Old Orange 'Out here' package being cancelled

alexpeck

Chaps this is a moneysaving forum - it's to help others save money and avoid unnecessary expense, particularly things they've already paid for

There's some similarities to those who bought the 'lifetime' flights passes from American Airlines (and subsidiaries which were later bought up by AA, much like EE with T-Mo and Orange). Looking back from today, those who still hold it definitely got a 'bargain', but they still paid for lifetime flights. These contracts were tested in courts and found to still stand, despite the obvious disparity to the provider.

SMS is still a part of 5G, so will be around for a while. It's crucial for many parts of industry.

I don't think firing up (another) court case against EE when they have already acknowledged they just simply overlooked the Out Here packs and have offered the equivalent (150 SMS / month on a no charge basis) is the right time to do. 150 SMS / month inclusive they are offering is pretty much exactly the same benefit. To them it's a tiny cost which their accountants will have figuring in when buying up Orange & T-Mo customers.

So, the conclusion is that EE are honouring the plans in much the same way, they just forgot about them when they sent out the automated 'your account is moving' messages. As they're not well known about, explaining it to a 1st line CS and getting the right escalation route is the trickiest part here which Leigh reported earlier this month.


(incidentally, the American Airlines lifetime flights articles are worth a read if you've not seen them before!).

orangelemons

Orange Out Here - Forced Migration to EE in February 2019
I have one of these packages which gave me 5 free texts a day (FOR LIFE) after making 2 phone calls about this package to EE they now tell me this is discontinued but when I looked on this forum it looks like EE are giving 150 SMS a month to cover same but when I explained this to EE Customer Service Agents during the last 2 days they said that is not the case so do I need to go through the ombudsman with my complaint

pmduk

You could try a formal complaint against EE, it can't hurt, but as they didn't make you the promise, I don't know how successful you'll be

mobilejunkie

My (two) complaints went against Orange went through EE a few years ago. In any case, you have to instigate a formal complaint with them before you can go to the Ombudsman.

Pingping

I remember having this tariff on my orange bosch phone, must have been 15 years ago!

studentsaver_889

This was a great tariff I had this but upgraded to a contract.

orangelemons

Thank you for your replies

Terry_S_Mc

alexpeck wrote: »

Hi all,

I was one of the people involved over a decade ago when, with just a few weeks notice, Orange first reduced the terms of this plan to 3 inclusive messages a day, then to zero.

For those who aren't aware, Orange Out Here was an add-on pack, with it's own terms and conditions sold for about £25 in the early 2000's. These were the days when SMS cost 12p each, so buying a pack was promoted as being a good thing. The packs came with an Orange merchandise pack and the inclusive SMS was 'for life'.

Specifically, the Terms of the pack stated that they overrode the network terms, and in all advertising and those terms stated that the 5 inclusive messages per day were 'for life'. There was no condition allowing Orange to vary the terms or end the deal. That was what forced Orange to u-turn and re-instate the inclusive messages for the affected subscribers, plus provide a credit in compensation for all users for the 'lost' messages.

Yes, these days there are far fewer people affected (and less people care as SMS are basically 'free' on most plans anyway) but it is still a change. Orange hasn't ceased to exist, it's been taken over, so this add-on would still apply to any 'new' underlying tariff that the phones are forcibly moved onto. EE won't see it that way though, so the question is whether they will proactively credit an equivalent amount of SMS each month (I mean, it's simple to credit 150 messages / month and won't cost them much in lost revenue) or whether we'll have to go through the same hassle as last time (just in a more scaled down way!)...

Happy to correspond via PM if anyone is affected and passionate about it.

Thanks!

I WOULD BE HAPPY TO PM YOU AS HAVE BEEN TOTALLY SCREWED OVER BY MY FORCED MIGRATION TO EE. I have taken it to the Executive team but they are not budging on their initial offer of 6 month 150 free texts per month worth £30. They have quickly sent out a deadlock letter and told me to take it to the Ombudsman without escalation first. I will be going through the Ombudsman now and hope all other 'Out Here' customers take the same stance.

pmduk

If you've been to the executive team, where can you expect it to be escalated other than the ADR (Ombudsman)?

FlyDi

Thanks so much for this info!!

I'm currently going through the Ombudsman service with EE now, regarding the cancellation of my Orange Out Here package. I only have a few days in which to respond, and was therefore wondering whether you could PM me about how you/others successfully went about this?

In particular I'd be keen to know whether you still have proof of the Orange documentation showing that the Out Here package was an add-on whose terms overrode the network terms? As I seem to have misplaced this.

If you are at all able to contact me with a speedy response, I'd deeply appreciate it, but it's totally OK if that's not possible! I'll see what I can put together! :-)

Thanks again & kind regards,