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Orange - Terrible Customer Services
Thought I'd vent on here, a bit of long one but worth a read if anyone is considering joining Orange.
A very disappointing experience with Orange which quite frankly has to be about the worst customer service experience I've ever received. Even worse than Sky and that's saying something!
I'm currently on contract with Orange and through a work scheme get a monthly discount on their line rental which makes them quite competitive. So much so that I decided to get my wife a new iPhone for Christmas and visited an EE store last Friday to take out a second contract.
At the store, upon mentioning the discount scheme, which they acknowledged was quite correct, they said I had to go through customer services to place an order as they could not apply this in store. It had to be added at the time of the order. Finding this a little odd I quickly visited a second EE store nearby to double check and was told the same, so duly I went home and called customer services to place my order.
After speaking to one of their sales team I was told the opposite and that this needed to be done in store, as I needed to take in a pay slip to prove my employer.
I fully accepted this made sense and the logic behind it, but explained that I'd already been to two EE stores and been told they couldn't do it and that it needed to be done over the phone with customer services? I was at that time a bit stuck.
Unfortunately, I then found myself going around in circles with the sales person whose proposed solution was for me to re-visit town, go back to one of the stores and if they refused again to call Orange customer services who would set them straight over the phone.
I expressed I was not really prepared to do this, I'd already been to two stores and that I didn't want to have to drive all the way back into town. As I was getting nowhere I requested to speak to a Manager as I was a little frustrated with the situation. All I wanted to do was order a phone!
In short, after speaking to a manager they said they could see I already had the discount applied on my other contract, so said to place the order and he'd get the sales person to manually apply the discount once the new line is set up. Great, or so I thought.
I ordered the phone, paid the upfront £70 for the handset via my credit card and was asked which date I would like to have it delivered. I was offered Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday this week which I said was great as I'd be at home but my wife was working so there would be no risk of her accidentally receiving it, as if she saw a pink iPhone turn up she'd know it was for her!
I was then reassured that I needn't worry as only I could in fact sign for it, so even if my wife was at home my surprise would be safe! I'll mention now it was perfectly clear with the sales person that this was needed in time for Christmas, I was assured it was in stock and would definitely be with me on Monday.
So, Monday afternoon, having not received the phone and needing to go out I phoned Orange to see if they could give me a time slot. I was informed that I should have been told I would receive a text the night before delivery with a time, so as I had not received any text message the phone would not be coming. I was again assured it was in stock and that I should receive it the next day instead (Tuesday). No biggy.
On Tuesday, having received no text or phone and with only a couple of more days off work before Christmas to receive it, I again called Orange and was assured it should be with me the following day (Wednesday).
At this point I said that if it was not I would have to cancel the order and go and get one at a shop as I really needed it in time for Christmas. I was told that was perfectly fine and that I had fourteen days to cancel the order in any case.
This is where the fun starts. On Wednesday having still not received any text message or phone I called Orange to cancel the order.
After explaining the situation and telling them I wanted to now cancel, after being left on hold for about fifteen minutes, I was quite abruptly told I could not cancel the order. I apparently would have to wait for it to be delivered and refuse delivery in order to have it cancelled. On enquiring when the phone might be delivered, as I'd already waited three days, I was then told that the phone can take up to thirty days to arrive and I should have been told this from the start!
So, faced with a wait of up to thirty days for something I'd bought in good faith for Christmas, with an assured delivery three days previously, I again asked to speak to a Manager. This request was refused and the line went dead. I actually believe I was hung up on!
Again, I called back and again had to explain the situation this time being put though to the upgrades team who had placed the order. I asked to speak to the Sales Person I'd ordered the phone from but, despite having her full name and being told she was present and on that team, I was told I was not able to speak with her as she would not be able to help me.
I was told in no uncertain terms that once the order was placed there was nothing that could be done and I would simply have to await delivery.
This left me with the following problems.
Firstly, it could turn up at the house prior to Christmas, when I was not at home and despite the assurances I'd been given about my needing to sign for it, given the fact I'd already been misinformed I was concerned that it could actually be left with my wife spoiling her surprise gift.
Secondly, as I already had an order pending on their system, which apparently had been setup as a second line on my account and not a second contract, I was unable to go to an EE shop and secure another until this order had been cancelled.
Thirdly, it was very unlikely to materialise in time for Christmas.
After expressing how ridiculous it was that I was being forced await delivery of an item, knowing it had not yet even been dispatched and unlikely to be so anytime soon, simply in order to refuse it and send it back was preposterous!
I also expressed the fact I'd bought this in good faith and would not have ordered the phone if I had not been assured of its delivery before Christmas.
Again, after being left on hold for some considerable time I was given a phone number for their Channel Returns Team and told they were the only people at Orange who could cancel orders and I would have to call them. Unsurprisingly this was not the case and the rather disgruntled employee working there said I should not have even been giving their number?!? I could only cancel once I had received it.
So, back to customer services and with a different adviser, another lengthy explanation and with much more holding on the line, I was faced with the same brick wall.
Again, I requested to speak to a Manager but this time I faced with a rather surreal 'debate' with the adviser as to why I wanted to speak to a manager? I was initially refused this request and was told there were no managers. Refusing to believe this to be the case I was then told that a manager would not be able to help me in any case. I then asked about the 14 day cancellation period and was rather patronisingly told that this only applied once I'd 'received it' and that as I hadn't then this did not yet apply!
I must admit by this point I'd lost my patience somewhat and demanded to be put through to a manager, that I was disgusted and that I wanted to make a complaint.
I was eventually put through to a manager in their Technical Services team, whom to be fair, was very apologetic, completely understood why I was unhappy and after making a few enquiries with different departments came back to me and said that the order had not been applied to my account correctly by the upgrades team in the first place and that I would never have actually received the phone I'd ordered!
So, as I was never actually going to receive the phone, in order to be able to cancel it, he told me he'd then and there cancel the order. Although not impressed that the order had been messed up in the first place and having by now spent a couple of hours on the phone being fobbed off, I was strangely happy I was now able to simply go into a shop and pick one up. The manager gave me his email address and said that once I had done this to let him know and he would apply the discount himself retrospectively for all the trouble I'd been through. Great.
The following morning, having realised that I had already paid £70 upfront for the handset and forgotten to ask about when this would be refunded I again called customer services to ask the question. You guessed it, back to the start! The order had not been cancelled, there were no notes about this on my account and I was told to await delivery in order to cancel!
Cutting this saga short, after going through several different departments and explaining the same thing all over again to several different people, I was blind transferred to another manager, who assured me it was definitely cancelled. It was initially stated that the money I'd paid upfront for the phone would appear as a credit on my account, but after challenging this I've been told I will now receive a refund back to my card in 5 days. I'm not holding my breath.
The point of this tale.
Well, if this is what Orange are like simply trying to buy something from them then I would hate to have to deal with them if I had a problem later down the line.
Needless to say I've gone and bought one off contract straight from Apple and won't be renewing my current Orange contract once it's finished. Despite the discount offered I'm not prepared to hand over anymore money to a company which treats it's customers so poorly.
The sales person who sold me the phone in the first place was simply either incompetent or sold me the phone knowing I probably wouldn't get it in time for Christmas.
Nearly all of the staff I spoke to were patronising and couldn't care less, and the first manager I spoke to, despite being great on the phone, failed to carry out what he assured me he would.
Only time will tell if the last manager I spoke to is any better and that this matter has now actually concluded.
Merry Christmas!
A very disappointing experience with Orange which quite frankly has to be about the worst customer service experience I've ever received. Even worse than Sky and that's saying something!
I'm currently on contract with Orange and through a work scheme get a monthly discount on their line rental which makes them quite competitive. So much so that I decided to get my wife a new iPhone for Christmas and visited an EE store last Friday to take out a second contract.
At the store, upon mentioning the discount scheme, which they acknowledged was quite correct, they said I had to go through customer services to place an order as they could not apply this in store. It had to be added at the time of the order. Finding this a little odd I quickly visited a second EE store nearby to double check and was told the same, so duly I went home and called customer services to place my order.
After speaking to one of their sales team I was told the opposite and that this needed to be done in store, as I needed to take in a pay slip to prove my employer.
I fully accepted this made sense and the logic behind it, but explained that I'd already been to two EE stores and been told they couldn't do it and that it needed to be done over the phone with customer services? I was at that time a bit stuck.
Unfortunately, I then found myself going around in circles with the sales person whose proposed solution was for me to re-visit town, go back to one of the stores and if they refused again to call Orange customer services who would set them straight over the phone.
I expressed I was not really prepared to do this, I'd already been to two stores and that I didn't want to have to drive all the way back into town. As I was getting nowhere I requested to speak to a Manager as I was a little frustrated with the situation. All I wanted to do was order a phone!
In short, after speaking to a manager they said they could see I already had the discount applied on my other contract, so said to place the order and he'd get the sales person to manually apply the discount once the new line is set up. Great, or so I thought.
I ordered the phone, paid the upfront £70 for the handset via my credit card and was asked which date I would like to have it delivered. I was offered Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday this week which I said was great as I'd be at home but my wife was working so there would be no risk of her accidentally receiving it, as if she saw a pink iPhone turn up she'd know it was for her!
I was then reassured that I needn't worry as only I could in fact sign for it, so even if my wife was at home my surprise would be safe! I'll mention now it was perfectly clear with the sales person that this was needed in time for Christmas, I was assured it was in stock and would definitely be with me on Monday.
So, Monday afternoon, having not received the phone and needing to go out I phoned Orange to see if they could give me a time slot. I was informed that I should have been told I would receive a text the night before delivery with a time, so as I had not received any text message the phone would not be coming. I was again assured it was in stock and that I should receive it the next day instead (Tuesday). No biggy.
On Tuesday, having received no text or phone and with only a couple of more days off work before Christmas to receive it, I again called Orange and was assured it should be with me the following day (Wednesday).
At this point I said that if it was not I would have to cancel the order and go and get one at a shop as I really needed it in time for Christmas. I was told that was perfectly fine and that I had fourteen days to cancel the order in any case.
This is where the fun starts. On Wednesday having still not received any text message or phone I called Orange to cancel the order.
After explaining the situation and telling them I wanted to now cancel, after being left on hold for about fifteen minutes, I was quite abruptly told I could not cancel the order. I apparently would have to wait for it to be delivered and refuse delivery in order to have it cancelled. On enquiring when the phone might be delivered, as I'd already waited three days, I was then told that the phone can take up to thirty days to arrive and I should have been told this from the start!
So, faced with a wait of up to thirty days for something I'd bought in good faith for Christmas, with an assured delivery three days previously, I again asked to speak to a Manager. This request was refused and the line went dead. I actually believe I was hung up on!
Again, I called back and again had to explain the situation this time being put though to the upgrades team who had placed the order. I asked to speak to the Sales Person I'd ordered the phone from but, despite having her full name and being told she was present and on that team, I was told I was not able to speak with her as she would not be able to help me.
I was told in no uncertain terms that once the order was placed there was nothing that could be done and I would simply have to await delivery.
This left me with the following problems.
Firstly, it could turn up at the house prior to Christmas, when I was not at home and despite the assurances I'd been given about my needing to sign for it, given the fact I'd already been misinformed I was concerned that it could actually be left with my wife spoiling her surprise gift.
Secondly, as I already had an order pending on their system, which apparently had been setup as a second line on my account and not a second contract, I was unable to go to an EE shop and secure another until this order had been cancelled.
Thirdly, it was very unlikely to materialise in time for Christmas.
After expressing how ridiculous it was that I was being forced await delivery of an item, knowing it had not yet even been dispatched and unlikely to be so anytime soon, simply in order to refuse it and send it back was preposterous!
I also expressed the fact I'd bought this in good faith and would not have ordered the phone if I had not been assured of its delivery before Christmas.
Again, after being left on hold for some considerable time I was given a phone number for their Channel Returns Team and told they were the only people at Orange who could cancel orders and I would have to call them. Unsurprisingly this was not the case and the rather disgruntled employee working there said I should not have even been giving their number?!? I could only cancel once I had received it.
So, back to customer services and with a different adviser, another lengthy explanation and with much more holding on the line, I was faced with the same brick wall.
Again, I requested to speak to a Manager but this time I faced with a rather surreal 'debate' with the adviser as to why I wanted to speak to a manager? I was initially refused this request and was told there were no managers. Refusing to believe this to be the case I was then told that a manager would not be able to help me in any case. I then asked about the 14 day cancellation period and was rather patronisingly told that this only applied once I'd 'received it' and that as I hadn't then this did not yet apply!
I must admit by this point I'd lost my patience somewhat and demanded to be put through to a manager, that I was disgusted and that I wanted to make a complaint.
I was eventually put through to a manager in their Technical Services team, whom to be fair, was very apologetic, completely understood why I was unhappy and after making a few enquiries with different departments came back to me and said that the order had not been applied to my account correctly by the upgrades team in the first place and that I would never have actually received the phone I'd ordered!
So, as I was never actually going to receive the phone, in order to be able to cancel it, he told me he'd then and there cancel the order. Although not impressed that the order had been messed up in the first place and having by now spent a couple of hours on the phone being fobbed off, I was strangely happy I was now able to simply go into a shop and pick one up. The manager gave me his email address and said that once I had done this to let him know and he would apply the discount himself retrospectively for all the trouble I'd been through. Great.
The following morning, having realised that I had already paid £70 upfront for the handset and forgotten to ask about when this would be refunded I again called customer services to ask the question. You guessed it, back to the start! The order had not been cancelled, there were no notes about this on my account and I was told to await delivery in order to cancel!
Cutting this saga short, after going through several different departments and explaining the same thing all over again to several different people, I was blind transferred to another manager, who assured me it was definitely cancelled. It was initially stated that the money I'd paid upfront for the phone would appear as a credit on my account, but after challenging this I've been told I will now receive a refund back to my card in 5 days. I'm not holding my breath.
The point of this tale.
Well, if this is what Orange are like simply trying to buy something from them then I would hate to have to deal with them if I had a problem later down the line.
Needless to say I've gone and bought one off contract straight from Apple and won't be renewing my current Orange contract once it's finished. Despite the discount offered I'm not prepared to hand over anymore money to a company which treats it's customers so poorly.
The sales person who sold me the phone in the first place was simply either incompetent or sold me the phone knowing I probably wouldn't get it in time for Christmas.
Nearly all of the staff I spoke to were patronising and couldn't care less, and the first manager I spoke to, despite being great on the phone, failed to carry out what he assured me he would.
Only time will tell if the last manager I spoke to is any better and that this matter has now actually concluded.
Merry Christmas!
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Comments
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I am with Orange and once my contract is up I will never never use them again.Sealed Pot Challenge 1441
52 week challenge started again £2/£139
Sealed pot challenge 70 -
Nobody will read this full post. Please shorten it with the important points to get advice.0
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If so this should have been put in the vents part of the forum.
You will still find that people don't bother reading it just because of the size. It is always far more effective to keep your posts short and to the point.
Wrong. Since it was well written for a change I DID read it. I am an Orange customer (unfortunately) and everything written is interestingly familiar.
Hopefully it will warn others to avoid Orange - not that many networks nowadays give a damn about their customers. When you hit a brick wall with Orange (and have all the details as in this case) make a formal email complaint and (when they completely ignore that, as they will) wait 8 weeks and go to CISAS. Claim reasonable compensation and costs etc. and only then will Orange take any notice. I've already done this once and am nearing a second complaint to CISAS (when the 8 weeks being ignored is up) which I fully expect them to uphold - last time they didn't have to as Orange immediately conceded on all points.0 -
Last time I dealt with Orange I got rather good service...
I called to ask the price of calling 0800 numbers, and expressed dismay that they are classed as premium numbers.
The operative looked at my usage and offered to reduce my bill by approx £5/month.
I then got a follow-up call and the person there gave me a credit of number of minutes per month to 08 numbers.0 -
Well, my first complaint was because it was impossible to create an on-line account to view my bills - despite hours of phone calls and broken promises. The second is that (thanks to an error by Orange) there is a missed payment from 18 months ago on one of my credit files despite THREE written apologises/confirmations that this would NOT happen. Both times - two FORMAL complaints which have been competely ignored.
That kind of treatment leaves me with NOTHING good to say about Orange.0 -
I am pretty sure that there is no need to wait 8 weeks if the complaint is really *ignored*.mobilejunkie wrote: »...make a formal email complaint and (when they completely ignore that, as they will) wait 8 weeks and go to CISAS.0 -
"If more than eight weeks has passed since you told the company of your problem and you have still not had your complaint resolved to your satisfaction, you may then come direct to us. In certain circumstances, where your company is a member of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), you may be able to ask ISPA to try and settle the dispute before coming to us. The ISPA service is also free of charge and has a high success rate."0
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I also posted a thread not long ago about my troubles trying to return an upgrade. One manager told me to smile more because its Christmas and hung up on me. One person told me I had an additional line, not an upgrade, which turned out to be incorrect as it was an upgrade. I was told by one person there was no need to refuse delivery as once the phone arrived they could offer me a better deal (the reason I wanted to cancel was because my partner got something better) however when the phone came I was told it was impossible to change the terms of the contract.
It took me 7 hours worth of phone calls to be able to return the handset. And I'm still awaiting a Jiffy bag which no doubt won't come until after Xmas now.
And I did read it all. So much of it was exactly what I went though. There's no consistency. If that is, you managed to get through a customer assistant who can speak good enough English to understand your problem.0
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