Orange Retention Offers

big_bad_ben

DomTom wrote: »

quick question,

upgraded my contract through retentions and got the lg cookie. decided i don't like it too much, can i phone up to ask for a swap? if yes how do i go about doing that? who do i need to talk to?

Orange only give you a 7 day cooling off period (from the date that you received your phone) - I did this last week with a Nokia N85 that I got through retentions but didn't like.

I phoned 150 and went through to the "If you're thinking of leaving Orange" option, the person I spoke to explained that I had to send the phone back (they texted me the address to send it to, but didn't offer to send me a bag nor a courier) and when it had been received I would be reverted back to my original contract (i.e the one that I was on before I negotiated a new deal with retentions).

He said to wait 48 hours after posting back the N85, and then I could phone retentions and go through the contract negotiations again.

purplestar87

ok ive been reading this thread for a while to see what kind of deals people are getting and tips on how to get the best out of my upgrade, but it just not working for me :rolleyes:

my contract ends 11 july and i want to get the samsung i8910 HD. im currently on dolphin 35 but my bills are usually about 50 and i was told im a band 5 customer (the highest band i think).

anyways, i phoned the day the phone was released (total geek i kno but hey lol) and the girl just said look it will cost you £129 so just wait and phone in a week or so - didnt even offer me anythin else.

so im just off the phone and needless to say orange were sooo not helpful. the guy said the phone retails at around £400 or so no way could he give me it for free cause he has rules to follow - which i accept, if they cant do it they cant do it.

but i pointed out that phones4u were offering the phone for free on the same tariff im on and asked why they couldnt offer me the same. he rudely said well they get commision and use that to bribe customers with free phones. so i said well looks like i should just end this contract and start a new one with them and he said at the end of the day your still paying orange so doesnt matter to him :mad:

so much for customer service!!

anyways rant over....but do you think i should phone again in a few weeks to see if they will offer me it?? or just leave and start a new contract??

phew...i can breathe again lol.

thanks in advance for any advice

smileybee

i totally agree with you.. they are not helpful at all.

I rang up today to find out why after 14days my pay as you go simcard is still not here. What happened was, my contract is due in 18th of June. So i gave my 30days notice about 2 weeks ago. N requested for the payg simcard, but till now still no news.

guess wat they told me, it will take up to 28days for the simcard to reach me. so instead of waiting, i told them that i wanted the PAC code, n she agreed. n she cancelled the payg simcard n said i will get my pac code in a week time. then, she said, so we have cancelled the payg simcard n ur 30days notice will start today.

Instantly, i was like i have given my 30days notice 2 weeks ago. n this can't be right. And she said she informed me b4 this n there is nothing she can do. then, she even twisted n turned the facts. I m really dissappointed with their customer service.
she even threathened to hang up. In the end, after begging her, felt so helpless.. to be put thru to the manager. manager then said that that is the way they do things. So you give your 30days notice to get a payg n if u decided to change ur mind half way, u will need to give another 30days notice. To be fair, orange is just trying to fool their customer.

Just a little bit angry after hearing all these...

DomTom

you have to specify you want magic numbers? i thought they were standard? magic numbers are the biggest reason why I am actually still with orange, i use about 1000 minutes on them. received the phone just over a week ago, am i stuffed?

maximus0983

Original line rental £30 + £8 for 600 mins / ultd txt / 100mb downloads with a htc

Last week I called to upgrade and they went to £35 a month for the same + unlimited internet for a blackberry curve (£49 for the handset)

Called today to tell them i want to leave - £25 a month /600 mins / unltd texts + internet + free blackberry curve on 18 month contract.

Took it straight away!

mario9610

Was on Dolphin 35, 600 mins, ultd texts, 18 month contract, Nokia 6300, average bill was £49. At renewal last month I was determined to cut my bill down to £30, get a good phone and get free internet on the phone.

After making up a fake deal to this effect that O2 offered me (not), retentions agreed to give me:

Nokia 5800 on Dolphin 35 (600m Ultd txt), £25/m line rental, unlimited internet on my phone, and a free mobile broadband dongle for my laptop with 1GB of usage per month. As I travel around with the laptop quite a lot this was a great bonus.

CookieMon

I'm currently on a 18mnth deal with orange; dolphin 25, 150mins, 100 txts + 500txts free for about £22 a month. I tend to use all the minutes but not that many texts.

The contract is due to finish in Sept, I'm in month 16 and my phone has just cacked out. Man I spoke to on phone regarding the fault said that due to the amount of my contract I would not be able to get any of the good phones for free, including a replacement of my current samsung u600!! Last time I tried to ask for a good deal in upgrades the man managed to reduce me to tears he was so rude to me and disconnected me without offering any kind of deals, so I'm a little hesitant about how to go about it!

My questions to you are:
1) Do I just wait until nearer the time the contract expires and use a back up phone for day to day use in order to get a better deal?
2) Who do I speak to first, upgrades or someone regarding changing the contract? With me being in month 16 will they even entertain me?
3)What's a good phone to go for? Current one is Samsung U600, but want something with a fairly decent camera, would like to be able to access internet more easily than at the minute and bluetooth is a must (do they even do phones without it at the minute!!;))
4) Can I get one of you guys to do it for me

Thanks for any ideas in advance - think I need some back up before I tackle this one! I'm not normally this averse to haggling - managed to get car insurance down £200, just having had this one bad experience with the guy last time has put me all nervous!

JoshP

I renewed my contract for another 18 months and pushed them hard for a deal got a Nokia 5800 for £10 a month w/ 400 mins and Unlimited texts!

lazyman_2

Hi Josh P how did you manage to talk them into that deal ? Best i have been offered on Nokia 5800 is 200mins / unlimited landlines and 300txt for £15 monhtly. Any tips or negotiating banter you may have used would be much appreciated.

big_bad_ben

CookieMon wrote: »

I'm currently on a 18mnth deal with orange; dolphin 25, 150mins, 100 txts + 500txts free for about £22 a month. I tend to use all the minutes but not that many texts.

The contract is due to finish in Sept, I'm in month 16 and my phone has just cacked out. Man I spoke to on phone regarding the fault said that due to the amount of my contract I would not be able to get any of the good phones for free, including a replacement of my current samsung u600!! Last time I tried to ask for a good deal in upgrades the man managed to reduce me to tears he was so rude to me and disconnected me without offering any kind of deals, so I'm a little hesitant about how to go about it!

My questions to you are:
1) Do I just wait until nearer the time the contract expires and use a back up phone for day to day use in order to get a better deal?
2) Who do I speak to first, upgrades or someone regarding changing the contract? With me being in month 16 will they even entertain me?
3)What's a good phone to go for? Current one is Samsung U600, but want something with a fairly decent camera, would like to be able to access internet more easily than at the minute and bluetooth is a must (do they even do phones without it at the minute!!;))
4) Can I get one of you guys to do it for me

Thanks for any ideas in advance - think I need some back up before I tackle this one! I'm not normally this averse to haggling - managed to get car insurance down £200, just having had this one bad experience with the guy last time has put me all nervous!

If Orange customer services have behaved so poorly towards you, I'd question why you want to continue giving them your business. I suppose this is slightly off topic, but taking into account the number of minutes and texts you get currently, have you considered Virgin mobile? You can get a Samsung U600 (in red :cool:) for free on their £12 a month tariff, which gets you 150 texts and 150 minutes...

From what I've read here over the past few months, it seems you'll get a good deal if you:
- wait until you're in your final month of your contract
- phone Orange (go through to the "If you're thinking of leaving Orange" option)
- ask for your PAC number
- explain you're leaving Orange because Virgin offer better prices for the same service
- remember not to get desperate; you can always phone back and speak to someone else if you're not offered a deal you're happy with.

I would expect Orange to match (or better) the Virgin deal but even if they don't, you've not lost anything as you can follow through your threat to leave: it's win-win for you.

In my (admittedly limited) experience, acting dumb seems to be the best tactic (fortunately it comes quite easily for me!); instead of going in all guns blazing, ask when your contract's going to expire, then ask what happens when the contract expires. Generally they'll then offer you some sort of deal to stay with Orange. If this isn't as good as you want, explain what sort of deals you've seen elsewhere - they may be able to match it. If not, don't be afraid to ask for your PAC code (you can always phone back in a couple of days to see if they can offer to a better deal and cancel the PAC).

They may ask you if you have a particular phone in mind, or any specific features you'd like in your new phone. I've found the following site particularly good for phone reviews (mainly because it has reviews from 'real people' at the bottom of each page) - the links to the individual phone reviews are down the left side of the page:

mobile-phones-uk.org.uk

(I'm afraid you have to copy and paste the link as I'm not allowed to post clickable hyperlinks yet)

Remember: a good deal is one where you're getting the services that you want for a price that you think is fair - regardless of the deals you've seen posted here by others.