Big Orange Europe bill.....

chiefo

I returned from Spain a couple of weeks ago and connected to the net via Orange Internet on my Nokia 5800. I wanted to use Skype which uses hardly any bandwidth. I received a text from Orange within a minute stating that 1mb would cost £2.39 or something similar. I sent my message and disconnected.

I only signed in to tell the folks that I had arrived safely. But anyway! I can see how your bill is huge. If they were charging you a similar amount then it would soon rack up.

Orange_Company_Representative

Hi jostrummer

I work for Orange and may be able to help. If you can drop me a mail using the address in my profile page, I'll have a look at this for you. So I can pick up your mail quickly, please add 'Andy Orange Response' in the first line.

Please also include the reference ORT1008 and your username from this site, as without them, I will not be able to pick the case up.

Hope this helps

Andy
Orange Response Team

taff007

DUTR wrote: »

Like the OP, you thought wrong :beer:

I've just got back from Spain, and checked the Orange website before I went which states:


European Union (EU) data limit

From 1 July 2010 we’ve added a data limit of 12MB (pay as you go) or 16MB (pay monthly) to your account so that you’ll never pay more than €50 (approximately £44 ex VAT) for sending data in the EU.

When you use data in the EU you will receive:
A text alert when you've used 50% of your 12MB / 16MB data allowance; this text will tell you what to do if you would like to remove the data limit.
A text alert when you've reached 98% of your 12MB / 16MB data allowance; this text will also tell you what to do if you would like to remove the data limit.
If you do not wish to limit the data you use whilst in the EU just text “YES“ to ‘386’ to remove it.

If this hasn't happened then something has obviously gone wrong.

bigturnip

Why does the EU treat us like children? To get a contract phone you have to be over 18, if you don't bother to read the terms and the costs involved you deserve to get hit with a big bill. You may get away with it because of the EU's meddling, but I really hope you don't and you pay for what you used, then the rest of us don't have to subsidise you. The new government are thankfully rolling back the nanny state in the UK, but I'm sure as fast as they clear the legislation the EU will shovel a load more detritus in to replace it.

DarkConvict

I think the roaming cap is a good idea. It is an opt out scheme, so if you know you are going to use alot you can opt out.

Its far better to hit a £40 cap and wonder what happened, than return home with a £300 bill. Wondering what happened but not been able ot do anything about it.

drbesty

Data roaming is a good idea, and you can always opt out, I've seen some horrendous bills running into thousands, they should do the same with calls and texts too

evertvorster

I spent a few days in Holland last month and I have just received my latest Orange monthly bill and have been stung for using 8.9mb at a cost of £22.73. Now I was very wary of using the internet on my smart phone so basically didn't except on a few occasions and I think will have only used 1mb of actual internet viewing.

I queried this with Orange last week and was basically told that as I had a smart phone, even though I wasn't physically using the internet, the phone was data roaming and this is why i have racked up 8.9mb's of use. This is totally unfair.

I even resorted to using my Dutch sim card in my Dutch mobile during the holiday and only turned my UK smart phone on a few times just to check if anyone had been in touch.

I will be complaining vigirously and I didn't even get txt alerts advising I had used mb's abroad.

Ev

DarkConvict

evertvorster, Orange have done nothing wrong. Your handset connected to the internet automatically, either doing updates or syncing data. This is the same for many smartphones, as a user you should read the manual and learn how to use the device, and set the device not to connect to the internet at all.

Orange do not have a requirement to update you on your usage, did you ask them to do it, did they agree, do they have to do it under T&Cs or law, No. Therefore your usage of 9MB is legitimate and you will be charged for it.

If you leave a device that does regular updates off, as soon as you turn it on it will try and update via a network connection. Be thankful it was only 8.9MBs, I've seen them exceed 100MB before. A friend at work does use his andriod phone lightly however it still racks up 300-400MB a month.

CHR15

evertvorster wrote: »

Now I was very wary of using the internet on my smart phone

I queried this with Orange last week and was basically told that as I had a smart phone, even though I wasn't physically using the internet, the phone was data roaming and this is why i have racked up 8.9mb's of use. This is totally unfair.

Ev

I agree with DarkConvict - You need to understand how your phone works.

Switch off all data connections when leaving the Country - Your manual (or post the make model on here and ask) will explain how to do it.

How are Orange supposed to know you didn't want the weather updated??

boliston

I don't know why so many people seem to be defending orange. Surely if they have broken EU billing legislation then the excess portion of the bill becomes invalid.