Orange Price changes ?

mariag_2

On Tuesday at 21.24 i phoned orange disconnections and managed, without any problems to cancel both my and my husbands contracts. When i phone yesterday for pac numbers it appears that only my contract was cancelled not my husbands, although the rep i spoke to confirmed to me both had been cancelled. So when i asked them to cancel it yesterday they told me the t and cs were not going to take place and was unable to cancel now. Anyone got advice please.We are trying to chase Holly at North tTyneside to see why my husbands wasnt cancelled......

evilsheep

nafe wrote: »

It strikes me that you're exactly the sort of person who *should* be still aiming to cancel. The "you're not eligible" spiel was a load of tosh that they used to try and prevent people from leaving, you were entirely within your rights to cancel and now that they've withdrawn the changes you can't. Meanwhile, other people who were not so unlucky have cancelled. Seems a little unfair really.

True, I was eligible for cancellation, but now the charges aren't going ahead, so why should I still be eligible? I see it as tough luck. Life goes on etc.

nafe

evilsheep wrote: »

True, I was eligible for cancellation, but now the charges aren't going ahead, so why should I still be eligible? I see it as tough luck. Life goes on etc.

I'd be inclined to agree if you'd simply missed your opportunity, however if you'd tried and the CSR had incorrectly rejected your right to cancel then I think that would be grounds for grumpiness.

Any

evilsheep wrote: »

True, I was eligible for cancellation, but now the charges aren't going ahead, so why should I still be eligible? I see it as tough luck. Life goes on etc.

And how about the people that signed up for new contracts in the meantime? When they were ASSURED their contracts are cancelled? I suppose "life is tough" applies to that according to you as well?

madison-nyc

evilsheep wrote: »

I'm one of the 'unlucky' few who didn't manage to cancel their Orange contract. I phoned up on Tuesday evening and was told I wasn't eligible as I hadn't gone over my minutes (see my earlier post on this thread for more details). My reason for attempting to cancel was purely because I don't have a very good signal in my house, or in a few places that I work. I didn't want an iPhone, I didn't want to sell my phone and then go straight back to Orange, and I'm not desperately looking to get out of a contract that I shouldn't have signed up for because I couldn't afford it in the first place.

In the midst of all these negative attitudes towards Orange, I'd just like to say that in the 12 or so years I've had a contract with the company, I've had very very little to complain about. Any problems I've had have been resolved politely & quickly, I've been offered very good deals by retentions (admittedly after a few calls sometimes, but that's part of the game eh?). My current lack of signal problem is, thus far, an unresolved issue, and if it remains this poor I will probably port to another network when my contract is up. I don't blame Orange personally for this - in fact, Vodafone have an equally bad signal in the same places - it's just one of those things.

I'm sure there are some Orange CSAs whose telephone manner leaves a lot to be desired, but I'd just like to say that, compared with most other companies' call centre staff, Orange CS have for me been the most polite, helpful & well-informed. I think the Orange Representative who has posted on this thread has also been as helpful as he could've been under the circumstances - it's not his job to answer individual queries (despite some FMs demanding that he do just that), and I don't see why he should receive anything but thanks from us here for taking the time to post. Some companies wouldn't've bothered at all.

So, Orange c**ked up with their price changes, but now they've withdrawn the changes, everything's back to the way it was, so why are there still demands to cancel contracts? There seems to be some bizarre mob mentality building up here - I'm half expecting there to be an event organised: "Bring your pitchforks and flaming torches and lets march to Orange Head Office demanding to be released from our contracts!"?

Right, I just had to get that off my chest. Feeling better now. I'm fully expecting a raving backlash to this post, so go ahead and get it off your chests if you wish.

Finally, to reiterate, I have no complaints to Orange CS - they're polite, helpful (not perfect, but who is? We're human at the end of the day), and whilst I did want to get out of my contract for signal issues, I'm quite happy to stay with the great deal that I signed up for until my contract expires.

I agree with what your saying on the whole. I , like you , have pants signal with orange so I did ring up a few days ago to try and cancel , for that reason alone. I was told I wasn't eligible as I didn't ring any 08 numbers or go over my minutes. Now whilst I know they were technically going against their own ts and cs BUT it was true really , as I never go over or call 08 off my mobile so the price changes wouldn't have affected me at all. They clearly knew this and were trying to stop people just taking their chances on keeping cashback , new handsets etc. as many people have.

Whilst I am miffed that some in my position were able to cancel and some have £20 credit etc. It's really not the end of the world.

As for staff being rude , all staff I spoke to 3/4 in the end were very polite and were following what they were being told to do. Perhaps if more people had been polite to them then they wouldn't have been hanging up , losing their rag etc.

Guys_Dad

Any wrote: »

And how about the people that signed up for new contracts in the meantime? When they were ASSURED their contracts are cancelled? I suppose "life is tough" applies to that according to you as well?

Sorry, Any, miss this point. Are you saying that new customers who signed up in expectation of the now withdrawn and generally accepted as worse t&c should be allowed to pull out because of better terms?

Is this to enable them to keep their newly received mobile phone but not have an 18-month contract attached?

Any

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Sorry, Any, miss this point. Are you saying that new customers who signed up in expectation of the now withdrawn and generally accepted as worse t&c should be allowed to pull out because of better terms?

Is this to enable them to keep their newly received mobile phone but not have an 18-month contract attached?

???
I think we are on the different receivers...

People who "cancelled" their contract and took out new one (which they cannot cancel now) are going to be paying for 2 contracts because Orange changed their mind. I don't think that is fair.

evilsheep

jase301 wrote: »

I take it you are chairman of the Orange fan club?
What is your view on Orange releasing a statement saying all agreed cancellations will stand, then less than 24 hours later, telling people (who have been told PAC on way etc) that they will have to pay hundreds to get out, after they have signed new contacts in good faith?

The staff on customer services that lied and lied to thousands trying to cancel?

....i could go on.

It'd be interesting to read your reply.

I didn't refer to those who'd had their cancellations withdrawn in my post. That's a seperate issue and one obviously worth pursuing. I was querying why people were still trying to cancel despite the changes being withdrawn. With regards to CS 'lying' - admittedly, Orange hadn't provided adequate training to staff on this issue. However, all it meant for me is that I was unable to exploit a loophole. Big deal - I still agreed to an 18 month contract, so I was expecting to see it through anyway.

There wasn't really any need for the 'Chairman of the Orange fanclub' retort. Why wouldn't I be allowed to report my experiences of good customer service here?

simate wrote: »

The point is that Orange handled this fiasco like a bunch of cowboys on drugs, hence people still wanting to leave. I don't want to stay with them either because of the way they treated me when I was entitled to my legal rights but wouldn't allow it. I'm now stuck with a provider who cannot give a toss about the customer, let alone their legal rights when it comes to contracts. They deserve to be fined an unlimited amount over this, sooooooo much was wrong about the whole thing. CSA's giving out legal advice over the phone!!!!!!! Saying contracts would be cancelled and then denying the call ever happened, etc. Unbelievable behaviour, no doubt they will get away with it too. Once my contract is up I will never ever be a customer of theirs again and I know I'm not alone on that one.

Orange could've dealt with the situation better of course, but they're no different to any other company in that matter I assume. For me, this was a one-off situation, one which Orange didn't expect and didn't adequately prepare for. But it's hardly a life and death situation. I had an ongoing 'experience' with ntl for many years - now that was an example of bad customer service, but Orange have got nowhere near that for me. If you will never be a customer of theirs again, then fair enough, but I don't think you'll get much better treatment elsewhere. I daresay any of the mobile phone companies would've dealt with things in a similar way.

Guys_Dad

Any wrote: »

???
I think we are on the different receivers...

People who "cancelled" their contract and took out new one (which they cannot cancel now) are going to be paying for 2 contracts because Orange changed their mind. I don't think that is fair.

Told you I missed the point! Thought you were referring to people who had signed up for new Orange contracts under the new t&c and were wnating to get out of them (see some earlier posts).

Entirely see where you are coming from here.

evilsheep

Any wrote: »

And how about the people that signed up for new contracts in the meantime? When they were ASSURED their contracts are cancelled? I suppose "life is tough" applies to that according to you as well?

As I said earlier, this is a totally seperate issue. I didn't make any reference to customers having cancellations withdrawn so I don't know why you associated my 'life is tough' (I actually said 'tough luck' and 'life goes on') with this.

ETA: I really think there should be a seperate thread started for those who've had their cancellations revoked.