Guest sponge Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 Last month I was told I could upgrade my phone for free on the 24th August (today). So I called OCS this morning to ask for a C550. Imagine my initial shock and then amazement to discover I couldn't! :shock: Although my contract expires today, I have to wait until tomorrow before I qualify for the free upgrade. (If I were to do it today, it would cost ~£150.) :evil: I asked why they couldn't simply over-ride their system and do it now. She said no, I'd have to call back tomorrow. Now I know this is easy enough and I intend to call back, but, I mean...come on! I couldn't help but think of the 'Little Britain' sketches. :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Disco Stu Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 What might have been a typical 'Jobsworth' scenario is now most likely to do with corporate policy and inflexible software. It's the modern world innit :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sponge Posted August 25, 2005 Report Share Posted August 25, 2005 (edited) I've just got off the phone with Orange and it looks like I won't be following the upgrade route. :cry: After being told several times in the past my upgrade would be free, it's now going to cost me £80! Even retentions couldn't help. So I asked to be disconnected and obtain a PAC number, saying I would take out a new contract. It was then she informed me I couldn't port an Orange pay monthly number to another! However, they are perfectly happy for me to switch to a different network! :shock: So much for their new advertising campaign about pleasing existing customers. I can port to PAYG and then back to PM a couple of months later, but tbh I cba. When it comes down to it, how many people actually remember/use mobile numbers? All that happens is you tell your friends/family of the change; they update their address book; then dial the entry next to your name. :?: So, time to start looking for a free C550 on a new contract - there's a shop on the Coolsmartphone home page with a few good deals... Edited September 4, 2005 by sponge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davejerome Posted August 25, 2005 Report Share Posted August 25, 2005 Yes it is a similar story for many. Working for "The Link" I am only too aware of how the networks really don't care about customers unless they are spending £50 a month. If you don't care about your number you are nearly always better off changing networks or starting again at the end of the year because the phone will be cheaper and you will normally get 3 months free line rental or some kind of promotional offer. Also as a sales person our commision is reduced if we sell an upgrade to a customer, so even we don't want customers to be loyal! However dispite saying all of this OCS have been amazing to me regaurding problems i have had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sponge Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 (edited) Fingers crossed, I may just get my C550 for free! :( I logged into my online Orange account, more through boredom than anything else, and went through the upgrade process. I added a C550 to the basket and it said the upgrade would be free. I so completed the process and a while later I got an email confirming the order, due to arrive Tuesday for free. I'm preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. :o I just don't know how it will work out considering I gave my 30days notice in response to their asking for £80 to upgrade. What do you think my chances of this working out in my favour are? :| Edited September 4, 2005 by sponge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mupwangle Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 I spoke to someone in retentions the other day (I'm 2 months to go on contract) and he told me if I call back next month he should be able to match any deals on the M500 out there. Reading this now I'm not so sure.... Is o2 still rubbish or has it got better? Considering Qtek S110.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ricardo the fish Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 Very same thing happend to me, popped into an Orange shop when I recived a txt from then saying '...you are out of contract...pop in and we'll talk about an upgrade. Pop in, £80 for C550, £50 for a C500! Next day, log in to O account, upgrade FREE! Ordered on a Friday delived Mon. You probably have no worries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pondrew Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 I know the shop staff can be great, very supportive and helpful, but I've always found them to be too expensive to tempt me away from buying online or through retentions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nsp Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Fingers crossed, I may just get my C550 for free! :( I logged into my online Orange account, more through boredom than anything else, and went through the upgrade process. I added a C550 to the basket and it said the upgrade would be free. I so completed the process and a while later I got an email confirming the order, due to arrive Tuesday for free. I'm preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. :o I just don't know how it will work out considering I gave my 30days notice in response to their asking for £80 to upgrade. What do you think my chances of this working out in my favour are? :| <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Same thing happend to me, my M500 was going to be £99 came back of holiday and they wanted £179.99 got it online for £79.99 arrived as the text said and saved me £100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sponge Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 (edited) Same thing happend to me, my M500 was going to be £99 came back of holiday and they wanted £179.99 got it online for £79.99 arrived as the text said and saved me £100. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The phone arrived this morning! Woohoo! :o I called OCS to register and casually mentioned I had asked for a PAC number. I wanted to know if it was going to complicate the registering of the new phone and he said no. He said the PAC number is only valid for 30 days, so if it isn't used within that time the account will remain active. I was worried my tariff might change, but he also said that would remain the same. He didn't query my previous cancellation or ask for any money. So it looks like it might turn out alright in the end. /me crosses fingers. 8) I just need to find a case for this baby... Edited September 6, 2005 by sponge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sponge Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 (edited) Exactly the same thing has now happened with my wife's contract. She reached 12 months 7 days ago and OCS, over the phone, want £80 to upgrade to a C550. Doing it online, via the O website, it's free! :shock: I think we're going to wait though. See what happens re the C600... :o Even considering getting a totally different phone and selling it on Ebay! (She keeps her C500 as she is happy with it) :( Something like the Sony Ericcson K750i fetches a lot more than a C550. :shock: Edited September 11, 2005 by sponge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kurtfhouse Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 I have had similar experiences with Orange. I am on Orange Premier 600 and I usually opt to upgrade every 4-5 months and online that means a fee of £58 which I am happy to pay for a brand new phone so often. Anyway I checked the fee online then went down to my local Orange shop and asked for the upgrade instore ready for the £58 fee thinking I would save the waiting time of the delivery. When it got to that point in proceedings the salesman told me the fee would be £117.50! so I didn't bother. I went home logged on and paid £58 for the same phone same everything. I don't get why they do that???? I get the phone much cheaper AND they pay for it to be courier delivered ontop. Conclusion, if you can upgrade online! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest charmer Posted September 28, 2005 Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 My contract ran out the other day so I called Orange to talk about upgrading to the C550. I was told it would cost me £80. Then I decided to have a look a round the Orange web site to se what else was on offer and, just out of interest, clicked the Upgrade link while looking at the C550 info. It was free. Free phone, free delivery and five mins after placing my order I received a text message telling me that my phone had been dispatched and would be with me the next day (today)! This turned out to be true as the phone arrived at 10 this morning! Now that's what I call service! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sponge Posted September 28, 2005 Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 (edited) It just gets better. When Orange first changed their mind and demanded £80 to upgrade, I gave them my 30 days notice. But when I found I could get my upgrade free off the Orange website, I decided to stay and upgrade. When the new phone, and SIM card, were delivered I called Orange to activate the phone/SIM. I mentioned my disconnection request and they said not to worry. As I had received an upgrade, it would be ignored and I would continue on my existing tariff with the new phone. Have you guessed where this is heading yet? :x Yesterday, I noticed my phone was surprisingly quiet. Upon inpsection, my phone said Network Denied! I thought it might be a simple signal issue so I moved location and even rebooted my phone. No change. I got home and tried my wife's SIM card in my phone - fine. :| My SIM card in her phone - nothing. :?: So I called Orange. It was while I was on hold I realised what had happened. They had disconnected me! :evil: 15 minutes on hold and they hadn't sorted it. So she said she'd call me back. 30 minutes later, she did. A couple of SIM updates later, my phone was working. However, my tariff was no longer available, so they had to reinstate me on the nearest, more expensive, one! I was just about to launch into a hail of verbal, when she said they'd be giving me a credit to make up for the more expensive tariff. But this credit is only until February, when my original tariff (18 month contract) was due to expire. She blamed it on the guy that activated my new phone/SIM. Apparently, he didn't complete the process by cancelling my cancellation! :shock: Edited September 28, 2005 by sponge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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