17 replies to this topic

[mark4130]

A couple of weeks ago I looked at the option of upgrading mid contract to an N95... Orange wanted £50 upgrade fee and £89.99 for the phone. Not bad I thought, I'm still in the middle of contract.. but I thought I will wait until my next bill came through, using the logic that the further I was into a contract then the lower price I would pay. Well I checked again last week and the phone was still the same price but the upgrade fee had gone up to £100!!! Checked today, and now the upgrade fee is £150 and they want £199 for the phone!?!?!?!?

What on earth are they playing at? I have been with them around 10 years but I think I will wait until September and end the contract....

[Confucious]

WOW! Someone's still with Orange?  

[mark4130]

I know, bizarre as it may seem but I am still with them!! Partly its because I got the initial 100Meg data trial when the first 3G phones came out and they have never taken it off me...
But now I may leave purely as a matter of principle...

[proindigo]

mark4130, on May 12 2007, 17:57, said:

I know, bizarre as it may seem but I am still with them!! Partly its because I got the initial 100Meg data trial when the first 3G phones came out and they have never taken it off me...
But now I may leave purely as a matter of principle...

I used to be with Orange, till t-mob started showing me love....... call them they may even buy out your contract if you are a business user.

[RiCoCheT]

This sounds similar.

I was thinking of upgrading to the SPV E650 so last week I enquired on how much it would cost me,  and was told

Upgrade Fee = Free
Phone = Free

Today I ring to actually go through with the upgrade.

Upgrade Fee = Free
Phone = £60.00

WHAT...obviously there are no comments of the conversation I had last week, arghhhhhhhhhh..

I know if I then ask to put through to Disconnections and tell the reason I want to leave above, I will get the phone for free, as discons are more customer focused than those on the "call centre", also asked about the new unlimited data tariff, "oh I know nothing about that, she said..." its all over the net, catch up luv...

So do I ask to be disconnected or wait till the HTC S730 (Wings) with built in GPS comes out on other networks and go with them..

What to do, is the SPV e650 worth the upgrade from a SPV C600?

Help....Suggestions, Ideas on a postcard please.

Thanks.

[darrengf]

Leave them and Join the other 3+ million punters who also left them last year

I was with Orange for 8 years, I left them this year due to there extremely crap customer care.

They havnt got a clue. I even paid early to leave then they sent me 2 cheques back saying that its my money, 1 month later i got a letter demanding the money back as its theres.

They are utter cack.

My mate spends £25 with them not much, He asked for a upgrade, its £120 on PAYg so not a expensive phone, Orange wanted £100 for the upgrade, but they will knock £40 for being a loyal customer. So he told them to stick it.

I have also  15 of my other friends have left for the same reason, Crap customer care, hanging on phones for a hour. other one doesnt know what the other one is doing.

And in this months JD power survey Orange Came Last for customer care for PAYG and 2nd last for Contract customer care.

Another recent survery found Orange was also 2nd to last for customer care.

I find Orange shops staff are rude and talk to you like you are some crap on a shoe.

6 months ago I wanted a 3 g sim card for my friend. Orange shops say its not possible. What a load of dogs bo**cks. I told them to ring customer care and after a 20 mins conversation (arguing) The shop acting manager had to say sorry (in so many words) I was right.

o sorry to say, leave them and join another network.

You wont be sorry.

I joined o2 I dont use much data but the deal for me is i can text from abroad for free. my bundle covers me when im away.
O2 customer care are fantastic and in recent months have come tops in care I 2nd that. The shops are gr8 too.

t-mobile have good customer care now and there wnw pln is fantastic its even cheaper than order t-mobile £7.50, Orange £8

Hope this helps.

[impy78]

T-mobile Customer services are not just in a different laegue to Orange, they are in another universe!

I cannot recommend them enough.

And they are much cheaper than Orange too...

[dsm52]

In my exeperience, Orange have lost the plot a little and seem to forgetting about their loyal "bread & butter" customers, and going for the more "high value" customers,  e.g. people who call abroad without thinking twice etc.  These customers get the most love.. as they generate the most commission/revenue.

Calling Orange up near the end of your contract and saying you're thinking of leaving doesn't seem to motivate the retentions staff unless you're spending a reasonable amount per month.

I'm still stuck in a contract with Orange, and I want inclusive minutes, text and data when I change phones - pretty standard fayre these days among other operators, just not Orange.  I'll gladly be taking my pac code as soon as I can.

[RiCoCheT]

Leaving Orange would be the obvious solution:

Pros.
Be on £7.50 Unlimited data tarriff (web and walk)
Be rid of Orange.  

Cons.
Will need a new handset, very drawn to my C600 and WM in general, like to be able to run tomtom off the phone, direct push email.  
T-mobile dont do SPV E650 equiv as yet.. (voda yes).

Arghhhhhh..What to do... Wait a while and try Orange CS again....the saga continues...

[Thumper Net]

What to do is easy just wait as france telecom are selling off orange bit by bit ( denmarks orange is sold and hollands is for sale with t-mob looking like buying it ) so i think this time next year we wont have an orange network , bad news for all smartphone owners

[raiderz]

I upgraded my Business Plus tariff on the 14th Feb, found out at the end of Mar I should have been offered double mins for 9 months as well because I signed to a 18 month tariff, rang them up, the girl I spoke to sounded like she had a bad dose of PMT, said "well i don't know why you weren't offered it, maybe because you upgraded early" when I told her it said on the website she said "web offers are different to what we give you over the phone". I protested about this stating the T&C's on O website and she said "can I help you with anything else.... goodbye".

I waited 20 mins till i'd calmed down, rang back, got a bloke who was really good, gave me unlimited texts and a 3.5% line rental discount as well as the double mins for 9 months, also as they couldn't apply the 3.5% discount retrospectively, they took the whole 18 months discount off my next bill.... didn't want to push my luck asking for some free data as well lol.

[madds007]

You guys really don't like Orange do you, I agree I dont like speaking to India OCS, but I always request to speak to someone in the UK,

I Have never been on hold more than 2-3 mins when I phone CS, I have been with Orange since they started (my account number is in the 1st 10000) and have had my faults with them ie no free voicemail anymore 0800 calls, itemised billing etc etc, but overall their not bad, I think its a case of better the devil you know.

Anyway, just upgraded for another 18months and got the following package.


N95 - £9.95
Panther 45 tariff - 900 anytime mins , 300 texts , unlimited landline calls, magic number, free itemised billing, free voicemail, dedicated CS, free 2 months off peak unlimited data, and all the other offers this tariff offers at the moment

Total cost per month £25.00 plus I will add the £8.00pm unlimited anytime data bundle when it launches

Should save me money in the long run because my GF is on PAYG Orange so thats my Magic Number, and I wont be using my mins when I phone my parents on their landline either.

So all in all not a bad deal (I was on Talk 200 before £30 per month plus extra for everything)

I have a 3G T-Mobile Sim in my N70 and I must say 3G coverage for TM is quite sporadic, where I live (peterborough) i cant get 3G coverage at all at home, yet I get full 3G signal on Orange.

So at the moment I'm one of the few happy Orange customers it seems  

[Confucious]

If you are happy with them great - but it appears the unlimeted £80/month data is actually cappoed at 30Mb....

[madds007]

£80/month data surely a typo, i said £8 per month, and where did you see it was capped at 30mb? , If it was capped which i'm sure it will be its more likely to be 1 GB

Confucious, on May 31 2007, 19:26, said:

If you are happy with them great - but it appears the unlimeted £80/month data is actually cappoed at 30Mb....

[Confucious]

ooops! £80 was a typo!
Some people have OWU at £8/month for unlimited (capped at 1Gb which is, in effect, unlimited) but the recent announcement seems to be capped at 30Mb - see http://www.modaco.co...pic=254481&st=0 - read the whole thread. I hope they are wrong...

[darrengf]

Yep Orange Capped there unlimit Wap Bundle at 30mb.

So thats another rip of by orange.

Im glad you are happy with orange, I was also one of the first customer again starting in the 100000.
however after many many years Im sorry to say i left.

last year was the worst,

Bills wrong and over charged, wrong ammounts being taken from my bank, Customer care is appauling. Rude Staff, Couldnt care attitude shops and theres more and more. But i wont go there.

Orange lost a few customers last year and i do mea a few. There no longer top for customer care, infact there no one of the bottom.

What a complete turn a round for the company. The Management im sorry to say arnt bothered either. They couldnt care less, or thats how it seem.

The future doesnt like bright any more.

[death-of-fleas]

I used to love orange. Free insurance, replacement anytime anywhere, free itemised bills, 24 hour customer service.

Now. Pay for everything. Office closed after 10pm.

And my favourite. Today recieved bill for £299.  Containing a £300 upgrade fee for my free upgrade phone and new contract!

Wankers!

[chucky.egg]

Quote

overall their not bad, I think its a case of better the devil you know

That's what I thought before I left.

I found it really hard to tell what I was going to be charged for, and comparing bundles between networks is comparing apples and ... oranges.  I also was very worried about coverage, as for me O coverage was pretty good.

What swung it for me was T and their Flext and data bundles, and buying on the internet.  In the UK you get 14 days to return an item under distance selling regulations - so I bought one and tried it out, that's the only way to tell if it's going to work for you.

I've never regretted moving to T, but I was very uncertain before I took the leap