Anyone else been caught out by the notice period when cancelling Orange?

flier

I switched to the POst Office Home phone & Broadband on 28th Aug. I noticed just last week that they had taken the regular D/D from me for the period 19th Aug to 18th Sept and have billed me today for 19th Sept to 18th Oct.
When I phoned to ask them about this they told me that 30 days notice applies from 27th Aug and they would reimburse me when the account was properly closed on 27th Sept.

So, for my first month of broadband usage I'm paying twice - once to the PO and once to Orange. Is this normal practice?

Orange_Company_Representative

Hi there, I work for Orange and might be able to help.

Our cancellation policy, once a MAC has been used, is that the 30 days' notice period will start when the customer's new provider confirms to us that the MAC has been used.


Kind regards,

Jonathan
Orange Response Team

mrochester

Orange_Company_Representative wrote: »

Hi there, I work for Orange and might be able to help.

Our cancellation policy, once a MAC has been used, is that the 30 days' notice period will start when the customer's new provider confirms to us that the MAC has been used.


Kind regards,

Jonathan
Orange Response Team

Let's say I call Orange on the 1st of the month and give 30 days notice, and also request the MAC code. I keep hold of the MAC code until the 20th of the month, and give it to my new provide at this point. I assume the contract is still terminated on the 30th even though I only used the MAC code a few days before?

Orange_Company_Representative

Hi mrochester,

When your new provider sets up the new account for you and your service transfers, the 30 days notice goes from when your new provider advises us of the transfer.

Regards

Jonathan
Orange Response Team

mrochester

Orange_Company_Representative wrote: »

Hi mrochester,

When your new provider sets up the new account for you and your service transfers, the 30 days notice goes from when your new provider advises us of the transfer.

Regards

Jonathan
Orange Response Team

So essentially there's no way of transferring your service to another ISP from Orange without paying twice over for your connection - once to your new ISP, and again to Orange for the 30 days they aren't providing the customer any service? What's the justification for this?

jambosans

Orange_Company_Representative wrote: »

Hi mrochester,

When your new provider sets up the new account for you and your service transfers, the 30 days notice goes from when your new provider advises us of the transfer.

Regards

Jonathan
Orange Response Team

So just to clarify, a customer transferring to a new provider and requesting a MAC, can only give notice through the other provider using the MAC?

However I am assuming that a customer wishing to merely terminate their services (without transferring) has to give 30 days notice written or verbal?

Both types of customer are leaving Orange, why should one pay for a months service they have no way of receiving (as mrochester has said)?

This doesn't seem correct, hopefully Orange will clarify.

Orange_Company_Representative

Hello,

The policy for disconnecting with a MAC has been detailed above.

When customers close their broadband account without requesting a MAC code, a charge is applied to their account. The charge is £24.61 and covers what BT charges us for customers who leave without a MAC code.

Hope this helps.

Jonathan
Orange Response Team

Peaches2472

Yes Flier I moved to the Post Office too on the same date!

I did however cancelled my direct debit (paid up till the 12th September), and got an abusive phone call asking why I had cancelled my direct debit.

I phoned today to find out when they would be sending me the envelope to send back the livebox and direct debit was again mentioned so I asked them to send me the bill to which they said 'we don't send out bills'!

Waiting to see if I get an envelope or bill. I have been willing to send the livebox back for a month now but they won't send the envelope out until the 30 days are up.

I have been with them for years now and out of contract and this 30 day period is just a way of making more money out of you.

Cancel your direct debit Flier straight away or they will keep taking money from you.

CrabPaste

Peaches2472 wrote: »

Yes Flier I moved to the Post Office too on the same date!

I did however cancelled my direct debit (paid up till the 12th September), and got an abusive phone call asking why I had cancelled my direct debit.

I phoned today to find out when they would be sending me the envelope to send back the livebox and direct debit was again mentioned so I asked them to send me the bill to which they said 'we don't send out bills'!

Waiting to see if I get an envelope or bill. I have been willing to send the livebox back for a month now but they won't send the envelope out until the 30 days are up.

I have been with them for years now and out of contract and this 30 day period is just a way of making more money out of you.

Cancel your direct debit Flier straight away or they will keep taking money from you.

This is purely advice, and it's up to you whether or not you want to follow it.

If you cancel your Direct Debit, and you've still not covered the 30 days notice with your payments, you'll end up with an additional £5 late payment fee on top of your outstanding balance.

If you don't pay this, it may be sent to a debt collection agency (read the many other posts on various forums and you'll see this does happen).


Canceling your broadband account, you have two options.

Mac Code, or 30 days notice.

Mac Code:
If you get a Mac Code, your new provider uses this to activate their broadband. When BT (openreach) tell Orange you've migrated, 30 days notice is applied to your account.

30 Days Notice:
If you ask for 30 days notice to be applied to your account, at the end of the 30 days, you'll still have an Orange broadband tag on your landline. BT will remove this within the next 10 working days (remember that's 2 weeks). If you sign up to a new provider, it will take them a further (upto) 10 working days to activate the broadband. So you could potentially be offline for 28 days, and that's assuming no delays. You'll also have the £24.61 disconnection fee to pay, I wont explain that here, but have a look at http://www.orange.co.uk/time/disconnection/

It isn't possible to request a Mac Code, and 30 days notice, at the same time. Not everyone who asks for a Mac Code actually uses it.

So, which would you rather do?

Pay the 30 days notice (it is in the Terms of Use to be fair, whether anyone wants to read it or not), and have a seamless broadband transfer? Or be offline for upto 28 days, and pay the £24.61 disconnection fee?

Remember that billing is calculated in advance, so, lets say your broadband was activated on 1st of the month, that's your statement date from now on. You'll be billed for payment from 01/xx/xx to 31/xx/xx (assuming 31 days in the month, this of course will alter depending on how many days in that particular month). Direct Debits take upto 10 working days to process, so payment for this statement will be taken from your bank around 14th/15th of the month. This is why some people think they're being billed beyond what they think they owe (check your statements online and you'll see the dates you're billed for).

Refunds are calculated automatically when the account is closed, so even if you've paid beyond the closure date, it is refunded. Refunds are processed on the statement date, and like Direct Debit processing timescales, you'll get it back in your bank upto 10 working days later.

As I said, this is advice I'm offering. So don't shoot the messenger. I'm providing this for further clarification on the procedures that are in place.

Iainmar

I am in a similar situation to some of the above posters. Orange wished to withdraw my package and put me on to a new slightly different package and gave my notice that I had to cancel before the 30th of July or I would automatically be put on to the new package. I decided that this new package no longer suited my needs. So I decided to change provider and gave Orange my notice and MAC code on the 28th so I could change to O2. (Far better connection and download speeds too).

Later I recieved a phonecall advising me that I would have to pay for a further months broadband. Normally this makes sense and I understand that its written in the contract, but my feeling was that they were canceling my original agreement by ending my package. I did not wish the new service therefor it was Orange that effectively canceled the agreement not me (if they hadnt changed the package I wouldnt have left).

Surely Orange cannot claim a fee for canceling a service which no longer exists????

Am I wrong, I have refused to pay what do other forum members think and what is the legal situation since they ended the contract?

CrabPaste

Iainmar wrote: »

I am in a similar situation to some of the above posters. Orange wished to withdraw my package and put me on to a new slightly different package and gave my notice that I had to cancel before the 30th of July or I would automatically be put on to the new package. I decided that this new package no longer suited my needs. So I decided to change provider and gave Orange my notice and MAC code on the 28th so I could change to O2. (Far better connection and download speeds too).

Later I recieved a phonecall advising me that I would have to pay for a further months broadband. Normally this makes sense and I understand that its written in the contract, but my feeling was that they were canceling my original agreement by ending my package. I did not wish the new service therefor it was Orange that effectively canceled the agreement not me (if they hadnt changed the package I wouldnt have left).

Surely Orange cannot claim a fee for canceling a service which no longer exists????

Am I wrong, I have refused to pay what do other forum members think and what is the legal situation since they ended the contract?

You've kind of answered your own question.

The contract wasn't ended? Where did you get that from?

You can leave without penalty if you do so within the 30 days notice they've given you. After the 30 days, you've accepted the new Terms. Chances are you're out of the minimum term contract anyway, most people are in this situation.

EVERY cancellation is subject to you giving 30 days notice. The exception being, if you're still within the minimum term contract. In this case, you'd pay the cancellation fee and not 30 days notice.

Any notice they've given you of a package change, price increase, change of terms, is completely separate from the cancellation notice you have to give.

Again, don't shoot the messenger. This is advice based on the facts, to help folks on the forum.