Suggested GPRS mass cancellation

[Guest madu]

I'm in all the way! :)

I guess you should include a poll in this topic

[Guest adam]

I'm in!

[Guest Gorskar]

Yes, add a poll please, something like:

Do you want to join a mass GPRS cancellation in protest of GPRS prices?

1) Yes - Lets make it early June (1 - 10th)

2) Yes - Lets make it mid June (11th - 20th)

3) Yes - Lets make it late June (21st - 30th)

4) No - I think the GPRS prices are fine

5) No - I'm not happy with the GPRS prices, but I can't live without it

6) Don't care

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

Poll added :)

[Guest mcfc2134]

Count me in...tell me when to phone!

[Guest mattbrown]

me too - the whole point of the spv was aimed around gprs and what it can do with it but what is the point of enjoying what the phone can do when it will cost so much

[Guest adam]

I think you should add "Just tell me when" to the poll.

[Guest mattbrown]

mind you it does go back to the days of companies like compuserve and aol charging a fixed amount/month for a few hours and then some rediculous amount per/hour after that if you want over those hours - give it time and it will come down but as their are only 4 main players in the market it might take some time

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

I think you should add "Just tell me when" to the poll.

Done, anything else while I'm at it? :)

[Guest Yassa]

I agree GPRS is far to expensive. :x Orange will have to wake up to the fact that they are out pricing their own product!!!! When more wireless access points become available at a very much reduced price. People won't want to use GPRS. Its just like 3G - theres a massive pick up on that, an't there!!!!! :)

I myself use my everyday 50 do "dialup" the internet - its slow - yes But atleast its FREE !!!!! 8)

Cheers

Yassa

[Guest strathclydezero]

Orange hasn't cancelled the unlimited deal on any of our accounts yet - if they're reading this best give them a chance first :) .

[Guest casper508]

I dont use GPRS that much but when u guys decide to take action just shout.

Cas

[Guest ukpauls]

i think it should be the latest date as get more involved, think we would eedto inform of our disappointment in the price so that they know what to expect. But i'm the all the way :twisted:

[Guest lucky]

Hiya All

Its good to see that we have quite a bit of support for this.

I think from the comments that have been made so far a couple of things are clear.

-We should wait to see what Orange actually does (although it think this has already been spelled out).

-We should take any action at the end of June (to allow as many people to get involved).

-We should aim to make it very clear to Orange we are unhappy with their pricing.

[Guest HungrySPV]

Thanks for your support HungryDude.

:)

Guys, its the very least I could do. Without the constant help and advice I have had from this great Community I don't think I would've been keeping my phone very long.

I think Orange needs to realise that a LOT of people have considered using the phone only because of the improvements that have come out from the efforts of this MoDaCo Community.

@ Orange. This phone is only usable because of these people. Don't take us for a ride. We won't forget.

[Guest neuronisis]

If we don't, then we can just expect O to continue using us as one big BETA experiment,

So let's make a stand..........You can count me in............................

............Damn!! can you feel the love on this board!!

8)

[Guest adam]

An idea for the timing of this, it could be incredibly effective if it were done not on one specific day, but if possible, in the space of a few hours. Imagine if they lost 500 GPRS customers in an hour, that'd be pretty damn good! Then Orange would be feeling rather pear shaped!

[Guest adam]

An idea for the timing of this, it could be incredibly effective if it were done not on one specific day, but if possible, in the space of a few hours. Imagine if they lost 500 GPRS customers in an hour, that'd be pretty damn good! Then Orange would be feeling rather pear shaped!

[Guest dma]

Last month I used GPRS in as much of an average way as I could. The idea was to see how much I would use it if it wasn't free, and I still went over 10meg. I like the browser on the SPV but I am not prepared to pay that much for email, messenger and non essential browsing.

Let me know when :)

[Guest nickcornaglia]

Can someone help me, from the US, understand what's going on? I know I can't join in your cause but it would be interesting to watch if I truely understood what is happening.

Here is the US under T-Mobile, I pay US$20.00 for 10MB of GPRS data per month. I don't believe SMS messages come off of that number as I pay a seperate fee for those. I don't believe there is unlimited GPRS in the US except for a one year deal when the T-Mobile Sidekicks (Danger Hiptop) came out.

I believe we've established on previous posts that I get a good deal on SMS, compared to my fellow coalition members in the UK.

My Rates

- 5000 anytime minutes for $99.00 w/Free National Long Distance

(includes an add'l 50 SMS messages)

- 500 SMS messages for $2.99

- 10MB GPRS for $19.99 (includes an additional 300 SMS messages)

How do your fees compare to these???

What is the exact problem?

[Guest superkingdave]

basically for the last five or six months we have been paying Six pounds(c.$10) a month for unlimited gprs access. so some people have been using a large amount.(certainly some people fifty megs and some a hundred or more!) now they are discontinuing this offer and the basic charge is three pounds a meg so people on these amounts are talking over a hundred pounds a month!

[Guest Chic0]

I've loved having this promo GPRS for the last few months and my usage of it has been well above the 10mb limit. Been using SPV as modem for PC as dont have net connection at home.

Anyway, once Orange stop offering the promo, I will be cancelling my GPRS anyway. I really dont think that cancelling on the same day as everyone else will make a difference. I really dont think Orange will care.

Yes, the tariffs for GPRS are expensive and it is more of less the same on all the networks. But you have to remember that this was a PROMO! Well all knew it would last for a limited time only. It wasn't going to last indefinately.

Anyway, will be a shame to lose it, but all good things have to come to an end :)

[Guest]

I've resisted adding my two cents in up until now, mainly because my opinion contradicts the majority; however I have to say that I agree with Chic0.

Yes, the SPV is great, and yes GPRS is a central part of the concept.

The £6 deal was fantastic, but didn't anyone notice what Orange were doing when they initially signed up for this bargin?

It was a promo. It was a loss-leader. It's a simple business plan on their part, which was obvious when they offered us the GPRS deal. They practically give away data use, planning to charge us for it later once we are hooked.

Here’s how it works:

Put fantastic phone using MS Smartphone OS on sale.

Tell people how great it can do the Internet, much better than WAP.

Also tell them that it does this over GPRS, where you pay for the data you use rather than the time it takes.

And then tell them for a limited time they can use as much GPRS as they like per month for £6, but sign up quick cos it won’t last forever.

People buy the phone, use GPRS to the max, and then the offer ends. By which time everyone has got used to having data on tap, and will continue using it, paying market rate for mobile data.

Why do you think that they didn't enforce the 10 mb fair use policy? 'Cos they knew that they would get us in the end.

What Orange is hoping is that people will decide to cancel their GPRS bundles, and then end up using GPRS “just for emergencies”, and pay £3 per mb for pay-as-you-go data.

It’s simple, they gave us a time limited offer, we took it (they even extended it), and now it’s over.

Simple business economics, and a mass cancellation of GPRS bundles won’t make a jot of difference to Orange’s bottom line.

I personally am going to sign up for one of their GPRS bundles (which are actually now better value than they were before the SPV was launched), and use GPRS sparingly.

You thought that there wasn’t a catch in the £6 deal? Of course there was, and this is it.

[Guest lucky]

*In response to a number of comments along these lines*

Do you really think anybody here is that nieve.

Of course we all knew that it was a promotional offer

Of course we all knew that it was a loss leader

Of course we all knew about the t & c's (go back back to the posts made 6-9mths ago).

The point is Orange misrepresented their position by making us believe GPRS was a vialable and cost effective proposition.

I understand only too well that Orange is there to provide a service that makes money.

However have a look at some of the posts in this thread. If you used only the most basic functionality of the SPV you would need to take out a mortgage to pay the charges.

This would not be a problem if Orange had stated at the beginning what the charges would be like.

Instead they stated and I quote 'at the end of the promotional period you will be moved to a plan of equal or better value'.

Now Im no lawyer but I believe that in contracts it does not matter what the the t&c's say if you were encouraged to believe that it meant something else.

I dont have the financial resources to take on Orange in a civil action but i can voice my displeasure and i think some people here agree.

Yes this is what everyone else charges

yes we dont have to use the service

yes we were aware that it was a promo.

This doesnt mean we have to like it and it doesnt mean we should tell Orange we dont like it. :twisted:

[Guest Bazz]

Actually it says "equal or lower priced" not "equal or lower value" (see here http://shop.orange.co.uk/spv_pack_popup.html). Yes you can argue that's legal speak, but I thought that was implied in the use of the term promotional pack. I expected to be put on a bundle which costs £6 or less. And I don't mean £6 or less for unlimited - it wouldn't be a promotion if it was the same price or cheaper after the promo ended!

Also Orange did "state at the beginning what the charges would be like" - you were told of the GPRS prices beforehand - they were always on the Orange website - In fact they've come down since then!

At the end of the day I can understand why your not happy (cause you've been spoilt with the prices up till now), but I don't think you've legitimate grounds for complaint. AFAIK It's only the UK that's had this bundle anyway - all the other Orange customers (e.g. France) have had to pay these prices all the way up until now.

However you are fully in your right to cancel if you wish. So good luck. I'm not gonna cancel cause I reckon it's useful and I am willing to pay for the little I use, but if you managed to bring the prices down I'll be the first to cheer.

Maybe Oftel would be a better place to complain - they're the ones going after phone companies on calling cost. But I reckon they'd say GPRS is a luxury and tell you to get lost...

Bazz

P.S. I'm not trying to start a fight (for once) and don't work for Orange (or any related company), just trying to bring a balanced view to a mostly one-sided argument. I also understand that some might think that it was better for me to not argue (to send a united message to Orange), but I think your argument is flawed which is why I'm speaking up.