MSE News: Orange to raise monthly mobile costs

premierfella

Shiggaddi wrote: »

Just got back the following from E2save...
We advertised that a given number of months were at 99p and we will honour that with all our customers.
.....
The total value of the cash back will increase to ensure that your toatal contract will work out at 99p for 24 months.

That IS an interesting response and certainly not what I would have expected, but very positive PR for them (as opposed to the negative PR for Orange).

As it happens my Orange contract is via a CPW group cashback deal (based on free months rather than set spend per month). IF they follow through on that (and it is a BIG if given that some people seem to have issues getting their cashback paid anyway) then e2save become the ones being stiffed by Orange! I wouldn't be surprised if the "x month free" deals are treated differently though because they would surely have some trouble doing those calculations.

robbies_gal

Shiggaddi wrote: »

Just got back the following from E2save

Dear Mr (my real name)

Hello and thank you for your email.

We advertised that a given number of months were at 99p and we will honour that with all our customers.

The total value of the cash back will increase to ensure that your toatal contract will work out at 99p for 24 months.

Unlike Orange we believe in taking care of our customers.

Hope this is satisfactory.

(name removed)

Customer Services


I think this just goes to show, that there are companies out there who are willing to look after customers. E2save are part of the Carphone Warehouse, so if anyone purchased their Orange contract via them, or any other 3rd party retailer whether online or instore, then it might be an idea to contact them first, as they arranged the contract, and see what their response is. As a result of my e-mail, I'm not going to be disadvantaged by this decision.

you should forward that to orange and see what they say to that

Guys_Dad

gabbyevs wrote: »

you should forward that to orange and see what they say to that

Probably "Then you have no material disadvantage!"

robbies_gal

lol very true wouldnt put it past them

georgemac_2

I originally complained, by email through Orange website. 6 days later I had no reply so last night I sent the complaint on to the Executive Office. This is the reply.

[FONT=&quot]Dear Sir,[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We appreciate the time you have taken to write to us, however in order to resolve any issues you have, you would be required to contact our customer service team. Our customer service team is equipped to deal with all issues relating to Orange Products and Services. Should you be unhappy with the response you have the right to make a request for your complaint to be escalated to a Team Manager and then if still unresolved to the relevant Operations Manager, in the unlikely event that your issue remains unresolved the Operations Manager will contact the Executive Office for further advice or alternatively they will escalate the issue on your behalf. For details of our complaints procedure please see the Orange Code of Practice for Consumer Affairs, a copy of which can be found online using the following link.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

www.orange.co.uk/codesofpractice

[FONT=&quot]Whilst we appreciate the above is not the response you had hoped for, the Executive Office is responsible for a variety of work practices and as such is not necessarily the quickest route to resolve an issue. Please be assured that resolving any complaint or issue as quickly as possible is our primary concern[/FONT].
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kind Regards[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Orange Executive Office[/FONT]

I have now emailed customer.services@orange.co.uk with my complaint and await a response.

I found the above reply strange since this office seems to be dealing with other customers.

I have 2 x mobile phone contracts, home broadband and phone and am also having another isssue with Orange just now which they are struggling to resolve.

My opinion is also that when companies look at 24 month contracts, they have the inflation forecasts, and they should factor this into the prices - the price should then be fixed for the customer.

For gas/electric this is a little different, as the price heavily depends on a traded commodity which historically has suffered big swings, I do not notice anything like this on mobile phone services - like another poster said the price of the handset is a lot of the cost and this is factored in at the start.

Once I get a response from Orange, if I am not happy with the outcome then I will complain to Ofcom.

drbesty

Just thought I'd post a link about what these prices rises are being spent on

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2011/12/everything-everywhere-investing-1-5bn-in-3g-network-update-and-4g-preparations/

Never mind the extra billions to actually acquire 4g spectrum

raytrow

I sent my email direct to Olaf Swantee CEO on the 2nd and a further one on the 4th. After reading the majority of the thread I thought I would share the reply I eventually received earlier today.

" Please respond to [EMAIL="executive.office@orange.co.uk"]executive.office@orange.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Dear Mr (),

Thank you for your email addressed to Olaf Swantee, Chief Executive Officer Everything Everywhere Ltd, with regards to the price increases. Olaf has asked me to respond on his behalf and keep him informed of my investigations. I apologise for the delay in replying.

As you probably know, inflation is at a 20 year high, which is having a significant impact on businesses and households alike. Increases are never welcome but Orange feel we are unable to postpone this increase any longer

Unfortunately, we've had to re-evaluate our prices and are sorry to say that there will be a 4.34% increase in our monthly plan prices. This is lower than the Retail Price Index measure of inflation, which currently stands at 5.4%. Out of plan charges, such as calls, texts and data will not be changing.

This change is not of material detriment to our customers. Therefore there is no option to leave early without the appropriate buy out fee being added to the account. Our Pay Monthly terms and conditions allow us to increase charges by up to the RPI figure in any 12 month period. RPI for the last 12 months, as published by the government is 5.4% and we've increased prices by below this, at 4.34%.
I assure you that we are acting within the law and are following OfCom guidelines. I am sorry however, if you disagree with the information provided.

Yours sincerely


Lesley Todd
Executive Office

c.c. Olaf Swantee, Chief Executive Officer Everything Everywhere Ltd"

It does seem pretty cut and paste, however, I have sent a further email in response, highlighting that as my household has 3 Orange pay monthly contracts, the increase would be of material detriment to myself as I am the payer of the contracts(mine,wife & daughter) and I find that the total increase for all 3 contracts would be substantial, especially as they are all £35pm contracts and have at least a further 18 months each to go.
I do however feel that OFCOM should have got their finger out their proverbial a*** by now, it seems to me that they are stalling for some reason.

marko7171

Having sent a version of the standard letter via email and post, and logging my complaint with Ofcom. I received the standard email response from Orange's executive office yesterday. I have challenged their response but today I got the following two emails.

@ 10:12am

Dear Mr xxxx,

Thank you for your email addressed to Olaf Swantee, Chief Executive Officer Everything Everywhere Ltd, with regards to the price increases. Olaf has asked me to respond on his behalf and keep him informed of my investigations. I apologise for the delay in replying.

I am sorry that you waited an exceptional time to speak with an advisor. You shouldn't have been refused your request to escalate, please be assured that details of your experience will be sent to the advisors Manager for further action.

Our Pay Monthly terms and conditions allow us to increase charges by up to the RPI figure in any 12 month period. RPI for the last 12 months, as published by the government is 5.4% and we've increased prices by below this, at 4.34%. For example, a customer paying £15 a month will see their monthly plan rise by 64p to £15.64 (incl VAT). A customer on a £20 a month plan will see a 86p increase to £20.86 (incl VAT) and so on.

As you probably know, inflation is at a 20 year high, which is having a significant impact on businesses and households alike. We understand that a price rise is never good news but we'd like to assure you that you'll always get great value and benefits from Orange. For our terms and conditions please visit orange.co.uk/mobileterms.

Lesley Todd
Executive Office

Then @ 14:15
Dear Mr xxxx,

Thank you for your email addressed to my colleague Jaimie Peart. Unfortunately Jaimie is out of the office today, therefore I am responding on her behalf.

I am sorry that you remain unhappy with Jaimie's response. I can assure you that the decision made by Orange was not taken lightly. We do understand that increases are never welcome but Orange feel we are unable to postpone this increase any longer.

Our Call Centre staff are updated regularly regarding the price increase, therefore there should have been no reason for you to have received incorrect information. I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you, please be assured this will be fed back to the advisors Manager.

I appreciate the information you have provided regarding OfCom, however, this change is not of material detriment to our customers as it is less than the RPI. As advised by Jaimie our Pay Monthly terms and conditions allow us to increase charges by up to the RPI figure in any 12 month period. RPI for the last 12 months, as published by the government is 5.4% and we've increased prices by below this, at 4.34%.

Your Direct Debit cannot be amended to take only the current rate. Once the increase is implemented the new rate will be debited. Should you remain unhappy with this you will need to cancel the Direct Debit via you bank.

I appreciate that you still dispute the rise, however, our position remains unchanged.

Yours sincerely



Lesley Todd
Executive Office


The first email I received was cc'd to Mr Swantee, Chief Executive Officer. However, the 2nd email wasn't.

Can anybody offer me any advice as to the next step??

Narconerd

not very relevant, but if you hold ''Orange'' shares


sell, sell, sell!:D

jasonwatkins

I think i'm going to put my nasty thoughts about ditching orange either way on the back burner until January. Knowing my luck, i'll get the price rise text tomorrow

Or, if not tomorrow i imagine it'll certainly arrive in time to prevent me from doing anything.

But then i'll start thinking nasty thoughts again because, after today, I seriously can't afford any price rises ..