MSE News: Orange won't face price hike investigation but door open for complaints

Guys_Dad

jasonwatkins wrote: »

The relevant part of the T's & C's as I can see is this ..

4.3 You may also terminate your Contract if we vary its terms, resulting in an excessive increase in the Charges or changes that alter your rights under this Contract to your detriment. In such cases you would need to give us at least 14 days written notice prior to your Billing Date (and within one month of us telling you about the changes). However this option does not apply if:

The part that I believe applies in my situation is the first part - ".. if we vary it's terms resulting in an excessive increase in the Charges .."

Nothing about causing there. Because my income has been cut so severely and my outgoings are now more than my income, any increase in charges is excessive.

Unfortunately, Jason, the relevant bit is the last sentence and 4.3.1

These qualify the preceding sentence clearly spelling out that 4.3.1 overrides the preceding option to cancel. If we strip out some of the words from your quote we have

You may also terminate your Contract if we vary its terms, resulting in an excessive increase in the Charges or changes that alter your rights under this Contract to your detriment. In such cases you would need to give us at least 14 days written notice prior to your Billing Date (and within one month of us telling you about the changes). However this option does not apply if ....... then 4.3.1

What you need to do, as OFCOM have thrown individuals to the wolves, is negotiate with Orange for a reduction based upon your individual circumstances. Others have been successful, but you need to ask pleasantly, not go in banging on about your rights or making threats to cancel etc. Keep in the back of your mind that OFCOM have severely weakened your case.

But good luck and let us know how you got on.

jasonwatkins

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Unfortunately, Jason, the relevant bit is the last sentence and 4.3.1

Reading it like that, I do actually see what you're saying and I do agree it's probably going to be unlikely i'll get anywhere with regards to exiting the contract as they have certainly met the terms of 4.3.1.

But then OFCOM did say ..

The Ofcom spokeswoman adds: "Whether or not individual consumers suffer material detriment will depend on the individual circumstances in each case, and customers can still contact Orange if they think they have or will suffer material detriment."

Bottom line here is that i have to try - I really don't have a choice. Unfortunately I'm also in the rather awkward position of actually needing the minutes for various reasons (that I'm not prepared to go into here) so any price reduction that they might offer would most likely result in a reduction of minutes as well which I can't really have happen.

It's unlikely, but if they moved me on to a sim only deal at around £20 quid a month then i'd probably take it.

The ultimate upshot of it is, is that if i can't get anywhere with them then unfortunately I have to give serious consideration to ditching the contract as it is. I fully understand the consequences of such a default as it stands, but then my credit rating is shot to sh*t as it is, so adding another £240 odd quid on top of what I already owe won't really make a huge difference - if I can eventually find the money for a debt relief order somewhere down the line it'll all still be taken care of.

daleski75

As others have said in this thread don't ruin your credit rating and get black listed by stopping your DD. This is the LAST thing you should do!

jasonwatkins

daleski75 wrote: »

As others have said in this thread don't ruin your credit rating and get black listed by stopping your DD. This is the LAST thing you should do!

As I said in my post, my credit rating is long past being anything even approaching "ruined". Don't get me wrong, it's not something i'm particularly proud of but it is what it is. Obviously if i did decide to ditch, i'd sort out another number beforehand just in case but honestly, if i did ditch it then it really would have little to no effect on my life overall.

jnm21

If anyone is considering cancelling their DD (or has no choice but to), please ensure that you clearly tell Orange that all monies owed under the agreement are IN DISPUTE (preferably via email, so that it is provable). I would not recommend this route, but this simple act MAY limit what orange can do to some extent.

alexp2000

According to the phone contracts, Orange is allowed to increase prices by RPI without giving the opportunity to customers to cancel their contract. If we accept this to be the case (I know many disagree, but for my scenario we'll accept that it is), then what happens for customers who have only recently signed their phone contract? RPI over the current contract period has been significantly under the 4.3% that Orange are trying to increase prices by.

I signed my contract in August and RPI since then has increased by approximately 1%. I believe this means any increase in the amount I am charged must be less than 1% and I will be informing Orange and the OFT of this fact. What are other people's opinions on this? I don't think this argument has been used to date but I do not see how they can possibly argue otherwise.

Alex

billynoodle

You would have to be crazy to use Orange, been ripped off by them after they sold me a broken phone and then demanded money from me to fix it, then voided the warranty after that. Would never use them again out of principle, even if it was free.

STAY AWAY FROM ORANGE, CON MERCHANTS.

Ady87

The amount of customers i get through that say "send the charges ill cancel my direct debit you wont get a penny mate"

I just think. If these calls weren't recorded, i'd tell you how very very wrong a decision that would be.

simax

I seriously cannot believe everyone is tearing their hair out for pennies! Get some perspective.

Ady87

Your train of thought there contradicts everything this website stands for. A member since 2004, i'd have thought you would understand that! Ha!