Is the OVP (Orange Value Promise) dead?

redux

Can I bump this thread and hope that some of you will see it?

I never received the letter.

I've just asked Orange CS what the increases were, and to begin with she couldn't find anything, then came to 15.3 then 5.1 pence a minute to landlines, 35.8 p/min to other mobiles, which is basically the original tariff increased for either inflation or more likely the step in VAT.

Maybe my account is still on the old tariff, which is pretty unlikely, or more likely it was old info she found.

Can I ask about the name of the new tariff? Is it still called EQ Virgin or has it been renamed as something else? And is there any online access to seeing the scale of charges?

I'll stick as it doesn't matter too much to me. The main use of my account is to get cheaper landline broadband, very occasional Orange Film, plus the attached BT wifi access might eventually come in handy somewhere.

And I still have £11 credit on the account, which will take a few years to spend ...

espresso

redux wrote: »

Can I bump this thread and hope that some of you will see it?

I never received the letter.

I've just asked Orange CS what the increases were, and to begin with she couldn't find anything, then came to 15.3 then 5.1 pence a minute to landlines, 35.8 p/min to other mobiles, which is basically the original tariff increased for either inflation or more likely the step in VAT.

Maybe my account is still on the old tariff, which is pretty unlikely, or more likely it was old info she found.

Can I ask about the name of the new tariff? Is it still called EQ Virgin or has it been renamed as something else? And is there any online access to seeing the scale of charges?

I'll stick as it doesn't matter too much to me. The main use of my account is to get cheaper landline broadband, very occasional Orange Film, plus the attached BT wifi access might eventually come in handy somewhere.

And I still have £11 credit on the account, which will take a few years to spend ...

I think that you have been misinformed by an Orange dimwit.

The original Orange EQ Virgin rates are now:



Note the minimum call charge and no more free voicemail.

Stuart_W

DonnyDave wrote: »

As Roger1 says, you may need your phone unlocking in order to work on a different network, or even with a different operator on the same network.

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I wonder if the phone would work on other operators that use the Orange network. These other operators are 'virtual' ones which means that they don't have their own network of base stations and instead use another operator's network.
.

It does seem to vary in different situations, but I am able to confirm that my locked Orange handset which was on OVP EQ Virgin for many years works perfectly with a Phone Co-op SIM (Phone Co-op are an operator that use Orange). It also roams onto the T-mobile signal, too, when that is stronger, just like Orange does. Handy not to have to get the phone unlocked.

Roger1

As reported upthread, I cancelled my Orange service - EQ Virgin and 500MB data - over a month ago. This was by phone and I had the promise of a final bill at the end of April which would just show phone usage for April and no charge for future data. Certainly when I called (see below), the Orange computer did not recognise my old number.

Imagine my surprise to receive a bill yesterday for £5.29 - 29p for phone calls (OK) and £5 for data for May (not OK).

A 24-minute phone call to the dreadful Orange CS produced apologies and the promise of a refund of £5 plus the cost of the 24 minute phone call. I asked for e-mail or text confirmation and was promised a call within 3-4 hours confirming the arrangement. Of course, no such call came. Once again, Orange CS has failed.

I thought I had escaped from Orange. I need confirmation. I want to write a formal letter to somebody with a brain who can confirm. Does anybody have a named contact at Orange or can suggest a way of bypassing the Indian call centre? E-mailing via the website doesn't work.

Thanks for your advice.

ETA: I've just seen the separate thread about contacting Orange (next to this one this morning) and will try e-mailing. I would still be grateful if anybody has the name of a real person at Orange who could help.

DonnyDave

Roger1 wrote: »

As reported upthread, I cancelled my Orange service - EQ Virgin and 500MB data - over a month ago. This was by phone and I had the promise of a final bill at the end of April which would just show phone usage for April and no charge for future data. Certainly when I called (see below), the Orange computer did not recognise my old number.

Imagine my surprise to receive a bill yesterday for £5.29 - 29p for phone calls (OK) and £5 for data for May (not OK).

I migrated my number, thereby closing my Orange account, a few days before 15th April, the 15th of the month being my billing date.

I had a Orange World Access 4MB bundle which cost £4, with subsequent megabytes costing £1 each.

On the April bill I received a small refund for the bundle. This was because I'd paid for it the month before and I ceased service a few days before the next bill.

I too received a bill in May. This was for additional data only, no calls and no data bundle. The data was charged at just over £3 per megabyte, so even if it was valid I was being overcharged.

I spoke to a helpful lady in Customer relations (0800 079 0272) who looked at my bills and agreed that there was something amiss. The data usage was outstanding from the previous month's bill as she quoted dates that it had been used (the last few days of that month). She put me through to the billing department and the agent concurred. As I had not used all of my bundle during the March-April bill period it was clear that I owed no payment. The lady in billing advised me to cancel my Direct Debit and that a bill would be sent out in June to reverse the charge in the May bill.

I had not used my phone on a foreign network in this period. I understand that charges whilst roaming can take time to make their way back to the home network.

So if these charges didn't make it onto the April bill then what about with past bills? If some charges were delayed would they have counted towards the allowance for the subsequent month thereby potentially putting me over that allowance and causing me to incur additional charges?

Roger1

Interesting experience. It sounds as though you got more done than I did.

DonnyDave wrote: »

... I had not used my phone on a foreign network in this period. I understand that charges whilst roaming can take time to make their way back to the home network.

So if these charges didn't make it onto the April bill then what about with past bills? If some charges were delayed would they have counted towards the allowance for the subsequent month thereby potentially putting me over that allowance and causing me to incur additional charges?

None of this applies in my case.

Given our formal relationship ended a couple of months ago and Orange still wanted to bill me, I formalised a complaint about three weeks ago. Nothing happened so I escalated the complaint by e-mail to Mr Swantee (CEO) last week.

As a result - or not, as the case may be - I had a call from Orange CS who agreed my case as previously set out. They applied a credit of £5 so the grand sum of 29p will be collected by card tomorrow. I had already complained to my card company who applied the credit in advance. I am cancelling that card anyway, so it would be difficult for Orange to continue to charge.

DonnyDave

I phoned Orange Customer relations yesterday because I had heard nothing in reply from my e-mail of 22nd May to the "Executive office". In an automatic reply I had been promised a reply within seven days.

The Customer relations number does not request the caller's mobile number and puts the call straight through after a few menu options. I was pleasantly surprised to have, apparently, resolved the matter, which I didn't expect, this being why I wrote to the Executive office in the first instance.

Roger1

Roger1 wrote: »

... I had a call from Orange CS who agreed my case as previously set out. They applied a credit of £5 so the grand sum of 29p will be collected by card tomorrow. I had already complained to my card company who applied the credit in advance. I am cancelling that card anyway, so it would be difficult for Orange to continue to charge.

Oo er! In spite of what they told me, MBNA collected the whole amount of £5.29 (not the net amount). As Orange sent a £5 credit, I'm £5 in credit on a card I want to terminate!

I'll sort it with MBNA now and am grateful that I seem to be out of Orange's hands.

Flibbertygibbet

Bit miffed, I didnt get the letter, but the bill came yesterday for May and I have been merrily calling voicemail all this month too thinking it was free, even calling back to delete a couple of times when I forgot!

I want to switch off the voicemail so people cant leave messages. My phones manual says it has to be done through the network provider. Anyone know the right number for this?

NFH

Flibbertygibbet wrote: »

I want to switch off the voicemail so people cant leave messages. My phones manual says it has to be done through the network provider. Anyone know the right number for this?

Yes, voicemail is a function of the network, not of the phone. Therefore you need to phone Orange on 150 and ask them to remove your voicemail. Alternatively, if you still want callers to hear your greeting but not be able to leave a message, you could configure an extended absence greeting by dialling 123 from your phone.