What are my rights? 3rd party upgrade company conned us!

bairnpunter

Hi

First time I've posted, although I've been reading the forums/articles for ages.

Myself and my wife have both been seriously conned by a third party company working on behalf of Orange.

We both had 18 month contracts that were expiring, we had a good tariff, 200 mins, 500 texts, about £30 a month......and then different 3rd party companies on behalf of Orange phoned us and offered us an upgrade to a new handset. Great...we were happy with that....however....they failed to tell us that our tariff would change, i.e. the 500 text deal promotion was due to expire and they never told us this!! So after agreeing to commit ourselves to another 18 months, we soon found out we were being billed for every text message!! So our bills have gone from £30 to £70-80.

I phoned Orange, who blamed the 3rd party company, and they won't let us change tariff (too long left to go), and to leave Orange would cost us £300 each!!

Now, we're at the stage where we're going to formally complain to the 3rd party company for selling us a 'dummy' and not informing us that our text promotion is due to end!! Orange told me they should have.

Any ideas what we can do?? We're raging about this, and would leave Orange in an instant if we could....what are our rights? We're outwith any 14 day no quibble return, as our texts promotion ended 3 months after the upgrade.

Appreciate any advice.....looks like we should both get a new contract with someone else, leaving us with £25 to pay for the tariff to Orange, until I can reduce the tariff in Jan. Should work out cheaper than £70-80.

cheers
ds

piper5

this incident isnt down to orange, it is down to the third party company. they have been increasingly naughty which is something that is the norm with these types of companies, they aren't employees of orange, and by the time you have figured out the error, there is no 14 day return. they get you because they talk quick when introducing themselves, so all you really catch from their opening speech is 'orange'. your number was selected from a list, and judging by the cost of the remainder of your existing orange account, you weren't eligible for an upgrade just yet!!!
im sorry for your troubles now, and my recommendation would be to harass the company who contacted you and try to work something out, but realistically you confirmed the contract by agreeing to it! all they need to hear you say is yes!
sorry again piper5

bairnpunter

Thanks for your reply.

I've got some piece of good news. My wife spoke to Orange last night, and after 30 mins, being passed from pillar to post, refusing to accept text bundles, and waiting forever for a supervisor to speak to her....Orange agreed to give her back her 500 texts! A result. Now for me to try.....fingers crossed.

However, there is still a major issue here with these companies. As you rightly mentioned, they talk quickly, they give you the impression its Orange on the phone.....they don't explain any options apart from what handset you can have. As a result the customer suffers, and Orange's reputation as well.

bairnpunter

Well I didn't get the deal my wife did last night!! :mad:

I've just had an unbelievable conversation with an Orange representative. Apologies if this seems I'm ranting.

So, apparently 3rd party companies have no access to account details, so they would not have known about text promotions due to expire, etc. Their job is just 'to offer upgrade handsets' clearing forgetting that they can also tie me down for another 18 months. If only business was that easy. !!!!!!!!! I was told in future, check with Orange within the 7 days no-quibble return period. Ok so who is this company working on behalf of? Orange and I have no future now! I reduced tariff to lowest possible, and on the hunt for another provider.

I think a couple of strongly worded letters to the 3rd party and Orange are now my only options. I don't have all day to be passed from one rep to another going over the same thing again and again.

Do I have any legal rights I can use to help/threaten? They've clearly misold an 18 month contract, and I've never seen or heard terms and conditions.

peddy

You say they never offered you the terms and conditions? You may have found your way out of this. If they are a distance selling company they are obliged to record all calls. You as the customer have the right to request a copy of this recording. It may cost up to £10 (the max they can charge) but it gives you proof that you need to say they didn't mention terms and conditions (which they have to do for every single customer) Get the recorded copy & tell them you will go to trading standards if they do not get it reversed.

As for you not getting the texts back. This is completely standard in cases like this. Your wife was one of the few lucky cases who did actually get them back.

bairnpunter

The saga continues.....I've got a threatening letter drafted up for Orange, and the 3rd party. However, I phoned Orange again last night, and reached a more sympathetic advisor, although I hope he's not fobbed me off.

FYI, when I called yesterday morning, and I got nowhere, with the woman telling me isn't 'hindsight a wonderful thing', she was from Upgrades.

In the evening, I got a more sympathic advisor in Upgrades, he passed me onto Billing (which was the same path my wife took when she was successful). The Billing advisor was extremely apologetic, and was eager to resolve the issue. He did not have the permission to add the texts back onto my account, and has asked his supervisor to do it. I'm awaiting a call from the supervisor today. I have their direct contact details, so fingers crossed. My wife required a supervisor to do the same thing.

Thanks for pointing out that these calls are recorded....I'll enquire about that if I'm unsuccessful today.

Heres hoping....

piper5

sometimes you find it is the luck of the draw to which advisor or rep you get through to!!
well done for perservering, and hope the issue gets resolved like your wifes has
good luck
piper5 x

Woby_Tide

just remember it's not Oranges fault that a third party has sold you a contract that isn't all it seems. Orange only act on what the 3rd party has said you signed up for(and by the sounds of it you agreed). The 3rd party is entirely at fault for being misleading so the majority of complaints should be to them and Ofcom(or whoever it is nowadays), anything Orange offer sounds like it will entirely be goodwill based so keep them as sweet as you can before having a go at them.

bairnpunter

Absolutely agree Woby_Tide. Regardless of getting my texts back or not, I'll be sending my letter of complaint to the 3rd party. Other people are getting scammed in a similar way.

My main concern is the business relationship between Orange, and the 3rd party. The 3rd party have the POWER to extend the customers contract, WITHOUT (as I was told by Orange) having the customers account details to hand. The 3rd party have no idea about text promotions, bundles, etc. They basically get a list of names and numbers to phone so I'm told anyway, I might have been getting fobbed off. But apparently the 3rd party cannot offer tariff or bundle amendments (or in my case tell me a promotion will expire in 3 months time), so why do they have the power to extend an Orange contract? Every Orange contract surely is agreed following Orange's code of conduct. I would recommend everyone reading Orange's Code of Conduct. They state that they will endeavour to put customer first, ensure customer can make informed choices, they will follow responsible marketing practices....etc.

Orange in my opinion should be monitoring these companies very closely as its Orange's brand name, and reputation that suffers the most!

fatboyonadiet

E-mail the CEO ([EMAIL="Sanjiv.Ahuja@orange.co.uk"]Sanjiv.Ahuja@orange.co.uk[/EMAIL]), make your letter frank and include all details, try not to waffle too much. I had problems with Vodafone and e-mailed their CEO, all sorted, contract reduced from 18 - 12 months and much better tariff with discount. HTH.

fatboyonadiet

Here's the thread if it's of any use: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=295048