orange contract

beth873

My boyfriend and I recently cancelled our orange contracts due to the breach of contract that orange had made regarding increased call charges. We did this with no problems and Orange automatically sent us PAC codes in the post however we didn't use them, just bought into a new o2 contract. Orange are now saying that because we haven't used the PAC code and because they are no longer making the changes, they are not going to cancel our contracts. Can they do this?

Jon_01

A pac code only lasts 30 days after that, if you haven't used it the contract carry's on. How long have you had the pac's ?

beth873

we've had the pac codes for over the 30 days now as we wern't aware that we would have to use them for the contract to be cancelled. I phoned up yesterday and the lady that I spoke to said that because I hadn't used it then I would be charged for a further month and my contract will now end on 15th October, however my boyfriend phoned today and they said to him that he cannot cancel as he's not used the code. Orange are giving out mixed messages though as my boyfriend called on the day his contract ended to confirm that it had been cancelled and the man he spoke to said yes it was in the process and would be cancelled by midnight that night!!

Jon_01

If the pac's expired then they would think you'd changed your mind and decided to stay with Orange.
To end the contract now you'd need to pay the cancel change (number of months x monthly change).

The 30 expire is a major part of the 'we giving you your pac' script, seems odd that you were both not told ?
You could try getting through to a team leader and getting him to listen to the calls, you might get somewhere...

beth873

I thought that this was the case however I don't understand why we both keep getting told different things. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if mine is cancelled on the 15th or not. Thanks Jon

maxtweenie

If you didn't want to port your numbers over, then you shouldn't have asked for the PAC, just cancelled the contract and gone elsewhere. By taking the PAC, Orange have assumed you were going to port the number, and when you didn't, they then assumed you had decided to stay with them. Not much help I'm afraid, but this time make sure Orange know you're not moving the number over or this will happen again.

beth873

I told the lady that I didn't want to keep my number and she said OK it will be cancelled on the 15th, however it doesn't give me much confidence that when my boyfriend phoned up to check his had been cancelled it was confirmed even though he hadn't used the pac code and now they are saying that he can't cancel!!

Jon_01

Indeed, if you don't use your pac then the contract won't end. Asking for a pac is just an option to end. You have to use it on another network for the contract to actually finish.
If you don't use it the network takes that as you wanting to stay.

If you wanted to finish completely you needed to ask to cancel.

Guys_Dad

beth873 wrote: »

I told the lady that I didn't want to keep my number and she said OK it will be cancelled on the 15th, however it doesn't give me much confidence that when my boyfriend phoned up to check his had been cancelled it was confirmed even though he hadn't used the pac code and now they are saying that he can't cancel!!

Given all the on-off correspondence on this subject, I would ring Orange at once and check that, if they cancel your contract on the 15th (and you go elsewhere) that you are not going to be asked to pay up your contract to its original termination date. If not, then cancel the cancellation.

As I recall it, there was a window when Orange ststed that they had changed the terms of their contracts and some customers took the opportunity to cancel. Then Orange changed its mind and lots of would-be escapees were refused permission to cancel.

Now you seem to have got your PAC codes during the "changed t&c" period but didn't use them in that window, so you need to double-check that they are still cancelling "for free". It seems that others have not been so lucky.