Orange 'Free' Broadband

Grandma_Carol

Orange upset me, not just on the point of mis selling but because they only offered the choice of free broadband with a home phone package or go elsewhere. Felt a bit like blackmail. No incentive to stay with Orange at all after years of loyalty.

I notice that my written contract from October 2006 is for the hire of the Livebox. That was replaced more recently with a Netgear box for which we have nothing in writing at all. The change was all done by telephone!

Still awaiting confirmation that my bb will continue until the end of my mobile contract.

neil9313

nezk69 wrote: »

Hi, no the offer was that all calls made from my landline are billed to orange instead of BT but i continued to pay BT line rental. I paid no monthly fee to Orange. I'm 100% sure it's not VOIP. Cheers

I have no idea what this is about TBH unless your calls have been moved to Orange!

neil9313

fitz2012 wrote: »

As from many experiences posted here, Orange do not like to write things which benefit the customer do they!

The pattern of mis-selling is clear to all and the number of similar posts.

We were 'verbally' told when we renewed our mobile phone contracts, some direct to Orange, some via Carphone Warehouse or Phones4u, that our free broadband would continue.

Why else would free broadband begin in 2006 and suddenly end in 2012 ? We all accept Orange can withdraw a service in the written terms and conditions, but not breach an oral contract of free broadband.

The sales experience is the same, although there is no written evidence, only recorded sales calls that Orange have!

How many customers does it take to evidence mis-selling?

All Orange had to do was give 30 days notice, why the have not done this is a complete mystery.

IdontlikeOrange

MSE_Helen wrote: »

Hi all,

Just to let you know we're still looking into this, although we're struggling to collate any written evidence stating that broadband was either 'free for life', or that it would last for the entire length of a mobile phone contract every time a mobile phone was upgraded.

If you do have anything, please let me know at helen@moneysavingexpert.com or post it on this new, purely for evidence, thread.

Thanks, to everyone who has contacted me so far.

Best wishes,
Helen

Well, this is the thing with Orange. THEY DO NOT LEAVE DOCUMENTED TRACES. All lies but verbally, not written. Perhaps they are very keen not to leave evidence which can be used later against them. On the other hand, there are so many customers who shout like one: WE ALL HAVE BEEN PROMISED FREE BROADBAND WHEN WE RENEWED OUR MOBILE PACKAGES. Misseling by Orange - is not just a sporadic case, it is a pattern. And the way they handle complaints just prove it!

RobbedRobbins

Hi Helen, I sent Martin L a link to post 1170 on this thread which showed a link to original Canary Plan literature stating free broadband for Life on it. Has this not helped? Anyway,this is not really the point of the mis-selling debacle.If you read the advice given by a CAB employee posted last week it is clear that unless you were told at the time of renewal "T&Cs could change at anytime" before you signed a renewal contract and after particularly asking if there would be any changes to free BB and being told "NO",then that is the legal case for mis selling. It would appear from the resolutions being agreed individually by Orange on this matter that even they are acknowledging this fact,even thought they are not going to incriminate themselves by saying out loud or putting it in writing. Why can't you move forward on that basis? Free BB for life proof is a red herring!

MSE_Helen wrote: »

Hi all,

Just to let you know we're still looking into this, although we're struggling to collate any written evidence stating that broadband was either 'free for life', or that it would last for the entire length of a mobile phone contract every time a mobile phone was upgraded.

If you do have anything, please let me know at [EMAIL="helen@moneysavingexpert.com"]helen@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL] or post it on this new, purely for evidence, thread.

Thanks, to everyone who has contacted me so far.

Best wishes,
Helen

nobby1963

RobbedRobbins wrote: »

I am pleased to confirm there will now be press coverage on this situation, possibly on Wednesday in the Money section of a National tabloid. Thanks to all those who helped make this possible by sending in evidence.I hope it is a bit bigger than a paragraph at the bottom of the page!

Hi All,

I can confirm the above as I have just had a conversation with the journalist that is writing the article.
It may not be too late to give your side of this so if you want to PM me for the journalist`s email address and are quick you have a chance.
Wednesday`s Mail.

Nobby.

nickbirkin

MSE_Helen wrote: »

Hi all,

Just to let you know we're still looking into this, although we're struggling to collate any written evidence stating that broadband was either 'free for life', or that it would last for the entire length of a mobile phone contract every time a mobile phone was upgraded.

If you do have anything, please let me know at [EMAIL="helen@moneysavingexpert.com"]helen@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL] or post it on this new, purely for evidence, thread.

Thanks, to everyone who has contacted me so far.

Best wishes,
Helen

As per my email to you dated 9th October 2012, when I sent you the T&C's.

It is stated in the T&C's of the Free Broadband, they defined an eligible tariff as;

2. If you are an Eligible Customer you must be on at least a monthly £30 tariff (an "Eligible Tariff") to qualify for the Free Broadband offer.
6. If you are on an Eligible Tariff the Offer will be applied to your account for the period you remain on an Eligible Tariff.

This was then backed up by adverts offering free broadband for life.

Everyone here realises that "free for life" was to mean as long as you were on an eligible contract, something that was confirmed by Orange each time we renewed our mobile contracts and continued to receive free broadband.

The offering on the mobile contracts was only of value when the "free" broadband was factored in, and most customers would have moved provider had Orange not continued to guarantee the "free" broadband.

It has also been confirmed as a bill entry for the last six years as part of the package.

What has angered customers is the blackmail of moving landlines to Orange, when Orange were already contractually obliged to provide the service.

They have constantly quoted their right to vary the contract, however these clauses are not looked upon favourably by the OFT and should allow the customer to withdraw if they give unfair gain to one party.

Orange have tried to wriggle out of either continuing the free broadband or allowing penalty free mobile exit by stating the two contracts are not linked, despite the Free BB T&C's stating the free BB is reliant on the mobile contract.

Those with more knowledge than me in contract law believe this to be a misnomer and at the least the free BB was an inducement to purchase and should therefore be continued to the end of the current mobile contract or if the inducement is withdrawn then the customer has the right to withdraw.
If they do not then they are open to accusations of mis-selling the mobile contracts.
Imagine they ask you for the free Playstation back half way through the contract?

vieyrad

As promised by the executive office earlier today I have received confirmation that free broadband on my sons contract will be honoured until the mobile contract end date in April 2014.
I was never after any compensation as I only had to make 4 phone calls in total.
It will be a total joke if I have to follow the same complaint if they send me a letter.
Time they made a good business decision and stopped sending letters and just honour their commitments.
A good lesson for all organisations is that with modern communications word spreads fast.
Also with most contracts now done over the phone, record all conversations and file away until you move suppliers.

Gadgetmaster

Woodlandman wrote: »

Again a big thank you to everyone involved in this forum. :T:T I was involved from page 3 so somewhat of a stalwart but would like to mention gadgetmaster for letting me plagurise his original letter of complaint which for information i sent on 26/08/2012.

Again thanks to everyone & i will still keep monitoring this forum for information regarding my claim of a higher compensation for all the emails, phone calls & stress this has caused.

My pleasure, as I am sure is the case for all the other stalwarts fighting for our rights.

Glad you got a satisfactory resolution

bigbobbyfrog

First of all, thank you to all posters on this thread as it has been invaluable reading. I haven't managed to make it through all 124 pages but even the last 10 or so has given me so much information.

I have a slightly different scenario to most others on here in that I'm on a rolling 1 month SIM only deal with Orange and therefore wouldn't be able to claim that my broadband continues until the end of my contract, given that the termination date isn't a specific point in time. As such, I don't think I could go down the mis-sold route, although I did ask when I switched to SIM only if the broadband would continue so it certainly was a factor of me staying with Orange.

However, that doesn't get away from the fact that my broadband is set to be switched off... I've received two letters so far - the initial one stating my BB would be terminated on 12 November and the second one stating 27 November. Glad to see there is some factual continuity! The best bit is to quote the special offer code of FREE2012 to try and highlight that the saving of £7.50 (£2.50 off line rental for the first three months) is a great deal!

I was going to phone them tomorrow to ask for a MAC code, letting them know that I was about to start an iPhone 5 contract with them (not the greatest MSE phone but my 3GS is dying!) but their decision to stop the free broadband has swayed my decision. The speed of my line - I'm wondering if I have also been on the capped speed plan others have mentioned - is another factor, given the fact that I'm watching more TV through the internet (iPlayer, 4OD etc).

The worst part is I have been a customer since the days of Wanadoo and have actually had a lot of time for Orange as their customer service and general service for mobile and broadband, for me, has been good.

But the fact that I can get calls, line rental and faster broadband from other providers for cheaper is too much to argue against, now that the free BB is coming to an end.

In an ideal scenario, I would take up the line rental with Orange if they included the calls package for free, price-matched BT, Plusnet or TalkTalk's "pay up front" line rental and agreed to put me on a higher speed internet package.

I received a missed call today from 0800 294 4747 but was working when it came through.

Not sure whether to go good cop (loyal customer, wants to be retained) or bad cop (mis-sold, OFCOM, talk to your manager etc) on my call tomorrow!