Lost cause with Orange

SAM-site

Hi folks, I'm currently trying to persuade Orange to cut me a deal on an iphone and revised contract, having picked up an HTC Hero on their Racoon 40 contract over 2 years 6 months ago it became apparent that not only is the phone significantly underpowered for what it's trying to do, but the contract doesn't cover enough bandwidth for me to actually use it.

You can read the full version of my pleading on my blog (linked from signature) as well as the follow up I've received so far from their customer service team.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to whether I have a cat in hell's chance at getting satisfaction? Any word on anyone having had a good experience with Orange's customer support? Any tips would be most welcome.

stugib

No chance IMHO. You agreed to the contract and phone at renewal now want to renegotiate 25% of the way in, changing the phone and the contract? As well as wanting to only partially pay for their premium phone which they don't give discounts on to new or existing customers. And have a custom contract rather than a standard iPhone contract.

But hey, if you've got no argument, start a blog to try and shame them into it (what happened to :rolleyes:?)

timberflake

stugib wrote: »

No chance IMHO. You agreed to the contract and phone at renewal now want to renegotiate 25% of the way in, changing the phone and the contract? As well as wanting to only partially pay for their premium phone which they don't give discounts on to new or existing customers. And have a custom contract rather than a standard iPhone contract.

But hey, if you've got no argument, start a blog to try and shame them into it (what happened to :rolleyes:?)

What he said. You haven't got a prayer dude! You agreed to the contract and its for you to consider what tariff to go for before agreeing the contract. That in itself is enough for Orange to tell you where to go!

They're obligated to give you a phone that works, together with the tariff YOU asked for. Nothing you can do I'm afraid.

SAM-site

I know, it's a bit of a lost cause - hence the title. I'm just hoping I can trade on having been a pay monthly subscriber for 10+ years and this being the first complaint I've made.

At every previous upgrade point I've felt pleased with my purchase and indeed felt "upgraded", but in the 6 months I've had this setup I've gone over the feeble bandwidth allowance 3 times despite not really using the phone because the handset is terrible.

This is less of a "I've been ripped off" crusade on my part because they've done nothing wrong, more of a "what can you do for me as a loyal customer" activity.

If I get nowhere with Orange I may try going to HTC and see if they have anything useful.

BunifahLatifah

Yes there is nothing you can do. From your wesbite entry, it seems like you feel that Orange is obligated to give you a new phone and change your contract AFTER you agreed to the phone and contract. You were not coerced to take up the phone (if you agreed via phone/online, you can actually return the phone within 7 days if you're not happy with it due to distance selling regulation) and the onus was not on on Orange to tell you that you can get an iPhone had you waited for two months (why should they?). You said that it's more of a "what can you do for me as a loyal customer" activity but your website entry sure says otherwise.

gjchester

SAM-site wrote: »

If I get nowhere with Orange I may try going to HTC and see if they have anything useful.

You bought the phone from Orange they are the ones who you have to deal with not HTC. HTC may help but they are under no obligation to do so.

SAM-site

Thanks for the comments folks, much appreciated, and perhaps I'm not communicating my intent - the only grievance I have is that for the first time since becoming an Orange customer my upgrade has ended up feeling like a massive step backwards, and while I have only myself to blame, I have a phone which doesn't do what I need and a contract that is entirely unsuitable for my purposes, even with the phone I have.

This combination makes me an unhappy customer. I'm not looking to right a wrong that was done to me, I'm looking to see if my service provider is bothered about my happiness given the thousands I've paid them over the years.

I suspect not, but I'm throwing a jovial plea in their direction to see if I can appeal to their better nature. If I opt to contact HTC as well I won't necessarily be looking to get anything out of it beyond an explanation as to why their hardware doesn't do what the software tries to make it do (until you experience lag while typing you'll have no idea how infuriating it is).

My specialisation in griping is in complaining about small things and not necessarily looking for anything in return - in this case I'm after a nod in the direction of my loyalty being turned into an agreeable outcome.

Lighthearted is my aim.

baxgttdi

in a word...no they don't, sorry if that sounds blunt.

i myself have been trying to negotiate a deal with orange. basically i'm due for renewal and the only premium handset they have that met my needs. After being branded by themselves as a band 5 (best type of customer) and never making a request for a deal etc before they were unable to offer my request for additional texts onto a standard iphone tarriff and quite happily gave me a PAC code without any delay. I'd therefore think your chances of getting the iphone here are little to none sorry

stugib

SAM-site wrote: »

Lighthearted is my aim.

Embarrassing is the result. Aren't you supposed to get to 70 before you start writing these kind of letters?

LeeSouthEast

Orange won't give a stuff. Loyalty means nothing these days.

drbesty

Are you sure you didnt upgrade to this phone just before they announced the iPhone would be coming to Orange and now you're regretting it?

First off, how is the contract not suited to your needs and second, why do you think the Hero is a bad phone?