MSE News: Orange to raise monthly mobile costs

badaz52

justtheticket wrote: »

Yes i do want to leave and go else where,
as its been posted previously why should they get away with this i started a 24m contract on 23rd July 2011 the contract i took out was the maximum i could afford to pay each month, as a long term customer (10 years or so) i had to pay more for my contract than a new customer giving me less mins and txts and data as i previously had, Customer Loyalty ????????

hey ho i took the contract but no way did i wish to or want to expect to pay more for the same service as i already had, yes orange may have increasing bills to pay so they hit the customers for it, but i know for sure i wont get a wage increase to cover it,

this so called Great Britain has all of us living in fear to speak up and be heard, we are all getting royally bent over with our trousers around our ankles

why should we all just shrug this off and accept it

I'm completely with you pal, Our wages are frozen and not going up with inflation, I don't care what Oranges T&C's say, they are not fair any increase whether its to do with inflation (which IMO isn't in orange's case, i think they are just using that as an excuse due to the current climate) or not should not be allowed if they intend to hold you to a contract. You can't have it all ways.

I have sent a letter to Orange too but no reply yet, my advice would be to send them another letter restating ofcom regulations, threaten to contact trading standards and say you will get your solicitors involved if they do not release you. Usually when you are this strong with your response they stand down (especially if they know they are in the wrong) which we know they are.

The Vast majority are willing to accept Orange's excuse and not ask to be cancelled, a lot will also make a complaint then accept defeat, if you refuse to accept it and keep on at them they will let you out of the contract without penalty Im certain.

Most companies T&Cs are unfair and unreasonable but none of us ever read them and the companies know you won't. If we read them we would never buy anything BUT just because it's in there does not justify anything.

I mean say they put term 9.3 failure to miss one payment means we reserve the right to take ownership of your home.

You wouldn't know that term was in there but you would sign it but it wouldn't be fair and it would be totally illegal.

If your in a 24 month contract, you agreed at the point of the contract to pay £xx per month for a minimum of 24 months. If any prices change during that term you can be allowed to either negotiate or cancel without penalty. If Orange say you can't they are lying, what Orange are telling their customers right now is totally wrong. It is a mobile phone contract NOT state taxes, state TAXES can go up and we have to pay them no matter what but this is a service and I am completely purplexed that they are even getting away with the reasoning behind the increase!!

It's basic consumer rights! you are entitled to shop around for the best price, if your in a contract and prices change and you do not agree to the new price you can go elsewhere without penalty and that's all there is to it.

badaz52

GRINTS1981 wrote: »

Hi, I have just had an email from Orange and here is part of the email

"We are obliged, as are all UK operators, to abide by condition 9.6 of the OfCOM/EU Framework for EU Regulation.
Condition 9.6 sets out what we must do if a change is of material detriment to a customer. We must provide 30 days notice and allow customers to terminate their contracts without paying a termination fee.
When changes are not of material detriment, we need to provide 30 days notice (as stated in our terms), but the customer doesn't have the right to terminate their contract without paying a termination fee"
So Orange are saying that they are obliged by 9.6. They have said that i can not cancel due to this not being "material detriment"

Basically are TELLING you what to think! that they do not believe the increase is of material detriment because it only equates to about £1.50 extra a month to most people.

Think they forget everyone is skint and it's the principle of the matter, you can't make a global statement like that some people it might not bother other's it will.

Those that complain should be released from their contract's nuff said.

If I tell Orange it is of material detriment to me, THEN IT IS OF MATERIAL DETRIMENT TO ME, I won't allow them to tell me any different and neither should anyone else.

mikewill34

I have tried to find out historical figures for infation and the best I came up with was this link :-

Search for "tradingeconomics uk inflation" (the first link should be the correct one)

http: // www. tradingeconomics. com/ united-kingdom/ inflation-cpi

Then select November 1991 as the start date.

It does show inflation is the highest in the last 10 years, but NOT last 20 years

Guys_Dad

IMPORTANT UPDATE.

Why don't you all read this. Some cheer and also it seems OFCOM want more complaints. At last they seem to be coming off the fence.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/13415/ofcom_mulls_orange_4.3_per_cent_rise_investigation.aspx

thischris1991

badaz52 wrote: »

threaten to contact trading standards and say you will get your solicitors involved if they do not release you. Usually when you are this strong with your response they stand down (especially if they know they are in the wrong) which we know they are.

Looking at this good luck with their legal team. Im sure that they will have Barristers who are no doubt of Queens Counsel who have looked at this price rise.
Trading standards may look into it but wouldnt have much to say on the matter as trading standards are usually part of councils.
Since my original email to them complaining they have done a price plan review which I was not entitled to until 12 months in to my contract and then after a further 3 months on the plan which I am on if I am still not using the amount given to me then they will downgrade it again.

This forum has become some 37 pages long in the matter of a week, a majority of the posts are yes saying that they have the legal right to exit penalty free and I don't doubt that but im sure that any self respecting company would have gone through their legal team before giving the go-ahead considering that 2 years ago they made the same mistake but with Pay and go.

robbies_gal

Guys_Dad wrote: »

IMPORTANT UPDATE.

Why don't you all read this. Some cheer and also it seems OFCOM want more complaints. At last they seem to be coming off the fence.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/13415/ofcom_mulls_orange_4.3_per_cent_rise_investigation.aspx

thanks for that guys dad-will be interesting to see if OFCOM do take this any further

justtheticket

im just off the phone to Orange i didnt mention the price hike this time as i had just dug out my contract for a look and it said iphone 35 contract but i have been charged £40.01 since july, i said i had a copy of the signed contract and it should be £35 she said phones4u have added a £5 internet bundle and said she would remove it, i asked to have the money refunded since july and she did eventually after speaking with "team leader" i then said i was going to call phones4u and complain and she said phones4u will be really busy best not bother them as they probably would tell you to ring us anyway even though they have added the bundle,
sounds a bit like we will blame them but really its us,

with that refund sorted its onto ending this contract if i can

thischris1991

justtheticket wrote: »

im just off the phone to Orange i didnt mention the price hike this time as i had just dug out my contract for a look and it said iphone 35 contract but i have been charged £40.01 since july, i said i had a copy of the signed contract and it should be £35 she said phones4u have added a £5 internet bundle and said she would remove it, i asked to have the money refunded since july and she did eventually after speaking with "team leader" i then said i was going to call phones4u and complain and she said phones4u will be really busy best not bother them as they probably would tell you to ring us anyway even though they have added the bundle,
sounds a bit like we will blame them but really its us,

with that refund sorted its onto ending this contract if i can

Good luck with that one. Can I ask you what you will be saying to the CSA that answers your call to disconnect. They will do it over the phone but you will have to pay a buy out charge more than likely especially on an Iphone tariff.

JoJo21

I've just joined to post this.
I have 3 contracts in my name paying just over £90 a month, which were taken out when we were able to afford it. With the increase, It would be around £4 a month extra)
I used Mhadf's letter to send off my request to cancel, including proof that I had lost my income recently (which I had, and was already struggling to pay) and stated would suffer material financial detriment due to the price rise.
I've just had a phone call from orange.
I told the lovely lady that as per my letter I couldn't afford my current price plans and they could either help me find a solution or chase me for money which I just haven't got - of course I was more polite that i'm making it sound.
They couldn't cancel without penalty, but they were able to switch all 3 accounts to plans better suited to my requirements and available finances.
I now have 2 plans at £15.50 a month and 1 at £10.50 a month and with a minutes and message bundles that fit our usage.

My advice would be to write to orange (they'll phone you when its convenient to them so you don't have to spend ages waiting in a queue for your call to be answered) explain you're struggling/will struggle and i'm sure they will help you.

No I don't work for orange - I'm just someone who was having a hard time paying my bills, and when this price increase was announced, I thought it would be an easy way out of my contract without penalty or losing my shiny phone and free gifts. Truth is i'm glad my plan has changed.
PAYG for me next time though.
Thank you to everyone who has posted advice on here though. I found a few tidy phrases that I used in my letter!!

We are so quick to complain when a firm does something wrong, but today i'm one happy orange customer.

Cessquill

JoJo21 wrote: »

They couldn't cancel without penalty, but they were able to switch all 3 accounts to plans better suited to my requirements and available finances.
I now have 2 plans at £15.50 a month and 1 at £10.50 a month and with a minutes and message bundles that fit our usage.

I'm pleased for you. Care to share what the new plans are? The cynic in me thinks that rather than you pay them more, they're now giving you less. However, it's a great saving for you when you need it.