Is the OVP (Orange Value Promise) dead?

Anoneemoose

Charlie_Croker wrote: »

I took out one of these with Orange in 2000. They have now put the call charge up to 40p/min. This is a breach of contract. Unfortunately, I have lost the original documentation. What a bummer!

Does anyone have any of the original advertising or contract, showing the original call charges and the lifetime promise? I would relish dragging Orange through the courts and the newspapers. How about a class action- that would teach them a lesson!

Am sure there will be something in the t&c's that allows them to do this. And it's not like they can refuse to release you seeing you're not even held to contract.

Anoneemoose

http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_plans/downloads/ovp_services_costs.pdf

Point 2.5 I believe.

Charlie_Croker_2

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Point 2.5 I believe.

Yes, that is the get-out clause. However, I am sure I checked, when I started with Orange, that the original terms were for life.

Never mind. Thanks for your help, everyone. Good forum, this.

Charlie_Croker_2

nomoneytoday wrote: »

Or you could just switch providers - the Three 123 sim for example offers calls for 3p/minute and sms for 2p/minute with no ties after your PAYG credit

Sounds good. Are those terms available on a contract? I cannot be bothered with PAYG- on a contract, the direct debit pays it, without me having to remember to do anything! As an infrequent user, I need a contract which has zero or very low line rental. Also, I would like to keep my existing mobile number.

Am I asking too much, or is there a provider out there willing to put up with me?

Anoneemoose

I used to be on the OVP call queue when I worked for Orange and I do know that there was always the clause that if the other network stopped offering the tariff, they could close it so I imagine the bit I pointed out was probably in the small print then as well.

Charlie_Croker_2

Hello again.

I have just spoken to a man who has been in phone retail for some time, and still runs a shop selling phones, SIMs, contracts etc. He remembers that lifetime guarantee that Orange used to offer, and has several customers who also remember it. He says that Orange's get-out was that, because the Virgin EQ contracts were based on zero line rental, the fixed call charges left them vulnerable to RPI increases, so allowing them to do what they have done, IE renege.

This sounds like a flimsy ground for Orange's escape from the commitments. When we all took the contracts out, we checked for get-out clauses and, because there were none, we gave Orange our custom.

I want to get the contracts reinstated, and give Orange a good kicking in the courts and the press at the same time. Now I have a helper who can bring other people together, I have some of the parts of a class action (or whatever it is called). What we lack, so far, is the original contracts, with the lifetime clause in black and white. If anyone has any of that, please post it on here, or send it to me via PM. Thanks.

Jon_01

Orange won't be Orange for much longer. It's changed to EE and the other brands will vanish, in fact I think both T mobile and Orange now trade as EE and the old names are just labels.

If all the contracts have been moved to EE then the old T&C's (with Orange) don't mean a thing and you're just wasting your time. There's is no Orange to take action against. You can't take legal action against one company (EE) for the actions of another (Orange).

It would be worth getting 'real' legal advice, rather then from 'some guy in a shop'.

Scrounger

I still have about a dozen OVP EQ Virgin contracts still running which I never use. In the early days they even had free 0800 calls! I've also claimed a few free handset upgrades over the years on these accounts.

However, unlike the old O2 PUFFL contracts, I don't recall the OVP Virgin tariff being marketed as "for life" as such. I may be wrong (but that's not the sort of detail I would normally forget).

Scrounger