Rubbish experience with Orange Retentions

mig25_foxbat2003

Hi guys,

Just thought I would tell you about the dreadful service I've experienced from Orange Customer Retentions today. I rang up at 11am to try to renegotiate my contract, as I had spied their "online exclusive" offer of:

• 500 mins
• 1100 texts
• 150 offpeak minutes
• 1 x "magic number"
• Free 2mb broadband
• K800i @ £30

@ £30 per month x 18 months.

After much uhmming and aahing, I was offered the exclusive Flex 30 package, designed to match its almost-namesake from T-Mobile.

• 300 mins
• 200 texts
• 0 x "magic number"
• K800i @ £9.99
• Free 2mb broadband

@ £30 per month x 18 months

I told him this was pants, and asked him to match the online plan, which he eventually agreed to do, even agreeing to drop the charge for the K800i. However, I then made my fatal mistake. As I had to change my broadband over, Orange bloke said he would prefer to get it all done in one go. So I left the call to call Virgin and get my MAC, and he agreed to ring me at 1pm.

1pm came and passed.

So did 2pm.

At 3pm I decided to ring them - hey, I'm at work, I've got nothing better to do. I finally got through to their customer retentions department for the second time that day at about 3:15, and found, to my shock, that there was no note on the system to suggest that the earlier call, let alone the offer, had ever taken place! I suggested to the new operator that she should make me the same offer, and she refused, saying that the best she could do was the ridiculously-named "Panther":

• 500 minutes
• 1500 texts
• 1x magic number
• K800i @ £99.99!!!
• 2mb free broadband

@ £30 per month x 18 months

I suggested that I didn't need all those texts, and that as I knew customer retentions to be discretionary, perhaps she might wish to reduce the cost of the phone? She refused, saying that she could only offer me the stock plans. I asked why the first offer had been made, and she didn't accuse me of lying, but she made it plain that there were no records of any such offer taking place. The guy simply hadn't written anything down about the offer! I pointed out that I could cancel my contract and take out the online plan, and her response was "Yeah, you could. But then you can't port your number." So I requested my PAC anyway.

In summary, their customer retentions efforts seemed to lack cohesion, dignity, or any sense that they actually wanted to retain me as a customer, as their name would indicate.

I shall call them back next Friday to give them another chance. If not, I'm going to take out the online plan. My number isn't worth £70, and in any case, I can port it to O2 PAYG and then to Orange (hopefully). I don't see why, as a paying customer, I should be treated worse than new customers! It's daft.

Anyway, that's my rant over with. Hope it's been useful to someone.

reehsetin

always always get the name and extention number and never ever trust them to ring you back -so irritating it happens a lot! they dont leave any trace of themselves on the account so no way to get them back
dont ever be satisfied with a name always get an extention number!

matrix999

Yet again Orange providing poor retention deals for existing customers!! When is this company going to learn that the customers are what keeps it going, no customers and the future isn't very Orange for Orange!!

Get yourself over to O2 where they actually value their existing customers and give them good retention deals - O2 has also just been ranked number 1 mobile provider for customer service in the JD Power survey!

HTH

msaquib

You can ask for an pay as you go sim card and transfer you contract number to PYG.

You can then open a new contract and transfer your PYG number to your new contract.

I have done this twice with no problems.

SM

mig25_foxbat2003

I would go over to o2, but surely they haven't got anything to match that Orange deal? Is there number on which I can ring them and ask them to match it?