MSE News: Orange to raise monthly mobile costs

premierfella

gjchester wrote: »

Not what people will want to hear but Ofcom are not investigating.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/13634/Ofcom_dismisses_probe_into_Orange_contract_price_rise.aspx

No surprise, and sound reasoning from Ofcom (personally I would have wanted them to instigate a consultation on the issue with a view to considering whether a change in their regulations was warranted to prevent mid-term increases - the mobile market is unlike a market such as gas where the underlying commodity price can fluctuate significantly, so providing a fixed price at the start of the contract for the minimum term should not cause operators any issue at all).

This last paragraph of that report was interesting:

If customers feel Orange has not met its terms and conditions, Ofcom can contact the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (Cisas) resolution body on their behalf. However, a Cisas spokesperson told Mobile that it had not received any complaints to date.

That's a little surprising (not that it matters - Orange haven't broken the t&cs so a complaint on that score would fail anyway).

Doc_N

premierfella wrote: »

No surprise, and sound reasoning from Ofcom (personally I would have wanted them to instigate a consultation on the issue with a view to considering whether a change in their regulations was warranted to prevent mid-term increases - the mobile market is unlike a market such as gas where the underlying commodity price can fluctuate significantly, so providing a fixed price at the start of the contract for the minimum term should not cause operators any issue at all).

This last paragraph of that report was interesting:

If customers feel Orange has not met its terms and conditions, Ofcom can contact the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (Cisas) resolution body on their behalf. However, a Cisas spokesperson told Mobile that it had not received any complaints to date.

That's a little surprising (not that it matters - Orange haven't broken the t&cs so a complaint on that score would fail anyway).

Perhaps partly because the 'final' letter you get from Orange after complaining contains the statement

"The CISAS alternative dispute resolution service is not able to consider complaints or claims of this nature which relate to the fairness of the price increase"

mawey

I like most here sent in my complaint on the 2nd December got the automated reply:

Hello,

Thanks for contacting Orange. Please be advised that we are currently very busy and there may be a delay in responding to you. Thank you for your patience.

Occasionally we might give you a call, in order to answer your query more efficiently.

Please do not reply to this email.

If you would like to email us again or give us a call you can find the contact details on our contact us page.

But I haven't recieved anything further since the 2nd (44 Days so far), do you think its worth re emailing? Hoping to get a good will gesture like a few of the others have got.

davidsuffolk

Very odd that CISAS say they have received no complaints as this below was their answer to me. Maybe they mean they have received "no formal complaints" as they won't formally consider ANYTHING to do with this unethical increase. What a waste of space they are especially as I had asked how a contract can be valid when the T & Cs refer to a specific organization that has ceased to exist.
[FONT=&quot]Dear XXX,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your email below with regards to the recent 4.34% price increase from Orange Personal Communications (t/a everything everywhere). [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We note the points and concerns you have raised.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Unfortunately however, the nature of this complaint would actually constitute as a Business Decision undertaken by the Organisation itself. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Business decisions fall outside the Scope of CISAS and we have no power to deal with a complaint of this nature. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Please accept our sincere apologies that we cannot deal with your claim on this occasion. It is suggested however, that you seek independent legal advice on the matter. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Kind regards,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Jean-Marie Sadio BA (Hons) Bsc ( Hons) ACIarb[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Telephone: 02075203827[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Switchboard: 020 7520 3800 [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]IDRS Limited / CISAS [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]CISAS[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]International Dispute Resolution Centre[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]70 Fleet Street [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]London[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]EC4Y 1EU[/FONT]

JockMcSkint

After telling Orange Customer Service what I thought of this I sent a letter to their head office explaining that I had been a happy customer of Orange since 1994 & I had a contract for myself & my wife (Me & my wife's comes to £60 - £65 per month) but as, in my view, they have broken that contract I was minded to take my business elsewhere. I thought they might have thrown me a bone e.g no increase until I have a new contract in May, not much but it would have meant no change to a contract that I think most thought was fixed. Anyway even though I have been with them continuously since 1994 they sent me a bog standard letter back explaining how good they have been by not putting prices up as much as they could have. I know I was naive in expecting a more personal reply bearing in mind how long I have been with them.
Virgin Mobile have just come out with a deal for Virgin Media customers and I have now got two new Samsung Galaxy Ace phones, 1075 anytime minutes, 250 texts, 500mb internet & 3000 minutes Virgin to Virgin mobile/landline & free calls from landline to mobile for £15.99 per month each + £7.99 postage (phones were free). So now our bills will be £32 per month instead of £60+............If it wasn't for Orange unilaterally altering the terms of my contract I would not have looked elsewhere, have ported our numbers so no change, their loss.

gjchester

JockMcSkint wrote: »

no increase until I have a new contract in May, not much but it would have meant no change to a contract that I think most thought was fixed.
...

have ported our numbers so no change, their loss.

If your contract minimum term comes up May and you've already ported numbers they will most likely want an early termination fee.

Depending on your billing cycle thats likely to be £60-£65 x 4 or 5, so £240 to £300, but there may be some reductions for vat or lump sum payment.

robbies_gal

you stil have to pay out the remainderof your contract though if it doesnt run out till may

flying2468

This may have already have been answered but do Orange take the average rate of inflation for 2011 to apply it to 2012 bills?

Rate of inflation has dropped to 4.2% while the increase is 4.34%, is their anyway way round complaining that we are now getting charged more than the rate of inflation?

This has really wound me up with Orange!

CSales

mawey wrote: »

I like most here sent in my complaint on the 2nd December got the automated reply:

But I haven't recieved anything further since the 2nd (44 Days so far), do you think its worth re emailing? Hoping to get a good will gesture like a few of the others have got.

Im in the same boat. Emailed them via their website after reading this thread on 2nd December and got the same response. Still got the automated reply in my inbox, so I know they have my email. However, according to their complaints procedure they have 8 weeks to respond.

This means if they've not responded by 27th January, then you can escalate your complaint. I'll be doing the same. You can actually complain that your original complaint hasnt been dealt with, so now you have two complaints.

The thing I'm not sure about is whether you'd submit another letter to Orange, or go to CISAS, or go to Ofcom...

Any ideas on that one? Is there grounds to cancel the contract given the complete lack of customer service ?

Guys_Dad

CSales wrote: »

Im in the same boat. Emailed them via their website after reading this thread on 2nd December and got the same response. Still got the automated reply in my inbox, so I know they have my email. However, according to their complaints procedure they have 8 weeks to respond.

This means if they've not responded by 27th January, then you can escalate your complaint. I'll be doing the same. You can actually complain that your original complaint hasnt been dealt with, so now you have two complaints.

The thing I'm not sure about is whether you'd submit another letter to Orange, or go to CISAS, or go to Ofcom...

Any ideas on that one? Is there grounds to cancel the contract given the complete lack of customer service ?

Suggest you read this thread. OFCOM have washed their hands of this and CISAS won't even put their big toe in the water. You can write to whoever you like, but you will have as much luck as if you were to write to Santa Claus or the tooth fairy.

No, you can't cancel without paying the contract up.