Orange 'Free' Broadband

nickbirkin

Still haven't had an email back from CPT regrarding various issues so sent this to Olaf, Bruce, Exec Office, BBC in order to deflect the coronary developing from the total lack of respect these guys have for us the consumer:j:beer::rotfl:

Can you please let me know why it is now four days since I have written emailed you and you have not even had the courtesy to reply?. (email shown below.)
If you require more time to answer my questions, then please let me know.
If you are unable, unauthorised or generally unwilling to reply, again let me know.
It surely in the last 4 days, or 96 hours or 5760 minutes you could have taken three of these minutes to at least acknowledge my request.
I did after all spend TWELVE years as a loyal customer of Orange, this equates to just over 6.3 millions minutes. Never once missing a payment.
I realise that Orange have dropped a right clanger with their completely onerous and ignorant decision to pull the plug on over 90,000 loyal customers and then used City Park Technologies to bear the brunt of the wrath and disgust of that client base.
This withstanding, I’m sure there’s a few quid in it for you guys.
Isn’t it time that you “Experts in providing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services in B2B and B2C multi-channel customer communication, (that) deliver cost savings, IMPROVED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE and increased revenues for (their)clients.” CPT’s words not mine, actually improved our customer experience and offered the service that they promise to the businesses that sub contract them AND THE CUSTOMERS THAT PAY THEIR WAGES.
Of course there is a possibility that the above statement from your website is purely there to attract business.
The customer, like in so many of these call centre situations, is simply a commodity to be traded, with mere lip service paid to the real reason your organisation is meant to exist.
The reason your company exists is TO GIVE GOOD SERVICE TO THE CUSTOMER AND LIVE UP TO THE GRANDIOSE STATEMENTS MADE IN THE INITIAL ATTRACTION OF THAT CUSTOMER.
This service results in you and your contractors GAINING the customer’s HARD EARNED CASH.
The money we pay you through the likes of Orange is not A RIGHT BUT A PRIVILEGE.
This complete lack of caring appears to be game played by both the centre and the contractor.
At what point do you intend to do the “right thing.”?
I have paid Orange over £5500.00 in the last 12 years and never once in all my dealings with them received anything like “Good service”.
You have offered me £20.00 of this back as “a goodwill” gesture after over eight weeks and hours of me chasing and reminding and all but begging Orange to see the both illegal and immoral way they have treated me and 90,000 other loyal customers.
I have spent hours of my life communicating with Orange and now yourselves only to be the one that is asking, reminding and cajoling you all into keeping your promises, whether it be a live box or a return call, at every single (bar two) instances it has been left to me to chase you guys.
You are both technology based organisations yet cannot keep your promises.
I set a reminder on my phone to check whether or not you will keep you promises, surely there is a system, whether it be a diary or a computer that both organisations could employ that ensures that the lip service spewed by your operatives is actually lived up to.
And there in lies the rub, the feeling after 12 years of excuses,
(I’m now of the opinion I’m a bit of a Jonah and shouldn‘t call in at all, as everyone I deal with seems to go sick or is mysteriously unavailable, but then that could be down to the unreasonable demands that you are putting on your staff defending a business that simply does not care. After all they were probably attracted to the job thinking that when they were part of a customer care team they would be allowed to care.)
12 years of on occasion blatant lies,
12 years of promises not kept,
12 years of switchboards that ensure you never deal with the same operative twice,
12 years silly internal policies staff quote as if they were laws,
12 years of systems that won’t allow a staff member to put a promise made in writing (“Sorry I can’t send an email”)
and 12 years of game playing, the feeling is that these structures exist to deny the customer their basic rights to good service and their expectation of receiving the product and service you all spend so much money promoting.
It is too systemic to be anything otherwise, our money and custom is your fodder to truffle like pigs at a trough with no regards to our well being and satisfaction.
At your next staff get together ask your directors Messrs Inch, Murphy and Stuart if this, despite the marketing babble on the meet the team page, is what they envisaged, because it is certainly what it has become.
I do hope you’ll pass this on to one of the three just mentioned and perhaps one of them would like to call me and discuss it in more detail. Failing that please forward me their email addresses so I can let them know in person what I and 10,000’s of thousands of others see as the way business is now run.
Now please get your act together and answer my email.

Eva49

Blimey Nick! - If I didn't know better I would say you were a wee bit angry:eek:

or was it the home brew?:rotfl::rotfl::beer:

I can't wait for the reply - but I won't hold my breath

The_Future_is_Bright

Well said Nick. What a well written and concise letter. I hope they have the courtesy to reply.

You have our backing, even though ofcom are sitting on the fence, currently.

THAT HAS TO BE THE MOST "OUTSTANDING LETTER" ON THIS FORUM.

The_Future_is_Bright

:beer:Congratulations to Martin and Mrs Lewis on the arrival of their baby girl.:beer:

RobbedRobbins

Nick, you are true hero and a fantastic wordsmith. I think the Times letter page should print it in its glorious entirety.

nickbirkin

Re Ofcom and full disclosure of the transcript of their discussions with Orange.
I have now had their, and get this for a title "Information Rights Advisor: Content, International and Regulatory Development" (do you think their paid by the number of letters in their title?) say she'll be back to me tomorrow, as they have stretched the 20 working days they are obliged to reply in, to exclude the day I sent it. (No surprise there then.)
Should be quite interesting as technically, if they want to quote the traditional get out of "Contains sensitive business information", or any other reason for that matter not to reply, they ought to have asked the I.C.O for an exemption by now.
Following another forum members advice,(Nobby?) on the 23rd October, I asked them to expand the request to include "all and any correspondence with Orange in respect of this matter”.
Ofcom have chosen to treat this as a separate matter and claim a further 20 days from then to reply. (Wriggle Wriggle.)
Unlike Orange and Ofcom, I have a diary and always keep my promises to keep in contact, so we’ll just keep on plodding.
It is perhaps very interesting, and a mark of how seriously Ofcom take this matter that the email was titled “FOI: Removal of free broadband minutes”? I believe the popular youth text speak would follow this with the acronym !!!!!!, but as this appears to contain a swear word I shan’t use it.
Glad to see how seriously the body set up to ensure our rights and good service understands what has been going on………….
All the above and the letter was an update so probably worth a bumpety bump to keep the ever growing new membership of this forum a chance to keep up with the real issues.

Ypaymore

Interesting post in " Which "

Where The Acting Deputy Home Editor Of Which explains how she has managed to get them to agree that she can retain free broadband for the remainder of her mobile contract’.

http://conversation.which.co.uk/technology/orange-free-broadband-lifetime-mobile...

Will_B_Back

I wish you would stop !!!!!footing around the subject, and come out and say what you mean.

Seriously, Nick, thank you for taking the time to construct your brilliant letter. It seems to encompass just about all my own feelings and frustrations.

I can't wait to read the reply.

Will

P.S. Promise you will share it with us.

Eva49

nickbirkin wrote: »

Still haven't had an email back from CPT regrarding various issues so sent this to Olaf, Bruce, Exec Office, BBC in order to deflect the coronary developing from the total lack of respect these guys have for us the consumer:j:beer::rotfl:

Can you please let me know why it is now four days since I have written emailed you and you have not even had the courtesy to reply?. (email shown below.)
If you require more time to answer my questions, then please let me know.
If you are unable, unauthorised or generally unwilling to reply, again let me know.
It surely in the last 4 days, or 96 hours or 5760 minutes you could have taken three of these minutes to at least acknowledge my request.
I did after all spend TWELVE years as a loyal customer of Orange, this equates to just over 6.3 millions minutes. Never once missing a payment.
I realise that Orange have dropped a right clanger with their completely onerous and ignorant decision to pull the plug on over 90,000 loyal customers and then used City Park Technologies to bear the brunt of the wrath and disgust of that client base.
This withstanding, I’m sure there’s a few quid in it for you guys.
Isn’t it time that you “Experts in providing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services in B2B and B2C multi-channel customer communication, (that) deliver cost savings, IMPROVED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE and increased revenues for (their)clients.” CPT’s words not mine, actually improved our customer experience and offered the service that they promise to the businesses that sub contract them AND THE CUSTOMERS THAT PAY THEIR WAGES.
Of course there is a possibility that the above statement from your website is purely there to attract business.
The customer, like in so many of these call centre situations, is simply a commodity to be traded, with mere lip service paid to the real reason your organisation is meant to exist.
The reason your company exists is TO GIVE GOOD SERVICE TO THE CUSTOMER AND LIVE UP TO THE GRANDIOSE STATEMENTS MADE IN THE INITIAL ATTRACTION OF THAT CUSTOMER.
This service results in you and your contractors GAINING the customer’s HARD EARNED CASH.
The money we pay you through the likes of Orange is not A RIGHT BUT A PRIVILEGE.
This complete lack of caring appears to be game played by both the centre and the contractor.
At what point do you intend to do the “right thing.”?
I have paid Orange over £5500.00 in the last 12 years and never once in all my dealings with them received anything like “Good service”.
You have offered me £20.00 of this back as “a goodwill” gesture after over eight weeks and hours of me chasing and reminding and all but begging Orange to see the both illegal and immoral way they have treated me and 90,000 other loyal customers.
I have spent hours of my life communicating with Orange and now yourselves only to be the one that is asking, reminding and cajoling you all into keeping your promises, whether it be a live box or a return call, at every single (bar two) instances it has been left to me to chase you guys.
You are both technology based organisations yet cannot keep your promises.
I set a reminder on my phone to check whether or not you will keep you promises, surely there is a system, whether it be a diary or a computer that both organisations could employ that ensures that the lip service spewed by your operatives is actually lived up to.
And there in lies the rub, the feeling after 12 years of excuses,
(I’m now of the opinion I’m a bit of a Jonah and shouldn‘t call in at all, as everyone I deal with seems to go sick or is mysteriously unavailable, but then that could be down to the unreasonable demands that you are putting on your staff defending a business that simply does not care. After all they were probably attracted to the job thinking that when they were part of a customer care team they would be allowed to care.)
12 years of on occasion blatant lies,
12 years of promises not kept,
12 years of switchboards that ensure you never deal with the same operative twice,
12 years silly internal policies staff quote as if they were laws,
12 years of systems that won’t allow a staff member to put a promise made in writing (“Sorry I can’t send an email”)
and 12 years of game playing, the feeling is that these structures exist to deny the customer their basic rights to good service and their expectation of receiving the product and service you all spend so much money promoting.
It is too systemic to be anything otherwise, our money and custom is your fodder to truffle like pigs at a trough with no regards to our well being and satisfaction.
At your next staff get together ask your directors Messrs Inch, Murphy and Stuart if this, despite the marketing babble on the meet the team page, is what they envisaged, because it is certainly what it has become.
I do hope you’ll pass this on to one of the three just mentioned and perhaps one of them would like to call me and discuss it in more detail. Failing that please forward me their email addresses so I can let them know in person what I and 10,000’s of thousands of others see as the way business is now run.
Now please get your act together and answer my email.

Great letter from Nick Birkin!

nobby1963

Hi All,

Just wanted to say well done Nick ( aka perry mason ), you have a great way with words that I wish I could have had when writing to Orange - must be all that `home brew`you have had recently !

It`s agreat shame that these forums don`t have a `well done` button on each post as it would be highly relevant on both Nicks post and that of Eva`s `bible` post on what process to follow.

I am reluctant to say we are on the way to victory for all as this all seems to be going on far too long now. Would you believe that it was the 17th October that Orange sent me the email telling me that they would honour my `free` bb til the end of my mobile contract - 2 weeks & 2 days ago, I admit now I was foolish to think that the battle was won, never in my wildest dreams did I think we would still be fighting and Orange would try to deal with this `one case at a time`. Who on earth thought that one up ??

Please keep fighting them and don`t let the !!!!!!s get you down !

Nobby.