Orange Mobile Phone 24 Month Contract

AndyOdish

Hi everyone,
Really hoping you guys can help,

On Tuesday I went into my local orange shop and upgraded my phone to a 24 month contract, £40 per month. I choose a Touch HD.

Taking it home, I've found the phone really terrible to use,
- Camera quality awful and completely blurred
- Phone crashes (asking if I want to send error messages to Microsoft).
- Music features don't work correctly
- Very slow to use

All I want to do is change the phone for a different model

Speaking to the store they told me there is nothing that can be done, at best replace the phone with the same model. If I had an issue to speak to customer services.
Customer services tell me nothing can be done and speak to the store.

I just get fobbed from store to c/s and vice versa.

My question is, A) is there not legally some kind of cooling off period esp as this is a 24 month contract.

Any advice on how to proceed further? As said I don't want to cancel the contract just have a phone that is usable if I'm stuck with it for 2 years and I have no faith in this phone.

Thanks,

Andy

madison-nyc

I'm pretty sure unless you bought over the phone , there is no cooling off period. More so with upgrades than new contracts for some reason. Should be in the small print of your receipt/paperwork somewhere.

The other option would be to sell the new handset on ebay and buy yourself a different model with the proceeds. I've just done this with an o2 upgrade , i got the samsung tocco ultra , had it a couple of days but really didn't like it. as i'd made calls and texts on it and changed the settings i was unable to return it under CPW t's and c's so ive sold it on ebay and bought an iphone instead!

Deb

proplusplus

phone CS, go to handset faults, if handset is diagnosed as faulty, they will give you a fault code and you just go back to store and either:

return upgrade (if within 28 days of upgrade)
get replacement
choose another upgrade


proplusplus

Buzby

As you have upgraded your phone, there is no cooling off period allowed. I have this model and it is fine - the 'blurring' you talk about is the shutter delay, it takes time from pressing the button to it sorting the focus and exposure. You get the blur because the user moves the camera afer framing the shot, and it hasn't completed the process.

AndyOdish

Hi all,
Just a bit of an update
- Spoke to the Orange Shop, Upgrades Team and Retentions team and no one was prepared to do anything

- Then spoke to a Supervisor in Orange's offshore normal customer services who was brilliant and arranged for me to return the phone to the upgrades team direct where the upgrade will be cancelled.

My issue with the phone was that as it was sold as a multimedia phone the camera was dreadful esp compared to my N95. It was also very poor at playing music. I will however miss playing solitare on my bus on Henley.

Not a terrible phone just no where near as complete and easy to use as my N95.

proplusplus

Good luck with that, i've never heard of a retail upgrade able to be returned to the upgrades team.

i fear the back-office logistics and return team will reject the return though.

proplusplus

AndyOdish

You've got me a bit nervous Proplusplus!

Basically the supervisor of customer services was speaking to a member of staff in the Orange Shop. He got cut off and when I returned the call I was put straight through to the upgrades team where I was given their returns address in Banbury to return the phone to.

No reference or name was given but I was told this would be fine. The guy from the upgrade team also promissed me a phone call on receipt of the phone.

Part of me is tempted to ring Orange this afternoon to confirm but my fear is if they decide to retract their offer.

I guess I'll just have to hope and pray.

Jon_01

Orange retail and the people you speak to when you call in are separate divisions. The call centres have no control over retail. I can't see how anyone in CS can do this. . . The normal response is to get hold of the area manager for the store and see if he can do something...

DebtHater

Buzby wrote: »

As you have upgraded your phone, there is no cooling off period allowed.

Wrong. All mobile phone contracts are subject to the Consumer Credit Act, which states that you do indeed have a cooling off period, but this does vary from company to company, it is usually 7-14 working days.

If Orange wont change the phone, eBay it and use the money to purchase a phone you would like better. I had a Touch Diamond, and hated it. Really poor range of phones and, like you said, they go slow and keep crashing. I sold it on eBay for £200, and bought a nice Nokia slide phone for £170, £30 extra profit for me :rotfl:

But, bear in mind that if for whatever reason the contract gets cancelled, you will need to return the original handset (which you cant do if you sell it!)

proplusplus

DebtHater wrote: »

Wrong. All mobile phone contracts are subject to the Consumer Credit Act, which states that you do indeed have a cooling off period, but this does vary from company to company, it is usually 7-14 working days.

This isn't a new contract, it's a commitment to renew your existing contract for a fixed period. the 7-14 cooling off period is most likely the European Distance Selling Regulation which allows for a 7day cooling off period for contracts/products purchased at a distance where you've had no opportunity to view the product before buying. This period is extended to 14 days for 3-G devices.

This does not apply for retail purchases as you've had the opportunity to review before buying.

best of luck returning your device, but i'll be suprised if you're able to return it to Banbury if you bought it in Orange shop

proplusplus

DebtHater

proplusplus wrote: »

This isn't a new contract, it's a commitment to renew your existing contract for a fixed period. the 7-14 cooling off period is most likely the European Distance Selling Regulation which allows for a 7day cooling off period for contracts/products purchased at a distance where you've had no opportunity to view the product before buying. This period is extended to 14 days for 3-G devices.

This does not apply for retail purchases as you've had the opportunity to review before buying.

The Consumer Credit Act applies here. There is a cooling off period as according to the regulations supplied to credit lenders.
The OP is entitled to cancel/reject