Orange Home Phone & BB

durbanboy

I have a home phone, line rental, calls, and broadband from Orange since Nov2010 (18mnth contract). Once the initial teething problems were sorted out by Orange (new router suppliied), I have had a solid 6-7 MB d/l speed (line profile is 7125kb)..nice

Now I am moving to another area and the line profile is approx 2-2.4 MB. Orange are able to move the service, but I don't want to accept a severeley downgraded service with regards to the broadband.

I have asked them to cancel the service from the moving date (must call back and tell them on the day!!!!...that'll be fun..not).
No problem, the Orange fella says, and btw, that'll be £98 some change, cos you're still in contract.:eek:

I suggested to him that as Orange cannot provide an acceptable service at the agreed price, the contract is not valid or should be, at least renegotiated (ie: reduce my BB charge to 25%-30% of what it is now, given the reduction in speed)
I might have been speaking another language.:mad:

Basically, all I want to do is say "Thank you Orange, let's call it quits", but gathering from posts here and elsewhere, Orange have a "Heavy Mob" reputation and will screw you in the courts, mess with your credit rating and possibly eat your 1st born, well...maybe not eat it, but probably put it to work in it's offshore call centres for the rest of it's life

What are my chances of getting out of this unfair situation, and if I can't, what is the most obstructive, infuriating way I can go about settling with Orange?

Orange_Company_Representative

Hi durbanboy

We aim to provide our broadband customers with the fastest stable speed supported by their line. If you move house and the speed supported by your new phone line is lower than at your current home, you would still be expected to pay the same monthly payments as we would still be able to provide you with our service at the speed supported by the line.

Although I can appreciate why you may be unhappy to pay the same monthly cost and receive a lower broadband speed, I really don't feel that is unfair in this situation. We would still be providing the service that we had agreed to. For this reason, you would be expected to pay a cancellation fee if you wished to leave Orange before the end of your minimum term agreement.

You may be able to change to a different broadband package in order to reduce your monthly cost, however, this would involve entering a new agreement term with us. If you contact Customer Support again, they would be able to advise if there are any other packages available to you.

I hope this might help.

^Darren_OrangeHelpers

macman

The slower speed is most likely a result of a longer distance from the exchange, and/or possibly a degraded line. None of these factors are within Orange's control, so you have no grounds whatsoever for voiding your contract. If that is the maximum speed that the line will support, that is what you will get.
2-2.4Mbps is many times in excess of the 'official' definition of an acceptable broadband service.
Unfortunately ADSL broadband is not immune from the laws of physics, and if you choose a property further out from the exchange than at present then speeds will invariably drop.
The only way around this is to switch to a more expensive cable (VM) or FTTC product if available.

durbanboy

To the Orange man
I appreciate your efforts to try and lock me into another horrible contract, but when I can't get more than 2MB d/l speed, I think you'll agree that "up to 20MB" seems a very long reach to get me to accept 2MB. I also find it outrageous that the CS person stated it was my FAULT Iam moving house. I asked her (Rachel) if it was Orange's policy to force homeowners to stay at their current address and not to move until the contract with Orange was up:eek: and she couldn't answer..Outrageous :mad:

I will not be renewing or entering into any contracts with Orange...ever, and I will use the latest Ofcom ruling and Codes of Practice to settle with Orange in a fair and reasonable way.:wave:

Then I'm off to Virgin/NTL, where their advertised speeds are what you get, due to superior infrastructure. I have written to Orange "Customer Services" and cancelled my DD

To Macman
VM/NTL will actually save me money, as I am binning Sky along with Orange and will get 30MB on my net connection

macman

Fault doesn't come into it. if you move house (your choice) and won't accept a transfer of service, of course you have to pay an ETC. Orange can only give you the speed your line supports, they do not control the OR infrastructure. Orange's advertised speed is up to 20MBps, so if you get around 2Mbps (or indeed 0.5MBps) then that is within the terms of the contract.
Supposing you had moved to a remote croft in Scotland where the line was 10 miles from the exchange and would not support ADSL at all-would you still expect your contract to be voided without penalty?

societys_child

My d/l speed never exceeds 1.3mbps so I should pay far less than you do . . . or should you be paying loads more? Makes me wonder if metered BB access is the way to go, everyone pay for their actual usage . . .