Orange Coverage Complaint

IceMan_3

Hello

I took out a mobile phone contract and mobile broadband contract with Orange back in March of this year having carried out as much research as i could as to the coverage of the various providers in my area. At the time i was told by Orange that coverage was excellent in my area and the area where my partner lives where i spend a lot of the time.

Since then i have had nothing but problems with the coverage in these areas with my mobile phone constantly dropping calls. In addition to this i am regularly having problems receiving text messages. I can go hours at a time without receiving any voice calls or text messages and then received seven or eight in one go only to look at the times and realise they were sent hours earlier. My phone rarely shows more than one or two signal bars and i have similar problems with my mobile broadband which is extremely slow on the occasions when it conencts at my home address and non existant at my partners address as there is no coverage at all.

I have contacted Orange on several occasions and every time they spin me the same story advising me that i live in a 'black hole' with regards to coverage and that there is maintenance work being carried out on the mast. What i find coincidental is that every time i call them they tell me that the maintenance work is due for completion the day after the date when i call them. They have also told me that there is no coverage at all in the area where my partner lives as the 'mast is out'.

I contacted them again last week at which point they told me that they have recently merged with T-Mobile and that they would send settings to my phone which would mean that whenever the Orange service is lost my phone would automatically connect to the T-Mobile network at no extra cost to myself. Unsurprisingly this hasn't made things any better as my phone still drops calls regularly.

Having looked at the complaints procedure i've now decided the best way forward may be to submit a formal complaint. As i understand it most mobile phone providers state that they are not responsible for coverage, however, when they're taking in excess of £100 a month off someone for a service it's no unreasonabe to expect that service which you're paying for.

It should be noted that my partner has no problems at all on Vodafone in either areas and every time i phone Orange i can hear the operators in the background spinning everyone the same story.

My question is, is there anything i can do to go about sorting out this issue? I understand that it may be difficult to agree an early termination, expecially with 15 months left on my contract. I don't particularly want to terminate my contract i just want the service i'm paying for.

Has anyone else had similar issues or made complaints to Orange with any success?

macman

You don't seem to have established if the problem lies with the phone or the network reception in your area? Swap the SIM to another phone to see.
TBH after 7 months you haven't a hope of getting a contract voided on the grounds of poor reception.

IceMan_3

Apolgies, i should have elaborated on that point. I know the problem doesn't lie with the phone or SIM card as both have been replaced and the problem still persists. I believe the problem lies with the areas where myself and my partner live. It's slightly anoying considering i specifically asked in store what the coverage was like in both areas and they said it was excellent, however, customer services themselves have told me that coverage is very poor.

Jon_01

Have you signed up the T mobile mast sharing ? They started last week, now you can use T's masts as well the problem may have cured itself. . .

laura-lou_3

i have this exact problem. im with orange on a 2 year contract, and have been with them for the past couple of years previous to this. I often have little or no reception, and i am ALWAYS told by orange that the mast close to me is being repaired. I think this must just be one of those things they say to people, as it seems its not just me being given that same story. I have rang a couple of times about it, and they said the mast near me is down, but should be ok within 24hours.
i just cant understand how they can get away with charging £45 a month when i cant even use my phone. When people ring me, it usually goes straight to voicemail - even though my settings are switched to voicemail OFF. I also struggle to get signal for internet. I have an iphone 3gs, but i hardly ever get the 3G icon on my phone., its nearly almost on O - which is the lowest form of signal you can get. Whats the point in an internet phone that cant get interent??!

surely there must be something we can do??

Inner_Zone

To turn voicemail off on Orange you have to contact CS, the setting on the phone will usually be ignored.

Did you not read the post above yours before posting? T-Mobile and Orange are now sharing masts, you have to register on your operators website. However 3G roaming does not come into force until next year.

Guys_Dad

You need to record "the mast is being repaired" excuse. You then should write to their Chief Exec informing him of this excuse and demand that they suspend your rental till the mast is repaired.

You should also inform him that you have been fobbed off with this excuse for "x" months and that you intend to take this to the regulator.

Having said that, there are always dead spots with networks. I have Voda and Orange and in different areas one or another has poor reception.

robbies_gal

i woldnt take notice of anyone in a store im afriad they just lok up the coverage map and tell u wot it says whoch at the time was prob that u have good coverage

i would complain though as a mast cant take that long to repair surely and seeing as they admit its their fault i would try and cancel on that basis

laura-lou_3

Inner_Zone wrote: »

To turn voicemail off on Orange you have to contact CS, the setting on the phone will usually be ignored.

Did you not read the post above yours before posting? T-Mobile and Orange are now sharing masts, you have to register on your operators website. However 3G roaming does not come into force until next year.

hi was this reply to me? my voicemail is not on, most calls come through fine but probably 2 out of 10 calls seem to go straight to my answer phone, even though im not on a call.

and yes iv read all the posts above, why??

Hippychick2007

I have exactly the same problem!!!! and I have had orange service before (which was always fine) and am also getting fobbed off with the same excuse. I cant use my sat nat, check email son my lunch hour, calls drop, its ridiculous. I didnt sign up to Tmobile (they were my last provider) I signed up to orange as they seem to have had a good rep with customer service - clearly not now!

I am looking through my terms and conditions and seeing if there is any small print that can allow me to cancel my contract. There must be something that can be done, if anyone can point my in the right direction to finding more information please let me know as this is becoming unbearable - totally understand with OP who stated thread..... frustration is not the word!!

Deanus69

My wife is in exactly the same issue. She went into store and was told the signal strength was excellent, and customer services are still trying to say its excellent when it is clearly not. It is like this even outside and where she goes to university so its not just inside!!

They also fed us the line of the mast is being repaired. Not sure how they can all be down.

If there are a lot of people with this problem maybe it is worth submitting to watchdog?

I hope someone finds a solution to this to help everyone.

Also forgot to say she hasn't even had the phone for 3 weeks so still within 28 days not sure if that helps? But can't go on for 24 months like this!!