Overseas orange data rip off £1000.00 bill!

spiro

Looking on the Android market at the weekend I found 'Data counter widget' by Roy Solberg. It looks like an app that everyone on a limited data plan should use especially when travelling overseas. It even resets the counter on a date you specify in the month to tie in with your billing period. Whats more its FREE which is a lot better that a £1000+ bill.

Transformer

Now doorstep selling of power that found a lot of customers on a higher priced plan than before is now having to pay compensation. PPI miss sold is paying compensation.

If you argued miss selling on either of these products some years ago you would probably have been laughed at too on basis you signed or you would have been fully informed.

But over the years they have learnt that some sales agents do not fully inform and due to own interests are only going to tell you either what you want to hear or what they choose to tell you selectively. I would not be suprised if too near in the future phone companies will have to prove that they did not mis lead as well, because when sales targets and personal interest of reps is involved they do miss sell and it should not be too much to ask for correct information like you would have supposed at the door with energy rep that is now being banned for obvious reasons.

I dont see anyone lecturing energy singees that you are responsible for trusting the rep who turned up at your door who miss sold you by regulators, reason is you are entitled to take their word as good when signing up to a contract, if not eventually the regualtors will cotton on

That includes mobile contracts as more and more complain. Good on any of you for not being in this situation, good on you for being so savvy that you know what to do over and above what the mobile company tell you to protect yourself and I am not being funny there I am truly glad not everyone falls under the belief you can trust reps, but you have to remember there are vulnerable people out there who are still allowed contracts who do not understand reps cannot in some cases be trusted.

I have a condition that was mentioned at time of purchase, it did not refuse me a contract, but should have afforded me due to my efforts and questions at least a fair and accurate sale, rather than the fight afterwards.

Perhaps the more and more who read these posts and threads will learn not to trust and that is not a bad thing, but the mobile companies should be held to task over their behaviour by the regulators and they are looking on Even the ceo office of orange says you cannot trust their reps in store verbally, so that says something to me, dont buy from everything everywhere as they have no concerns especially when the vulnerable may go into their stores. I know I was one and am now as you gather angry, which is not a bad thing as it makes you fight. I am also sympathetic to seeing others caught up in the same situation of bad information and others saying up to you to this and that, you see we are not employed by orange, their reps are, so if not to give accurate info, what are they there for?

MSE is a great site

DUTR

spiro wrote: »

Looking on the Android market at the weekend I found 'Data counter widget' by Roy Solberg. It looks like an app that everyone on a limited data plan should use especially when travelling overseas. It even resets the counter on a date you specify in the month to tie in with your billing period. Whats more its FREE which is a lot better that a £1000+ bill.

There are plenty of data counters, that is assuming the handset does not already have one built in, they are not rreally aimed at the people that would use them, looking at the thread, there are some that just want to play the system by acting thick or ignorant to the fact data is expensive abroad, but they don't want to learn off the mistakes of others and would rather put up a sympathy post whinging about some big bill , as if anyone really cares

oopsadaisydoddle

My phone won't quote properly...

To Transformer...I have already said that in this case it would be better personally for the operator to have sold OP the biggest data bundle available. I obviously can't comment on every single person that works in a call csntre but I certainly give people all the info required for anything because if I didn't THEN it would come back on me - not because if I didn't sell something.

Customer service in our company is that-we are not sales. We do have the opportunity to add bundles etc and get a small amount of reward for that but this is NOT a highly driven sales situation.

I can also understand that you may have had situations where an operators sales targets were there main focus but in This case that is totally irrelevant because as I said, the operator wouldve been better off financially selling the biggest bundle to OP so why didn't they? Maybe because after their conversation with OP, they agreed that that would be sufficient.

As I said, there is no reason we would have to PROMISE any plan of bundle would be sufficient because we know we can never forsee a customers usage. I also said that if in this case OP was promised or guaranteed that this bundle would be enough then that would be different. I just can't honestly see it being as clear cut as that.

izools

Galaxychocolate wrote: »

Must we become experts in everything and leave trust to no one

Call me bitter and cynical; but I learned that I must do this very early on as a teenager.

Can you trust someone you don't know and have never met to have your targets and best interests in mind? No. Therefore you can't trust their advice.

All you can do is clarify exactly what recourse you have if their advise turns out to be incorrect. I guarantee you if you'd asked the person at Orange "So if I go over will you cover the bill?" they'd have said "NO".

I often ask what recourse I have in the event of X, Y, or Z, and the responses invariably demonstrate to me just how little these people trust their own advice.

Galaxychocolate

DUTR wrote: »

Seems to be some contradiciton in the post, if you are so trusting, then why record the calls??
As for karma, if Im going away and wish to use my handset abroad, the 1st thing I will do is check what payg options are available to me , at present there is not a tariff option from a UK network that is going to be VFM or suit my needs, the CS reps are just that, REPS not experts, God gave me and others a brain, so I will use it to the maximum of my ability, not depend on others to think for me, I just do not see the appeal of anybody being stupid stupid stupid.

sorry not replied before now but time is precious and been busy!

Some very interesting points of view on this forum!

But to be called stupid! takes the biscuit, I would expect similar from my 10 year old!

I just want to say that customer service in this country is a complete disgrace and looking at all the "lay down and walk all over me" points of view here on this forum, I can see why.
To put your "trust" into a professional individual is something we all do when we go to the hospital, have our cars serviced etc, so not really that strange a thing to do.
I have worked damn hard over the last 20+ years to build my businesses up from scratch, and to me and my employees the number 1 reason we are still around where so many have failed is through excellent customer service. Go to Germany, USA and others, and you don't find the same attitude you do in the Uk, all thanks to "the customer is wrong brigade".
I carry out high quality building conversions for professional people like surgeons, accountants, bank managers, dentists etc, but it never fails to amaze me when these highly intelligent individuals struggle to do something as simple as putting a coat hook into a wall, or putting up curtain rails, but the very last thing I would turn around and say is how stupid they are!
What a joke, Orange mis informed me after I very plainly laid down what I needed, and may I add the conversation was not a short one, I was told I would receive a warning and didn't, end of!
I do not have the time to be researching and looking through forums for advice etc, I am sure not many surgeons scour the Internet on how to erect a shelf either, they phone me instead and if the shelf falls down, then I am to blame NOT the customer.

Guys_Dad

Galaxychocolate wrote: »

Some very interesting points of view on this forum!

But to be called stupid! takes the biscuit, I would expect similar from my 10 year old!

I just want to say that customer service in this country is a complete disgrace and looking at all the "lay down and walk all over me" points of view here on this forum, I can see why.
To put your "trust" into a professional individual is something we all do when we go to the hospital, have our cars serviced etc, so not really that strange a thing to do.
I have worked damn hard over the last 20+ years to build my businesses up from scratch, and to me and my employees the number 1 reason we are still around where so many have failed is through excellent customer service. Go to Germany, USA and others, and you don't find the same attitude you do in the Uk, all thanks to "the customer is wrong brigade".
I carry out high quality building conversions for professional people like surgeons, accountants, bank managers, dentists etc, but it never fails to amaze me when these highly intelligent individuals struggle to do something as simple as putting a coat hook into a wall, or putting up curtain rails, but the very last thing I would turn around and say is how stupid they are!
What a joke, Orange mis informed me after I very plainly laid down what I needed, and may I add the conversation was not a short one, I was told I would receive a warning and didn't, end of!
I do not have the time to be researching and looking through forums for advice etc, I am sure not many surgeons scour the Internet on how to erect a shelf either, the phone me instead and if the shelf falls down, then I am to blame NOT the customer.

I certainly don't think you are stupid. What I have said is that you should have taken some time to research data charges and become familiar with your technology to enable you to evaluate the advice you were given.

But, since you are in the business of house conversion, if one of the surgeons, accountants and bank managers came to you with a bag of a fag packet sketch of what he thought he wanted, would you have given him a firm estimate or even a fixed price quotation for your work?

Have you ever done a job that worked out much more expensive than you estimated? If you haven't, you are the first builder I have ever met who hasn't.

What would you think of a surgeon who didn't have enough time to bother to find out if he needed planning permission before getting you to build an extension? Would you waive your costs?

Do your clients abdicate choice of colour schemes and decoration to you, even if you are the expert?

All some of us are saying is that at the end of the day you ask for advice from a professional and that is what you should get. You didn't get it from Orange in this case.

But if they had given you the maximum bundle that they do, it would still not have sufficed.

Advisors advise, but no wise person should delegate the final decision to them, with certain notable exceptions that, regrettably, do not include Orange advisors.

But, putting that aside, might I make a genuine suggestion that you PM the OP in this thread to find out how he did it. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3380638

Galaxychocolate

I have already had a result from orange, one that i will post once it is confirmed, and i am very happy i persisted where so many wouldnt have, all will be revealed once confirmed, thanks.

Guys_Dad

Galaxychocolate wrote: »

I have already had a result from orange, one that i will post once it is confirmed, and i am very happy i persisted where so many wouldnt have, all will be revealed once confirmed, thanks.

I wish you a good result as that sort of bill is not one that many of us would have liked. But also look at changing networks if you are going to use roaming in the future. (Bet you have learned a fair bit from this thread already !!) :beer:

DUTR

Galaxychocolate wrote: »

sorry not replied before now but time is precious and been busy!

Some very interesting points of view on this forum!

But to be called stupid! takes the biscuit, I would expect similar from my 10 year old!

I just want to say that customer service in this country is a complete disgrace and looking at all the "lay down and walk all over me" points of view here on this forum, I can see why.
To put your "trust" into a professional individual is something we all do when we go to the hospital, have our cars serviced etc, so not really that strange a thing to do.
I have worked damn hard over the last 20+ years to build my businesses up from scratch, and to me and my employees the number 1 reason we are still around where so many have failed is through excellent customer service. Go to Germany, USA and others, and you don't find the same attitude you do in the Uk, all thanks to "the customer is wrong brigade".
I carry out high quality building conversions for professional people like surgeons, accountants, bank managers, dentists etc, but it never fails to amaze me when these highly intelligent individuals struggle to do something as simple as putting a coat hook into a wall, or putting up curtain rails, but the very last thing I would turn around and say is how stupid they are!
What a joke, Orange mis informed me after I very plainly laid down what I needed, and may I add the conversation was not a short one, I was told I would receive a warning and didn't, end of!
I do not have the time to be researching and looking through forums for advice etc, I am sure not many surgeons scour the Internet on how to erect a shelf either, they phone me instead and if the shelf falls down, then I am to blame NOT the customer.

As you know there are two types of customer , the I want, and the I don't want, the CS reps are just reps (no disrespect to any reps on here) , I'm sorry I cannot agree with your point of view totally, perhaps it is that I have more experiences of mobile networks, to not lap up what a CS rep tells me or anybody else for that matter without question, you mention the lay back and walk all over, this again I disagree with, when I had last taken my car for a service the deealership quickly rung to say that the radiator was leaking, how od I thought, if it were leaking like they say then I would have noticed myself for 2 reasons 1) I would have seen the leaked coolant from where the car is parked and 2) the indicator in the car would warn that coolant is low, considering the same 1litre coolant bottle I had from when the car was new, then it would conclude to me that the radiator was not leaking or not leaking to the extent they tried to make out, so that is just one episode , perhaps you took my comment of stupid in the wrong context, you are not stupid, but to sit back and beleive what the rep had told you is stupid, we will just have to agree to differ on that, had you fitted a shelf for a customer and they decided to put a very very heavy object on the shelf and it came off the wall , would that be your fault? I wouldn't think it was but the action of the customer would be stupid.
Take note of the reply in #96 as I agree with what the poster has posted for you to read, good luck with your next trip abroad.