Orange stopped collecting recurring credit card payments but didn't tell me

Roger1

Check if you're paying mobile phone bills by credit card recurring payments.

For some years, I've been paying my Orange bill by credit card recurring payments and pretty convenient it's been too. Checking my online account at the weekend, I noticed that they hadn't collected my January payment and that the February payment was also due.

I then experienced Orange customer so-called service. It took an age and a half before the call centre person (probably on the sub-continent) would understand the problem. I was eventually transferred to another who also found it difficult to understand.

Anyway, credit cards can now be used only for online payments to Orange each time and then only using Visa or MasterCard. To use American Express, I need to call each month. Recurring payments are no longer available, just direct debits from bank accounts.

Not a great problem, provided they tell their customers. They failed to do that with me, and a default could have been registered had I not taken direct action.

molerat

I am sure I got an e-mail last year about no longer accepting recurring card payments but did not pay too much attention as I pay by DD anyway.

Roger1

Update: I had a call yesterday from a UK-based CS person who seemed to know what he was talking about.

He said he had not come across the problem before. He described the problem as 'unusual' and agreed when I suggested it was probably because the facility was no longer promoted, nor did they actively promote American Express payment online.

He could see that this particular AmEx card had been used since 2007 and had no idea why the process had been stopped. He set it up again and I will see in March whether it is in operation. Result.

He called because I had completed a 5-question text response about their service, which was not very flattering, in particular questions about how well their first CS person had understood and dealt with the problem.

So, good for Orange CS this time. I don't usually bother with those questionnaires as I didn't think they were looked at individually. I'm glad I did this one.