Orange / Phones 4 u duplicate contract error

Pantera_Fan

Wondering if anyone else has had this issue and can advise.

To cut a very long story short in April I purchased an orange phone via the phones 4 u website but somehow they sent me 1 phone and set up 2 contracts which I am currently being billed for.

Numerous calls later and P4U have finally accepted it was their mistake and have sent requests to orange to cancel the rogue contract. After coming up with various reasons why it could not be cancelled orange have agreed to cancel and refund the extra paid at my next bill. Fast forward 2 weeks and I've just got a bill including a charge for this extra contract.:mad: If the DD comes out it will now mean I've overpaid to the tune of about £120.

Have to wait until at least Monday to call and get a load of excuses again. I can't cancel the DD as both contracts are billed as one. Orange insist I deal with them through P4U as their error and 3rd party who sold contract.

I've already told P4U that the minimum compensation I am looking for is the amount I finally get refunded but think this is unlikely to happen. I'm thinking of going to watchdog or seeking legal action as this money is being taken without my permission. Can anyone advise here?

Thanks

oopsadaisydoddle

I work for orange and I would advise you to cancel the direct debit. The reason I say this is because if you have had any credits applied to your account then we would normally put a suppressant code on your account to stop any collections action because it isn't your fault.

Before you cancel it, I would call again just to double check that the credits have definitely been applied and there is definitely a code on there to stop any action. Once you're confident that these 2 things have been done, then cancel the DD with the bank and ask them to suspend it on our systems too.

If you don't do this then they will def try and take the money.

Once this is done then we advise you to pay any undisputed amount (e.g. Your normal bill) via credit or debit card. You can then reset the DD when all sorted!

real1314

Pantera_Fan wrote: »

Wondering if anyone else has had this issue and can advise.

To cut a very long story short in April I purchased an orange phone via the phones 4 u website but somehow they sent me 1 phone and set up 2 contracts which I am currently being billed for.

Numerous calls later and P4U have finally accepted it was their mistake and have sent requests to orange to cancel the rogue contract. After coming up with various reasons why it could not be cancelled orange have agreed to cancel and refund the extra paid at my next bill. Fast forward 2 weeks and I've just got a bill including a charge for this extra contract.:mad: If the DD comes out it will now mean I've overpaid to the tune of about £120.

Have to wait until at least Monday to call and get a load of excuses again. I can't cancel the DD as both contracts are billed as one. Orange insist I deal with them through P4U as their error and 3rd party who sold contract.

I've already told P4U that the minimum compensation I am looking for is the amount I finally get refunded but think this is unlikely to happen. I'm thinking of going to watchdog or seeking legal action as this money is being taken without my permission. Can anyone advise here?

Thanks

Am I right in interpreting this as you saying that you expect the excess payments (£120) to be refunded AND that you want £120 in compensation? :cool:

Pantera_Fan

Thanks for your advice and I will consider this action.

My main concern doing this is the potential effect on my credit report if they mess it up and record the rogue contract as a late payment, I cannot afford for that to happen as I work in financial services so not sure I am willing to take that risk. The orange 'customer service' helpline staff I've spoken to so far do not fill me with confidence.

I will have a think over the rest of the weekend.

Thanks

Pantera_Fan

real1314 wrote: »

Am I right in interpreting this as you saying that you expect the excess payments (£120) to be refunded AND that you want £120 in compensation? :cool:

That is what I said to them when it was around £40 and they did not object (or accept to be fair!). I don't think this is hugely unreasonable to request considering their final offer will be much lower and will probably be store credit.

I have spent in excess of 15 hours on the phone to them and orange trying to sort this out and because of their error I have so far paid £83 for a contract I have not entered into (plus phone calls and parking to visit their stores to complain etc).

Guys_Dad

Pantera_Fan wrote: »

That is what I said to them when it was around £40 and they did not object (or accept to be fair!). I don't think this is hugely unreasonable to request considering their final offer will be much lower and will probably be store credit.
.

Request by all means, but don't expect to receive that. I am all for reasonable compensation, but if this is sorted out this time, then that goes beyond reasonabl, fair or anything else.

The world is going mad.

Pantera_Fan

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Request by all means, but don't expect to receive that. I am all for reasonable compensation, but if this is sorted out this time, then that goes beyond reasonabl, fair or anything else.

The world is going mad.

Actually it seems the world is focusing on a minor point! As I said in my first and subsequent post I don't expect to receive that amount and it was a figure suggested when we were talking about lower figures.