping us updated.

Example EE Complaint 2 on 5th Sept

I have the same – I’m unable to receive calls. When I try to call myself it says I have dialled an incorrect number. I contacted EE who said a technical advisor would call me. They then text me saying they tried to call me but “but due to an issue with all networks customers are having issues making and receiving calls so we were unable to get through. EE”.

It’s now the next morning and still not resolved. I am also waiting for important calls. Why have EE not contacted affected customers to tell them what’s going on and when it’s going to be resolved??!

Example EE Complaint 3 on 5th Sept

And no updates on their website. Ironically when I check my postcode for issues guess what it says. Our network is working fine!…….oh no its not. Also expecting important calls. Can’t even forward calls to my voxi number as its affected by this issue as well.

Example EE Complaint 4 on 5th Sept

Still seems to be ongoing today. I can call one person on O2 but everyone else gives three beeps and then disconnects. When people call me they hear ringing but phone doesn’t work unless they are on Vodafone when nothing happens.

Example EE Complaint 5 on 5th Sept

Just had a text saying its sorted but it’s not. My voxi number is now working but my ee number is not. I can dial I hear it ring but phones not ringing and did the restart as requested but as you say office not open.

One of the biggest frustrations that is coming across from customers has been the lack of communication from EE, which is underlined by the fact that the best source of information yesterday came from rival operator Vodafone. You know you’re doing something badly wrong when your rival is keeping your own customers better informed than you are.

UPDATE 8:17am

A spokesperson for EE has just released this statement: “The issue impacting some customers’ calls to and from a Vodafone number has been resolved. We’re very sorry for any inconvenience caused. Calls to other networks, mobile data and text messages were not affected.”

We’ll keep an eye out over the next few hours to see if the complaint volumes fall away.

UPDATE 8:54am

We’re still seeing complaints about this, with some customers reporting that they had to restart their mobile handsets 3-4 times before they started working normally again.