Help with Orange changing my address

fairy2707

Hi All

I originally rang Orange at the beginning of October of 2011, as I was going on holiday and was aware my current tariff would not cover the services I would be using while abroad.

I was asked what I would be using the most while on my holiday and I said Mobile Internet.

I was told about a bundle that would be £6 for 30mb on a daily basis. I thought this was very reasonable as I knew I would not exceed the 30mb limit. I then asked for this to be added onto my account and was told that it would come into effect as soon as I used the internet abroad, and would be £6 for each day I used it. I figured a week long Holiday would only incur a maximum charge of £42 if I used this bundle every day.
After this phone call I thought no more of the matter and used my mobile data on holiday as normal.

After returning from my holiday I checked my bank account and noticed that Orange had taken a DD payment of £211.

On returning from the bank I realised that I hadn't received a bill for this amount or any previous bills since June 2011. I thought that maybe Orange had changed my account to paperless bills which I hadn’t agreed to, but I never queried this as the Direct Debit payments had been regular.

I tried to access my account online to check my preferred options but was told my password was invalid and I should contact customer services.

I contacted customer services and giving my password, which had remained the same during the period I have been a customer, I was informed that this was an incorrect password and the details of MY OWN account could not be discussed with me.

I asked the Operator to proceed with another security check and was asked my address and postal Code. I was told this was also incorrect. I informed the Operator that this was my account and that the information I was giving was correct.
I was then told by the operator that the password and address on my account had been changed, which I had not given or consented to.

I was then transferred to someone else who informed me that this was most likely to be Orange's mistake as my account could have been left opened and changed as another customers in error.

I then asked if I could change my address back to the correct one and could I discuss my account. I was told that I would have to go down to an Orange shop to prove my identity and that nothing else could be discussed until this was done, although my address had been changed previously by someone else.

I then had to take time out of my plans to travel to an Orange shop for them to be no more helpful then your telephone operator. They rang the helpline back up to confirm I was the account holder, this took a little under an hour and was most distressing for both me, and the shop assistant, that couldn’t understand the operator and was also very busy trying to serve customers.

After this I was then back onto the phone to your helpline (who I was told I couldn’t ring off the phone in your Orange shop so this was again at my own cost) to try to resolve the issue of the £211 phone bill. I was finally told that I could now discuss my own account as I had been verified as the account holder.

I was told that the charges were from my holiday in Turkey and were all Data Charges. I notified one of your colleagues that I knew this was correct but that I had requested a bundle be added onto my account.

I was then told that this didn’t happen hence the charges and that a complaint would be raised on my account to find out why the bundle was not applied.
I also asked that a complaint and investigation be raised to find out why my address got changed.

I could now access my online account and discovered that the change in address was on the top of 4 bills from July – October 2011. The address was located in London and I have lived in Sheffield since birth!
I consider this a serious issue as not only had my account been changed without consent or knowledge but Orange had given me another account Holders Address, possibly giving that person access to my personal details in an economy where identity theft is a common occurrence. Also that they will also have access to my contacts numbers as my bills are itemised. I am not aware if the account holder at the London address has noticed the mistake.

This was in November 2011.

This all eventually got resolved in about May 2012, but all they did was refund the £211.

I have recently been checking my credit score and report to try to improve my rating.

Out of chance I checked that all my Previous address details were correct and I have now been linked to the address in London.

I have contacted the Credit Report company to take this off my account.

Does anyone think I should go back to Orange regarding this as now I have that address linked to me?

Sorry to ramble on.

Thanks