No Phone signal but still have to pay for contract

JockLincs

My partner is with orange and her contract started in june this year. When she took out the contract, she was living in West Yorkshire but has recently moved down to Lincolnshire. In our house, she cannot get a signal so to text, talk etc, she has to go to bottom of the garden. We visited an orange shop in lincoln and was told that the signal strength was very good and to phone customer services. Whilst visiting relatives in Northamptonshire, she phoned cust services and was told the house was in a patchy/black spot and there was nothing they could do but if she wanted to buy out her contract, it would cost her £563. She asked so basically I am paying for a service that I can't use in my home and the bloke on the other end of the phone said she choose to move to that area. While in Northampton we visited another orange shop and spoke to a woman who said it might be fixed by switching on data roaming (it didn't fix it) or the other option was to find someone else to take over the contract from my partner. Is it right that my partner is paying for a service that she can't use in the comfort of her own home? Any help is greatly appreciated.

bengalknights

Has she tried gsm only mode?

Rusty!

It's not Orange's fault she moved.

kelpie35

The same happened to me when I moved and was told by virgin it was my fault I moved.

Ended up paying a lot to get out of contract as needed mobile for work etc.

Don't think you will get the result you wish, but all the best.

Annie._2

It was your decision to move home to an address where reception was poor. Orange were providing a service at your previous address when you started the contract.

Orange are still providing a service outside of the area where the signal is poor. No network can guarantee a signal in every location.

macman

No provider guarantees a service at every location in the UK, so no way to void the contract without penalty.

Emy1501

Maybe worth taking advice. No real reason a phone provider shouldn't be able to provide a service in this day and age unless your in a pretty remote area.

If other providers are providing a decent service then I can see and argument which a judge may accept with regards to the service not being fit for purpose.

d123

Emy1501 wrote: »

Maybe worth taking advice. No real reason a phone provider shouldn't be able to provide a service in this day and age unless your in a pretty remote area.

If other providers are providing a decent service then I can see and argument which a judge may accept with regards to the service not being fit for purpose.

She has a signal in the garden, it could even be down to the structure of the house. No network will guarantee a signal inside every building of the UK, plenty of old houses are built out of thick stone, for example.

Emy1501

d123 wrote: »

She has a signal in the garden, it could even be down to the structure of the house. No network will guarantee a signal inside every building of the UK, plenty of old houses are built out of thick stone, for example.

The question will be whether the contract is reasonable and fit for purpose rather than what is guaranteed.

Like I say the OP needs look at things like whether there is coverage for other networks, is it an area wide problem or a problem with the house etc.

Personally I would discuss the matter with trading standards etc rather than simply accepting the explanation given by orange.

The courts are very claimant friendly these days and wouldnt surprise me if the OP could successfully sue in the small claims court.

grumbler

To sue in the SCC they have to cancel the contract first and pay the ETC. However, as the monthly charges include the loan repayments for the phone, I wouldn't expect from the SCC to adjudge the refund of full ETC.

NFH

JockLincs wrote: »

Whilst visiting relatives in Northamptonshire, she phoned cust services and was told the house was in a patchy/black spot and there was nothing they could do but if she wanted to buy out her contract, it would cost her £563.

That's a huge amount. How many months are left on the contract and how much is the monthly charge?