Leaving Orange after 12 years... they didn't care

LordLee

I have been with Orange for 12 (nearly 13 years). I tried to commit to another 24 months with them at Christmas by buying an iPhone 5S 64gb. To cut a long story about unbelievably horrific customer service short... I never received the phone, it took three months for refund in which time I was cut off twice (due to them thinking i had switched to EE), I was charged rental for a contract I never had, my roaming was cut off whilst abroad and here I am three months later and I still have no voicemail service restored.

I have followed procedures of complaint to head office via recorded delivery and only received an apology.

I called today to cancel my contract (I am out of contract now). So I was put through to 'retention'. I was asked why i wanted to leave in a sympathetic voice... I explained the above in more detail. The lady apologised... gave me the PAC code and said goodbye.

Now... I know they are not obligated to offer me anything, but i was rather shocked. I feel ringing back seems a little desperate. Maybe they thought... "don't blame him"

Anything I can do to seek compensation? I made so many calls to them which cost me an arm and a leg. Plus some loss of business.

spacey2012

I think I did read some Trick they run with the PAC code if you do not use it in time where they keep the contract rolling.

To Be safe I would serve a Written signed notice of termination of the contract in writing and obtain a certificate of postage.
That way if any dispute arises and we see plenty on here you at least have some proof you served notice in writing as is required by a County court in event of dispute and with certificate of postage it is deemed served.

LordLee

yes I have been given a date as to when the code needs to be used by. Or I will be charged another month (rolling until i use the code).

however I kind of want some compensation from them...

redux

Did you say they already repaid the extra line rental?

LordLee

I have received a refund for the phone i never received and the rental yes. However for nearly all three of the months I have not had a full service.

I am choosing to vote with my feet and leave. However I am just very surprised after reading Martin's advice on here about the retention department. I thought they really would offer me something. As I was willing to negotiate if I could squeeze something good out of them. Guess not.

cgk1

It's really only the last six-twelve months average spend that matters - all those others years, that money is accounted for and gone so it doesn't figure much in their deals.

NorthernOne

LordLee wrote: »

I have received a refund for the phone i never received and the rental yes. However for nearly all three of the months I have not had a full service.

I am choosing to vote with my feet and leave. However I am just very surprised after reading Martin's advice on here about the retention department. I thought they really would offer me something. As I was willing to negotiate if I could squeeze something good out of them. Guess not.

Out of interest what did you expect?

To be honest I think you have approached this issue incorrectly as you should have had some idea of what you wanted and then negotiated for the best deal. Just phoning and moaning then demanding the PAC code has landed you in the position you are now in which it's clear you were not expecting to be in. You now either move or allow the PAC code to expire and then go through the call process again but handle it differently.

Oh and time with the provider is a good bargaining tool but on its own means nothing as you are no different than anyone else so don't expect they will bend over backwards for you.

Anoneemoose

If they have refunded the line rental and cost of phone then I am unsure what any 'compensation' would be for?

spacey2012

NorthernOne wrote: »

Out of interest what did you expect?

To be honest I think you have approached this issue incorrectly as you should have had some idea of what you wanted and then negotiated for the best deal. Just phoning and moaning then demanding the PAC code has landed you in the position you are now in which it's clear you were not expecting to be in. You now either move or allow the PAC code to expire and then go through the call process again but handle it differently.

Oh and time with the provider is a good bargaining tool but on its own means nothing as you are no different than anyone else so don't expect they will bend over backwards for you.

Good point well made...

LordLee

NorthernOne wrote: »

Out of interest what did you expect?

To be honest I think you have approached this issue incorrectly as you should have had some idea of what you wanted and then negotiated for the best deal. Just phoning and moaning then demanding the PAC code has landed you in the position you are now in which it's clear you were not expecting to be in. You now either move or allow the PAC code to expire and then go through the call process again but handle it differently.

Oh and time with the provider is a good bargaining tool but on its own means nothing as you are no different than anyone else so don't expect they will bend over backwards for you.

I didn't phone and just moan. I didn't demand the PAC code. In fact initially I didn't moan at all. I was polite and followed the instruction ON HERE from Martin himself. I calmly just expressed my wish to leave. When I was asked why and if there was anything wrong... I told the lady. Calmly. She then gave me a PAC code. That was it.

Yes I could have then tried to negotiate... But to be fair I was stunned.

Actually I'm kind of a bit stunned by the reaction on here. On one hand the site offers firm consumer advice on how to get the most out of big corporations. Then when advice is sort on these forums one is made to feel like a blagger or someone after something for nothing.

I've hardly touched on just how bad it's been for the last three months. Really really bad service and rude customer service. Three months of not really having the things I pay for... I Could at least be compensated for a couple of months line rental.

But the issue here is I'm just asking for advice about the retention dept and how to deal with them? Is there anything I can ask for? Just like Martin Lewis states is sometimes possible. Or is that frowned upon as well?

Netwizard

Orange are pretty crap anyway but there we go. Much like Sky and any other company nowadays, new customers get better deals than existing customers. You get !!!!!! all for being loyal!

There are good deals to be had out there in terms of mobile contracts. Add some quidco cashback into the mix and the deal could be quite sweet for a new customer.

I see you want a 64gb 5S. What mins / texts / data do you generally use in a month?

You might be better off buying a second hand 5S and just getting a sim only deal, and giving the new provider your PAC code. You're not locked into any expensive contracts for months and months on end then