Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

solarpvman

in the end we just shopped around for the best deal...took time but it was with Phones4U. They had obviously got a job lot of galaxy S3 in advance of the newer s4 rollout. we got an s3 on a £20/month orange contract with phones4U. Orange themselves could not match the deal.

no haggling from me worked at all. just shopping around

diamond

I'm shocked, I've been with t-mobile and had the same number with them for 18 years. I rang to cancel as that is the process I have used before and I have lost my phone. They said fine here is your PAC code off you go. What a cheek!!

charlottealexa

Very interesting to hear stories. I would avoid TMobile and EE like the plague. I have been with Tmobile for about 15 years and for the first time ever I believe they have mis-sold me a contract. I am now paying more than I have ever paid and have written registered post to customer complaints. I would really like to instruct my bank to stop direct debits but I don't want to lose my phone number (had it for same number of years!). Since being EE there has been nothing but problems and they've just screwed me despite my long loyalty. I hate them right now. I want them to fail, I am hoping (probably in vain) that consumer pressure can bring down the big bullies. Will do anything to publicise this. Their customer service is now truly awful, contracted out to Manila it sounds like where no-one deviated form a script. Dire! I've written to watchdog and which.....

charlottealexa

If anyone's bored and wants to read my complaint letter.....! here it is...


To whomever it may concern

I wish to cancel the contract I haverecently renewed with T Mobile and to leave the company with immediate effect.I do not expect to be charged for doing this. In addition I wish to convey inthe strongest possible terms how disgraceful the customer service has beenthroughout this process. I am preparedto stop at nothing until I am released from what was a deceptively, if notfraudulently marketed contract.

My contract was up for renewal at thebeginning of the year so I suddenly experienced a huge hike in my bill. I phoned up to be told that my loyaltydiscount had been removed since my contract had expired. When I said this hadnever happened in previous years I was rudely informed that I must read mycontract. When I said I had never received written copies any of the contractsI have renewed over the phone I was told it was my responsibility to write downthe date I renewed it and to keep a record. The saleswoman was argumentative and combative and when I said I wasquite sure I had been with the company longer than she had, so I would be in abetter position to know whether I was right or not, she rudely conceded. I wentaway to think about it annoyed by the encounter. I decided to renew with TMobile because I didn’t have time to research alternatives as I am a doctor andvery busy, so I phoned and spoke to someone called Vusi.

Having had repeated dealings with various EEworkers none of whom said the same thing or quoted the same price for contractrenewal, I was beginning to lose trust in what was being said to me so I noteddown everything that was said. Heoffered me the same things I had in my previous 18 months with my BlackberryBold which was 600 minutes, unlimited data, unlimited voicemail, 500 texts, andfree billing for £21.76. I asked about 0845 numbers, he told me I could includethem on a 30 minute allocation a month for £2.13. I decided to think about it.I repeatedly asked him if £23.89 would be the total I had to pay, he said yes.He told me this was including VAT. I decided to think about it. I phoned backon 15.4.13 and spoke to someonedifferent and I confirmed this price. I again asked if that was the total I hadto pay, he said that it was, so I renewed. My first bill came to £28.90 plusthe outside price plan calls (which I expected) with VAT on top of that. Thetotal bill was £40. This is £15 more than I have paid for a long time with TMobile for EXACTLY the same package with the minor addition of the 0845 callsand without an upgraded phone. Every single sales person neglected to tell methat this didn’t include my blackberry booster, or that my loyalty discount of£15 had been cut to £8. No-one at any point advised me I had a 7 day coolingoff period and I was not advised to look at the plan on the website. This wasdishonest.

Since this discovery I haveexperienced a series of incompetent and rude staff. Not a single person I havespoken to, had a clear explanation for the disparity between my expectation ofthe charges and my first bill, in fact they barely seem to know what mycontract was. They didn’t deviate from their script and not once did anyoneapologise for the time I was spending trying to clarify what had happened orfor my anger and upset, in fact they seemed only too willing to transfer me tothe PAC code quitting the company team. They were rude and dismissive and thefact that they could barely speak English just added to the frustration. It was only when I was transferred to theexit team and a welsh woman explained what had happened that I realised that Ihad been the victim of sharp practice. I explained that I had specificallyasked for a written copy of my contract, she told me it had been sent on15.4.13. I never received this contract.When I informed her of this, she told me it was not your problem. This hardenedmy resolve to take it further. Not onlywas my custom clearly no longer valued I had been deceptively sold the worstpossible deal I have had in all my time with the company. Having now looked atcomparison websites, I can see how far I have been duped.

There is a certain amount that youtake on trust when negotiating a contract over the phone, you expecttransparency and honesty when don’t have the written contract in front of you.You have ruthlessly exploited this for your own financial gain. I dideverything in my power to achieve clarity before negotiating this contract,including asking for a written copy, writing down the offers and re-iteratingtotal costs before agreeing to it, only to find I had been completely mislead.If this is the way you treat loyal customers I want nothing more to do withyou. I have been with the company for over 15 years and have never had anycause for complaint until now. Since youbecame EE I have experienced poor quality phone and internet coverage,dishonest sales techniques, atrocious customer services and obscure complaintsprocedures. I do not intend to let thisgo.

You do not own technology; wifi andother data services are evolving all the time; if you continue the way that youare, you will be yesterday’s news. Youare only as good as your last satisfied customer so a little humility whendealing with your clients, would be advisable.

I expect a swift response to thisletter and if I do not find it to be satisfactory I will be going to theombudsman.

mobilejunkie

charlottealexa wrote: »

I would really like to instruct my bank to stop direct debits but I don't want to lose my phone number

THAT would be the least of your worries; you'd lose your credit rating for years to come. Then you wouldn't have to worry about keeping your mobile number; unless it were PAYG you would find it very difficult to get another contract (or anything else on credit).

diamond

charlottealexa I had the same experience. I am truly shocked at the customer service. As much I advocate outsourcing the staff that they have outsourced to are apalling!!

The man on the phone told me that I should remember "ma'am we're doing you a favour, it's not our fault you were careless enough to lose the phone. Technically the phone is ours anyway, so you have lost OUR phone. You should be apologising to us" He finished up by laughing down the phone...

To say I was outraged is an understatement. It was my phone I had paid for it outright from Apple, secondly how dare he use my misfortune as a source of mockery.

I will be writing to HQ too but I don't want anything from them, I've got my pac code I'm off.

Let us know your response.

Penny.

after reading MSE advice i thought id give it a go, i have 2 contracts with Orange , one is personal and a new one is a business phone

my personal one they cut by £10 a month, i was happy so wasnt expecting much more but then he said he can cut the new contract by £10 too if i liked, didnt think this was possible as its less than a month old !!!! but he has just done it so i have a saving of £20 per month, im well impressed with that , just goes to show they can do it when they want to!

thanks MSE

supersadie

My experience has been that if you're self-employed, there's no point getting a business account with o2. They outsourced a number of their business accounts to Azzurri which effectively distances you from good old o2 and its standard deals. So now, after using them for years and years, I find the cost of a phone for a loyal business customer with an upgrade will be £35 a month (Samsung Galaxy S3). Where Joe Nobody can walk into an o2 store off the street and get an equivalent deal on a brand new iPhone 5 for £27 (22 a month plus 99 up front). Not a good deal for the loyal business customer I reckon. Disappointed as I love o2!

pamish

Just need minimal phone and texting. Been with T-Mobile for years, the last few on a U-fix tariff of £15-ish p m but they discount this down to £5-ish. I don't usually use all this but am happy to pay it to not have to think about it and the hassle of top-ups. The last 12-month deal just ran out so I called to get the discount renewed. Told after a bit of passing around that the most discount they could offer was around £5 ie my monthly rate would double. OK I said, I'll switch to PAYG. Passed to nice young man who went off, came back offering to continue at 5.50 a month though for 2 years - and call minutes increased 50 to 100, plus all landline calls free, plus 10x as many texts, plus a free Blackberry worth approx £70. I don't need this, so will sell it and that pays for the first year's contract. Win, I think. Or, result, as the young people with new phones all say. :j

Victors_Bruvver

Can anyone help and advise please? My Orange Extra 35 (24mth) has now finished. The contract was initially for a Blackberry Torch 9800 (which I traded up to the 9810 last year) 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited texts and I believe, 750Mb and BT Openzone. All this for £27.41 which included the perk discount I received at the outset of the contract.

I like the package, Orange have never let me down but obviously I am paying a premium here for convenience. Included in the package, is the BT Openzone via Orange and I think this is debatable because I already get that ‘free’ with my BT BB package, don’t I?

Out of the 1000 minutes, the last bill showed I used 858 minutes and the month before something like 650, so I do not use all of the allowance each month. Texts are no problem and are used where and when needed and average out to about 250 a month.

So I am not changing the phone but want to try and reduce my monthly bill and at this stage do not want to go and sign up for 24 months and during that period find that I see a newer model or package that would be worth changing to but finding I am disadvantaged because I shall be penalised for breaking a contract early.

Orange have offered me a Sim only package, The Works (12 month) 1GB of data, unlimited minutes and texts and under ‘other’ inclusive public WiFi. All this at £21, which after my perk discount is £15.75 a month inclusive of VAT.

What do you think ‘a no brainer’ and I should sign up for it? Oh and by the way, Orange also offer in their latest brochure a T Mobile Sim only plan, the Full Monty which again is initially £21 a month but gives you unlimited data and 2000 minutes, confusing!