Orange mobile keep taking money..help

angieweymouth

Please can someone help. My son had a 18 month contract with Orange which finished in May,. He rang and cancelled any further contract. Since then we have just found out that they keep taking money from his account for the monthly payment. This has made him overdrawn and incurring charges as a result. We have today cancelled the direct debit which he had not done and he has received another bill for £10. The telephone number does not work so the line is not connected but they keep taking money. The bank suggested we write recorded and demand a refund of the over payments and the bank charges. Is this the way to go? Has anyone had this problem with Orange. I know ringing customer service does not work as he has done this 3 times but the bills keep coming. At 19 he is desperate as other friends of his have now been contacted by debt collectors over similar accounts.

maxtweenie

angieweymouth wrote: »

Please can someone help. My son had a 18 month contract with Orange which finished in May,. He rang and cancelled any further contract. Since then we have just found out that they keep taking money from his account for the monthly payment. This has made him overdrawn and incurring charges as a result. We have today cancelled the direct debit which he had not done and he has received another bill for £10. The telephone number does not work so the line is not connected but they keep taking money. The bank suggested we write recorded and demand a refund of the over payments and the bank charges. Is this the way to go? Has anyone had this problem with Orange. I know ringing customer service does not work as he has done this 3 times but the bills keep coming. At 19 he is desperate as other friends of his have now been contacted by debt collectors over similar accounts.

I'm sure you can't just ring and cancel a contract. It has to be put in writing to them. Keep a copy and send it recorded delivery as well so you have a record.

gjchester

angieweymouth wrote: »

Please can someone help. My son had a 18 month contract with Orange which finished in May,. He rang and cancelled any further contract. Since then we have just found out that they keep taking money from his account for the monthly payment. This has made him overdrawn and incurring charges as a result. We have today cancelled the direct debit which he had not done and he has received another bill for £10. The telephone number does not work so the line is not connected but they keep taking money. The bank suggested we write recorded and demand a refund of the over payments and the bank charges. Is this the way to go? Has anyone had this problem with Orange. I know ringing customer service does not work as he has done this 3 times but the bills keep coming. At 19 he is desperate as other friends of his have now been contacted by debt collectors over similar accounts.

First contracts don't "finish" the 18 months is a mimimum term, after that it becomes a standard 30 day rolling contract. Did he cancel or ask for a PAC number to move to another network?

If he asked for a PAC and then didn't use it then the contract continues as before.

I'd also suggest you get the DD back in force, write explaining the situation and that these charges are in dispute, but if he didn't cancel the contract, (ie the PAC code, or they asked for it in writing and never got a letter) then Orange have a legitimate right to collect payment. Cancelling the DD may mean he's seen as further breaching the contact, and it could be escalated further.

No sense in making a bad situation worse.

angieweymouth

Hi there, Thanks for that. He rang and told them he was cancelling the contract. They did not mention a PAC number and he did not ask for one.. The telephone number is disconnected. I do not intend to reinstate the direct debit but do you think that if he writes and cancels the contract then he will only have to pay the last month and that will be it? He is now on a PAYUG with Vodaphone with a new number. angie

sampal

he can ask for a PAC number to move to another network....................

angieweymouth

I have just rung Orange but obviously have to get him to allow me to speak to them but it looks as if we can cancel but he will lose the £400 he has paid in contract charges and overdraft fees. But at long as I can get it stopped.

macman

How can he have been charged £400 since May? What was the monthly tariff-you referred to a £10 bill?
But why didn't he cancel the DD when the last bill arrived-he must have had at least 2 statements since then.

angieweymouth

Yes I know he is a numpty and I didn't know what was going on. Orange are charging £40 a month and the bank charge £6 a day overdraft fee plus £15 for the 'bounced' direct debit and £25 to tell him about it. Then if his overdaft goes over £100 as it has with this charge from Orange then the bank charge £20 a day. That is Lloyds TSB.
I wonder if we just write and cancel and pay up the last payment whether that will be that? Trouble with asking for a PAC number is that he has to use it and he is now on another tel no with Vodaphone PAYG which he is happy with.
This is a nightmare. Why do teenagers ignore everything thinking it will go away?

Guys_Dad

Hold on a minute.

1. Orange accept verbal cancellations - or they have from me.

2. If they were collecting the money till now, why did they disconnect the number?

3. When did they disconnect?

If they disconnected some time ago, in response to his verbal request, then they had no right to keep on collecting.

As far as the bank charges go, then the bank are certainly breaking all sorts of banking codes if for 3 £10 charges from Orange they have managed to rack that up to over £400!!!

angieweymouth

Hi

He verbally cancelled at the beginning of June. Last contract payment was May 2010.

Can't answer 2

3. Disconnected in June or July Not sure of the actual date as he just stopped using it.

The charges from Orange were £40 a month. Therefore that came to about £120 . The bank charges put on are the standard charges from the bank for there being no money in the account to cover the vodaphone direct debit. Not a lot he can do about that I don't think.

I am going to get him to ring and verbally cancel again and get the person's name he spoke to and then follow it up with a letter sent recorded delivery. I expect there will still be money to pay but he will have to pay up and hopefully learn his lesson

gjchester

angieweymouth wrote: »

I do not intend to reinstate the direct debit

By not paying by DD he's get charged more, and potentially if the charges are unpaid it could go to a court or a debt collector. It will also get recorded on his credit record and will stay there for six years.

Does he actuially owe orange anything? It's not clear what charge is from where, if the monthly bill ran up unpaid then he could have had the number disconnected through non payment, rather than the cancellation happening and the charge still being levied.

angieweymouth wrote: »

Trouble with asking for a PAC number is that he has to use it and he is now on another tel no with Vodaphone PAYG which he is happy with.

Your sure he did not ask for a PAC no? If you cancel a contract and then ask for a PAC then as the line as to be active for a PAC to work the request over-rides the cancellation and the contract rolls on.
So if he called to cancel, then decided to ask for PAC number the cancellation is canceled.
If the PAC is used the number moves and thats that, if he asks for a PAC and the PAC is not used in it's 30 day windows then the contract stays in force as a 30 day contract.

The crux of the matter was did the cancellation happen, usually you get a bit of paper to conform it, and a few sales calls, did he agree to something on a call? Hard to say with hindsight but a possibility.

angieweymouth wrote: »

This is a nightmare. Why do teenagers ignore everything thinking it will go away?

Like you were any different