Orange Signal / Contract Queries

Vinko

Hi guys.

I am with Orange 14 years and it went from bad to worse. It seems wherever I go, or roughly in 95% of UK I travel, I HAVE NO SIGNAL strength enough to make proper call or send an SMS. I used to be on a 12 months contract, but now I am on only a month contract, so I can leave them anytime, but I always wonder would it be the same with other mobile phone companies?!

In addition, EVERY year they get something wrong with payments, especially when they put you on another talking plan :-(. I just paid nearly £70, instead of £20. Last year they overcharged me £100 :-(. They credit you later on, but they take your money in the time you don't expect, so it can be a shock.

Presently I am on a good monthly contract - FREE landlines, 600mins to any mobile network and 100SMSs, which is more than enough for me. I am using my FREE landline calls to call FREE (or VERY cheap) internationally by using Jumblo VoIP company (they give you local phone number to dial before your international one).

Anyway, this is their last chance. I will monitor them for next few months and if things go worse, I will have to leave them.

JackAndrew95

Adjy wrote: »

Nope, it just says only emergency calls will be available when selecting this option.

I'm almost certain i've tried every method to .. Repair? the phone, but it's not the phone causing the problems, it's Orange, and they have admitted it and not been able to give me any advice but to deal withit by waiting for a possible fix for the masts, or put up with the terrible signal.

They can't blame me for this disruption of service, they have admitted the fault so surely they have to give me options other than "wait for a fix."

At the moment, i've got no signal at all so surely they are breaching the contract?

Does anybody know anything about reducing my price plan? And how it would work with me trying to cancel the contract? Is there a limit on how much I can lower it?

,

Im sure its a breach as you cant use your mobile services as normal

Adjy

I thought that too, surely if they weren't providing the service i'm paying for then i'm in my right to cancel. I called them again today, they argued that I have to lose complete signal for "5 or 6 week" before I could terminate the contract, which to me shows they don't have set rules, it's probably just the operator's discretion.

They have gave me £30 for a months line rental + the extra days disruption, and are replacing my phone tomorrow with a new one to rule out that possibility.

So essentially, £30 off the cancellation fee, and a new phone to sell to make up the difference, dug themselves a hole here I think, gave me the opportunity to cancel it without putting any of my own money towards it.

Happy with the outcome and the customer service provided but I will definitely be cancelling at the earliest possibility.

fa123

There is a code you can text to have T-Mobile reception when your Orange reception is down.will try finding it. Works great, as lot of the time when my orange recpetion is low it generates T-Mobile signal itself.

Adjy

freedom-mobiles wrote: »

Quick idea- if the 3g signal is rubbish where you are, then (as an experiment if nothing else) change your phone to ONLY use 2g- normally its an option you would use when roaming to keep costs down but it works for this purpose... hunt around in your settings- definitely there on the BB 9700

When your phone "struggles" to get on 3g it will keep struggling along but when it only has 2g as an option it stops messing around so much. More importantly you will be able to use Orange signal and T-Mobile signal whatever is best. 3g does not allow this feature unfortunately (unfair competition would say o2 and vodafone!)

Being on 2g is totally fine unless you really do alot of data out and about- home and work you'll be on wifi I assume. It doesnt cause any problems with the running of your phone- dont know where Orange got that one from! Might improve your situation somewhat...?

And all networks are awful for letting you off you contract- you'll do more running around than its worth. If I were you I'd drop to the lowest tarriff (you probably cant budge though- sods law!) and let them know that due to the pathetic handling you'll never touch the network again and the same for your entire family! doesnt get any action but it does get some satisfaction when they come to offer you the reconnection/upgrade at the end!!

I had tried the t-mobile thing fa123, thanks though. They disabled it after the phone calls to them. I got a text after one saying "you are no longer eligible for t-mobile connection" or something like that, it didn't make a difference anyway.

I did find the 2g thing, and activated it. Nothing really happens, although if I pull the battery and plug it back in, the preferred signal/network? thing that was at 2g goes back to 3g and I get a few texts through that had been delayed, but still can't make calls etc..

As for data, it's included in my plan but I have literally NEVER been able to use it. Wifi works at home and I can use the internet then but it's slow, and completely pointless since my laptop is there. Anywhere else it doesn't work at all, but the email forwarding is usually spot on? I could have probably managed with just 2g if it would do calls and texts but just don't think I should have to for the price, it's not exactly cheap.

I never held up much hope of being let off the contract to be honest, wishful thinking but in reality I knew it wasn't going to happen. I got a text a few week ago from 'Orange Best Plan' which was apparently trying to save me money, it offered me 2 options, stick with the plan I've got (£27, unlimited data, text, BB internet and 400 minutes) or, "get a lot more for a little more" and pay £30 for unlimited data, text, and 400 minutes..? I don't know if that holds any relevance to it as I've never tried changing, but I can't see them putting my tariff down since they can't recommend a lower plan due to my current usage, will try it anyway though if this new phone isn't working perfectly. Could try and justify it in the fact that their signal prohibits usage. Would be a big kick in the teeth for them for me to cancel after it all, credit on the account, replace the "fully functional/slightly old & worn" phone for free with a brand new one, lower the price plan/payments then get stung when the cancellation fee is lower due to it all.. :rotfl:

The 'dilemma' now though, do I open the box, test the phone and realise i'm still not happy (as I know as well as they do it's their masts being down that's causing the problems and they are just hoping to put off me cancelling for as long as possible..) Then go down the long road of arguing again that their signal still isn't good enough, and try to get the price plan or cancellation fee decreased. Or do I keep the box sealed, sell it as new, and just cut my losses?

The problem after all this, I lose my "loyalty discounts" and any benefits I could have got from their cancellation department, as well as having to chose another phone, on another network with a full priced tariff, for another 12 month minimum..

It will be annoying after it all though that I can't barter with the cancellation department since it's the network that's the problem.. It would have been fun to see how much they can suddenly cut off my bill and how soon they will allow me to upgrade again.

JackAndrew95

Yoou wont be happy lol
Just keep complaining and go to tesco mobile
12 month contractt

If you could tell me what you said about your contract to orange as i would like to know as i may ring up and see what they say to mee

baldelectrician

Try re-registering for the t-mobile share thing

Then, once it is up and running try selecting tmobile - orange as the network.
You will have to stick your phone on to GSM mode and select manual operator selection

simax

Vinko wrote: »

Presently I am on a good monthly contract - FREE landlines, 600mins to any mobile network and 100SMSs, which is more than enough for me. I am using my FREE landline calls to call FREE (or VERY cheap) internationally by using Jumblo VoIP company (they give you local phone number to dial before your international one).

I thiought Jumblo was just from your PC? Whats the landline number?

Sandrine_2

Hi, I though i let you know of my experience:
I am with 3 at the moment, and have been for a long time without any trouble at all. We moved from London (where the network reception was excellent) to the south of England (where the reception was moderate but still ok) in August 09. In May, I took out a new 2 years contract with 3 and received a shiny new phone.
Everything was going well until mid-November, when I could not receive any network signals whatsoever in my house, and only 1 bar in my garden. So I reported the fault on their website and waited for an answer. They called me back and I explained the problem, I also told them that my husband's phone receives hardly any signals either and that my daughter gets nothing at all (they are also on 3. I also stressed the fact that my phone is working perfectly when I am away from home and that I was disappointed with the service as I had taken out a new 2 yrs contract in May because I knew that the service was ok, and now I can't use my phone in the place where I am at the most. I also said I mostly use my phone to be contacted in an emergency. The lady I spoke to said she will investigate and will get back to me. They called again and said that my phone was actually getting its signal from the Orange mast, this means that 3 and Orange had some sort of alliance to provide their services from their masts. As Orange is now sharing with T Mobile, the "alliance" they had with other networks has ceased (well that's what I understood). Orange had switched off their 2g signal which resulted in my phone no longer receiving any signals as there are no 3's 3g signals available in my area. They said they are planning on adding new masts but could not give me a date, so I asked them what they were prepared to do about my contract because I was disappointed to have to wait 18 months for my contract to run out and not be able to use my phone in the meantime. They said they would get customer services to give me a call. Yesterday, a really nice guy from the customer services called me, he apologised and confirmed that 3 were breaching their contract by not being able to offer me the service I was paying for (result!), I repeated the problems I had and told them I was disappointed as I really liked their services and I really liked my new phone. He said they will be cancelling my contract without any charges as soon as I get a new sim card from a different network, I could keep my phone (which was from the 1st batch of HTC desire and therefore unlocked) and he gave me my pac code!

The whole process, from losing the signal to cancelling the contract has only taken 2 weeks!

So yes, I am a happy (ex) 3 customer but now I need to find a good pay as you go sim card and I really don't know which network to go for. The guy at 3 said that Orange would be a good bet as obviously the mast is near my house but from reading what you guys say about Orange, I am not so sure...

I think you should tell Orange they are breaching their contract, especially as they sold you a 3g phone to be used at your address (they must have your address on their contract) and that now you can not use you 3g phone because they no longer supply you with 3g signal. I also don't think you should pay anything to cancel the contract for services that they can no longer supply you with.
There is a free service you can use that is provided by the governement, where you can talk to someone about any problems you are facing with a company and they offer you some guidance. I used them for an issue I had with Littlewoods and I found they were very helpful, I also got what I wanted (basically you feel like someone is on your side and as they know more about the law than I did, I was able to quote xx article on the Sale of Goods Act to Littlewoods). I can't remember their name but if you look on google you should find them.
My advice is to call them often, don't loose your temper and just repeat yourself over and over again until they get sick of hearing your problem and give you what you want. Maybe by switching your phone to airplane mode when you get home will show them that you can't get signals if that's at all possible.
Good luck!