Orange / HTC woes

d.g_5

Hi all

Looking for some advice possibly concerning my mobile phone contract with Orange UK.

I have been with Orange since July 2008, originally with a Sony Ericsson phone which never seemed to do well with signal in my general area (East Midlands), at end of contract I agreed to a new handset and 18 month contract with a HTC Hero phone, during the 12 months of owning that phone I had it replaced once through Orange as it failed, then once by HTC when the 2nd one failed.

Last year when the renewal time came around I stupidly signed up for another new phone, a HTC Desire S, this has been a huge mistake.

Signal rubbish just about everywhere, phone forgets it has regained signal after losing it, requiring a reboot, dropped calls - the only thing that made it all worthwhile is that in the house I could connect to my wifi to make calls, using an orange app which meant I could save on having a home phone.

The Desire S failed 3 weeks ago, Orange didn't want to know as it was 7 months old and after 6 months your warranty is with the manufacturer, HTC collected the phone and replaced a switch / receiver, phone came back still faulty. Htc collected the phone again and replaced main board, phone came back still faulty. Htc collected the phone a 3rd time after agreeing a replacement (which is someone elses faulty handset refurbished) and guess what, this came back yesterday and didn't work either!

This afternoon I have sent the phone back for the 4th time in just over 3 weeks, goodness knows if they can even supply a working Desire S.

I have called Orange each time this happened to make them aware, but they simply are not interested, I asked for compensation but was told no - after pushing this I got a £17 refund for the two weeks I was without the handset, but now it looks to be 4 weeks so I will be seeking further compensation.

I am completely fed up with both HTC and Orange service, their "pass the buck" attitude just stinks and even the £17 hasn't made me want to stay with Orange more than a day longer than I have to.

I have asked them for a price to get out of my contract, which 3 weeks ago was £242, I figured my phone is worth around £110 on a mobile site such as Mazuma, so am considering this as a worst case scenario to just cut my losses and start again - this is due to the terrible reception and the way that my android devices seem to forget what reception they are actually getting.

If I chose to do this does anyone have any advice on alternatives - I am guessing all the companies and phones have their failures, but which seem to be the best/most helpful?

I have considered a complaint to Orange based on the last 2 + years of bad reception and faulty handsets, but can see them just sending out the default email which says they have done nothing wrong, truth is the service stinks (in my area) and for me there is no point staying with them any longer.

robbies_gal

why do you carry on renewing contracts with them when you know its a bad signal?

i just cant understand the logic

reclusive46

gabbyevs wrote: »

why do you carry on renewing contracts with them when you know its a bad signal?

i just cant understand the logic

I have to agree with you there

d.g_5

gabbyevs wrote: »

why do you carry on renewing contracts with them when you know its a bad signal?

i just cant understand the logic

First time around the Orange operator actually told me the Sony was problematic in this area and suggested the newer Android based smartphone would be an improvement due to the 3g coverage..

Second time round it was my decision based on reading online how much Orange had improved their network and coverage, coupled with the high speed internet access and home wifi capability it should have been an upgrade.

To be fair these last 6 months it's the android phone which has been more problematic than the network.

The "logic" you don't understand was that it was a better offer to stay with Orange, the grass is not always greener kind of thing, Vodafone signal is even worse than Orange around here and O2 were more expensive at the time.

robbies_gal

sorry but a better offer doesnt mean better service its like throwing your money away jsut because you got a better deal

at least check out the signal on the handset first i wouldnt trust any salesperson if they say the grass is lilac would you believe them

d.g_5

gabbyevs wrote: »

sorry but a better offer doesnt mean better service its like throwing your money away jsut because you got a better deal

at least check out the signal on the handset first i wouldnt trust any salesperson if they say the grass is lilac would you believe them

Hmm, firstly all the phone companies claim to have the best network, how are us mere mortals to know?

Secondly, how do you suppose I could have checked the signal on a new phone I didn't have?

Thirdly you are forgetting the human element, we all like to "think" we are constantly improving our stuff and phones tap highly into the desireable gadgets part of our brains.

Whilst I welcome your comments I was looking for advice on what to do next, not for a drilling down for being so stupid - if you read my first post I already clarified that I had made mistakes!

visidigi

Ok firstly - this is a crap firmware on the HTC Desire S - and they KNOW about it.

I *think* its build 147 which has this problem (I had two handsets on o2, same problem) - the only way to get to to stay on the network is to turn off 3G - the handset then shouldn't throw up no signal problems.

You need to get HTC to put an older firmware on the phone (they will do this for you if you ask) to avoid the dropping signal - the Desire had this issue, but the Desire S is much much worse, I ended up moving to a 4s on the same network and I have no network issues at all and much better speed - so I know where you are coming from interms of the handset improving your situation.

I'm surprised you have survived 4 repairs, I guess 4 weeks is actually quick - I had two repairs which took 13 weeks in total.

The likelihood of you getting a replacement handset out of HTC is zero - they will just keep repairing your phone, you would be non the wiser, after all, you already have a new mainboard so your IMEI is different...you really wouldn't know if they replaced your phone or not...