Advice needed please-Orange network :(

PHM12

Hi..

I used to have a PAYG phone with Vodafone, paying £10 per month, been with them for years....no problems. I visited Phones 4u in my local Currys in April this year, with a view to just buying a new mobile (as mine then wasnt very good). I looked at a contract with Vodafone, but was declined. The sales assistant recommended I went with Orange, on a sim only plan, then after 3 months this woul automatically be upgraded to a contract mobile, and I could choose a better phone. I was told that it would be £10.50 per month.

However, my bills for the first 3 months were in fact £12.60, £17.02 and £19.49!!! All because off hidden charges (delivery notification) and extras that I ended up having to pay for (which with Vodafone were included...mms, Internet, answer phone).

I thought that once I had a contract phone, I knew what I would be paying each month, and that would be it.....not the case.

I came away with a phone that I wasn't really sure of, on a 2 year contract, paying £31.00 per month. I just wanted a phone that had a good camera, and to text, Internet. The battery life is awful, I hardly use it, but have to charge it every day!

I just thought I would check my bill online, and it is already showing at £45.30!!! After looking, I have again been charged for delivery notifications (which after searching, have turned off on my phone, this is a crafty extra charge I think, no one tells you about it). Charges also for answer phone (again not told about), charged again for Internet and picture messaging for last month and this month. I assumed picture messaging would be included in a contract, paying £31, but...I haven't even sent any! Also Interner was meant to be included. Then almost £8.00 VAT added!! Which again, I was not told about.

I just can not afford this! I am very upset about all these extra charges, and the phone even. I just want to give it all back and go back to my PAYG Vodafone deal

I will have paid £95 over the past 4 months, and am not happy about the service at all.

I haven't spoken to anyone as yet at Orange or phones 4u, I was hoping that you good people out there could give me some advice on what I could do, what my choices/options may be, please.

Thank you.

PHM12

Just to add...the contract I signed for was on 12/6/12..

latecomer

The first thing you need to do is look at the paperwork to see what is included with your contract as each one is different. It should state the number of minutes, texts, data allowance etc that is included each month. Make sure this ties up with what you were told by the salesman, if not go back to Phones4U and speak to them. If you were aware of internet and MMS being included on Vodafone did you not check that this was going to be included on the new contract?

Picture messages are rarely included in a contract but can usually be added as an extra bundle which reduces the price if you send a lot.

If it does then its going to be more difficult to sort out as technically they have provided what they said they would. I'm presuming its a smartphone seeing as its £31 a month? If so then I would argue its reasonable to expect some data allowance on the contract as all smartphones are pretty useless without this unless you use it only on Wifi.

On this point if you are using it online at home/work and you have access to a wireless network, make sure you set the phone up to connect to these.

Orange will probably not be interested in either case as they have been asked to set up a contract and have done it. That said I thought all Orange contracts included voicemail access for free, might be worth checking that the charges only apply to when you were on the sim only?

PS battery life will be poor in comparison with a non-smart phone, thats just the way it is.

grumbler

PHM12 wrote: »

...
I came away with a phone that I wasn't really sure of, on a 2 year contract, paying £31.00 per month. I just wanted a phone that had a good camera, and to text, Internet. The battery life is awful, I hardly use it, but have to charge it every day!

I think you should have learned the lesson to do some research instead of relying on salesmen in shops.

I just thought I would check my bill online, and it is already showing at £45.30!!! After looking, I have again been charged for delivery notifications (which after searching, have turned off on my phone, this is a crafty extra charge I think, no one tells you about it). Charges also for answer phone (again not told about), charged again for Internet and picture messaging for last month and this month. I assumed picture messaging would be included in a contract, paying £31, but...I haven't even sent any! Also Interner was meant to be included. Then almost £8.00 VAT added!! Which again, I was not told about.

Stop making assumptions at last. It makes much more sense to say what is included in your contact than to tell you about everything that you will pay for. Re the VAT, the original monthly price of the contract that you have bought should have included it. It's just shown separately in your bill.

I haven't spoken to anyone as yet at Orange or phones 4u, I was hoping that you good people out there could give me some advice on what I could do, what my choices/options may be, please.

Learn the lesson and stop using services that are not included in your plan. Keep your eye on you usage and don't go over your limits. It can be done easily and doesn't cost anything.

PHM12

The salesman, and paper show 750mb internet access, however I have been charged £5.00 extra. I do use wi fi at home, and to be honest very rarely use the internet when out and about. As for the picture messaging, I did mention this to the salesman, and he did say that this extra, which I said I didnt want, and he advised me to use WhatsApp if I wanted to send pictures, but I have been charged extra for this too.

I have been twice for last month's extras, and just feel very dissappointed that all these extras that I had, I now have to pay for.

I had a problem with the notification delivery report with the sim only, as I did not know that this was being done/charged, until I queried my first bill, and they advised me that I had to turn it off myself on my phone. Which has again happened with the new phone.

IsVAT added on top of the price plan you agree norm too then? As this wasnt explained to me at the time, otherwise I would not of taken up the contract.

I am not stupid, but I am not techno minded either. I just wanted a phone that can text/call and take pictures. I wont use all the other things on it, and suppose that I just have to ride out the 2 years for my naiveity.

Will give Orange a call and see what they say...not a lot i should imagine.

grumbler

PHM12 wrote: »

The salesman, and paper show 750mb internet access, however I have been charged £5.00 extra.

Charged for what? What does the bill say?

I do use wi fi at home, and to be honest very rarely use the internet when out and about.

750Mb is plenty to cover everything except streaming/downloading movies and music.

... he advised me to use WhatsApp if I wanted to send pictures, but I have been charged extra for this too.

How do you know? AFAIK WhatsApp just uses mobile data if you use it correctly. The recipient has to have this app too.

IsVAT added on top of the price plan you agree norm too then? As this wasnt explained to me at the time, otherwise I would not of taken up the contract.

There is no anything to explain. If the contract is, say, £31 and you don't have any extra charges it will be £25.83 + £5.17VAT in the bill.

I am not stupid, but I am not techno minded either. I just wanted a phone that can text/call and take pictures.

And this is a good reason for doing some research, reading reviews and asking questions before buying, not after.

Will give Orange a call and see what they say...not a lot i should imagine.

Don't waste your time.

latecomer

As grumbler said you need to understand where the charges are coming from. I use a fair bit of email (uncluding emailing pics and small video clips to the grandparents) and a little surfing on my phone with the occassional download and normally dont go over 100Mb. I dont usually even bother turning on Wifi my usage is so low compared to the 500Mb I have included on my contract.

I have MMS included in my contract but often email them instead so perhaps you could do this provided you are not using your data allowance (although if you are then its probably not the best way to do it unless you are on Wifi)

simax

PHM12 wrote: »

Hi..

I used to have a PAYG phone with Vodafone, paying £10 per month, been with them for years....no problems. I visited Phones 4u in my local Currys in April this year, with a view to just buying a new mobile (as mine then wasnt very good). I looked at a contract with Vodafone, but was declined. The sales assistant recommended I went with Orange, on a sim only plan, then after 3 months this woul automatically be upgraded to a contract mobile, and I could choose a better phone. I was told that it would be £10.50 per month.

However, my bills for the first 3 months were in fact £12.60, £17.02 and £19.49!!! All because off hidden charges (delivery notification) and extras that I ended up having to pay for (which with Vodafone were included...mms, Internet, answer phone).

I thought that once I had a contract phone, I knew what I would be paying each month, and that would be it.....not the case.

I came away with a phone that I wasn't really sure of, on a 2 year contract, paying £31.00 per month. I just wanted a phone that had a good camera, and to text, Internet. The battery life is awful, I hardly use it, but have to charge it every day!

I just thought I would check my bill online, and it is already showing at £45.30!!! After looking, I have again been charged for delivery notifications (which after searching, have turned off on my phone, this is a crafty extra charge I think, no one tells you about it). Charges also for answer phone (again not told about), charged again for Internet and picture messaging for last month and this month. I assumed picture messaging would be included in a contract, paying £31, but...I haven't even sent any! Also Interner was meant to be included. Then almost £8.00 VAT added!! Which again, I was not told about.

I just can not afford this! I am very upset about all these extra charges, and the phone even. I just want to give it all back and go back to my PAYG Vodafone deal

I will have paid £95 over the past 4 months, and am not happy about the service at all.

I haven't spoken to anyone as yet at Orange or phones 4u, I was hoping that you good people out there could give me some advice on what I could do, what my choices/options may be, please.

Thank you.

Might be worth posting on here the details on the second page of your invoice/bill, the bit where it tells you about the tariff, allowances and extras etc, then we can explain it to you.

I don't know why your anger would be directed at Orange? Phones 4U sold the package and instructed Orange to set the account up, which they did in good faith. The retailer is responsible if it was mis-sold.

PHM12

Well....Grumbler...Thank you for your comments, although I must say I feel more like you have told me off, rather than offering any constructive advice or help....apart from "Don't waste your time"

I did do some research beforehand. However, there are so many phones out there, and conflicting views. The phone in itself I am happy with, just a bit dissapointed with the battery life. But it is something that I will get used to, no big deal, just made a passing comment.

The bill shows Mobile Internet costs for both the previous month and this month. When I was on sim only, I had to pay extra for this, which I knew about. However, I had already paid it for last month (as I checked the dates on my previous bill), so I have been charged twice, It has also been rolled over onto this month, even though I now get internet access as part of the contract.

You misread my comment regarding WhatsApp, or I did not write it correctly. I have not been charged for WhatsApp, but for picture messaging. I said I did not want to pay any extra for pictures, but it has been added on.

I can see from my bill that the actual charge for the contract is less than quoted, then when the VAT is added, this will be the price. In this case, due to the added costs, it is obviously more than I expected.

I have not used any extra services that were not included in my plan. Apart from the duplicate charges and extra costs for services not required/requested, the only other extra charges come from the delivery report notifications. This isnt show anywhere in the contract as far as I can see, and I didnt know that I was using it even, as it is automatically turned on in the settings prior to use!

I have spoken with the salesman at phones 4u, and he will speak with Orange. Once these extra charges are reversed then the bill will as originally quoted. For the amount I use, I doubt that I will go over the usage, but I do keep an eye on it......hence me noticing this in the first place!

I just felt like it has all been more trouble than it was worth, which is why I queried returning the phone and cancelling the contract. I know that this is very unlikey....as after 'doing some research'...this seems to be the case.

So yes...lesson learnt. Move from Orange after the 2 years is up!

Tony5101

I wouldn't let your initial disappointment taint your view of Orange.
I recently moved my family over to Orange, and so far (with the Tmobile signal integration) I've not found anywhere that I haven't had some sort of signal. We all have each other as magic numbers, so it doesn't cost us anything to call between each other etc. ( in fact out of my 300 minutes per month, I'm lucky to get through 50)
Add in the Orange Wednesday perks etc.
I'm sure it'll get better for you.

latecomer

The data charge that you have seen this month must be for during the sim only period, billed in arrears as you only took out the new phone contract 2 weeks ago and hence wont have been billed yet.

If you are being charged for picture messages but are trying to send via an app that shouldn't cost anything then I guess you are not doing it right or its not set up correctly.

As for your final comment - none of this seems like Orange's fault. Believe me they are not perfect but you cant blame them for this so far