Orange Illeagal Charges

sibath

I would be really grateful for any help or advice.

I took out an 18 month contract with Orange back at the end of May 2007. This was due to expire at the end of November 2008. I requested cancellation around May 2008 and was told that I would have to call 30 days before the contract ended to request a PAC code as I wanted to retain my number. This I did on 3rd November, meaning in fact that I would be charged up until 3rd December 2008.

In the meantime I set up a new contract with Vodafone. I received my handset from them on 17th November and called their customer services to activate my phone by giving them the PAC code supplied by Orange. Within an hour my Vodafone phone was fully working and making and receiving calls.

I thought it strange that the Orange handset still had full reception but assumed that this due to the fact that I was still paying for service until 3rd December. Last night I checked my credit card bill and noticed that Orange had made a normal monthly charge, having checked my online Orange account, this was exactly the case, I was being charged for service a month in advance as per normal.

I called the customer services department to find out the problem. I was put through to a helpful operator who agreed that it seemed very strange and that she would call me back after she had investigated further. This she did and explained that she didn't understand what her colleague was saying and that I should speak to him directly. This gentleman started to explain the situation but was having to relay information that his supervisor was passing onto him whilst we were speaking. I suggested that it would be probably best if I spoke with him directly. He agreed and put me through.

I explained my concerns with him and he said that it would appear that Vodafone had not ported the number correctly and hence Orange still viewed my account as live. I agreed that this would indeed explain the situation but asked how we could resolve the issue of charges being made against my credit card without my authorisation. He told me that he could not help me with this and that I should speak to Vodafone. He then threatened me with 'I will call Vodafone tomorrow and ensure that your account is terminated with them immediately'.

To confirm, I followed every possible step to ensure that my account cancelled on time. It appears that Orange have made an illegal charge against my credit card and will continue to do on a monthly basis even though I have ported my number away from them in the time period that they stipulate.

The supervisor was rude, patronising and unhelpful. He said that no-one would resolve this and that I would have to speak to Vodafone.

Can anyone advise on what I should do? Is there an ombudsman service that can be used for mobile phone operators?

Any help would be gratefully received

Thanks

Jon_01

It dose sound like Voda haven't done the port correctly, if the Orange sim/phone is still working. The Orange sim should have died when the port went through.
If you have both phones on and call your number which phone rings ?
If Orange aren't aware that you've ported out then your contract continues, if Voda haven't managed the port correctly then they have no way to know. . .

It is VERY odd for a port not to go through right, but in this case Voda are the ones to contact as its only they who can resolve it

sibath

Thanks Jon

If both phones are on and I call my number, the Voda handset rings.

I take your point that it's Voda that have seemingly not ported correctly. However Orange are the ones who have continued to charge me and hence I am paying double monthly costs at present (over £200). I'm not sure if I call Voda they will be particularly receptive to crediting money that Orange have charged me?

Guys_Dad

You need to do the following.

Ring your own number on the Voda phone from your Orange phone.

Note the number that comes up. (If it is the same number, then something is very, very odd.)
You need to check the Voda fone number and see that none of the digits have been transposed when PAC t/f took place, - easily done.

If your Voda mobile shows the number you have called from on your Orange phone is different from "your number", you need to ring Orange and get through to customer services and tell them the number that is now on your Orange phone. They should be able to confirm this. This will put you in the clear. You should also ring that Orange number from your Vodafone mobile to confirm the number on your Vodafone mobile. All belt and braces.

However do check that they haven't transferred the digits incorrectly

Jon_01

sibath wrote: »

Thanks Jon

If both phones are on and I call my number, the Voda handset rings.

I take your point that it's Voda that have seemingly not ported correctly. However Orange are the ones who have continued to charge me and hence I am paying double monthly costs at present (over £200). I'm not sure if I call Voda they will be particularly receptive to crediting money that Orange have charged me?

The problem here is, if Orange don't know that the port has failed they also don't know to stop your contract (as its the port out that terminates it). Without the port out flag set, if you like, they didn't know you'd left...
I would have said you need to contact Voda asap and get them to raze a tech issue with their network support team.
The support teams from all the network talk to each other and Voda will be able to confirm to Orange on what date the port took place (and what went wrong), at that point, I would hope, the Orange charges would be looked at and waved. But this has to start with a call to Voda.

Orange_Company_Representative

Hi there,

I work for Orange and might be able to help.

Please send an email to customer.services@orange.co.uk, including your details and I will give you a call to discuss.

To make sure your email is forwarded to me quickly, please add "Susan Orange Response" in the subject field and also in the first line of your mail.

Kind regards,

Susan
Orange Response

jhp

OrangeResponse wrote: »

Hi there,

I work for Orange and might be able to help.

Please send an email to [EMAIL="customer.services@orange.co.uk"]customer.services@orange.co.uk[/EMAIL], including your details and I will give you a call to discuss.

To make sure your email is forwarded to me quickly, please add "Susan Orange Response" in the subject field and also in the first line of your mail.

Kind regards,

Susan
Orange Response

I appreciate you are trying to be helpful but do you have permission to post from MSE as rep of Orange per the site rules?

"MSE TEAM PERMISSION: CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Company representatives are actively encouraged to post on the forum to provide good customer service to MoneySavers. They should not be using the opportunity to tout for business. We need to know in order to legitimise it. Where permission has been given for a company/person to specifically post there will be a note from the MSE Team. If someone has posted claiming to have been given permission but this has not been followed by a MSE team note please report it to [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]."

Edinburghlass_2

Yes they are on the list here...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=781221

proplusplus

It would appear to me as though your bill would have been issued before your PORT request was processed:

i.e) billing date is 8th of month, you passed your PAC to voda on 10th of month, then on 16th of month you receive your bill.

as soon as your PAC is actioned, your line terminates (though you may still see reception for a period of 24-48hrs until the PORt completes fully).

Once your account is terminated, your account regularises itself and calculates if you are owed a refund (i.e if you paid upfront for the month and shortly after your contract was cancelled.)

proplusplus

deano27_2

proplusplus wrote: »

It would appear to me as though your bill would have been issued before your PORT request was processed:

i.e) billing date is 8th of month, you passed your PAC to voda on 10th of month, then on 16th of month you receive your bill.

as soon as your PAC is actioned, your line terminates (though you may still see reception for a period of 24-48hrs until the PORt completes fully).

Once your account is terminated, your account regularises itself and calculates if you are owed a refund (i.e if you paid upfront for the month and shortly after your contract was cancelled.)

proplusplus

sounds correct to me. You need to keep your old account live until the porting has taken place. I moved from voda to O2 and it took over week for the porting to take place :eek:

daveboy

As for dodgy charges.....I've just noticed Orange charge for delivery reports. It is only £0.009 each time but if you send a lot of texts that will soon become a few pounds.