Help! Orange problem with cancelled phone

SoniaJM

I had a contract phone with Orange, which I cancelled at the end of last year. Today I received a letter in the post from a debt collection agency stating that I owe Orange around £120! According to the agency, the phone was used until the end of July 2011, and the charges relate to 'airtime' (i.e. phone calls made)

1. I got rid of the phone and destroyed the SIM card in January this year, after the contract had ended. The account was clear at that time.
2. Orange have given the agency my old surname (which I haven't used for 2 years, and Orange certainly had my new surname)
3. I didn't incur call charges on the contract I had with them as I had inclusive minutes.

I've left it with the debt agency to query it all with Orange but is there anything else I can do? All the correspondence with Orange was by phone - I don't have a letter confirming the contract end date from them. I'm really worried as I know I haven't run this bill up, and I don't have the money available to pay it anyway.

Any advice / suggestions would be welcome.

grumbler

If you did cancel the contract the sim should have been disabled and there was no need to destroy it.

It looks like you think that you cancelled it, while in fact you had not.

I don't have a letter confirming the contract end date from them

The contract doesn't expire by default. In fact after the min term expires it turns into 1-month rolling contract that you must cancel if you want.
£120ish seems to be just accumulated monthly price for several months before Orange cancelled the contract eventually and sold the debt.

SoniaJM

I know it doesn't expire automatically - it was on a rolling contract which is why I gave them 1 months notice to cancel it. When the phone stopped working after that month I got rid of the phone and destroyed the SIM.

They didn't send ANYTHING by letter while I had the contract with them (about 3 years in total). When I upgraded my phone after the first 18 month contract ran out I didn't get anything in writing then either - although I accepted a new 18 month contract.

That's why I'm baffled by this. I definitely cancelled the contract, and the sim stopped working after 1 month.

grumbler

It can be difficult to prove that you cancelled. You always have to insist in getting a confirmation by post or e-mail and not to cancel the DD until you receive it.

What about the bills? Was it paper billing or online?

SoniaJM

It was all online. I didn't ever have anything in writing from them.

I cancelled the DD after the month notice had expired.

I specifically remember asking them whether they needed the notice to cancel in writing and they said no - it was fine.

grumbler

SoniaJM wrote: »

I specifically remember asking them whether they needed the notice to cancel in writing and they said no - it was fine.

I meant the confirmation in writing (or by a e-mail), not the notice.

And if it was online billing you could have easily checked that everything was fine before cancelling the DD.

scheming_gypsy

Orange cancel your outbound service if you don't pay your bill for a month, so if it was in use until the end of July I'd confirm that it's for your old account and that somebody hasn't taken a contract out in your name.

grumbler

They do suspend the line, but they don't stop charging you the monthly price.