Double charged by Orange/EE

Tuesday

In 2011, I upgraded my Orange phone & cancelled the previous DD. 3 months later I found myself being chased by a debt collector. Orange insisted I had not cancelled the original contract and wanted me to pay for both. Only an email to the CEO sorted it out.
Last October, I upgraded my phone and now find that Orange/EE are taking both DDs. They say I never cancelled the previous contract. I know I made absolutely certain I told them I was cancelling the contract. Orange/EE say the new contract was put through as a new contract and not an upgrade. Turns out the same thing has happened to a work colleague. I suspect we are victims of a company who pay more commission for new sales than for upgrades.
Email to CEO has produced nothing at all. Have asked bank to refund overcharges but want this highlighted and stopped.
Has this happened to anyone else?

OneADay

Sounds suspect what you are saying - there should have been no need for you to cancel a DD if it were an upgrade, you would have continued paying for the contract as normal.

You say you "upgraded the phone", did you buy the phone yourself and just put your sim in it or did Orange / EE supply you with a new phone and contract.

And were you are at the point when you were eligible to upgrade the contract. Maybe you could try to see if they still have recording of your conversations on the phone (if that is what you did) when you asked for an upgrade.

ballyblack

This is the dedicated mobile Board

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Tuesday

Yes, I'd reached the end of the contract and upgraded to get a new phone. I definitely told them I was ending the previous contract after what happened last time. They say they have records of me ringing them several times to check when I was due for an upgrade and then afterwards to ask for the IMEI number of the old phone and again to arrange for the old phone to be unlocked as I'd sold it on eBay. Yet they still insist that I took out a new contract without cancelling the old one.

OneADay

But do they have any record of you asking for an upgrade?
If you got a new mobile number (which you must have if they say you had more than one contract), it was not an upgrade and you should have realised that.

You would not have been asking them to end previous contract if it were an upgrade. You would phone up and ask for upgrade options. All I can suggest is phone them up and ask for customer services and lodge a complaint and let them investgate. If you are still not happy, you can go to ombudsman http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/when-to-take-a-complaint-to-the-ombudsman