Questions about Orange

in_all_reality

Hi, thought this was the best place to ask this;
Basically my mobile contract is with Orange for another 10 months and I've been unhappy with them ever since I agreed.

I have not actually signed a contract, it was done over the phone. I have a friends and family discount of 30% and I'm supposed to be getting BT Openzone access for free.

Anyway my most recent bill;
Shows my plan that I'm on and that the cost of this is subject to VAT. The discount is taken off before VAT is applied. My BT Openzone access is also listed as chargeable and is not covered by my discount.

There has been an error on my bill atleast every other month and I'm getting fed up of them. I tried to reduce my contract when they increased the prices but was told I would 1/4 what I'm getting in terms of minutes and lose all of my extras in exchange for 2 swappables? (Not interested) and all that would save me is £1 a month...


Is there any way of getting out of this contract early without having to pay the early exit fee (buy out the contract).

Also on the subject of Orange... my home phone and broadband is with them, they take atleast a month to transfer it if I move (as a renter who is new to an area I have had to move twice in the past 12 months, 6 months apart) and they have charged me continuously for services I haven't been receiving... made constant errors and blamed me for 'not asking all services to be moved' when I issue a move house request etc.
Basically the home phone and broadband IS out of contract but they are threatening a charge if I want to leave that aswell, when I ask what the charge is they say it's my phone line and broadband. I thought I couldn't be contracted on phone line (and there for not charged if I decide to move it?)
Either way I don't want to change it until I can get free of Orange all together.

Sorry about that, my thoughts aren't best presented but if anyone can offer some help I'd really appreciate it

grumbler

in_all_reality wrote: »

I have not actually signed a contract, it was done over the phone.

This doesn't make any difference.

I have a friends and family discount of 30% and I'm supposed to be getting BT Openzone access for free.

All Orange iPhone users suffering long-term BT Openzone fault

Anyway my most recent bill;
Shows my plan that I'm on and that the cost of this is subject to VAT. The discount is taken off before VAT is applied.

This doesn't make any difference.

(a*0.7)*1.2=(a*1.2)*0.7

There has been an error on my bill atleast every other month and I'm getting fed up of them.

Errors have to be corrected and cannot be a reason for cancellation unless they refuse to correct them.

Is there any way of getting out of this contract early without having to pay the early exit fee (buy out the contract).

I guess the answer is pretty obvious after the above comments.

Also on the subject of Orange... my home phone and broadband is with them, they take atleast a month to transfer it if I move (as a renter who is new to an area I have had to move twice in the past 12 months, 6 months apart) and they have charged me continuously for services I haven't been receiving...

I am no expert, but I think they can charge you for transferring if they wish, but you can claim a refund for the time you don't receive the services.

Basically the home phone and broadband IS out of contract but they are threatening a charge if I want to leave that aswell, when I ask what the charge is they say it's my phone line and broadband.

This makes no sense to me. If you mean a monthly charge, then I think it's a norm to require a 30 days notice and to charge for 30 days even if you switch earlier.

I thought I couldn't be contracted on phone line (and there for not charged if I decide to move it?)

You can be conracted. After the minimum term expires the contract goes on as a short-term rolling contract.

simax

Please explain what these "errors" are?

in_all_reality

Thanks for that Grumbler...

I'm not an iPhone user, I use a Blackberry. Some of the higher tariffs used to include BT Openzone access. This was included in my contract but suddenly withdrawn without notice when Orange updated their tariffs. However I have refused to switch to a new one for the simple reason that although I will save £1 I will lose a lot of other extras, as explained in my original post.

As I said, the above were thoughts but thank you for clarifying that I won't be able to exit my contract early.

As for the home phone and broadband I understand there would be a notice period however these charges are seperate, hence I referred to them as charges.
I was informed that I would be charged a fee for disconnection of my phone and broadband. As I said before, it is illegal to contract an individual on their phone line. The only way around this is to sign them into a contract for a calls package, however the customer would obviously be free to switch providers but would still have to pay the contract. Line rental is not contractable.
There for I am arguing how they can reason a fee for disconnection of my broadband which would equate to 4x the monthly cost. My question was whether this is usual or whether I can argue it.

The 'errors' I refer to are billing errors where I am usually charged extra for the services I am entitled to under my contract - the only resolution is usually having to call every time to explain that I haven't changed to the new tariffs where a CSR then looks at my bill, realises straight away and offers a credit on my account. The CSR's are really polite and sympathetic about this 99% of the time and have in fact told me that this has been happening to a few contract customers on the old tariffs.

On a last note, I noticed that it doesn't matter if this was ordered over the phone. How do I get a contract? As every time I ask I am told there is none, it is acknowledged when they quote reasons for increasing my charges or making me stay but nobody seems to be able to send me a copy of it.

grumbler

in_all_reality wrote: »

...As for the home phone and broadband I understand there would be a notice period however these charges are seperate, hence I referred to them as charges.
I was informed that I would be charged a fee for disconnection of my phone and broadband. As I said before, it is illegal to contract an individual on their phone line. The only way around this is to sign them into a contract for a calls package, however the customer would obviously be free to switch providers but would still have to pay the contract. Line rental is not contractable.
There for I am arguing how they can reason a fee for disconnection of my broadband which would equate to 4x the monthly cost. My question was whether this is usual or whether I can argue it.

You are likely to get a better advice on Home Phones and/or Internet Access boards.

On a last note, I noticed that it doesn't matter if this was ordered over the phone. How do I get a contract? As every time I ask I am told there is none, it is acknowledged when they quote reasons for increasing my charges or making me stay but nobody seems to be able to send me a copy of it.

I am no expert, but I know that coontracts don't have to be necessarily signed. The network is supposed to send you a copy, but general T&C can be found online.

Buzby

I don;t see where this 'short term rolling contract' comes from? If the customer doesn't cancel, the contract isn't of a short term duration. This is a colloquialism that has absolutely no basis other than to mislead. The reality is, it is a standard contract with a minimum term that needs to be met, otherwise the balance needs to be paid on early termination.

After the the minimum term has bassed, the contract continues as before (it doesn't 'roll') unchanged, but the notice period falls to 30 days.

As to the signing of contracts, all that is required is for the consumer to make a payment, this signifies acceptance and can be used to confirm an agreement exists between those parties. However, it seldom will get to court, as networks much prefer selling on the debt, and wrecking a credit file instead as this is much more cost effective (for them).