Switch from Orange/EE to PlusNet?

Poq

Orange (now known as Everything Everywhere) have been horrendous.

I haven't been able to receive calls on my line since it was set up, and my broadband has been dropping connections all the time. Their customer service was useless in this regard.

Therefore, I'd like to switch — my contract is running out soon: how can I make sure that I switch on the day it runs out? So that I'm not paying twice?

Does anyone have experience with going from Orange to PlusNet?

macman

You've been in contract for a nearly a year and not able to receive calls?! Why haven't you acted sooner?
Your contract doesn't 'run out'. It reaches the end of it's minimum term, and then continues until you give your 30 days notice.
Get your MAC and give it to Plusnet on the due date.
However, if the cause is a line fault, which seems possible (have you done the standard tests from the master socket using a known working handset?), then switching provider will make no difference at all.
Is Orange also your line rental provider? They're the ones you need to contact, not your ISP.

Bradfield

Poq wrote: »

Orange (now known as Everything Everywhere) have been horrendous.

I haven't been able to receive calls on my line since it was set up, and my broadband has been dropping connections all the time. Their customer service was useless in this regard.

Therefore, I'd like to switch — my contract is running out soon: how can I make sure that I switch on the day it runs out? So that I'm not paying twice?

Does anyone have experience with going from Orange to PlusNet?

I went from Orange to BT. I got my Mac code from Orange and in the email they told me I did not need to do anything as they would be notified by BT when the transfer took place; then they would email me and tell me that my Orange service was terminated.

The transfer took place on the 20th of December. No problem at all. But I never recieved an email from Orange to tell me the service was terminated. On January 1st they billed me for another month's service (£24.52) so I cancelled my direct debit. They sent me an email telling me to recommence payment or they woud surcharge me. I was worried about gettiing a bad credit reference so gave them my credit card details.

They are now looking to bill me for February. I emailed them twice and phoned them constantly but could never get through on the phone. Eventually I did get through and they said they had "missed" the alert from BT. They say they are now sorting it out. But it will be February 16th when the next billing date arrives before I will be re-imbursed.

You are right to be worried. If you dont get an email when you migrate, email them right away and tell them the service is terminated. Get it in writing.

Poq

macman wrote: »

You've been in contract for a nearly a year and not able to receive calls?! Why haven't you acted sooner?

Trust me, I did.

Your contract doesn't 'run out'. It reaches the end of it's minimum term, and then continues until you give your 30 days notice.
Get your MAC and give it to Plusnet on the due date.
However, if the cause is a line fault, which seems possible (have you done the standard tests from the master socket using a known working handset?), then switching provider will make no difference at all.
Is Orange also your line rental provider? They're the ones you need to contact, not your ISP.

Ah, OK, thanks.

Yes they are.

The fault is a problem at their equipment at the local exchange: so moving to a different provider will help, and in any case, perhaps they'll be more likely to fix it than Orange whom I have given a year. (I don't even want to get into what I've been through with them: phone, email, writing, engineers, etc.)

Poq

Bradfield wrote: »

I went from Orange to BT. I got my Mac code from Orange and in the email they told me I did not need to do anything as they would be notified by BT when the transfer took place; then they would email me and tell me that my Orange service was terminated.

The transfer took place on the 20th of December. No problem at all. But I never recieved an email from Orange to tell me the service was terminated. On January 1st they billed me for another month's service (£24.52) so I cancelled my direct debit. They sent me an email telling me to recommence payment or they woud surcharge me. I was worried about gettiing a bad credit reference so gave them my credit card details.

They are now looking to bill me for February. I emailed them twice and phoned them constantly but could never get through on the phone. Eventually I did get through and they said they had "missed" the alert from BT. They say they are now sorting it out. But it will be February 16th when the next billing date arrives before I will be re-imbursed.

You are right to be worried. If you dont get an email when you migrate, email them right away and tell them the service is terminated. Get it in writing.

What b*stards...

macman

Poq wrote: »

Trust me, I did.



Ah, OK, thanks.

Yes they are.

The fault is a problem at their equipment at the local exchange: so moving to a different provider will help, and in any case, perhaps they'll be more likely to fix it than Orange whom I have given a year. (I don't even want to get into what I've been through with them: phone, email, writing, engineers, etc.)

No it won't, unless you are on an Orange LLU service at present. It's not Orange who fix the faults, it BT OR,.
Why are you paying for a service that hasn't worked in a year?

glitter123

Bradfield wrote: »

I went from Orange to BT. I got my Mac code from Orange and in the email they told me I did not need to do anything as they would be notified by BT when the transfer took place; then they would email me and tell me that my Orange service was terminated.

The transfer took place on the 20th of December. No problem at all. But I never recieved an email from Orange to tell me the service was terminated. On January 1st they billed me for another month's service (£24.52) so I cancelled my direct debit. They sent me an email telling me to recommence payment or they woud surcharge me. I was worried about gettiing a bad credit reference so gave them my credit card details.

They are now looking to bill me for February. I emailed them twice and phoned them constantly but could never get through on the phone. Eventually I did get through and they said they had "missed" the alert from BT. They say they are now sorting it out. But it will be February 16th when the next billing date arrives before I will be re-imbursed.

You are right to be worried. If you dont get an email when you migrate, email them right away and tell them the service is terminated. Get it in writing.

Bradfield your experience sounds like almost a carbon copy of mine when I moved from Orange to BT.

After Orange took a further DD from my account 9 days after the change I rang them and they told me that they had no idea i'd left!! Two days later they applied a 14 day cancellation period.(although the terms and conditions they keep referring me to say the Agreement is terminated 10 days after the MAC is used by the new provider.) I paid two providers for my broadband service for a month.

Does seem a tad suspicious to me that we both had the same experience.

brewerdave

glitter123 wrote: »

Bradfield your experience sounds like almost a carbon copy of mine when I moved from Orange to BT.

After Orange took a further DD from my account 9 days after the change I rang them and they told me that they had no idea i'd left!! Two days later they applied a 14 day cancellation period.(although the terms and conditions they keep referring me to say the Agreement is terminated 10 days after the MAC is used by the new provider.) I paid two providers for my broadband service for a month.

Does seem a tad suspicious to me that we both had the same experience.

. ......same experience here (HORRANGE to Plusnet a few years ago)....the problem lies within the BT empire...the changeover at the exchange is handled by BT Openreach who are supposed to inform BT Wholesale,who are then responsible for informing the losing ISP that the MAC has been used. These links appear to frequently fail!!
The only way to guarantee that the losing ISP know that you have migrated is to inform them yourself by cancelling your account as soon as the connection changes over....you will still end up paying a notice period however so will pay two ISPs for a short period but at least it minimises the period............there are stories on here ,of customers being charged by two ISPs for many months!!:eek:

glitter123

Is this really what is supposed to happen? Surely the fact you have requested a MAC puts the leaving ISP "on notice"? Sounds like the companies are taking advantage of consumers. If I move from one electricity supplier to another I don't pay them both for the same period.

Think I will be bringing this to the notice of Ofcom.

macman

No, a MAC is purely an 'option to leave'. If you don't use it within the 30 days, then it expires and then your contract continues as before.
Obtaining a MAC is not giving notice.

Bradfield

glitter123 wrote: »

Is this really what is supposed to happen? Surely the fact you have requested a MAC puts the leaving ISP "on notice"? Sounds like the companies are taking advantage of consumers. If I move from one electricity supplier to another I don't pay them both for the same period.

Think I will be bringing this to the notice of Ofcom.

Hi Glitter123,

If, as you said earlier, (their) terms and conditions state that the contract is terminated 10 days after the mac code is used by the new provider then they are clearly in breach of their own terms and conditions.

I am sure that macman is correct in saying that if a request is made for a mac code and not used within a month then the convention is that the contract continues as before. This is probably usually of benefit to the customer if they have not got round to signing up with a new ISP or perhaps have changed their mind and decided to stay put. But it is also possible, as in my case, to request a mac code and also give formal notice of termination in the same letter. Customers must have the right to terminate their contract regardless of whether or not they use their mac code.

In a sense this is not relevant in the present circumstances because here we are talking about cases where the customer requested a mac code and actually used it to transfer to another ISP.

What smells in all of this is that both you and "brewerdave" and now myself have all had the experience of Orange claiming to have not been notified of the new service provider commencing service. Consequently they have been collecting payments for weeks after the customer has migrated.