Orange Text Problems

Morty_007

Hi All,
For months/years now I have had problems on and off with sending and receiving texts from my orange phone(s).
Some texts get delivered and sometimes I receive texts but a vast amount of texts either don't get to where I am sending them or I don't receive messages others are sending me. There is no rhyme or reason as to why texts go missing and no pattern that I can ascertain.

When I call Orange and complain they send me a test text which always arrives, then I send them a text that always arrives. They then tell me it isn't my handset and say they can't do anything about it. They say no-one else has complained and that it is the fault of the people I am texting. It happens with a number of people cross network and within Orange and has been happening over 2 changes of mobile models and sim cards. (and goodness only knows how many times my friends have changed their phones too)

Mum and I have tested that it is an actual problem on a number of occasions by sitting in the same room with my mum and we have sent each other 10 texts. All of them provided a "message delivered" receipt. On a good night we will receive 5 or 6 out of ten each. I can sometimes send her a message 6 or 7 times and she still doesn't receive it.

I am on a contract with an "unlimited" text bundle and I have for a long time suspected this is the problem at least with my SENDING messages, but it doesn't explain why I don't receive them. I use about 1500/2000 texts a month but a lot of those are repeats of texts people say they haven't received! (well within the fair usage policy)

OK, my question and thanks for staying with me! I wanted to see if I could get some anecdotal evidence that it isn't just my patch of people who are experiencing these problems like Orange say it is so i'd be interested if you could share the following information with me in the thread

do you have any problems with Orange or any other network and texts not getting where they are going?
and
if yes...are you on a contract with unlimited texts?

and did you complain/ have you had any success getting the problem solved by Orange and if so how??

I was once told:
ORANGE CS advisor: well the service didn't used to be guaranteed but now it is so we need to find out the problem for you.......
<dialing tone....>

Naturally I never got hold of him again and can't get anyone else to admit that they now guarantee a certain level of service for the payment I make every month!

Before anyone asks:
*I don't leave Orange because I can't imagine any other provider is any better and I have a cheap tariff (but that shouldn't mean I get a worse service than anyone else!)*

Anyway, I look forward to hearing others' experiences.

Thanks for reading this far!!

Morty_007

noone? so it IS just us?!

Jon_01

What tests (If any) have CS tried to soft this ?

How olds your sim?
Have you tried sending texts to yourself and see if that works ?
Are the people you're sending/receiving from on Orange or another network ?

Morty_007

Hi Jon,
Thanks for your post. I have highlighted the answers to your questions in the OP in red. Texts to myself arrive/don't arrive in similar proportion to the ones I have exchanged with mum.

Jon_01

Hi Morty,

Sorry, skimmed the post before rushing out this morning...

You say 2 sims, have they changed your sim and moved your number to the new one ?
I'm guessing yes in which case it could be a network server error.
If you press (and you may need to go up the chain to a team leader), they can get the network support guys to track sms/mms etc through the network and see what's happening to them.

Network support aren't part of CS they can only be contacted through a request from CS (if you follow).
They'll need to give you some info before they start.
They'll need the exact time when you send, the location and where the message is going. The time need to be has exact as possible (millions of messages going through the network and tracking one can be a nightmare).