38 replies to this topic

[FrankyG]

Hi,

After looking at O's new price plans and calling up CS to tell them that they were still rubbish...I think its time to say goodbye to Orange. Is it stiill possible to switch to a data only tariff and then buy myself out of contract for the remaining term? Does anyone know what the lowest pssible tariff is , it's not clear on the Orange website?

My contract doesn't expire until 17th November. Also, should I be able to keep my M5000 doing this? I'm not allowed any tariff change until next month anyway...maybe O will do something about their data charges by them....then again...

hello t-mobile :-)

[saltini]

I really dont blame you!

I have been with orange for 6 years and have 3 contracts with them, and their customer service towards long standing account holders is just a joke!

In all the years I have been with orange, I have watched a fast and steady decrease in quality and customer service.

Their price plans are a complete load of rubbish and its only been recently that I was going to upgrade to a spv m5000 with orange, but to be honest, scince looking around at other networks, their lousy customer service, poor price plans have I decided to look around and their is a lot better than what orange can offer if you put a little effort into it.

[sporkguy]

Welcome to both of you

frankyg: the cheapest talkplan on Orange is the old YourPlan Talk 60 @ ?19, but they may try to force you onto one of the new 'core plans' - which will get you 50 mins for ?19. Same price, either way.

saltini: If I had a pound for every time I heard stories like yours....

[travisb]

I was going to OVP to the T-Mob Freetime 750 tariff when my Vario arrives, or can I not do that?

[DaveHS]

I've been with Orange since 1992 and had been a huge fan of theirs, and had encouraged all of those around me to buy into Orange as well. However, the last year or so I've seen nothing but a general decline, and coverage seems to be one of the major weaknesses. I live in Hampshire and have no 2G/3G signal, and work in The City (London) and no 2G/3G signal. I wanted my phone (P900) unlocked and when they asked for ?20, I asked if there was anything they could do about that price and they responded with "No", so I called their bluff and asked to be put through to Cancellations as I want to cancel all three phones on my contract. Finally, after being put through to "Customer Retentions", I was asked for my reasons and was stunned when she responded with "Do you want your PAC code?". No effort to keep a 14 yr long customer, just "F off". I spend nearly ?150/month with them (roaming, data, etc), but I'm obviously not good enough for them.

Day later, I'm with T-Mobile on their Flext 35 (900 mins) Tariff, with unlimited internet (2G/3G) using their 25% off for life offer and it's bruddy fantastic. This is value for money! The MDA Pro was ?69.99 because I bought the Web n' Walk with the Flext tariff. T-Mobile are getting real aggressive with their pricing and capability, so I'll be convincing all my friends and family to leave Orange in favour of T-Mobile. In the same deal, I got my girlfriend a free Nokia 6280 + free 512 memory, and put her on Flext 25 (300 mins) for ?18/month. All in a retail store.

Cheers, Dave

[Dr Who]

Not seeing many people coming out to say that Orange are great, are we?

Since Orange check these boards, "Are you getting the message yet???".

[cherylmeek]

dr who, on Apr 5 2006, 16:12, said:

Not seeing many people coming out to say that Orange are great, are we?

Since Orange check these boards, "Are you getting the message yet???".

Since Orange check these boards, I'd just like to add to the party that we will all be leaving Orange as soon as contracts expire (or before knowing the way I change phones).

When I say we, I mean the family:

Hubbie & Me - 3 Monthly contracts + 1 PAYG,
My Mum & Dad - 2 x PAYG
Hubbies Mum & Brother - 1 Monthly Contract + 1 PAYG
Aunt & Uncle - 2 Monthly Contracts

No small amount if ???

[m1.carson]

Hi People,

Just a quick word before you all leap to T-Mobile like lemmings, I switched approx. 4 months ago and was unable to get a signal at home, in my local hostelry and only a low signal at work, the shop checking my postcode said excellent signal, I ended up without a usable phone for three days, had to creep back to Orange.

Check with a friend who's on T-Mobile in your area, if you see them standing like the statue of Liberty to make a call, or they keep vanishing outside, don't swap.

Max.

[moroni]

m1.carson, on Apr 6 2006, 08:42, said:

Hi People,

Just a quick word before you all leap to T-Mobile like lemmings, I switched approx. 4 months ago and was unable to get a signal at home, in my local hostelry and only a low signal at work, the shop checking my postcode said excellent signal, I ended up without a usable phone for three days, had to creep back to Orange.

Check with a friend who's on T-Mobile in your area, if you see them standing like the statue of Liberty to make a call, or they keep vanishing outside, don't swap.

Max.

good advice there, as i know of quite a few of the retailers dont offer a 14 day period to cancel the contract, so if you do find you cant use the phone they wont do a thing about it, leaving you with an expensive paper-weight for 18 months!

[James]

cant be true, by law you have a cooling off period with ALL retail contracts..

[moroni]

james, on Apr 6 2006, 16:17, said:

cant be true, by law you have a cooling off period with ALL retail contracts..

see, thats what i said, but the policies of the shops (sounds like 'stink' 'whorehouse' and 'fag') say they cant do 14 day cancellations on them!

Speaking to a salesperson in one of them and they basically said that as long as they tell the customer they cant refund it then they are covered!!

If it was me, then i am pretty sure that the salesperson wouldnt be getting that sale LOL

[FrankyG]

sporkguy, on Apr 5 2006, 11:46, said:

Welcome to both of you

frankyg: the cheapest talkplan on Orange is the old YourPlan Talk 60 @ ?19, but they may try to force you onto one of the new 'core plans' - which will get you 50 mins for ?19. Same price, either way.

Ok, thats clear - but what about a Data ONLY plan? Is that possible? I want to change the cheapest possible monthly plan (data or voice), cancel my contract when the first 6 months are up and buy myself out of the remaining 6 months. If anyone can suggest the best way to do this...I'm all ears.

Cheers,

FrankyG

[moroni]

unfortunately a data only plan isnt posible, so that leaves ?19 as being the cheapest possible.

ending 6 months early means you can keep the M5000, but if you ask for a PAC code you ay get charged :-(

[sporkguy]

moroni, on Apr 6 2006, 22:29, said:

see, thats what i said, but the policies of the shops (sounds like 'stink' 'whorehouse' and 'fag') say they cant do 14 day cancellations on them!

Speaking to a salesperson in one of them and they basically said that as long as they tell the customer they cant refund it then they are covered!!

If it was me, then i am pretty sure that the salesperson wouldnt be getting that sale LOL

Yeah - I went into the *shudder* link in Birmingham last week, and they had a lovely MS Word-printed sign by the till that read 'SORRY BUT THERE IS NO 14-DAY RETURN ON PHONES!!'

Professional.. heh.

Personally, if I was taking a contract out from somewhere, as soon as I realise there's no 14 day return on a new contract, I'm out of there lickity splick. I'm not doing business with a store that takes away my rights as a consumer, thanks! (but then you only come to realise this once you've worked in retail, eh moroni )

[Confucious]

I got mine from T-Mob direct and was told there was a 7 day money back garauntee. Their website said I would have voice coverage but not 3G - it lied. I have 3 G coverage

I, for one, am chuffed to nuts with t-Mobiles new deals and I can now use my Exec properly again, and it's great

[moroni]

sporkguy, on Apr 7 2006, 13:15, said:

Yeah - I went into the *shudder* link in Birmingham last week, and they had a lovely MS Word-printed sign by the till that read 'SORRY BUT THERE IS NO 14-DAY RETURN ON PHONES!!'

I'm not doing business with a store that takes away my rights as a consumer, thanks! (but then you only come to realise this once you've worked in retail, eh moroni )

One thing i have learnt as well is that if a shop do have this sort of policy and the manager cant do anything about it, as is the case in my shop with certain pre-pay phones, then a simple phone call to customer services for the shop in qustion will soon get the desired response.  This will come at the cost of the manager being totally let down by the customer service people who realise that they dont have a legal arguement and its just easier to let the one get away with it!

I dont mind that per se, but it would be nicer if they didnt make the store staff look like they just didnt WANT to do the refund!

[sporkguy]

Thing is though Moroni.. most of the staff DONT want to do the refund, as they lose out on Customer Contribution (in the case of OR) or commission, or whatever you indies run on.

[eldiablo]

dr who, on Apr 5 2006, 16:12, said:

Not seeing many people coming out to say that Orange are great, are we?

Since Orange check these boards, "Are you getting the message yet???".

All fairness to Orange - I just rang them up for my PAC code and told them I was switching to Flext 25 - they offered me 320 mins & 100 texts a month for ?25 and an upgrade. I was all set to jump ship to Tmobile, but this is a decent offer isn't it? maybe they've lost so many customers since Flext was launched that they are forced to act. So what do you think T-Mobile or Orange?

[Dr Who]

Hi eldiablo. Well, if you signed up to FlexT today you could get FlexT35 for ?26.25 (with the 25% discount) which would give you 900 minutes, or 1000 texts and 400 minutes for your cash. Hhhmm, what they are offering you is not quite so competitive now, is it? There are also a large range of free phones on this tariff, such as a Nokia N70 or SE 800i. Drawbacks of TMob are the 18 month contract, more expensive phone insurance (if you use it),  lower national coverage and the 'unknown' factor. Ultimately the choice is yours.

[moroni]

sporkguy, on Apr 8 2006, 00:07, said:

Thing is though Moroni.. most of the staff DONT want to do the refund, as they lose out on Customer Contribution (in the case of OR) or commission, or whatever you indies run on.

I can understand that totally, but i would like to think that the sales people would want to ensure that their customers are happy!

We deal with a fair few people who are convinced that flex is perfect for them when they take the contract out, who then in a few days bring it back with a slice of humble pie, and sure my guys dont want to lose their money and i certainly dont want my shop to take a credit but i would rather not have some poor chap paying out for 18 months on a contract which is unusable!

I would say that i work for the most aggressive of all the high street phone shops but we still want to make sure that the customer is happy, even if that does mean they go to the network direct for a certain product, isnt that the same for all retailers?