Warning shock internet bill from orange

Iananne

I have just come back from Spain and i purchased a dongle from Orange. asked them to explain what they thought i would need to use it abroad. They explained 10 MB would be £12.50. I told them i would only be doing internet banking every 3 or 4 days. I have no idea what a MB is, how stupid was i, i even thought i wouldnt use 10MB. I have just received the bill from Orange, apparently the 6 times i used the internet has cost me £830.00. even writing it down i still cannot believe it, if this isnt mis selling and daylight robbery i dont know what is, they cant even prove to me dates and times i used it, they said that sort of information isnt available. So please be careul everyone, make sure you know exactly what you are buying. I am now in dispute with Orange, but no doubt they will disconnect my mobile and pass it onto a debt recovery agent. Not sure were i stand with it all, i have managed to pay £300 but what a waste of money. Thanks for listening, needed to get it off my chest.Be careful!!!!

web_ferret

This is shocking. I'd try disputing it if I were you.

If you were quoted £12.50 for 10Mb then thats £1.25 per Mb
So £830/£1.25 = 664 Meg

This is a lot for only 6 times accessing an internet bank site.
Unless your computer was downloading updates at the same time but this large amount of data transfer and is unlikely.

Ask them for a letter of deadlock if they cannot provide you with dates, times and amount of data downloaded and contact Ofcom.
They must have this info or how can they work out your bill!

Iananne

Thanks for the advice regarding the Orange internet bill. Never even thought to work it out like you did. They told me we had used 220MB so that dosnt even add up to anywhere near £830. I think they will say this £1.25 mb rate was only for the package. I have written a long letter to Orange complaints dept, and they have phoned acknowledging receipt of the letter but they are still sending letters saying we havnt paid the bill. But i know i will take this as far as i have to. Offcom is a good idea. I have never heard of a letter of deadlock before, at least i feel i now some more ammunition to throw at them.

Stompa

You may be interested in this:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4165-orange-hit-user-with-8-000-mobile-broadband-bill.html

macman

Iananne wrote: »

Thanks for the advice regarding the Orange internet bill. Never even thought to work it out like you did. They told me we had used 220MB so that dosnt even add up to anywhere near £830. I think they will say this £1.25 mb rate was only for the package. I have written a long letter to Orange complaints dept, and they have phoned acknowledging receipt of the letter but they are still sending letters saying we havnt paid the bill. But i know i will take this as far as i have to. Offcom is a good idea. I have never heard of a letter of deadlock before, at least i feel i now some more ammunition to throw at them.

The roaming charges are clearly stated on the Orange website, it's £2.94 per Mb for the EU, £6.46 rest of the world. So a bill of £830 indicates that you have used about 282Mb. Not impossible with Windows Updates, Antivirus updates etc.
Plead ignorance and as a first offence they might halve your bill. But contractually you haven't a leg to stand on. How can it be mis-selling because you didn't check the cost?
Offcom will not be interested.
Just be grateful you didn't take your holiday outside the EU-the bill would have been about £1800.

Snakeeyes21

I'm always curious as to why people opt to use their home sim when going abroad.

Surely people don't find it too difficult to walk in to a shop when they get off the plane and pick up a sim and some credit.

DUTR

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

I'm always curious as to why people opt to use their home sim when going abroad.

Surely people don't find it too difficult to walk in to a shop when they get off the plane and pick up a sim and some credit.

This always puzzles me too, when I was in Spain last September, I got a telefonica dongle eu40 + 10 got me a 10gb bundle, some days we had rain and was on the net all day long, the sim is still working with credit on it, same if I go to other countries , I get a PAYG sim (never see them at the airport though) and use my previous mobile (sim unlocked) , save a fortune :A

Iananne

WOW Stompa thanks that was really interesting, so like everything else it could be worse, Having received a bill for £8,000 makes £800 look cheap.
With a bit of luck like macman says they may even meet me halfway. I suppose i am guilty of believing things i hear. I try to ask all the right questions, but i do think staff dont always know about the product they are selling. But just because people dont always read all the small print dosnt give Orange the right to exploit that. I will learn from this.

macman

Orange don't make the charges-they are set by the local operators whom Orange have to pay.

ACDeag

macman wrote: »

Orange don't make the charges-they are set by the local operators whom Orange have to pay.

Not quite true Orange add a huge mark up. The EU sets a maximum wholesale price of €1 for 1 MB. So you can see what markup Orange add.

Inactive

macman wrote: »

Orange don't make the charges-they are set by the local operators whom Orange have to pay.

Orange have a mobile set up in Spain.:)

They took over Almena and re-branded it Orange a 2 or 3 years ago.