Upgrading / renewing your contract on Orange

mattrad

I've been a customer for about 5 years, and after numerous discussions with Orange Customer Services, I've been told & discovered the following for customers who are approaching/out of contract.

Orange Shops

If you haggle they can do deals on bundled minutes, but only to a limited degree. They can phone the upgrades dept. for you and negotiate on tariffs. Going this route can often be good for getting extra accessories thrown in. However they don't have as much wiggle room as:

Orange Upgrades

They work on your current tariff and how much you are likely to generate for the company going forward. They have a bit more leeway in terms of tariffs, bundles and upgrades than the shops, and can give you more if you agree to go on a higher tariff. But they can't give you as much as:

Orange Disconnections

They work on how much you have spent over the last year, which accrues a certain number of points. Points can be used against a better tariff, cheaper or free upgrade, etc. I have previously been offered a P910i for £39.99 if I renewed on my current OVP tariff of £20/month, or £120 for the phone if I changed my tariff for £30/month - because I used more points getting a better tariff. So what is given with one hand is taken by another. Example 2 - I was offered another phone for £39.99, though if I added 60 texts per month "for free" the phone would be charged at £89.99. A 60 text bundle is £4/month = £48/year, so often it's a matter of how much you want to spend up front.

Bear in mind the deal that disconnections can do you is determined by how many points you have accrued - the system will not allow them to give you more than your points allow, so it's not a case of asking them to chuck in extra stuff as they're not allowed. It's always best to be polite with them anyway, as they don't have to give you up to the limit of your points. What you get for your points is decided by the Policy Team, and often depends on the time of year. November-January is best for deals, tailing off in February. They will generally match any advertised tariff on their website, even online exclusives. But they are not currently matching Three's 500 mins xnet tariff (Select 500) as far as I can detemine.

Overall, in my experience if you're not happy with what you can get through shops/upgrade team then go straight through to Disconnections on 0800 079 2288 option 3 and figure out the best deal you can get with the points you have.

kingpuck

Hey,

After being inspired by a few people here I phoned orange a couple of months ago, I still had 4 months left to run on my current contract which was costing me £25 a month for 120 minutes.

I had just been sent a bill for close to £100 which was for 400 minutes and some texts.

I spoke to the first lady in customer service and asked her if there was anything she could do, she didn't seem to really care and said no, so I told her to drop my tarriff to the minimum which was £15 and I would pay her the £60 now to cancel the contract. Within 5 minutes of that I had been moved to another department, I explained that 3 were offering 500 minutes and that I might as well go to them as its cross network minutes I wanted.

I ended up with my old contract being terminated with no penalty, a new contract started with 500 minutes and 30 texts for £25 a month and a brand new nokia 7610 for free. To say that I was pleased with my self is an understatement (and quite pathetic)

Anyway, my point is that up until that point I never realised just how flexible they can be to keep you as a customer.