Orange 'Free' Broadband

beelzecubz

passatrider wrote: »

I've been an Orange broadband user since the days of Wanadoo takeover.
Now, when I took out a phone contract a few years back I was given Home Broadband 'free for life' or so I thought. This was provided you kept the phone contract and it was a plan over £30.

Two years ago I left my contract and went Orange Pay as You Go as I was informed that as long as I kept my Orange phone and kept credit on it, the free Broadband would still continue.

Today, I get an email from Orange informing me that my 'Free for life' Broadband will cease from 17/10/12 as I no longer have a contract with them - even though I left my contract in October 2010.
To continue with this offer I have to take out an Orange phone plan again and also take a Home phone plan.

Where do I stand with this?:(

You say that as long as you keep your Orange PAYG the free BB would continue, you then say you left your contract in Oct 2010, which means that for nearly two years, you've had free Orange broadband for free.

How are you expecting to hold Orange accountable when by your own admission, there's no contract? Just asking...

Nashwan_3012

To all those who wish to defend Orange please understand that most of us are not trying to shoot them down but are just very disappointed in the way they seem to be treating long term customers. During the conversation I had with them today I was told that Orange have decided that giving away FREE broadband is no longer financially viable. But lets be fair to the customers Orange made the offer Orange wrote up the advertising Orange wrote the contract and it appears from that they want everything their own way. Yes every business is there to make a profit for the shareholders but the customers have done nothing wrong and compared to those that took up the original offer the numbers of people who have moved on and no longer receive the Free broadband must have decreased considerably over the years so why at this stage upset long term loyal customers. Orange are the ones who have created the problem and are shooting themselves in the foot. How can it be to their advantage to cause themselves so much bad publicity.

beelzecubz

Well, I'm not certain that hoping someone will mount a legal challenge against Orange isn't wanting to shoot them down. People seem to be missing the point that when the original contract ran out, they decided to let people keep the broadband free as long as they had a mobile phone with them. It's just my opinion that to accept that without quibble then start claiming contract breach when you're informed in plenty of time to make an informed decision on your future provider is a bit money-grabby, just my opinion though.

Also bear in mind that you have a choice and you're not being held to ransom, you've been offered a way to keep your broadband free, but no one's forcing you to take it.

Janandy1

Please explain to me how you think that Orange are being fair to me and I cant be the only one this applies to.

As I said in my earlier post my BT phone line costs me £14.60 per month including evening and weekend calls. Orange wants £18.50 for this to allow me keep my "free" broadband. and as an incentive they are going to reduce that by £2.50 per month over the first three month

If you check out the Orange website they are offering any Orange or T Mobile customer broadband with phone line and evening and weekend calls for £18.50 and as an incentive £40 in Marks and Spencer vouchers. There is no mention of anything free you are simply paying a sum and Orange are providing a service.

So this is exactly the same package at the same price they are now offering to me so please explain where exactly I am being money grabbing?

What ever way you want to call it Orange are increasing my costs mid contract by an unacceptable amount. If they did this at contract renewal I would have a choice - stay or go. As it is I don.t. I know not everyone one can afford to just walk away but I wont move my BT line to Orange on principle and I will move my mobile contract as soon as possible. Anyone else that can afford to should as well. Why on earth would I give more business to a company that treat loyal customers in the way.

beelzecubz

Janandy1 wrote: »

Please explain to me how you think that Orange are being fair to me and I cant be the only one this applies to....

My first post states quite clearly that what Orange are doing doesn't seem fair, but ok, I'll bite.

I'll take you as an example. You're paying £14.60 for line rental and evening and weekend calls at this point in time. If you were to switch to BT for your broadband, their cheapest online broadband/line rental package is £13pm (free for 6 months). It's also worth noting that BT's line rental is set to increase (for the fourth time in two years) to £15.45pm

This means that over the course of the 12 month contract, you'll pay at least £253 for a capped internet service and your line rental.

If you were to make the switch to Orange for the equivalent package, you'll pay £222, saving you over £30 a year.

Admittedly, if BT continue the discounted rate at £10.75pm, (which is unlikely given the impending increase) and you pay a whole year up front for your line rental, then with BT the whole contract will be £1.25 cheaper per month than the equivalent Orange option but Orange's broadband is unmetered and uncapped, invaluable if you've got PS3's, X-boxes, or smartphones that connect to your wifi or if you have Netflix, Lovefilm or watch anything at all on iPlayer or any site that streams content.

With regard to the deal you highlighted, this is available only to new broadband customers and quite plainly states that the line rental is £13.50, the broadband connection is free which means the inclusive off peak calls component is a fiver.

Take a close look at your mobile contract and you'll find that nowhere does it state that you were ever in contract to receive free home broadband and with this in mind, Orange haven't altered your contract, are not in breach of it and they're not increasing the costs covered by it.

With regards to the disgraceful way Orange are treating loyal customers, you keep forgetting that they supplied customers with the free broadband over and above the length of the contract period in which it was originally taken out and you always have a choice, you're not being forced to take Orange line rental, you're just being offered (in my humble opinion) attractive and cost effective packages to enable you to keep free home broadband.

Eva49

Each of us have own opinions and views which will differ; but for me, this is not about ‘money grabbing’ so much as principle.

In 2006, Orange took over Wanadoo; at the same time Carphone Warehouse acquired Talk Talk and was offering free broadband to all customers.
In order to retain the 2million Wanadoo users and stop them defecting to Talk Talk, Orange did the same.
The Orange broadband offer relied upon Wanadoo installing its own equipment in BT's local exchanges - a process known as local loop unbundling.
The service provided was so abysmal, Orange BB service lost customers in their droves and by 2009 the company making an £80m-a-year operating loss and coming bottom of Ofcom's customer satisfaction league table.
A new deal was signed with BT April 2010 after Orange took the decision to decommission its unbundled network. The equipment is being taken out of BT exchanges and sold to developing countries or scrapped. Instead, Orange has been renting space at wholesale prices on BT's network, and the transition will be complete by the end of the year.
Exchange Switch Completed Nov 2011

The point I make is that orange were well aware of this change back in April 2010 and certainly when I renewed my contract with them 5months ago, but still they offered me BB as part of my mobile contract, hence my stance on this matter.

Because there is a lack of communication between Orange Mobile & Orange BB divisions I refuse to be the scapegoat and lose financially or be held to ransom by their incompetence.

beelzecubz

Eva49 wrote: »

The point I make is that orange were well aware of this change back in April 2010 and certainly when I renewed my contract with them 5months ago, but still they offered me BB as part of my mobile contract, hence my stance on this matter.

Because there is a lack of communication between Orange Mobile & Orange BB divisions I refuse to be the scapegoat and lose financially or be held to ransom by their incompetence.

I'm not sure what the change in equipment has to do with free broadband offer. Are you saying that renting the infrastructure from BT has caused Orange to wait two years before withdrawing the offer? Because it it was me, and my costs had increased as a result, I'd have cut it there and then, and not continued to provide it.

The home broadband is not part of your mobile contract either, it's a perq that having a mobile made you eligible for.

I'm not certain how this change makes you a scapegoat for anything or how you're losing financially. You need a landline for BB, Orange are offering you a cheaper landline than BT and the continuation of your free BB.

Leon_W

Be careful if you switch your line to Orange. They cannot offer the same line features as BT.

I regularly use BT Call Divert which, as the name suggests, diverts calls from my landline to my mobile for when I'm out and about for work. After much passing from pillar to post by inept Orange advisors it is a service that orange CANNOT provide. I also have BT Call Sign, effectively a different ring tone for a seperate telephone number but on the same line. Again, a no go.

I therefore explained to Orange that it was not possible to switch to their line proposition under any circumstances as I relied on the above features to keep myself in business. The response was to either like it or lump it. Thanks a bunch Orange !


The upshot is I'm moving the line and broadband to SKY. The clincher was the unlimited broadband as I'm a fairly heavy user.

Sky Line £12.25
Unlimited Broadband £10.00
Sky Talk Unlimited (Daytime, Evening,Weekend) £5.00
(12 mnth contract)

Which is probably less that I pay BT anyway.

Eva49

beelzcubz
What I am saying is that Orange were haemorrhaging BB customers and losing money to boot, but still they wanted to retain their customer base by offering ‘free’ BB and tying into a contract mobile phone.
Now they appear to have solved/improved their problems, instead of honouring the contracts of the customer base that have stayed throughout, they are telling us in no uncertain terms either you take our package or we cut you off.
I have always taken into consideration the value of ‘free’ BB when renewing my contract, which is why I have always confirmed before agreeing.
The point being, they must have known when I renewed my contract that the service would be withdrawn, and informed BB will no longer be an integral part of the contract.
The main problem seems to be Orange BB and Orange Mobile are now 2 separate divisions who seem to lack communication………ironic for a huge communication company.
However, I have now been allocated a case manager by the executive office and will post my progress as and when……..the case manager freely admits there is a lack of communication between Orange Mobile & Orange BB
By the way currently paying orange in excess of £450pa, and having accepted one unchallenged price rise since new contract; in order maintain my current service will mean another £60 pa to orange.
One further point, I was a Wanadoo customer when Orange bought them out having paid for my equipment and still using it today; also, an Orange PAYG mobile customer.
Orange offered me the deal; I did not seek it out I thought it was just for 18months, on renewing Orange told me it was for ‘life’ informing me that as long as I kept a mobile contract BB would be an integral part of it.

Gadgetmaster

beelzecubz wrote: »

My first post states quite clearly that what Orange are doing doesn't seem fair, but ok, I'll bite.

<snip>

If you were to make the switch to Orange for the equivalent package, you'll pay £222, saving you over £30 a year.


With regard to the deal you highlighted, this is available only to new broadband customers and quite plainly states that the line rental is £13.50, the broadband connection is free which means the inclusive off peak calls component is a fiver.

Take a close look at your mobile contract and you'll find that nowhere does it state that you were ever in contract to receive free home broadband and with this in mind, Orange haven't altered your contract, are not in breach of it and they're not increasing the costs covered by it.

With regards to the disgraceful way Orange are treating loyal customers, you keep forgetting that they supplied customers with the free broadband over and above the length of the contract period in which it was originally taken out and you always have a choice, you're not being forced to take Orange line rental, you're just being offered (in my humble opinion) attractive and cost effective packages to enable you to keep free home broadband.

I am certainly not decrying the offer of free broadband with a home phone package, which for many will continue to give them an excellent offering. My issue relates to the way in which Orange are doing it.

The terms of the offer clearly stated that the free broadband would remain for so long as a customer held an eligible mobile contract. On renewal, I, along with many others, confirmed that the offer of free BB was still in force for the duration of the new mobile contract. If Orange withdrew the offer on renewal, I would have gone elsewhere...the mobile offer was only a good deal because of the free BB.

There is also no choice at this time with regard to the mobile contract...we are tied up on a now uncompetitive mobile offering, with no choice to leave it now that the offer that made it competitive is being removed.

Had Orange informed us all that the free BB offer would end on expiration of our current minimum term mobile contract, I would have no issue. Likewise if they gave us the option of terminating the mobile contract on loss of free BB. Indeed, if they had advised me that free BB would end in (in my case) April, but I could continue to receive this benefit by moving telephone service to them at or before this time, I would positively applaud them, but they did not do this. It is the WAY that they are removing this benefit that causes me to complain.