We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
PAC Codes and Oranges Way to Stop You Cancelling
Options
I have an account with Orange with two phones on it - one for my son, one for my daughter.
My daughter wanted to move to a different network: she wanted a better deal than Orange were offering.
We called Orange and told them we wanted to cancel and that we wanted to take the number to a new network.
They told us that this is fine and they would send over a Port Authority Code (PAC).
In the end, my daughter decided not to use the PAC code because she got a great new mobile number with her new provider.
And this is the rub.
Because she didn't use the PAC code, Orange are now saying we didn't cancel, and have continued to charge.
Is this correct? Legal? Moral?
I am very disappointed by Orange and will not be renewing the various accounts that I have with them - I am a business as well as a retail customer.
My daughter wanted to move to a different network: she wanted a better deal than Orange were offering.
We called Orange and told them we wanted to cancel and that we wanted to take the number to a new network.
They told us that this is fine and they would send over a Port Authority Code (PAC).
In the end, my daughter decided not to use the PAC code because she got a great new mobile number with her new provider.
And this is the rub.
Because she didn't use the PAC code, Orange are now saying we didn't cancel, and have continued to charge.
Is this correct? Legal? Moral?
I am very disappointed by Orange and will not be renewing the various accounts that I have with them - I am a business as well as a retail customer.
0
Comments
-
It's the same with all the networks - unless you use the PAC, the line keeps running. Orange would have told you this and that it expires after 30 days.
Just ring them and give 30 days notice to cancel totally. Unfortunately Orange have done nothing wrong.I spent 25 years in the mobile industry, from 1994 to 2019. Worked for indies as well as the big networks, in their stores also in contact centres. I also hold a degree in telecoms engineering so I like to think I know what I’m talking about 😂0 -
Threatening to take what ever other accounts you have with them away might give you some leverage.0
-
Some leverage for what exactly? Orange have done nothing wrong, any mistake was on the account holders part.0
-
Formally they have not done anything wrong. However I don't see any reasons for not allowing customers to get the PAC and at the same time request unconditional cancellation of the contract in 30 days regardless of the PAC being used or not.
Although all networks do this, it smells like a dirty trick to me. Why cannot I give them a 30 days notice, say, on the 1st of April, request a PAC, say, on the 15th and then have the contract terminated, say on the 10th of May when the number is actually ported?0 -
Formally they have not done anything wrong. However I don't see any reasons for not allowing customers to get the PAC and at the same time request unconditional cancellation of the contract in 30 days regardless of the PAC being used or not.
Although all networks do this, it smells like a dirty trick to me. Why cannot I give them a 30 days notice, say, on the 1st of April, request a PAC, say, on the 15th and then have the contract terminated, say on the 10th of May when the number is actually ported?
Because there can only be one of those requests live on the system at a time.
If you ask for your pac the acc won't end (lots of people use it as a bargaining chip and wait for retentions to call. If they don't you'd be hacked off to wake up one morning and find your phone no longer working and number gone?)
I suppose they could reprogramme the system, but where's the incentive for them? It states quite clearly in the T&C's that if you don't use the pac the acc continues so, from their point of view, there's no need.0 -
Formally they have not done anything wrong. However I don't see any reasons for not allowing customers to get the PAC and at the same time request unconditional cancellation of the contract in 30 days regardless of the PAC being used or not.
And what would happen if you DO want to port your number, but for some reason the process is accidentally delayed, maybe by the new network. Your number would then be cut off after the 30 day deadline and lost for good. Imagine the complaints then.0 -
-
Why would that happen?
It does happen there are lots of reasons from stupidity all the way through the spectrum to technical failure.
Another point consider is that allowing cancellations in parallel with issuing a PAC would require a regulatory change to allow porting from closed accounts (porting is currently defined as migrating a number and closing an account) and the creation of some mechanism to 'hold' numbers in cases where the port is late delayed.
My opinion is that the extra processes and complications would increase the chance of errors for very little benefit.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177K Life & Family
- 257.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards