Seeking advice about Orange

linzlu84

Hi was hoping for a bit of advice from anyone who may have been in same position or may know how to deal with this company.

I took out a 24 month contract blackberry phone with Orange Nov last year. WORST MISTAKE EVER! The phone barely works in my house, surrounding area and even has cut out in the city centre! I contacted them 4 times about this. First time i got "what do you want me to do about it?" 2nd call i got "the signal problem will be fixed by the end of the month" and they gave me a £10 credit as a gwg. 3rd call the girl said she would call back as she was going to investigate the matter and that if they cant fix the problem they could discuss my contract further. This phone call never came.

I called back and spoke to a manager and stated they were not meeting their terms and conditions so why should i continue to pay £30 a month. He told me my T&Cs didnt guarantee signal in my house! They gave me a £30 credit but this was to take into account a mistake they made on my account of chrging me for a service i hadnt asked for.

In the grand scheme of life i know its not a huge deal but its so frustrating that i cant even take a phone call from anyone without constant interference or it cutting out. It means i am not using what my allocation is because i simple cant make phone calls without giving up and running up a bill on my house phone. Im also concerned when i read recent reports of the increase of chances of getting cancer from using mobiles in poor signal areas. Any suggestions?

grumbler

New Connections

In the unfortunate event that you would like to return your new purchase from Orange.co.uk or the Orange Telesales team please contact us within 14 days to arrange.

No network guarantees 100% coverage, especially indoors. You had 14 days to make your mind, return the phone and cancel the contract.

Now your only option is to keep complaining. Either follow their standard complaint procedure or try their executive office directly (search the board for the e-mail address).

drbesty

The T&Cs don't guarantee signal in your house, you could live in a house made of lead for all Orange know, a mobile signal is very weak and doesnt cope well with walls. Your Blackberry should have a feature called UMA which means you can hook it upto your wifi connection and boost the mobile signal

baldelectrician

I have had probems with Orange this year and finally left - due to signal issues.
One CSR Manager actually told me 'there was nothing keeping me with Orange and maybe I should be thinking of going to another network with better coverage'
This was re-told to the person who called me up to ask why I wanted to leave Orange

Look into the UMA thing with Orange, where your wifi acts as a route to the Orange network (thus saving Orange network capacity)

sdduk

Have you tried your sim card in a different phone?

i will tell you why i ask its because i had a bb bold9700 and the signal was really bad like you said kept cutting out when call someone and the internet was like waiting for a bus took a long time to connect even when i managed to get 3g signal

went into orange shops and asked and one said someone as stolen some metal form the tower and that is why the signal is so bad
another person told me it was because the network was over full and couldn't keep up with all the people using it

in the end i managed to get another phone and put the sim in it....worked fine

i am now using an iphone and the signal is fine and i am still with orange been with them about 4 yrs now

also sold that dam blackbery 9700 must say i did like like the phone it was just the signal was pants on it.

linzlu84

Thank you for your replies. To answer a few points made-

it was my fault about the 14 day thing. i didnt begin using the phone till id had it about 3 weeks because i was using up the rest of my allowance on an old contract.

ive never had problems in my home before with other networks however do understand the no guarantee thing however as i said it doesnt work even if i go outside in my garden or street to take the call.

UMA is activated.

SSDUk thank you for suggesting this, i hadnt considered tryin another handset. Im gonna see if i can get one of my old handsets unlocked and try that!

Interestingly i found watchdog featured this issue in their last series, although it also involved 3 mobile network orange were named also.