Orange broadband - have I been ripped off?

chinny · 15 November 2009 at 2:08PM

I certainly feel like I have. I recently moved from Orange to BT after Orange put my broadband fee up £8 a month without warning (they tell me they wrote to me, I didn't get the letter). The switchover happened on 6th October, and after that I noticed that Orange were still taking my direct debit.
Checking my orange account to make sure that I wasn't just paying in arrears for a service I'd already received (got no problem with that at all) I discovered I'd been charged for the period 6th Oct to 5th November, when BT had been providing my broadband.
I immediately cancelled my direct debit, and shortly after that got an automated e-mail requesting that I update my payment details to avoid additional charges.
Phoned the call centre (after searching "say no to 0845" for an 0800) and waited 10 minutes in a queue, then got cut off. Phoned again, waited 10 minutes again, then spoke to someone who sounded a very long way away who told me that the automated e-mail was a mistake and I could ignore it: I owed them nothing. "No," I explained "but you owe me £20". Then I got some bull about BT not informing them of the switch-over until 5th November, so they still had to charge me even though I had not been receiving their service. This was clearly preposterous, so I contacted BT who confirmed that they could not have taken over as my broadband provider without informing Orange, and since they were my provider from 6th Oct, they must have informed Orange. It's only £20 and I hate to waste my time following it up, but I resent the brazen rip-off attitude.

Is there something I have misunderstood?

I can't work out how to contact Orange in writing or by e-mail - only an unhelpful call centre where (as far as I can gather from BT) they don't tell you the truth. Should I pursue this through the Direct Debit guarantee maybe?:mad::mad::mad:

macman · 15 November 2009 at 3:26PM

Orange require 30 days notice after they have received notice of migration from the new provider, so essentially you pay for an overlap period. It's not from the date that they supply the MAC, as a MAC is not a firm migration, it's simply an 'offer to migrate' that expires in 30 days.

chinny · 15 November 2009 at 6:52PM

Right, that makes sense - they didn't say that when I phoned them. Ah well, although i still feel cheated, at least I can stop wondering how to deal with it.