Orange coverage stopped working in my area

t-shirt

Hi.
Orange coverage has stopped working where I live,it has been out since Sunday (3 days) after a storm.
I took out the £30 a month deal for the mobile & broadband service on an 18 month contract last September,the only reason being was that Orange is the only network that works where I live,I get 650 minutes of talk time,1100 texts & a free evening & weekend broadband phone for landlines,so I never had to use my BT phone line,hence saving myself money.
I called the 07973 number from my landline & luckily enough it was answered in about 20 mins,I asked when the fault would be put right & the reply was that they had no time scale,even though when my neighbour called them she was promised it would be fixed yesterday morning.
I explained that this was not good enough & that I was paying for a service that I am now not receiving & that I did not know when or if I would get the service back & would expect compensation,she replied that "signal coverage is not guaranteed in the contact & no compensation would be given" to which I replied "I will cancel my contract" & she said " you cant cancel your contact until Feburary 08"
I told her I wanted to talk to a team leader & she said that she would get one to call me, but so far nothing & I'm not holding my breath.
Can anyone please tell me where I stand on this legally,as there is no way I want to keep paying for another 6 months for something I'm not getting.

Thanks

C_Ronaldo

do you not have a contract or the t&c's to see what it says

espresso

No mobile operator can guarantee coverage everywhere and you know why it is not working at that location. You cannot cancel your contract due to this fault caused by a storm. Be patient!

t-shirt

Thanks for the replies.
@ C_Ronaldo
I checked the contract & they have themselves covered unsurprisingly.

@ espresso
I have no problem with being patient but worry when they have said that they do not have a time scale for the repair...I live in a small village where 1/4 of a mile down the road the signal works but the area where it is not working proberly only affects about 50 households,what if they decide that its not worth them doing the repair ?

espresso

t-shirt wrote: »

I have no problem with being patient but worry when they have said that they do not have a time scale for the repair...I live in a small village where 1/4 of a mile down the road the signal works but the area where it is not working proberly only affects about 50 households,what if they decide that its not worth them doing the repair ?

It is likely that they are awaiting replacement parts due to the storm/lightening damage. These may need to be shipped from abroad i.e. Nokia/Ericsson etc. but as they have located a base station there, it is in their interests to get it up and running again ASAP.

Old_Gold

Dont just lie down and take it. Letters of complaints to the right people at the network will have effects on the speed of repairing the damage.
As to compensation I bet you are entitled to fair redress while the service is out even if that is extending your contract to cover those days at the minimum.

skintscotsman

Send an email to executive.office@orange.co.uk

I got a £50 credt to my bill as a goodwill gesture from orange when they messed up

Human_Writes

Old_Gold wrote: »

Dont just lie down and take it. Letters of complaints to the right people at the network will have effects on the speed of repairing the damage.
As to compensation I bet you are entitled to fair redress while the service is out even if that is extending your contract to cover those days at the minimum.

I'd bet you aren't entitled to compensation, the terms of the contract they have agreed with Orange is clear on this point.

3 PROVISION OF SERVICES

3.1what we aim to provide in the UK
We will take all reasonable steps to make the Services available to you at all times. The Services are only available within the range of the base stations that make up our Network. We cannot guarantee a continuous fault free service.

Please note that:

3.1.1the quality and availability of Services may sometimes be affected by factors outside our control - such as local physical obstructions, atmospheric conditions, other causes of radio interference, features or functionality of your Device, the number of people trying to use the network at the same time, and faults in other telecommunication networks to which the Network is connected.

3.4 Services may sometimes be affected by maintenance and upgrading
The Network and the Services may from time to time require upgrading, modification, maintenance or other works. These may result in some or all of the Services becoming temporarily unavailable. In such cases, we'll do everything we can to keep the period of non-availability to a minimum.However, some interruption may be inevitable.

4 YOUR RIGHTS TO TERMINATE THIS CONTRACT 4.1 terminating your Contract after the Minimum Term
You may terminate your Contract to expire at anytime after the Minimum Term by giving us at least one month's notice. You are free to restore your Contract throughout this notice period, should you change your mind.

4.2 terminating your Contract during the Minimum Term

You may terminate your Contract before the Minimum Term has expired if you pay us:

4.2.1all Charges that are due, plus4.2.2a lump sum equivalent to the total of all the monthly or other periodic Charges still remaining on your initial Minimum Term agreement (except in the circumstances set out in Conditions 4.3 and 15.1). You'll be entitled to a rebate of 5% of that total if you terminate your Contract up to and including the first day of the last month of the Minimum Term.

4.4 terminating your contract because Orange is no longer able to provide access to the Network

If, for reasons beyond our control, we are no longer able to provide Network Services, we will at our discretion either:
4.4.1 make arrangements for you to be supplied with equivalent Services by another network at no extra cost to you, or

4.4.2 accept written notice from you that you wish to terminate your Contract. In such cases we will refund any pre-paid Charges that have not been used up.

18 LIABILITY

18.1circumstances in which neither of us accepts liability
Except as provided in this Condition 18, neither party shall be liable to the other, whether in contract or tort nor otherwise, for any loss or damage which is:

a) not the fault of the other party
b) indirect and/or not reasonably foreseeable
c) loss of business, profits, savings, revenue, use or goodwill, or for any loss or corruption of data whether caused to the other party through any breach of your Contract or any matters arising under it. Neither party excludes liability for negligent acts or omissions causing death or personal injury to any person....

18.3 factors beyond our control
We will not be liable to you if we are unable to perform an obligation or provide the Services to you because of any factor outside our control, including but not limited to Acts of God, industrial action, default or failure of a third party, war, terrorist act, governmental action, or by any act or decision made by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The contract seems explicit in relation to this point, Orange are not liable for an act of god that is not reasonably forseeable. Orange could also argue that they provide a mobile phone network to thousands of miles of the country so they can clearly provide you with access to the network elsewhere so 4.4 would not apply. You also accepted that some interuption in service was to be expected when you accepted the contract.

They might offer something as goodwill, for example line rental charges back, but they'd be under no obligation to offer anything under the terms of the contract.

skintscotsman

skintscotsman wrote: »

Send an email to executive.office@orange.co.uk

I got a £50 credt to my bill as a goodwill gesture from orange when they messed up

Thanks! That's great. I'm so grateful.

skintscotsman

skintscotsman wrote: »

Thanks! That's great. I'm so grateful.

Don't mention it.

skintscotsman

skintscotsman wrote: »

Don't mention it.

It's okay - no-one did.