Orange Phone Network problems - is there a way i can cancel my contract?

rachy86 · 9 February 2008 at 4:36PM

Hi all, just after a bit of advice.

In August I signed up to the 18 month orange dolphin tariff at £35 a month. Now ,about a month later I moved in with my boyfriend to a house where i get NO signal in the house anywhere apart from on the bedroom window sill and even then its only enough to text. To make a phonecall I have to go outside, and even then that doesnt always work. Also, aside from this I find I'm getting a lot of lost calls where the signal just vanishes mid conversation - this has happened everywhere, in work, in my parents, in shopping centres, parks, while im walking the dog etc.

I have complained to them before (before xmas) but was told that they dont guarantee signal indoors but to keep an eye on the lost calls and if it is hapening repeatedly to call them back. not long after i had a message on the phone to turn it off and back on to update my services, and this seemed to slightly increase my signal enough to use the fone if i stood by the window but again the signal would drop regularly.

Now, what i'd like to know is if i have any grounds to cancel my contract? I;m really sick of paying £35 a month and not even being able to use the phone in my own house. That topped with Orange's bad customer service (IMO - takes ages to get through, always seem to speak to indians who dont seem to know what theyre doing) and the fact that I;m clearly not on the best tariff for my usage as i can't use the phone just makes me want to cancel the contract. However as there is a year left on the contract I cant afford (and wouldnt anyway) to pay it off to get out of it.

Has anyone got any advice? Is it possible to cancel contracts on the basis of no reception to make and recieve calls (the reason for the phone in the first place!!?)

Advice greatly appreciated!!
Cheers,
Rachel

miss_vicki · 9 February 2008 at 9:10PM

Sorry, but i think in the t&c's is say that if you move house and there isn't any signal, orange aren't responsable or something like that.
best you can down is downgrade your tariff in month 9. £35 to £30

Woby_Tide · 9 February 2008 at 11:46PM

unless orange dictated you move into your boyfriends I'm not sure they are responsible for you having a limited signal now(you must have knowna bout the issue with signal before moving in also yet signed up to a new contract?)

mum2one · 9 February 2008 at 11:55PM

afriad your stuck with them as the only option would be to buy yourself out of the contract, ot in mth 9, reduce to £30 package, as basicall range would turn round and say its your fault you moved in with your boyfriend.

Sorry could not be any more help. x

andrewk_2 · 10 February 2008 at 3:19PM

Do you know if your phone is 3G? If so, where the signal's poor it can be worth trying forcing your phone to 2G mode (it'll be in your network settings somewhere). For some reason, some phones will prefer a 3G signal that's barely usable to a 2G signal that works. Of course, this may not be your problem here, but it's worth checking.

rachy86 · 10 February 2008 at 3:46PM

i had a feeling that was the case.

Woby_Tide - what happened was we both moved out of hour parents into a rented house, but i never noticed i had no signal when we were viewing it..

andrewk - i dont think my phone is 3g, how do you find out? I'vbe got a sony ericsson s500i if thats anyhelp?

I've read lots of bad reports about my phone since i got it - related to poor signal and calls dropping for no reason i dont know if my phone is part of the problem. One of my friends has a nokia and although she doesnt get great signal on it in my house, she still has 1/2 bars most of the time, occasionally 3.

Dickieburd · 10 February 2008 at 3:52PM

You could also try your sim in another handset as some phones can pick up a signal better than others. Similarly you could ask someone you know who is also on Orange to visit you and see if they get a better signal.
You could try checking Orange coverage on their website as it will tell you if future coverage will improve or not.

monkeyboy500 · 10 March 2008 at 8:26PM

Hi All,
My tale is very similar,
I too signed up for an 18 month contract via carphone warehouse,
I do not even get a signal in my house or at the end of my garden, If I go out into the front near the pavement I get signal.... after months of arguing with CPW and Orange I am stuck with the contract... anyway the helpful lady at Orange told me that they no longer canel contracts ( even if they are less than a week old ) for the reaosn of no signal in a dwelling !!!!!!! apprently I should have read a section of the small print on the contract that told me this. Even though the man in CPW assured me that Orange had got better. So I feel misold by CPW and downright disgusted by a rubbish service from Orange.
I have even spoken to the top man at CPW who says that even he cannot cancel the Orange contract !!!! so no hope for us mere mortals then
BE WARNED

mum2one · 10 March 2008 at 11:15PM

monkeyboy500 wrote: »

Hi All,
My tale is very similar,
I too signed up for an 18 month contract via carphone warehouse,
I do not even get a signal in my house or at the end of my garden, If I go out into the front near the pavement I get signal.... after months of arguing with CPW and Orange I am stuck with the contract... anyway the helpful lady at Orange told me that they no longer canel contracts ( even if they are less than a week old ) for the reaosn of no signal in a dwelling !!!!!!! apprently I should have read a section of the small print on the contract that told me this. Even though the man in CPW assured me that Orange had got better. So I feel misold by CPW and downright disgusted by a rubbish service from Orange.
I have even spoken to the top man at CPW who says that even he cannot cancel the Orange contract !!!! so no hope for us mere mortals then
BE WARNED

hi
Its very long shot, but as you were sold the contract from CPW and not Orange, then its CPW who are at fault.

I may be clutching at straws - but def worth a try. Points to raise with CPW

1. You took your contract out with CPW
2. You took the advice of the sales person in CPW, (act daft (sorry)), you are not a sales person, you have no knowledge in that field therefore you went to an expert!! you would not want someone coming in and telling you your job
3. Your decsion was based on the recommendation of the sales person.
4. Under the Sale of goods Act 1979, "the item needs to be of merchantdiserable person" - ie you can use it
4. sale of good acts again - "must be fit for its purpose" - your not going to be expected to climb a mountain to make a phone call

Your contract - were you given time to read it before you signed or were you pushed into a sale.

May also be worth trying Consumer direct - def worth a try x

Woby_Tide · 11 March 2008 at 11:04AM

mum2one wrote: »

hi
Its very long shot, but as you were sold the contract from CPW and not Orange, then its CPW who are at fault.

I may be clutching at straws - but def worth a try. Points to raise with CPW

1. You took your contract out with CPW
2. You took the advice of the sales person in CPW, (act daft (sorry)), you are not a sales person, you have no knowledge in that field therefore you went to an expert!! you would not want someone coming in and telling you your job
3. Your decsion was based on the recommendation of the sales person.
4. Under the Sale of goods Act 1979, "the item needs to be of merchantdiserable person" - ie you can use it
4. sale of good acts again - "must be fit for its purpose" - your not going to be expected to climb a mountain to make a phone call

Your contract - were you given time to read it before you signed or were you pushed into a sale.

May also be worth trying Consumer direct - def worth a try x

I'd go with the clutching at straws, the phone is fit for purpose, unless he can't make calls anyway, signal isn't guaranteed by any network. thats for the buyer to check where possible unless they've said outright that it will definitely work in your property

Dick_Van_Dyke_3 · 10 June 2008 at 1:27PM

I've got a similar problem - I upgraded my Orange phone last September (I'm not sure but I'm going to assume it was on an 18-month contract thing). A couple of months ago I moved house, which seems to be a black spot for signal quality.

Considering the lack of signal is making me lose business (I work as a voiceover artist with a home studio and need to use a mobile to get instant feedback from directors, etc) is there any chance I'd be able to cancel the contract?

Orange Phone Network problems - is there a way i can cancel my contract?

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