Orange Mobile - Over Minutes

Viksabix

I'm on the Dolphin contract on Orange, where you pay £35 a month for 500 minutes and unlimited text messages.

Now, my bill this month was £1002. Yes, that's one THOUSAND and two pounds!!

I went over my free minutes by 46 hours. Now, I know this is 95% my fault, but you'd have thought that there would be some kind of alert to tell you when you go over your limit?

Also, I didn't know that it's 35 per minute to other networks.

I'm pretty sure there is nothing I can do about this, but a warning to everyone who has a contract phone to check your minutes... Orange has not got a sufficient level of customer service.

Crabman

Hi Viksabix - welcome to the forums

I've moved this to the Mobiles Board for a better response:

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

danny69

Let me get this right, do youmean to put 46 HOURS, yes? So you didnt realise that 2700 minutes of calls would cost so much money? I'm sorry (no im not), but I would be surprised if other members have any sympathy for you.

danny69

I guess my post wasnt very informative. I assume you have access to the internet therefore are you aware of the orange website where you can log in and see your remaining minutes among other things. Also you can use orange world on your mobile if you have tht feature and there is always the orange customer services which could tell you anytime of the month how many minutes you had remaining/used. The 35p a minute cross-network charge is part of the contract. Yes, perhaps you assumed orange would call you to make you aware of it. The phone had'nt been reported stolen and therefore if they saw your useage they would'nt have any reason to flag it up. Orange also would allow you to put a cap on your useage if you wanted to. Maybe you should arrange this and stop burrying your head in the sand and blaming orange. If I got a call from orange every time I were on the phone for a few hours asking if I was aware had incurred cost then I wouldnt be happy.

diamonds

you maybe could ask them to recalculate your bill with Panther 75 ? as you will not be able to pay the amount due anytime soon ( Orange usually ask for payment over 3 months )

Viksabix

Danny69, I did say it was 95% my fault, did I not?

Diamonds, I'm paying it over 6 months. Luckily the accounts dept are very helpful

I know that it is mainly my fault, just a warning for everyone to make sure to check how many minutes you have left!!

laurajayne

To be honest, even if you have a cap on your usage, doesn't mean they'll actually apply it :rolleyes:

I was with o2 through CPW, and had an XDA. I was informed that I had a £250 cap over and above my tariff charge, which was fine by me....I wouldn't have expected a bill that big anyway.

Well, I soon discovered that data is really expensive. A bill for £1000 landed on my doormat. When I rang o2 to ask why this had been allowed to happen (as I wasn't expecting to ever have a bill of more than my tariff +£250 +VAT, and allowing for a 48 hour delay). Apparently it isn't there to police your usage, and I should never have used it if I didn't have the money. Well excuse me, but I figured you'd cut me off if I reached my limit :rolleyes: Of course, it's there somewhere in the terms and conditions, but really what's the point in making a big thing of your limit - it was printed on every contract (I worked for CPW at the time....how embarrsing!)

In the end, because they wouldn't accept me paying it off over time, it went to a DCA. With a magical computer. They ask loads of questions, like your NI number, whether you have a car, and your recidency status. Then they tell you how much you can afford to pay them. Wow, concidering they didn't even ask me my salary, let alone any outgoings, I was well impressed!

I paid it off 18 months ago now, but it still sticks in my brain. I never ever ever use data on a mobile anymore.....

patchman

Viksabix wrote: »

Danny69, I did say it was 95% my fault, did I not?

Diamonds, I'm paying it over 6 months. Luckily the accounts dept are very helpful

I know that it is mainly my fault, just a warning for everyone to make sure to check how many minutes you have left!!

who do you blame for the other 5% ???? It was you who picked up the phone and dialed the numbers, making you 100% liable

Woby_Tide

patchman wrote: »

who do you blame for the other 5% ???? It was you who picked up the phone and dialed the numbers, making you 100% liable

I did wonder who was 5% at fault myself, maybe the demon on the left shoulder

Cavey

Honest to God, I really think the companies do need to do something about this. Sure, people should police their own usage, but the companies should help protect their clients.

For example, if someone steals my phone they can rack up a £x00 in charges without too much trouble, so surely it makes sense, in the interest of the consumer, to implement some form of credit cap.

Or if I sit on my phone and magically dial a premium rate line, I could be in for some serious charges. These things do worry me with having a contract phone and I would be much happier if I could choose to -

* Have a credit cap
* Bar premium numbers
* Bar foreign numbers
* Bar premium texts

Now the bottom three O2 do offer and I have them enabled on my line and I don't go over my tariff, but I would appreciate the peace of mind!

Viksabix

patchman wrote: »

who do you blame for the other 5% ???? It was you who picked up the phone and dialed the numbers, making you 100% liable

I know that I'm liable, all I'm saying is that you'd think they would "care" a little more. It's these kinds of things that make them lose customers.

Oh well.