Cancelling contract due to very poor service?

WD40

Hi,

I’ve been with Orange for many years, on 18-month contracts. I’ve never had a complaint, until I renewed around 6 weeks ago and got an Iphone 3GS. It was ok for a couple of weeks. Then it developed all kinds of problems: poor sound quality, not ringing and going straight to answer-phone, etc.

The worst problem was that it refused to send emails. I got it on a business contract, and the whole reason for buying it was to send emails on the road.

Orange kept kicking me around from pillar to post. They made me restore the Iphone 3 times. I must've spent hours on hold. This wasted many hours. It still wouldn’t work, and Apple support told me to send it back to them, after I couldn’t re-load my contacts / data etc (6 weeks of contacts + notes lost…this was the only fault I believe the Iphone had).


In the meantime, Orange told me to power up my old Nokia (which worked successfully for 18 months). This sent emails fine for a few days, whereupon it inherited the same issues as the Iphone. I cannot send email, and – now – texts have been going missing, which is really worrying (clients complaining I haven’t responded…).


Funnily enough, Orange told me my area was a 'black spot' for reception... If indeed it is (the issues have followed me around btw), why didn't they warn me? Surely this is grounds for divorce on its own? (laughably, they suggested the 3GS has the same power strength issue as the Iphone 4 - i.e. it says it's better than it really is...hilarious - they're really inventive).


I became so exasperated, Orange offered to terminate my contract around 10 days ago, before I'd got the Nokia back on line. I gave them a second chance, thinking I could sell the Iphone and use a Nokia on the same contract. However, I’ve now been forced to buy a pay-as-you-go phone just to send email on the road.

Yesterday, they told me the person who offered to terminate my contract is away for the rest of the month, and that I couldn’t cancel just because I couldn’t send email… They also admitted the problem was with their network, but couldn’t tell me when it’ll be fixed…

This is the tip of the iceberg. They’re now saying they want a list of all the postcodes where the phone won’t work… They’re real experts at wasting your time.

As far as I’m concerned, I’m not getting the service I’m paying for. I don’t trust either phone for text, and I can’t email. Can anyone clarify my legal rights? They have admitted the fault is their end. It’s existed for around a month. I haven’t opened the Iphone since Apple sent a new one. I don’t want to put a mark on it. I just want out.

Thanks in advance.

DarkConvict

As an operator they only need to provide signal to the outside of your home address.

Since the issue is with several phones, it is not a phone issue so won't be covered by sale of goods act.

You say you travel around alot yet it continues to not function, do you have good signal in these areas. If you do, you may well find it is a network problem rather than a reception based issue. Have you tried putting the phone into 2G mode to see if it actually helps?

Your best bet is get in touch with consumer direct saying your not happy with the service received. http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/about/how-we-help/

drbesty

WD40 wrote: »

Funnily enough, Orange told me my area was a 'black spot' for reception... If indeed it is (the issues have followed me around btw), why didn't they warn me? Surely this is grounds for divorce on its own? (laughably, they suggested the 3GS has the same power strength issue as the Iphone 4 - i.e. it says it's better than it really is...hilarious - they're really inventive).

The iPhone 3GS does have that exact problem, Apple admitted it, they've used the wrong formula to work out signal on every iPhone, upgrade to OS 4.0.1 and watch your signal bars plummet

WD40

Hi,

As with the other Orange query posted today (it seems I'm not the only person who thinks their service is rubbish), they also told me to engage 2G. I did so, but found it painfully slow and I couldn't surf the 'web.

The bar display is fine from my home address on the Nokia E71. Orange have admitted there's a problem with sending email. I'm now getting error messages when trying to receive email. My outbox is full of unsent emails going back days.

As for Internet, forget it. I can just about read a page at 6am, but later on in the day the 'web becomes inaccessible, and I constantly get 'cannot find server'-type messages - on Nokia or Iphone.

I have an unopened, new Iphone from Apple to send Orange back.

This link MSE News mentions a dispute service. Who might that be? I just want to forget I ever signed with Orange. I believe something is profoundly wrong with their network in my area (overselling smart-phones, as has been suggested to me?) and that their staff are expertly drilled in fobbing off clients.

DarkConvict

OFCOM is the regulator for mobile companies. If you have a problem you can take your complaint to them. In your case Orange admit they are in error but are unable to provide a timeframe to fix it, yet they continue to make you pay monthly service charges. State you either want to not pay the monthly charges until resolved, or if orange are unable to do this then penalty fee termination is required so you can move to an operator with a working service.

riccardo17

Hi

I live in SE London and have exactly the same problems which Orange agree are there but they still wont let me out of the contract, I have the Iphone 4 and am lucky to be able to make and receive calls. Maybe we should all get together a take them to the small claims court. Even if we don't win if enough of us do it we might be able to generate enough bad publicity to get them to either make some changes or let us out of our contracts. In my experience it's always the ones that make the most noise that get heard.

R