38 replies to this topic

[pd.ryder]

AzH, on Feb 7 2006, 21:02, said:

I'm not sure under what circumstances the charge is applied.

They charge it regardless; and when pressed they stress its an administration charge for processing the insurance claim

[AzH]

Quite, however, the losses made on the insurance scheme meant that it was a case of introducing this or losing cover completely.

[Russell@home]

There's one thing I find strange about the "admin charge", how many times have you been asked to pay it when you take a faulty product back to Argos/Currys/Comet etc?

is it legal???

[AzH]

How many times have you had to pay an excess on an insurance claim?

[Russell@home]

Insurance, maybe but a faulty product, no way

[pd.ryder]

russell@home, on Feb 11 2006, 17:04, said:

Insurance, maybe but a faulty product, no way

Precisely what I mean

If my TV or washing machine breaks down within the first 12 months I've no need of insurance to ensure the product is repaired/replaced. It's O's choice to whizz one out the next day (IMHO) by carrier pigeon or whatever. I really think it's the Corporate giant flexing it's mighty muscles once again - "pay up or shut up" - and keep your malfunctioning device.

I wonder what their response would be if I declined their insurance when I next upgrade and complained of a fault after 6 months? Would they insist I paid ?15 before honouring the manufacturers / retailers 12 month guarrantee?

[travisb]

I actually left Orange last year, fed up with the phone range and tariffs, only to sign up with T Bag and find there is zippo coverage in my part of deepest, darkest North Wales.

T Mobile told me that there are no plans to improve the coverage here, which is very disapointing, given the tariffs and handsets they have.

Went back to Orange and got an M2000.

[shuurajou]

I work for Orange right now. I can safely say that what Orange once was started to go down the pan when France Telecom took over. Orange's old attitude used to be to throw money at everything to make it work and make everyone happy - now our purse strings are pulled tightly so that we can pick up the slack for France Telecom. Orange is refreshing it's pay monthly market soon like it recently did with its pay as you go market. So, maybe things will look better for pay monthly customers then - but - France Telecom is still in charge so...

That being said, I still prefer the Orange network over any other. Maybe it's not all it used to be but I still think it's the best out there.

[sporkguy]

I was a personal customer long before I became internal, and I can honestly say compared to most other networks Orange has one of the better networks.
Ok sure, ?15 admin fee isn't liked, but according to my friends, they pay a lot more on other networks (not sure on exact figures im afraid).

And then recently people have been slating Orange for introducing a charge for 0800 numbers. Oh come on, other networks have been charging for these numbers for years! Charity numbers still remain free (such as Childline etc), and they gave everyone 2 bills to acknowledge the charge and were even giving our free 12month bundles for those who complained.

all in all I'd say yes FT has made Orange a much tighter business. Every day I get a miffed customer annoyed by the new upgrade 'banding' system (UIC) claiming they've been with orange for "20 years"(lol) and that they deserve a better deal.. its unfortunate that I have to send them to retentions, threatening disconnection, to get them a deal.

[mobdna]

pd.ryder, on Feb 7 2006, 23:57, said:

They charge it regardless; and when pressed they stress its an administration charge for processing the insurance claim

I don't work for h/set faults but i did replace a 6230i 2 days ago, with a s/w vers under 3.5 which had problems recieving MMS from samsung h/sets due to the way samsung send MMS without a jfif marker. I replaced that with no admin fee applied, it must only be in certain circumstances that you get charged admin fee. And if you kick off enough you can usually get it waived.

[pd.ryder]

Believe me I tried. They'll waive it once but on an 18 month contract you usually end up paying it a couple of times before the upgrade is due

[pd.ryder]

bugeyes, on Feb 19 2006, 17:03, said:

must say though i have no propblem with paying the ?15 for a replacment when to buy one off contract would set me back about ?400.00........................

If I didn't have 'insurance' I wouldn't grumble either.

What's the situation with PAYG? Do you have an insurance option to take up and, if so, how is it paid without a monthly charge?

Seriously, if an insurance deal is costing the Company dearly, why didn't they increase the yearly / monthly charge like any other insurance would? If I have to have my phone replaced 4 times in a year due to breakdown or product failure, that costs me double the quoted charge

I reckon they thought it would be a money-spinner - and it wasn't - and what happened to the no-claims-discount they used to offer? I had my cover right down to ?1/month at one time due to never having claimed

[sporkguy]

PAYG does have an insurance option, it costs ?50 upfront.
Any Orange Shop can process for a customer, as can the customer themselves over the phone using a credit card.

[pd.ryder]

pd.ryder, on Feb 11 2006, 20:38, said:

I wonder what their response would be if I declined their insurance when I next upgrade and complained of a fault after 6 months? Would they insist I paid ?15 before honouring the manufacturers / retailers 12 month guarrantee?

Any ideas Nick?

[Swampie]

dade, on Jan 10 2006, 21:11, said:

No, the latest OBSCA thing they sent us said that we would have to return handsets at the end of any contract period and that we would be liable for charges if not returned!

OBSCA = Orange Business Solutions Customer Agreement.

Note the business part.  Do business solutions include *rental* of handsets rather than ownership?  Hence return at end of contract?  With consumer deals, the phone is separate to the contract, and it is the property of the end user from day one, and as long as you've lasted the minimum term, then you're safe.  If you cancel early, then they'll charge you the remaining line rental for the rest of the contract.

D

[Swampie]

And further to it, I came across: http://www.mobiholic.../OBSCA-t38.html

This talks about some of the changes to their business agreements, which includes (comments apparently provided by an Orange employee involve with such agreements):

Quote

1) If you wished to disconnect your account Orange's investment would be protected.

To expand, we subsidise the equipment that you are sent for free. I am sure you aware of the cost associated with equipment. For example, the Nokia 6230i has a list price of ?175. Prior to the OBSCA a customer could leave and keep the equipment causing Orange to make a loss on the investment. Now, we're able to recoup the investment if an account terminates early. In addition, customer's are prevented from being able to simply change theit tariffs down to the lowest line rental before they disconnect.

This, I feel, is not unfair. Consider the scenario where Orange have supplied ?10,000 worth of equipment or credits based on a customer signing a deal where they will pay ?1,000 a month. As a businessman, put yourself in Orange's position. You wish to make good on your investment. If the customer could simply change their payment options to something like ?100 a month, Orange will have made a great loss on the initial outlay.
Please note that this only applies to the minimum term of the agreement. After the minimum term expires, a customer is free to do as they please.

So in fact, it is just a clawback should the company decide to cancel their agreement early, or downgrade early.  Pretty fair I think.

[sporkguy]

pd.ryder, on Feb 22 2006, 08:06, said:

Any ideas Nick?

shhh dont use my real name, orange will find out who i am    

They won't charge you the ?15 fee to process a manufacturer's repair, but you'll probably end up lumping the postage fee. To be honest, if you don't want to gamble with insurance, you can opt not to take it, then if you really really need it at a later date, you can take out the emergency cover for ?30 on the spot + a 12 month tie-in. (which, in my opinion may be better for most people than the shoddy warranty repair).

[rockykabir]

Well, I'm in that stage where I have to renew my contract. I was with Orange for two years then I moved to T-Mobile last year.

My time with Orange was v good - problem free, had a few nice quirks and although it was a lil bit more expensive, I knew I was paying for quality and innovative products.

Although T-Mobile were ok, they were a let down compared to Orange. For the past few days, I even considered paying a higher amount in line rental so that I can go back to Orange.

Having read this thread and the viewpoint of others in other forums, I have to say, I doubt I'll be going back. T-Mobile also had a decent Web N' Walk going which pushed me further away from Orange.

A letdown to what was, imo, the best mobile service provider

[pd.ryder]

sporkguy, on Feb 22 2006, 20:45, said:

shhh dont use my real name, orange will find out who i am   

Doh !!