Orange refusing to let me terminate contract

dmg24

Quentin wrote: »

As the RPI inflation rate is only at 2.1%, how do you reach that conclusion?

The contract refers to 'an excessive increase in the Charges'. I would interpret this to be in relation to the OP's previous bills, and nothing to do with the RPI.

Orange would take account of the RPI when setting the tariff for the period of the contract. This is a completely separate ad hoc adjustment.

Quentin

The condition in question which allows you to cancel should their charges be increased excessively goes on to define an acceptable increase:

(if) we have increased the Charges by an amount equal to or less than the percentage increase in the All Items Index of Retail Prices published by the Central Statistical Office in the Monthly Digest of Statistics in any 12 month period

That would be the interpretation the courts would use! Especially as it forms part of the condition which allows you out if there is an "excessive" increase.

Without that definition the term "excessive" could mean anything.

Human_Writes

Heng_Leng wrote: »

I think that this might be a good approach as you seem to be (understandably) frustrated with an over the phone approach.

Good Luck!

HL

Been there done that about these charges and it got me nowhere :-(

Have been in touch with Orange by email, letter and on the phone about this as they refused to let me out of my contract.

Have gone all the way through their complaints procedure. Got right to the top their "executive office" and they refused to issue me with a letter of deadlock as they said that their adjudicator couldn't deal with things like this as its a business decision, their position was final and I could not take this to arbitration.

Orange referred me to their arbitrators website and told me to look for myself, had a look at the page they gave me:

http://www.cisas.org.uk/Guidance_Notes.asp

I have a complaint with a member of CISAS, but they have told me I cannot use CISAS. Why?

It may be because your complaint is about one of the following matters, which CISAS cannot deal with...

Business decisions a company has made on whether or not to provide a product or service, and the terms under which they will provide a product or service.

Contacted the arbitrators for Orange, CISAS and spoke to them about it, they agreed with Orange and said it was something they could not deal with!

Quentin

Isn't the "business decision" to introduce charges for numbers previously part of the "inclusive" minutes.

But the reason for the deadlock is nothing to do with that - it's because of the way Orange are denying the customer the right to cancel under the agreed contract terms.

Old_Gold

Arbitration is surely only something that can become active if both parties have agreed to it. You obviously haven't so the only recourse then is outside of this. What do Trading Standards and Ofcom say. Take it to the papers and see if they feel it is worthwhile to expose the way these organisations work.

abid_rq

i have send this letter to them and atlast i am out of contract...and one other thing all the number which shows below not inclusive in any network min but one loop hole is there which i use there is a other number 078223 which is belong to https://www.noodle.co.uk and its still inclusive in 02 carphoneware house.....best of luck every one....

RE: Account Number -
Phone number(s) –
Date
Dear Sirs,
I have recently received a notification from yourselves stating that the following numbers beginning with 079730 078225 079785 07873 070 will now become chargeable instead of being deducted from inclusive minutes. In accordance with section 4.3 of your terms and condition this clearly warrants a breech of contract. For your convenience I have listed the clause below.
“Terminating your Contract because Orange has changed its terms You may also terminate your Contract if we vary its terms, resulting in an excessive increase in the Charges or changes that alter your rights under this Contract to your detriment. In such cases you would need to give us at least 14 days written notice prior to your Billing Date (and within one month of us telling you about the changes).”
I hereby give one months notice from the date of this letter after which I will cancel my direct debt and stop using the phone.
I would be obliged if you could confirm the cancellation of any contract, in writing as soon as possible. If you do not respond to this letter within the 30 day period I will assume that you accept this notification to cancel without penalties.

System

Quentin wrote: »

The condition in question which allows you to cancel should their charges be increased excessively goes on to define an acceptable increase:

That would be the interpretation the courts would use! Especially as it forms part of the condition which allows you out if there is an "excessive" increase.

Without that definition the term "excessive" could mean anything.

If there is no definition, then any ambiguous term is interpreted in your favour. Check the Plain language requirement here

System

Quentin wrote: »

Isn't the "business decision" to introduce charges for numbers previously part of the "inclusive" minutes.

But the reason for the deadlock is nothing to do with that - it's because of the way Orange are denying the customer the right to cancel under the agreed contract terms.

Orange will have the right to alter their terms and conditions, this is not what your disputing, that is a "business decision".

But the business decision has altered goalposts after you have signed the contact, to your detriment, that is why your are cancelling - i.e. when you signed your contract, they agreed to provide all these numbers in your inclusive minutes package, their removal is clearly an alteration to your detriment.

This IS covered by the arbitration scheme.

par151

abid_rq were you using these prefixes? I called orange and because I do not use them they would not play ball. Is it still worth writing even though I have not used these numbers?

Cheers

abid_rq

yes i am using prefix 078223 a lot about 99 percent of my inclusive bundle...