I’m taking some small delight in using my blog to give Orange a small bit of bad PR.
Basically, they’ve really cheesed me off by refusing to change my contract. “You’re incompatible” they say.
All I wanted to do was change the contract from a £50 one to a £30 one, as the amount of call minutes this represents is closer to my actual phone usage.
But no, phoning them up to change it, I’m told that I’m “incompatible”. I ask what this means, and they can’t tell me. I’m not satisfied and ask to speak to a manager, and I’m promised a call back.
Two weeks later and no return call, so I’ve cancelled. Sod them. They can’t be bothered to give me any form of service for £600 per year? Then I won’t give them what they want, i.e. my cash.
Right. So what next? I’m left without a phone? Not for long I hope…
Well, first off, I happen to know about a website called Quidco. It’s a rather interesting thing, basically it gives you the cash back from affiliate schemes. (Websites pay other websites to promo their deals, Quidco give it back to the consumer.)
Certain mobile phone companies (not naming them here) cash back very heavily, up to £100 for yearly contracts.
(Ever been to a middle-man phone hawking site that’s offering you an iPod if you can referrer three costumers? This is how they afford it, you’ll be earning them up to £300.)
So, that’s £100 in my pocket, plus the contract I’ve picked is half-price for 18 months, meaning I’m only paying £17 for approximately the amount of minutes I wanted to pay Orange for.
So yah-boo-sucks to Orange. And listen to your customers when they say they want to change plan!
UPDATE: I’m now sorted out with a lovely new Sony Cybershot phone. It only took me about two hours of reading to work out how to “de-brand” it. I.e. Stopping every damn button from pimping ringtones…
I ended up cancelling my orange contract a couple of years ago when they cancelled my insurance without telling me, and demanded £90 and that i resign a new contract before they would replace my handset. Although to be fair, orange are a lot better than vodaphone, who are a bunch of lying thieves (bring it on, vodaphone libel-lawyers!).
I used to work for Orange. Six years of my life wasted…*cries*. The nightmares have stopped now. To be honest, they’re all basically the same. Robbing bastards with no clue how to deal with this huge influx of customers. Only now are Orange employing people qualified to work in middle management instead of promoting customer service idiots…..stop it, Blackett. You don’t work there anymore.
I did this exact thing with my old Orange pay-as-you-go. Can’t complain about their customer service myself, but i was paying well over the odds for calls and texts (never mind the free line rental, the per-use charges more than made up the difference), and the signal quality was patchy at best.
Swapped to a special offer through the online branch of a well known high street company that got into the game by warehousing phones to be installed in cars. I pay £30 a month upfront – which is already not too bad for 300 texts and 300 call minutes, line rental and a Sony 750 Red – and get cashback installments that eventually knock this back to the equivalent of a fiver a month.
Mushnt grrrrrrumble.
And they seem genuine… my mum and bro have happily been on the scheme 18 months longer than me (more fool muggins) and i’ve already got the first third back, meaning the effective monthly cost is already down to twenty-odd. Bargain. Just trying to balance my yo-yo’ing monthly use; having 150 left over one month, then caning both the new allowance and the rollover down to zero and incurring (only a couple quid as i realised the mistake pretty quick) extra charges. Hmm.
Yeah: I am now a reluctant Orange customer, since they took over Wanadoo. Now, Wanadoo were not great, but since Orange took over the service has become sheer unaldulterated shite. I can’t keep a connection for more than about ten seconds, – this is being typed off line, – and so they said ‘use the plastic box’, (I’m broadband) so I tried. For an hour I tried. My local computer shop engineer, who is a shit hot software engineer and an old college buddy from Computer /IT studies tried, another buddy who fixes things for big IT groups tried.
Result? It’s fucking Orange, – what do you expect, – shit. No connection, Live box either doesn’t work or Orange don’t recognise their own equipment.
I first tried Orange in about 1986 as a mobile phone supplier. Three days into ownership, my phone stopped working while I was stuck in a traffic jam on the M5. Having an urgent appointment ahead of me, I needed to phone. Nothing. So eventually I reached the Mway services, pulled off and phoned on a land line to tell the Client that I was horrendously delayed, and still had about 150 miles to travel. We postponed the meeting. I then tried to phone Orange from a call box. They only had a mobile contact number, so I was paying the high tariff. I got nowhere with them, cheated to get out of the services, and went home. Where I again tried to phone them. When I reached the point of having spent £64 without ever having spoken to anything but a fucking robot messaging service, I sent the phone back and told them to go fuck. I have never paid them and never will.
Get out of Orange. Somehow, anyhow, get out of Orange.
Orange = Incredibly difficult to deal with – they keep getting my billing wrong and then blocking the phone for unpaid bills – eventually I get them to re-set the phone and unblock it – admitting their mistake. Then about 1 month later they do the same again. This is my wife’s phone and she needs case of breakdown (you know the kind of thing) …. but get this …. when you try to ring customer services (from the handset = 150 free call) …. guess what … you can’t cause your blocked … probably having broken down in some dire wilderness of a place miles from anywhere (they block with no warning – so beware) – anyway – nice one Orange … absolute Cr@p service
Just to ask people to visit my “Orange Sucks” blog. I have linked back to your blog by blogging one of you stories. The number of people coming to the blog with stories of Orange and the incompetence is incredible. How that ridiculous company survives is a mystery. They are good at advertising to suck people in then won’t let them go without outrageous penalties. Utterly disgusting!
bob, i had a similar experience.
once the swtichover to orange commenced, my broadband became unreliable, and it has gotten extremely bad over the past few days, i am losing the connection about 2 to 6 times a day, and everything i do downloads at dialup speed,
I am now switching ISPs.
Orange sent me a sony w850i by courier for no reason (I’m with vodaphone), i phoned their customer service number (0800 079 1050 – free if you use this number btw rather than the mobile number they give you). They said that the phone didn’t exist according to their records… So I sold it on ebay for 120 big English pounds – thanks Orange!
One small victory for the puny consumer!
After 10 years as a satisfied customer I was fooled into changing my contract for a discount I never got so after a long battle went pay as you go. After a year PAYG I now want to get the PAC code to transfer to 3 on a really good tariff. Unfortunately my PAYG does not connect to the operator and if I try to connect from another phone it doesn’t let me through when I give them my Orange number.
They truly SUCK
Hi,
I’m on a Orange 18 month contract at the moment and desperately want to get out of it as its utterly crap! The 18 months end in December but I really want to know if there is anyway I can get out of the contract without paying hundreds of pounds? Does anyone know if this can be done? Thanks,
Katie
I have an old ORANGE rent free contract which is very good.They want me to change,Idon’t.My nokia phone is showing wear and tear but I am hesitant to change it in case I get conned into a new contract.Can I change the phone without going near them.How long is my present agreement, I have no paper work.
I’m in the same situation, got 6 months left of an 18 month contract the lowest they will drop is £5 from a £35 p/month. Its bullsh!t why can’t they drop to the 20/25 p/month contract.
you can’t get out of the contract without paying a fee. the best thing to do is go on a cheaper line rental aftr 9 mnths. you can read thier terms and conditions on http://www.orange.co.uk
Orange are disgraceful… Sony Ericsson are shoddy as well.
I upgraded on the 14th Nov to a new contract with a brand new K850i phone.
I am now on my 3rd K850i. The first 2 kept turning themselves off and the 3rd didn’t come with all the bells and whistles as the first 2 i.e. wallpapers etc etc
So had enough and returning the 3rd handset with the view of cancelling my contract. The strange thing is that I have been a loyal customer for over 7 years and defended them to the hilt. Now they just treat you like crap. I guess all mobile phone providers are the same.. after all they are just another business trying to screw you over.
What makes me laugh is that when Orange were going to send out a new handset, they did this within 24hours. Now I want to return a handset without a replacement, I have to wait 10-14 days… what a joke. They could do enough to keep me happy but now I am cancelling my contract, they take there bloody time about it.
I asked a number of people at orange if they are having problems with this phone, depending who you speak to you will get mixed responses. 1 guy was pretty helpful and told me that this phone was rushed to market as Christmas was just round the corner.
Orange as a network is pretty good. Orange customer service is on a decline from when I first used the network. Orange quality control has completely gone out of the window.
Top it all off I have a ongoing issue with Orange since Feb 2007. Without going into details, it took 6months to resolve, when they could of done it in a matter of weeks.
FUCK YOU ORANGE
Hi,
well you are all right, orange SUCKS!!, i have only been with them a couple of months and i am dying to get rid. its all the hidden extras i was not told about. i.e 1p for delivery reports, 25p for mms. and the signal is crap. please can anyone tell me how to get out of it, and preferably without paying silly money. oh and yes when you finally get through to customer services to discuss cancelling they are no help at all and have given me 3 different settlement figures… nightmare. it is a con so buyers beware.
I was conned into Orange and then given an 18 month contract, I’ve now pointed out to them that they didn’t get a signature from me to agree to this contract so as such they cannot legally dispute my wishing to get out of the contract for nothing in court as it would cost them more. The one thing though is to make sure that you take them to court not the opposite, because they don’t take you to court – they sell your debt on many months after you think they aren’t getting in touch and then the debt collection agency then would go to civil court and add its costs to the debt. suddenly you get baliffs at your door and a larger debt, with no civil rights what so ever – your best bet is to fight them oh yeah and charge them for the letters you sending them also – it works that way and if they don’t want to pay the charge you given them – sell the debt on to a collection company and let them fight them – it does work – I know cos I got the advice and did it to a totally different company. fight them using the same rules they did.
Hi I have been with Orange since October 1994 – Rob you must have misplaced a digit because Orange didnt start trading till April 96.
I have had no problem with them ever, I get an upgrade for any phone I want every year and they have included my in their loyalty programee (match any other network, payback each month, no charge for any phone) and they are the best network in my book. I have used Vodafone (OK) and use 3 Mobile for work but no one so far beats Orange! PS I dont work for them either!!!
signed up to a 24 month contract last month with doliphin on orange, was told i have excellent coverage in my area, and my bill wil be no more than £35.00 per month, Quess what got my first bill for £168.36!! i refuse to pay this sort of money as it is a scandel my land line dosent cost that quaterly!! can they do anything to me if i refuse to pay the bill???
please let me know asap
thank you
I’m nearly into 12 months of my 18 month contract and tried cancelling it today but they thought of every excuse up under the sun all because i want a new phone as the one i got now never gets a signal, and the best they were offering was that they can change my dolphin £35 a month to £30 (which doesn’t make any difference). I personally think their a pile of crap and wouldnt advise them to anyone. Slightly annoyed as t-mobile are doing a better contract with the phone i want but wont do anything about moving me over!
Hi Ive got a 18 month contract with 02 and what a pack of bastards,
i informed them i was gonna be made redundant at xmas and could i get a lower tarrif they said no {it was £30 a month} i couldnt do it til march of this year, so for £20 i get a miserable shity 75 mins and 250 texts what good is that i rang 3 time today to try and cancel my contract {due to finish in nov of this year} they said id have to pay the rest of the tarrif for the remainign months told them i couldnt that im a single mam with 2 young kids on benefits that i couldnt afford the phone no more but they were very unhelpful,
i know i signed the contract but didnt know i was gonna be made redundant
is there any way i can get out of it as im really sick and im really stressed all i got was you have to pay even if you cant afford it, what am i to do,
i could cancel my direct debit would that get me in trouble
anyone got any ideas
thanks
Yes I have an 18mnth contract, ‘dolphin’, thru Robbers4u. It is crap = told by shop would get more for my money than I did with 3. Meant to be £35 a month, is regularly nearer £60 and I honestly can’t see why as I don’t use my phone more than the 3 one. Sent a few picture messages, rang a few 0845 no’s briefly. That does not explain jump of £25. I’m really not happy with it and want out, staff on phone don’t seem to know their arses from their elbows half the time, never got my promised callback from yesterday morning to see ‘what they could do for me’ and can NEVER get onto my online account because the Orange site is obviously beserker! Just saw that 3 is offering the same as what I am meant to be getting but for £10 a month less.
Does anyone know what kind of money you have to pay just to get out and be rid of them???
Been on Orange contracts for years but just recently they don’t seem to care. I predict this ‘couldn’t care less about the customer’ will be their downfall. I had to wait for ages on the end of ’150′ after pressing all the obligatory gateway numbers – listening to the usual paltry excuses – either they have skeleton staff or so many complaints they are snowed under? I’ve had a catalogue of disasters – and I am changing to another provider on Saturday as I have had enough of their disregard for the customer – I know of other friends with similar stories but are ‘too busy’ to complain’ but simply changing to other networks.
I’m not sure what moaning on this Blog will do – but I feel sick after realising what they have done to me today – it constitutes in my eyes serious fraud so I shall be preparing my letter to Ofcom and waging a war!” I think they are laughing at us.
1. The mobile phone I originally had direct from Orange yonks ago broke a while back now – and they told me I had to have their £5 insurance scheme before they would replace it – which I did and have been duly paying per month for several years now. When I received a call from a company who said they were acting on behalf of Orange and they appeared to know I was due to have my contract up for renewal I took their package – 500 texts and 200 free minutes.
2. When their phone broke after a week I called Orange and learned that I wasn’t covered on their insurance (I never received any paperwork around the insurance) as I had apparently bought the phone ‘third party’ – maybe I’m thick as when they mentioned ‘on behalf of Orange’ – I assumed they were ‘Orange’ – but no – you have to physically walk into an Orange shop to buy your phone or the insurance does not cover you – I find out later that I could have had the insurance altered to cover the third party purchase? The ‘unhelpful’ girl on the end of the 150 didn’t tell me that. It’s still an orange tariff – so what’s the difference? I had to pay to send it back and wait for a new phone – I was actively nursing then and needed my phone – but no one cared.! That was bad enough but I stuck with Orange because they had been so reliable in the past.
2. My tarriff included 575 free texts – and 200 free talk minutes – and 30 photos – somewhere along the line this was reduced to 500 free texts, same talk time and no photos – turns out it was a promotional offer!
3. I was in New Zealand in January this year – and twice phoned them up before I went to check – I don’t suppose they keep a log of calls like banks do – they reassured me that the free 500 texts would still count in New Zealand – liars! I got back to an extortionate bill – and so I’ve taken a couple of months to realise that in January, with no warning they swapped me to a new tariff – only 75 free texts – so I have been continuing to use around 500 a month and have just realised why my bill is so high – I feel sick that I didn’t check beforehand as I am usually so careful – so goodness help the kids who aren’t as ‘anal’ as me when it comes to these things.
Naturally the guy on the end of the line was completely disinterested and said the 500 texts was a ‘goodwill gesture’ – well I hope they are prepared for my goodwill gesture to Ofcom when I send a copy of the amateurly printed contract I have from my third party phone provider which states that I should still be reciving my 500 free texts, 200 minutes and 30 photos!!
Is there anybody out there who takes on these nasty big companies who are nothing more than thieves?
was told my contract with ORANGE would end on the 10th of may and that the bill i received last month would be my last, but i received
another bill this morning. i asked why this was considering the contract should have terminated on the 10th and i’ve been using an o2 phone since then and their answer was that because i didn’t check to see if they had cancelled my contract and been in touch that i’m liable to pay the bill….all because they can’t keep their records up to date or do their job properly. I had previously called twice to make sure it was definitley ending on the 10th of may and both times was assured that yes it was…….Wankers!!!
can anyone advise my fiance left orange five years ago and has just got a bill for £250 ish, on phoning orange they said they had no record and had passed it to a third party the third paty say orange passed it to them 4 months after orange state they do. Then orange have not returned any mails asking for proof of contactr over the last five years to say she owed money and the actual statements they have sent WHich of course haver been non existent. We have refused to pay until they can provide these bills and an explanation as to why no one has been in touch for all this time. After all we could be sending money to anyone and face it if they have no records for her held how do they know she owes money……Anyone please advise
In reply to Benj above did you check your credit card statement as this also happened to me i had two phones sent to me from orange but my card had been scammed and i had paid £400 for two pay as you go phones!
also in reply to everyone else im just about to escape from orange what a bunch of twats, i kept getting txts to say i could review my plan which i could do via the website or contact customer services, rang them first and was told they werent able to do it on the phone, suggested i go online ….yeah right that now hasnt been working for about the last three months……..given up will go somewhere else
how do I end my orange contract with them? my phone has broke that I got off them I’m not insured and my contract should end in about 2 months if before how do I cancel my contract with them? Melissa
I have just had my phone cut off after receiving a £402.88 phone bill for myself and my girlfriends phones. We was moving house and at the time, I was due a upgrade, so I upgraded to the Sony Ericsson c902. No problems with Orange ever (been with them 10 years) or the phones. Anyway, when I upgraded I noticed a advertisement in the shop offering free internet browsing on selected +£30 tariffs’s and myself and my girlfriend are on the Dolphin35. I asked the sales assistant if my contract qualifies for this and he clearly stated yes to me. Since we was moving house, I thought I’d take advantage of the free internet browsing on my phone while I was waiting for my Livebox (Also from Orange, but thats another story LOL), so I use it for 2 weeks, then get my bill through 2 days ago, 2 weeks after using the internet last on my phone for £402.88. There is no way I can afford to pay this bill, or would if I could. Thanks for nothing Orange, thats what you get for being a loyal customer for 10 years and getting half your family to sign up for there pay monthly contract plans!!!!!
please help
got a new contract from orange 4 months ago pay about 35-40 a month and it is an 18 month contact. just recently got a new job and there is no orange connection where i work. my colleagues with t mobile phones are able to use their phones all day long. so for five days a week from 8am till 6.30 when i am at work i am unable to use my phone. not sure what to do. not sure if i can cancel my contract.
thks
i have a contract with orange ending in 4 months so i decided to open a new one and close the old one. i fell behind on a payment on my old phone but did explain i would catch up. while being in arrears they will not let you downgrade your contract and thy then went and blocked both my phones new and old even though my new phone was 2 weeks old. They said cause I owed money on the last one. I told them to cancel my new contract to which they said no. Well they can shove it up their as cause i will see them in court before I pay them. Also being a loyal customer who has never missed a payment in 2 years – you would think they would be more understanding. huh
Orange are, and i can’t repeat this enough times, SHIT!, SHIT!, SHIT!,SHIT!,SHIT! They should not be allowed to use the word ‘mobile’ in their advertisments or in relation to any of their products because they are simply not fucking ‘mobile’ in any way whatsoever (unless you live in the centre of a city and even that is not a failsafe). They are a bunch of theiving corporate whores. My so called orange ‘mobile’ phone suggests that i have coverage, yet every time i make a call the signal coverage disappears as soon as the call is connected, only for it too reappear when the line has gone dead and cut off. It is not my phone because i have tried several different orange phones and they all do the same thing in the same areas. They even had the gall to send me some bullshit orange info text (which funnily enough seem to get through when no phone calls do) telling me that they have recently improved their signal coverage, i say BOLLOCKS have they. They even lie on their own coverage maps on their website. I work in the driving and transport industry and travel over 50, 000 miles a year covering a large area of southern england and the areas they say have a high standard of coverage on their website have NONE WHATSOFUCKINGEVER i can reliably assure you. My advice, steer well clear of these lying, money grabbing, fuck all coverage giving, should not be allowed to operate as a ‘mobile’ (more like a static landline) bunch of cunts.
I am having a lot of trouble with the network 3 atm. I had a contract with em, which was taken over by my younger sister with 8 months left to run because i wanted a new phone and didn’t want to wait to upgrade that one. I got my won contract with 02 sorted and when they time came i called 3 and told them we’d no longer need their services (i’d had a lot of trouble prior to switching with changing price plans etc) as the person using the phone for the last few months was running up phone bills that were too high. I was offered every deal under the sun to stay with them, but as my sister didn’t have the resposibility to keep the phone bills down nothing was going to change our minds. I received a confirmation of the cancellation in the post, and was issued a final bill date. Before i received the final bill i was badgered morning noon and night by telesales ar*eholes, calling ‘on behalf of three’ who were clearly not even slightly affiliated with them, offering me ‘great’ phones, which were crap, and huge value bundles, but still i said no, i do NOT want to renew this contract. I received the final bill, which i paid, and thought this to be the end of the matter. My sisters phone was PUK locked about 10 days before the contract was due to run out so it was just put in a drawer and forgotten about. After about a month i received a bill from Three for the discounted line rental of £5 for the next month. I called them to query this and was told that I had agreed a new contract and as it was more than 14 days since i did, i couldn’t cancel it. I NEVER agreed to this, and i can only assume the telesales people simply signed me up so they could get some comission out of me. I KNOW this happens as i had the misfortune to take a job doing exactly that, only to quit after half a day. However, since then i’ve been inundated with calls and letters from debt collection agencies and i’m getting very pissed off to be frank. Does anyone know of anything i can do to counter this? The amount they want is £24, equal to 4 months line rental. I’d pay it simply to get them off my back but if i do they’ll demand another 12 or whatever months worth of line rental, and there’s no way i’m being bullied by the big guy on this one!
I’ve been with Orange now for 12months of my 18month contract. Last month i noticed on my credit report that Orange had wronly said I was a month behind on payments. I got in touch and got a note added to my credit report and Orange said that they would adjust it…indeed they did, by saying i was 2 months behind payments and owed them £165!!!!!!!!!!!!
This affects my whole credit rating and they dont seem to care!
AVOID USING ORNAGE AT ALL COSTS.
THEY ARE UTTER SH*T!
Orange seem to be one of the better ones to go with in terms of pay monthly prices, BUT BEWARE!
I recently checked out their site and ordered a Nokia 6500 on a measly £20.00 pm tariff. Checked the coverage with my post code, like you do and found it to be “excellent” on both 2 & 3G bands. My arse it is… Have to go into my attic to even get a 1-bar signal and when I wak to the top of the garden – which is higher than the house – nothing. Calls cut out in mid flow and reception from incoming is patchy even in a strong area.
My pay-as-you-go on Vodafone gets reception even in my f***ing cellar!!!
Now here’s the really worrying bit: went to their email link to cancel the whole deal within the 7 day period and guess what – it couldn’t deliver the message. Isn’t that funny?
What’s also even more hillarious is that the 0800 number they give you to cancell never gets answered. I’m splitting my sides (not).
If you find yourself in my situation which I hope you never do, consider this.
* Write to the return address stating your grievance and a reason for returning/cancelling and enclose print-outs of all correspondance (with dates) while at the same time, return all goods and original packaging to the same address using Recorded Delivery. Keep the recipt.
* Print and photocopy everything you have received from the company or sent to them regarding your order etc. and keep it somewhere safe. See below.
* Talk to a solicitor specialising in litigation. This shouldn’t cost anything for advice unless they take up your cause if you think there will be a drawn out batle. Even then, if Orange loses (likely), they can recoup costs from them (including your recorded delivery outlay).
* Go with another mobile company that gives you a better service and be happy.
* Feel sorry for the poor sods who work for this mis-managed company.
By the way, I’m not a Legal; I work for the NHS.
PLEASE LISTEN EVERBODY!!I was happily sailing along,my contract had finished some months previous,and I was using my well used HTC TyTn(Brilliant Phone!!),I didnt really want to enter another contract,the only thing I would have really liked is a higher res camera.One day i had a phone call of Orange customer services asking me if I would like to upgrade my phone as I was well due one,I said no,They said to call into one of our shops(remember OUR SHOPS),and have a look at the new phones,particularly the Nokia N95 for the High Res Camera.I had an accident and broke the screen on my existing phone………so i ended up in an Orange Shop.I got sold a Nokia N95,on panther 55,and for an extra £8.00 a month “unlimited data”,So with their Insurance about £60.00 a month.This was of course a 18 month contract,I had the contract slip of paper,which I had signed,I had no leaflets on the plan I was on or the data bundle,which i now sorely realise that I should have been given(wonderful thing Hindsight).I also got told,as this was an upgrade,there was no two week return policy on the phone.After 6 weeks I hated my Nokia,It constantly crashed,hung up,& freezing.It literally drove me insane,then i had a bill through from orange for £218.00,yep £150.00 data charges!!I phoned up Orange Cust Service(by description only!)iwas basicly told two things:-
First the Unlimited Data Plan was capped at 30 megabytes??(totally and utterley useless with a data rich phone like the N95!!)I then said I absolutely was not told this in the shop,The reply from cust serv was”I suggest you take this up with the shop,as the shop is a francise and nothing to do with us!!!!
The Same was said about the phone!
at the end of the conversation I asked the question”so when you go into an Orange Shop,you actually have Not Got the backing and help of Orange should things go wrong?”The reply was “yes that is correct,you are taking out the agreement and the device with the shop,NOT Orange directly!therefore you need to sort out your grievances with the shop!Not being very computer literate at the time,a friend looked on the web for me-OH what a can of worms he found regarding Oranges Unlimited data plan,YES they did have one that was UNCAPPED called orange world browsing,They had stopped that,and brought out the other one that was capped at 30,this happend at the time I had my new phone,so Armed with all this printed out along with all the comments of Disgruntled Customers-i went to the Orange Shop.At First i spoke to an assistant,who was quite helpful and understanding,but explained to me that the unlimited bundle was actually capped at 30 meg!I then pulled out my paperwork and showed her the bundle I SHOULD have had!It was written down on my contract!She looked on the system and said Im very sorry but that doesnt exist anymore!They also said that these phones were a bit quirky due to being so complicated!I Had to leave the shop at that point as I was getting very frustrated,and would not be able to keep my lid on much longer.So I had a phone that was a nightmare with bugs,and ANOTHER BIG DATA BILL,so In reality I now had a phone that I couldnt use!So I phoned Orange again,and said that I had Insurance,can I have another phone?NO was the answer as there actually was nothing wrong with it?If Its Software go to the shop-they will show you how to use it!!I then said about the DATA plan that did exist,that I should have had!In the end Customer services did agree in the fact that this is what i should have had,NOT the 30Megabyte capped version,and his word were”I will get that applied now for you sir”,as far as the Nokia Phone goes i got No Where!Now Im Not Joking When I say I Got Another Big Bill!!!Yep the Plan Had still not been put on to my account!!I went to the Orange Shop Again,with my now growing folder of paperwork and bills!I stood outside the shop and waited for it to open!!When It did,I put everything down on the counter and started to give the details to the assistant,who was looking rather uncomfortable at the looks of concern of the growing numbers of browsing customers!IThen said that I was NOT leaving the shop until this was all sorted and my Money refunded from Orange for the data!And I said I would Only Deal With a Manager!Preferably an area one!Well the manager just tried to fob me off by saying he would look into it,he tried to retain my copy of the Contract!He photo copied the paperwork and promised he would ring up billing,and sort this out that day,then ring me back to confirm.So I left the shop,and guess what?he never rang back!Two days later I went back!,I rang cust services outside the shop and begged them to tell the shop that the plan did exist when my contract was taken out,and luckily the woman I spoke to was a totally different class of person to the other people I spoke to,she said I will ring you back In 5 Mins,and she did!,and tell the shop that they had misold me the contract!Well I wanted to hand my phone in have my money back from the misold data,and NO contract!But that wasnt possible,as I was IN a CONTRACT!!!!But I did get a complete refund on all my bills!And the Original Correct Unlimited DATA bundle applied!!THIS TOOKS DAYS OF MY TIME AND PERSISTANCE!!Oh the phone,I went into a small phone shop to see if there was anything they could do with my phone,his words to me were”I wouldnt sell a ORANGE BRANDED N95 to my worst enemy!”.He explained that the N95 you end up with from Orange is a very very different phone,from what you would get direct from nokia.He said its their software that screws a brilliant phone up,as well as disabling alot of nokia software,as well as nokia genuine updates!He explained that he could send my phone away and get the software Installed as it should have come from nokia,but it was my risk,as strictly i shouldnt do this until the end of my contract.£20.00 this cost me.I got the phone back-well all I can say is that It was honestly like using another phone!!!I could not believe the difference!!I could run several apps,without hanging,even the camera was different!Not bloody giving me prompts to blog,or send my picture each time!which meant i could now take one shot after the other!And more applications!Voip!and I can update with Nokias Proper software!!!
PLEASE-Get specific leaflets for your proposed plan and read-from front to back!!
UNDERSTAND THAT:- Many phones features are taken off or dumbed down by operators software,and more often that not you will not be able to access the full updates of the original phone manufacturer!
UNDERSTAND THAT:-ORANGE CUSTOMER SERVICES are totally unhelpful in the event of a problem like this,and drove me MAD!!The shop sent me home to ring cust services,cust services sent me to the shop!!Bloody Crazy!!
FINAL THING!!I had a phone that was no good,and a mis-sold contract,and I could not get out of it!!The only way would have been to stop paying,then go through with a dispute!In the mean time they will have black listed you for non payment of a direct debit!NICE!
SOMEONE NEEDS TO SORT THESE PEOPLE OUT!!BLOODY ROBBERY!!
No Contract for me again-ever!!!
The good thing-Ive now only got two months left,and Im going to give my termination notice tonight!!!
Oh Sorry Ive Got More!!
For anyone looking for a particular model of phone,please do not ask the shop assisstants for any technical advise,they really do not know,and are only interested in the comission,they get for signing you on for another 18 Months!!Do your own phone research on the internet,or get somebody to dwnload some reviews for you-The shop staff do not know!even about the operators plans-because once you sign YOUR STUCK WITH THEM NO MATTER WHAT!
I will now be having a sim only 30 day rolling contract-to be precise O2 simplicity-1200 mins loads of texts(500),unlimited data(TRUE UNLIMITED),I will be buying my new phone sim free,and insuring it on the house insurance which is £18.00 a year!GREEEAAAAT!!!
50%cheaper than my current Bundle!
ORANGE ARE TERRIBLE!!IN THE EVENT OF A PROBLEM!!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
To the guy who made complaints about the store staff and their technical knowledge I would imagine you have not visited my Orange Store! As a manager I PERSONALLY train my staff in the technical side of new phones with added support from the MANUFACTURER representatives! Now I would imagine that if you wanted to know anything about the specifications of a handset that you would maybe consider checking on the MANUFACTURERS WEBSITE if there was anything you wanted to know.
I am not for one second suggesting that my staff are totally infallible when it comes to the set up or specs of handsets but I do as much as i possibly can to prepare them for any questions that may come their way and please dont get me wrong I sympathise with customers who have come across staff not as prepared to address these questions but I am asking please do not tar all Orange staff with the same brush
As a manager with Orange I have had specific threats of violence when i leave my shop at night, had phones thrown at me and even been spat upon and all over issues with MOBILE PHONES????? Now I would bet my mortgage that if I came into some of your work places and behaved in this manner that you wouldnt exactly be helpful and surely myself and my team have the right to work in a safe environment. Yes I have had issues I have had problems resolving for customers but my store has received great praise from customers so we cant be doing that badly
i got married atthe beginning of october…a joyous event…until i tried to change my details with orange and top up!i top up with my debit card but as my card had been re issued in my married name it had a different card number, also i changed address. i rang customer services and updated my info and topped up by £20,then when i tried to use my phone i had no credit!i rang back and was told the first person hadn’t changed anything or topped me up!so i topped up £20 and was assured the other transaction had failed and the money wouldn’t come out twice…. yeah right.. i’ve paid £40 for £20 worth of credit and have spent the last week reduced to tears phoning orange and getting hung up on (three times) told i’d be called back (twice by supervisors) and been told in pidgeon english a bunch of lies,now it transpires i have to go into an orange shop (i live in the middle of no where) which means i have to pay to travel there as well as it costing me close on to £5 in calling customer services,i understand their concept- muck people around enough and they’ll give up and go away…well i’m going to get my money back then happily p*ss off to o2 taking my friends and family with me-orange are commited to customer service my ass!
OK I’m on an orange business contract solo 30 or something like that.
I’d like to get out of my contract now, as I’d like to switch to vodafone only to get my hands on a blackberry storm, whilst taking my existing number with me.
any ideas on how I can go about it ???
Is this a moaning site?
Lets work a few things out shall we? All mobile phone companies make a packet, but they must be structured, branded and efficient on their business. Ive been with orange for almost 20 months, and when I’ve wanted to cancel things they’ve obviously questioned why, but most of the time they’ve been okay. They did give me insurance, when I said I didnt want it, but did give me my money back.
Overall though, I have had no trouble with orange. When I phone them with a problem they are usually very helpful. I also had their broadband which worked very well, the only thing that was the hassle was BT and their landline.
I really doubt any major mobile network is going to escape a scathing, but if we watch what we do, have a bit of common sense, don’t take the piss, and don’t expect the world, then things should be pretty straight forward. Of course we’re not gonna get a phone where we can talk to someone all day, every day for a tenner a month. It just isnt practical. Everyone has to make a profit, but I would like to see a bit more thought on the customers behalf as well as the companies.
We are living in a world full of greed, obsession, and downright ignorance, so if you’re too stupid to realise you’ve spent over your tarrif then you don’t deserve a fucking mobile phone.
Come on people, get a grip!
1) When you sign up to a contract of any sort the onus is on you to read the Ts and Cs to make sure you agree to them. If you do not agree, don’t sign!
2) You cannot use the excuse ” I was never told that in the shop” If the shop were expected to tell you every aspect of the contract, tariff, and phone each sale would take over 2 hours!
3) Regarding “getting out of your contract early” A contract is 2 way. How would you like it if Orange terminated your contract early and denied you service because they didnt like you anymore and wanted a new customer?
These phones cost £300-£500 each and Orange recoups the cost by charging £30-£50 per month so only starts making a profit in Month 10 of your contract. This is why you pay to get out the contract and why they do not let you downgrade your tariff.
4) Yes Orange do make mistakes, all companies do. 80 of the rants on sites like these are not Oranges fault but your fault for signing up to terms you clearly do not agree with!
5) Anyone who goes into a store and assaults ( verbally or physically) shop staff should be arrested, charged, and prosecuted. Simple as, no excuses.
6) Call centre and shop staff are not highly paid experts so shift your expectations. People paid £11k a year are not going to be motivated to know every detail about every phone and tariff. If it matters to you, do your research or bring along a friend who does know.
7) I do however agree with you on one thing. If a company advertises something as “unlimited” they should not have a fair use clause, it should be truely unlimited. The whole industry needs to address this.
ORANGE IS F**KING SHIT!!!!!!
THE SIGNAL IS SHIT, THE “OFFERS” ARE SHIT, THE WEBSITE IS SHIT, NOTHING WORKS!!!!!!!!
I tried topping up using their “website” about a million times, and it just didnt work.
I tried ringing them, all i got was a I’m sorry we can’t process your call etc blah blah!!!!
FUCK orange.
They such donkey balls.
Just had a letter from Orange today saying I owe them £450! I rang them and they claim it’s for an upgraded contract that was cancelled by me as both phones were faulty, were sent back and I wanted to switch to O2 for the iPhone. They claim that because I upgraded, this meant I was signing up for 18 months yet I checked when the faulty handsets were returned that the contract would not be extended and I was told ‘no it would not’ and I therefore cancelled the contract. They are now trying to say that I owe them £450 for ending the contract early! Why on earth would I do an upgrade and then cancel knowing that I’d have to pay the fee for the rest of the 18 months – that’s just idiotic. I’ve written a long letter of complaint to them today and have sent it Registered so that they cannot say that they didn’t receive it. I will post any update when/if I hear back from them but I refuse to pay for a service that I don’t have and DIDN’T sign up for! Bunch of a*****les! AVOID like the plague!
Phone contracts seem to be just one of life’s things that cannot be resolved!!!
I have a sony ericsson something or other and it has been shite since the word go. It was my first contract. The service i got with orange was substandard. Not brilliant but not bad, however in store was another thing the staff always seem as if they want rid of you.
I have an 18 month contract for £35 a month for 500 minutes and unlimited texts, so it has kept me happy, i get reception pretty much everywhere i go ( even the underground stock room at my work) My mobile on the other hand has not satisfied me! After a month it started freezing then shutting off and just going plai bizzerk. It just is not reliable. Then in july i went to florida and the back of my phone melted!!! bizarre i know, but i was not bothered by this as much as the switching off and breaking down. In november the front of it started cracking and then last week the front of the phone came right off and all that is left is the screen ( which can be lifted off) and then the underside of he buttons so it cannot be used at all.
Orange refused to fix it from the start as it only had a month guarantee so i contacted sony erricson and i sent the phone back 6 times in 4 months and they fixed it but it kept crashing and then when i contacted them about the front coming away they blamed me!!!!!!! refusing to fix it as it was my fault it broke. In a way i understand but their phone fell to pieces!!!
My parents pay for the contract and it is essential that i have a working phone as i ride my horse without company for a few miles every day. Only 3 months ago we were out and got hit by a car as it was not paying attention to traffic lights and when i fell off i was unconscious and my phone froze then broke down at the best possible opportunity. Police transport was organized for my horse and he spent the night in a field owned by one of the officers and the paramedics never had time to go through my sim on another phone to find a contact until i reached the hospital. (
I have just moved to orange from 02 as there customer service at 02 is shit and they took nearly nine days to replace my phone even thoughed i paid £9 a month for there insurance So far all the people at orange have been very good in the shop (kings lynn) where i had a problem with my new phone they changed my phone and arranged a credit on to my bill to say sorry. I tried orange as my company has orange phones so as they say so far so good and i like the 2 4 1 offer on the cinema tickets
Wow, what allot of stress people are going under for a bloody mobile phone. Chill the hell out, and frankly, allot of you need to grow up and stop being big babies!
I like many people have problems with many of my utilities, but seriously, even I know the difference between matters of life and death and simple things that we just think we need to survive. Oh yes, we so need mobiles to survive..
However, Orange indeed to lie about their coverage, namely their coverage mapping system. According to them, all the places that I travel to are covered at least by 2G. All I can say is this is complete inaccurate and very irresponsible of Orange to say these places are covered, when indeed not even within a few miles are these areas covered.. Yet, the other big fellas cover the areas just fine, even with 3G.
Yes I do enjoy using my orange services, but I think its seriously unfair that I wanted to enjoy these services no matter where I’d travel to, and yet here I am highly disappointed. They do indeed make a good home line service, as for mobile, even in the middle of the city sometimes the signal is complete mush and that is the laughable part.
Companies make mistakes, but they shouldn’t blatantly lie to the customer, and then when the customer isn’t happy with the service coverage that they lied about, tough.
My advice if you are just wanting out of contract. Get on the lowest tariff you can, use what’s inclusive, wait out the rest of the contract, and get out.
Until then, indeed I am going to try my damnedest to get out of contract anyway :)
Good luck suckers.
This is a complaint I made on 21/02/2009,if I am wrong I will take it on the chin & not sure if I should take this further…You decide
Dear sir/madam.
I wish to make a complaint regarding a member of staff,Orange,date protection & your policy on the discrimination act.
I received a call from a female member of staff,which will be recorded from your accounts team on 20/02/09 at about 15:O5-15-:15 in regards to my account being behind in payment of £229.
I tried to explain to the member of staff that I have been off work with a long term illness,on less then half pay to which my place of work had under paid me this month through their own fault & would not be able to make a payment this week.
Your member of staff then butted in to say that I would be cut off,which I am & if I knew I was ill,off work then I should of not got the phone,contract!
I said that I did not wish to speak to her & terminated the call.
I have been a customer for over 11 years & went on contract in Aug 2008 which has been a waste of money & time.
I say this because when I got the contract there was a free offer for 2 to 3 months to use the internet/email,which I was not able to use.
That was after going to the Orange stores in Leeds to see if they could sort the fault out but couldnt & both stores ended up calling the same number,Orange tech support that I had been calling, which you can be waiting over an hour to get through but the fault never got sorted & so I gave up.
You will be able to look into your records that I had been calling for over 2 months about the fault.
Going back to the call from your member of staff who called me on 20/2/09, 15:O5-15-:15,the member of staff had called me through my mother & fathers mobile number..07973100194,can you do that,is that not breaking data protection in some way?
I do have one good thing to say though & it is to do with a female member of staff to whom I think I spoke to in Dec/Jan.
This member of staff was very helpful,listened to what I had to say, my circumstances,to which should be on your records,I made a payment but I was advised that the barr would not be lifted but after the call,I dont know what the female member of staff did but reconected me.
I wanted to write/email a compliment about this person but was not able to because I had broken my right arm & ribs in December,so was not able to do this.
Then late January you sent me a txt,two days after I made a payment,you,Orange sent me a txt saying to switch off my phone so that you could send updates to my phone,which was an update to disconect my phone.
I feel that I have been a good customer over the 11 years,never taken any offers from you,not able to.
When your staff contact customers in future they should look at the last notes/notes on the account.
Orange should display on the contracts, shops,adverts & website to customers, not to take a contract out if your ill, off work or anything else that Orange discriminates.
I sugest that Orange & staff get trained in regards to the discrimination act.
I will be advising my family,friends & my work colleagues to not to use Orange.
I now wish to terminate my contract with yourselfs,under the grounds of discrimination & you can pick your phone up when you desire to.
Very dissapointed.
I FUCKING HATE ORANGE. reading these posts has only served to infuriate me more, they get away with theft on a daily basis and after a year with them and countless cockups on their end i had to cancel my direct debit as they just KEPT TAKING MY MONEY. Money that i DIDNT owe them, causing bank charges and countless phonecalls to people who are thoroughly unhelpful. I’m now being charged the £3 fee every month for NOT paying DirectDebit (which is a farce) and after so many problems i was eventually put on their ‘Premier Service’.
It was a godsend. You get a direct number from your phone and actually get through to a HUMAN and more importantly – one that UNDERSTANDS what you’re saying and actually HELPS!!!!!! Imagine my suprise when i was apologised to and talked through my complaints and my tarriffs and their mistakes and had a friendly CONVERSATION with their member of staff. They even gave you their name and extension number and called me back on a housephone.
My point is that it’s amazing how much more relaxed you feel when you feel secure and valued as a customer – especially considering how reliant everyone is on their mobiles and how much the sodding things cost you every month. I managed to get my minutes and texts to what i thought they were, got my bills revoked and goodwill amounts put in place, had my bank charges paid for – all rightly so.
HOWEVER, A couple months ago when my replacement phone develops same problem as the last i go to call my friendly premier service only to find that it no longer exists…. Not for me anyway. I ask why i’ve been taken off it and theres apparently no explanation… im assured that im still a valued customer and that they’ll rectify the situation..
I then, a few weeks later, receive a letter from orange saying ‘we hope you enjoed your time on premier service and we’d love to have you back.. For only £7 a month on top of your contract you can….’
You can FUCK OFF is what you can do! £7???!!!!!! A month??? on top of the £30 i already pay??? For a phone that was ‘rushed out’ (yeah right) and therefore barely works??? More importantly – 7quid a month for a service that THEY SHOULD BE PROVIDING AS STANDARD TO ALL CUSTOMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Christ, they make enough money, they have the worst customer service record and lose customers, cause grief and upset, if every customer received the PREMIER service then Orange and their customers would have no problems AT ALL.
I can’t wait ’til my contract ends. Roll on summer.
I would like to comment on what Mike says in December about everybody checking what they sign etc and only having themselves to blame if it goes wrong, well he couldnt be more wrong! we signed a contract for with Orange for a dolphin tarriff, we checked it and it clearly said dolphin which meant unlimited texts, we also signed a direct debit mandate and gave our bank details for a direct debit to be set up. However when we got our first invoice we had been put on the wrong tarriff, racoon, meaning we had been charged for texts, now I have rung orange 22 times about this and it is still not sorted, each time I ring they say they will sort it and indeed they have now got us on the right tariff but keep sending us invoices for the amounts we do not owe, how does mike think we could of avoided this one????? Also the direct debit was not set up, not our fault again, so we have been charged each month for not paying by direct debit, they now say we owe them so much money that we do not we cant afford to set up a direct debit because then they would take the money straight out of our account. They are useless, I spend hours of my life ringing them and nothing ever gets sorted, I wish I could get out of the contract but that seems impossible, I have now involved my local trading standards office hoping they will put some pressure on them to sort it out, but I do take exception to people such as Mike saying if you read the terms and contracts properly and watch what you sign problems can be avoided !!!!!!
to add to what I just said, I would also like to say to the people who come on here and say just chill about it all, I have a newborn baby and would like to spend my time with her and my other children, not on the phone to orange trying to sort out thier incompetance, the chance to chill is taken away from me by orange!!!!!!!!! I agree nobody has died but equally time is precious, too precious to be wasted on Orange
Iv got a problem with my Orange pay as you go !!!!
I go the Sim from a friend years ago. SInce then i have been using it as my personal number. 6 months ago i started giving out to customers (i drive a cab). Since then the pay as you go has become a busy business number for my cabbing.
Basically it is my livlihood- but the sim is registered in some one elses name, orange wont help because of data protection. I want to x-fer the number to another sim on my own name for safety reasons ie – if i loose the sim.
cAN ANYONE HELP ME???
aNY ADVICE WILL BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED?
Bit cheeky but- if anyone who works in the mobile / oragne centres can help me, i will be more than willing to send you a small gift…
Email or call me shakhotmail.com / 07737827151
Shak