Help - big problems with Orange / Orange Care

[Guest JampoTT]

I've been an avid fan of the SPV and E200. I've had my E200 since November (upgraded early to get it!) but I'm on my 4th device now. The first went back pretty quickly, the 2nd back in Feb and the latest one back in July - on top of this, I went through about 2 or 3 original SPV in the preceeding 10 or 11 months.

ALWAYS in the past, Orange have waived the £15 charge (well, since it was bought in last October) as the phones haven't been returned damaged, or broken, and I haven't being claiming for a "lost" one - always been claiming for "known" and common faults. The last one was a sticking keyboard which meant every time I pressed "4" it would keypress until timeout, meaning the phone was effectively unusable...

This time, however, they charged me the £15. I was happy to own an E200 (and SPV) whilst they would pay to fix it themselves, but I'm NOT happy to have to fork out everytime this goes wrong. I'm contracted until November, and god knows how many times I'll need it replaced before then! (It seems to be the luck of the draw...)

I've spoken to a Senior Coaching Advisor today (I was complaining) and she states Orange won't refund the £15, and in fact shouldn't have waived it previously.

Has anyone claimed successfully based on the phone being of unmerchantable quality? They've royally p*ssed me off now...

Any advice you have, or an address / person to write to who can sort this out, I'd be grateful. Orange have received a relative fortune off me (~£100+ per month) over the last 18 months, but if they want me to pay through the nose because their handsets are faulty, they can think again...

[Guest Will]

write to the executive office - ask 150 for the address.

[Guest pd.ryder]

I'm afraid this is typical of O's CS dept. I've had on-going squabbles with CS about their unwillingness to replace faulty handsets due to software issues, sticky keyboards etc.

We wouldn't put up with it if it were any other product we paid good money for coupled with, sometimes, crippling running costs.

I'm sure Trading Standards guff says something like "it has to be of merchantable quality and fit for the purpose it was intended" - so if you can't make calls on a telephone (or be smart on your Smartphone?) it should be replaced with one which can. I can't see why that should cost anyone an "administration charge"!!

[Guest mike-oh]

I too have been charged 15 quid for a replacement charger for my mpx200 even tho i have orange care. I'm waiting till i return from Canada to B@#$@#K someone for it.

[Guest hamstar50]

Me too! £15. + I'm gonna have to fork out another £20 for Florin to unlock my E200 again (only had last one done just over a month ago)

I asked Orange what's going on with that. They told me it's the result of a falling out with the big bad insurance company who raised the price for each replacement cost at their end to £30-odd quid or something. He told me Orange had no choice in the matter but decided to subside the cost lowering it to £15. Incidently, if you lose/stolen your phone, you'd have to pay £15 admin + access cost (not sure what it stands at).

Needless to say, I'm waiting for a confirmation of cancellation of Orange Care. Might not happen as I agreed to a year of Care.

O2 Still got this bit right though...Only £5/p nothing else..

[Guest paddy_mcnulty]

Quick reply as I'm tired.

I don't think Orange can charge you £15 to replace a product that is faulty as it their responsibility not to sell you faulty goods. If they do so they are under obligation to replace the faulty product or affer a refund with a reasonable time - dicated by what the product is expected to last before it becomes faulty through wear and tear, so a year for a phone should be reasonable. They may charge you £15 for items covered under Orange Crae if they have informed yhou in writing that they may do so and gave you the choice to cancel your ORnage Care contract in writing when they introduced the new charge.

If they are charging £15 to replace faulty phones that they themselves have supplied then complain - to head office, executive office (Orange CS don't give a sh*t until you start getting the more higher people involved - they unfortaunately are prob kept in the dark and just told what to say). A company can't just go and sell faulty goods and get the customer to pay for it.

Anyway, good luck.

[Guest simax]

Just as an aside, if you are a business customer, they don't charge the £15 fee. Best of all, you don't pay the £5/month either, even on OVP! :P

Only found that out the other day when my 6230 got liquid damaged. Got a replacement same day.

........ itching to get a C500 next week on an upgrade on my other account..... is it really as good as people say it is? :)

Simon

[Guest sponge]

I guess a £15 fee might be acceptable if one were to claim for accidental damage or loss. But for faults? Absolutely not!

I won't have their insurance cover as I am covered by my home insurance for loss/damage and any fault in the first year (reasonable time) is covered by the Sale of Goods Act. (Any fault after a year is not really a concern as you could just get a new, free phone on an upgrade or new contract.)

[Guest mike-oh]

When was this £15 admin fee introduced?! If this was something that happened halfway through your contract and they failed to inform you then surely you (and myself) have the right to cancel the contract (to orange care at least) as they have changed the terms and conditions.

Has anyone made any progress with this?

I'm so livid haveing just got off the phone to them that i can barely type right now for the rage i am bottleing up!!

F%&^%$G ORANGE!!!!!

Mike

[Guest mike-oh]

Just found this in O's T & Cs

9.6 Any claim accepted under Orange Care will be subject to an administration fee charged to your account in advance of any repair or replacement being undertaken. Details of the current administration fee are available on request from Orange and are published in our periodically updated price guide. The administration fee is subject to change and is payable in respect of all accepted claims made under Orange Care with the exception of those set out in clause 9.6.1.

9.61 The administration fee will not be payable in respect of a claim for defective material or workmanship of a new phone (including standard battery and charging unit but excluding reconditioned and/or second hand phones) where the defective material or workmanship has been brought to Orange's attention within 6 months of the date of purchase of the phone.

[Guest sponge]

...where the defective material or workmanship has been brought to Orange's attention within 6 months of the date of purchase of the phone.

6 months?! :shock: That can't be a fair term to place in a contract! I am pretty sure a court would deem 6 months as too short a time to expect a product to remain fault free and replaceable without charge - I certainly do. The Sale of Goods Act gives you more rights than this and that's free. :wink:

This only serves to reinforce my opinion that OC is just a rip off, in the same league as Dixon Group extended warranties.

[Guest pd.ryder]

Maybe we should hold a poll?

Who thinks O should charge a £15 "admin fee" when their own systems diagnose "a fault on you phone, sir"?

I agree that if you've let it slide off the dashboard, out of the window and onto the pavement at 40mph leaving it in a few hundred pieces; or drowned it in Heineken; left it on the table when leaving the pub cabbaged, etc, etc. then a fee is to be expected.

Many insurers offer NCD, encouraging customers to take good care of their purchase. I seem to remember OC reducing in price and I'm sure it was included for free the first year of your contract.

Could someone put a poll up? Not sure how to do it....(duffer!!)

I know this is unrelated (almost), but Richer Sounds (no phones, I know) offer excellent insurance in that it costs almost nothing (£20 or so) for 3 years and, here's the interesting bit, if you don't need to claim in the 3 years - you get your money back!!!! Can't say fairer than that methinks!

[Guest mavisdavis]

For what it's worth I had my E200 replaced last wednesday (Faulty joypad) with an admin charge of course. When my new phone arrived I noticed that if I stored it my pocket for longer than an hour or left alone for about 30mins it would switch it self off for no reason, then it started to do it when I played games and made calls.

So I called them back and complained that they sent me out a faulty phone and I'd payed for it to be replaced they set up another replacement then re-embursed the admin fee thank god.

:wink:

[Guest Dade]

The fee seems to be down to the individual customer service agent you speak to. When I had one of my original SPV's replaced they tried to charge me an admin fee. I complained to a 'team leader' who basically said tough luck. At that point I hung up, waited half an hour and called back. Got through to a different agent and NO FEE!

[Guest sponge]

For what it's worth I had my E200 replaced last wednesday (Faulty joypad) with an admin charge of course.

Unless having a replacement delivered quickly is important to you, you could have rejected the phone and demanded a replacement/repair, free of charge, under the Sale of Goods Act and/or Distance selling regulations.

SoGA Info

For up to six years after purchase (five years from discovery in Scotland) purchasers can demand damages (which a court would equate to the cost of a repair or replacement).

Obviously it depends on the product and it's reasonable lifetime. But most people here only have a phone for a year or so, maybe less, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[Guest fraser]

I had this just yesterday. My phone is acting up, one of the common faults. The girl was friendly and I was genuinely surprised when she mentioned the £15 fee.

A quick mention of "sale of goods act" and "fit for purpose" got the fee waived.

The thing is...this was the four time I'd called up to try and resolve the problem. Initially they did not want to replace my phone as I have already had four replacements. Considering I've had an SPV since February last year, it's hardly surprising. The first two calls they passed it to the tech guys, who were supposed to call me back. Gave each attempt one week before I called back. On the third occassion, the line was dropped while I was on hold. And on the fourth, I said I was fed up with it all. I was going to ask for my *** code and cancel the contract if it wasn't sorted.

I await a new phone this afternoon. :) Of course, in the next week or so, I'll be looking for an upgrade to the C500...but I wanted to have a working spare to give to a friend or sell :wink: