Orange Retention Offers

daggy

llama13 wrote: »

:-( someone in retentions just explained to me that by cancelling and returning my upgrade I have lost loyalty points so I will not be able to get the same deal as before yet alone something better. Apparently they changed the tariffs on 1st April too, and the things she was able to offer me were really rubbish, including the sim only ones. I asked if she could match any of the 18 month offers available through third parties, but apparently their system could only see 24 month deals.

Seems I have shot myself in the foot by cancelling my upgrade, which is a bit unfair as I shouldn't be penalised for not liking a phone and returning it - but I guess they do want to stop people from re-negotiating deals! I'm disappointed I can't even get the same deal I had cancelled!

Nevermind, and so much for loyalty! I will wait just a few more days to give notice to cancel my contract (ends on 18th May) and I'm sure I'll find a better offer.

I'm sure someone brought this up not so lnog ago and we established that it's not true.

I'd assume there may be a legal issue here too... they can't give you a phone with a reutrns clause, then treat you badly because you exercise your right to use the clause, makes no business sense, even if it isnt illegal.

Try ringing up another person and just say you're out of contract and you want this.... dont even mention that you returned a phone. They'll obviously know,but why let them know you think it may disadvanrage you?

Leon_W

Thanks daggy.

I've not had a Blackberry before but anything would probably be better than that LG 505 they sent !

It'll have to be that one as they only have 4 phones that support UMA.

Cheers

llama13

daggy wrote: »

I'm sure someone brought this up not so lnog ago and we established that it's not true.

I'd assume there may be a legal issue here too... they can't give you a phone with a reutrns clause, then treat you badly because you exercise your right to use the clause, makes no business sense, even if it isnt illegal.

Try ringing up another person and just say you're out of contract and you want this.... dont even mention that you returned a phone. They'll obviously know,but why let them know you think it may disadvanrage you?

Which bit's not true? That was the second time I'd called today unsuccessfully and this time she said that the system looks at how much revenue has been produced by each customer, and apparently by returning the phone Orange have made some loss.

I guess Orange can calculate their loyalty points however they want, and retention offers should be at their own discretion. But it still seems unfair to me. I might try again in a few days' time, or try when I call to actually cancel. At the end of the day if Orange can't offer me the same thing they offered 2 weeks ago then I might as well spend my hard earned cash elsewhere!

daggy

llama13 wrote: »

Which bit's not true? That was the second time I'd called today unsuccessfully and this time she said that the system looks at how much revenue has been produced by each customer, and apparently by returning the phone Orange have made some loss.

I guess Orange can calculate their loyalty points however they want, and retention offers should be at their own discretion. But it still seems unfair to me. I might try again in a few days' time, or try when I call to actually cancel. At the end of the day if Orange can't offer me the same thing they offered 2 weeks ago then I might as well spend my hard earned cash elsewhere!

That you lose all of your loyalty if you return the phone.... never checked it out, although last time I upgraded I sent my first phone back and still managed to get a great deal... this was with e2 save though

If they wont do you a deal you should leave, really bad business practice on their part though

llama13

I don't think I've lost all my loyalty - just a big chunk of it! Yes I agree that it's bad business practice, it's not really making me want to stay.

gibbon99

Hi Guys

Just got offer from Orange Retentions that am a bit miffed at that hopefully someone can clarify.

The CS guy was adamant that they Orange have stopped all 12 month contracts and only offer 18 month ones as upgrades. is this true!? Bit miffed as I've always been on 12 month contracts

he offered me a HTC Desire Free plus
800 mins
unlimited texts
unlimited web
50 MMS
magic numbers
maps etc
for £35 a month for 18 months.

have ordered it but might cancel within the 7 day grace period if I can find a better 12 month deal elsewhere.

Does anyone know if 12 month contracts are still in the system somewhere?

llama13

I've seen 12 month contracts on e2save - i'm not sure why they're not offering them through upgrades.

I did call back just now - it was a last ditch attempt as I was about to admit defeat... until I remembered I'd lose my wireless broadband + international calls (£5/m) if I cancel my contract! So I thought I might as well give it another go.

I spoke to a really nice chap who was obviously reading through my notes. I explained I was disappointed as I didn't realise that I would lose out by cancelling my upgrade, and now all the offers seemed a bit rubbish.

He was able to offer me something much better with BB curve 8520 than the lady yesterday. She had said £22.50 on a 24 month contract for 800m +300t + unl landline + bb (had been £20 on 18m contract before I cancelled my upgrade), whereas today he was able to offer the same thing for £22.50 on an 18 month contract, which is just £2.50 more than the upgrade I cancelled.

On further discussion, he suggested upgrading my current Racoon £35 plan (700m + 100t + unl landline which I was getting at £20) and was able to add 300m and 500t also at £22.50! Which is great! So I accepted this offer of 1000m + 600t + unl landline + bb/net services on an 18m contract for £22.50.

I was really hoping to pay less, but this is definitely a good deal for me. I know some lucky peeps get amazing cheap contracts (like my friend paying £10 when he tried to cancel his contract) but unfortunately that's not for everyone! And I've learned my lesson about cancelling an upgrade to haggle - it doesn't work! So do all your haggling first! I also learned it is worth calling back to speak to someone else, even if it did start to feel like I was harrassing Orange!

I feel glad this is out of the way now!

atruefaker

Just out of interest do you have more 'haggle power' when you are in or out of a contract?

My contract is up on 12/4, and even though I have said I'd like to accept this offer (no HTC in stock at the moment) -
HTC desire
£35 p/m - 18 months
1200 mins
550 texts
magic number
unlimited landline
30 picture messaging
blue tooth headset

I'm wondering if I'd have more negotiation on Monday, when the contract finishes.

Serenity

beargirl wrote: »

Just to let you know the deal I was just offered by Orange retentions!
Free HTC Desire
600 mobile xnet minutes
800 texts
unlimited landline minutes
unlimited internet
All for £22.50 per month on a 24 month contract!
Roll on Monday for delivery

Thats really good. Was it hard to get What did you ask for?
My contract is up soon and I really want a desire.

llama13

I came across this quote (below) on page 19 of this thread - it is from 2008 but I think it explains a bit about how loyalty works, although it may have changed a bit by now!

It does say you have most points after the contract has ended so it is probably worthwhile waiting the few days. Unless you have already upgraded and will be cancelling in which case you may have to factor in losing points (like I did!).

I didn't even think to negotiate accessories as I haven't really heard of anyone doing it. I still had 5 weeks left of my contract but couldn't be bothered to wait as that's when my exams start... and I don't want to be distracted by phone deals! Otherwise I defo would have waited until the end of my contract.

Atruefaker, what you've been offered does sound better than normal and there isn't anything on e2save that matches it on an 18 month contract. If you haven't actually accepted it you might as well wait and try again, but if you will be cancelling... I don't know if the end of contract will balance out cancelling an upgrade, because I think cancelling had a big effect on what they could offer me.

Good luck!

Toontastic wrote: »

Hey all new to the forum.

I have been working in Orange retentions for a few months and basically if u r threatening to disconnect we have to use our system which gives a set number of loyalty points (rangeing from 0-500) based upon average spend, per month. Each point = £1 discount, so an 18 month £10 discount = 180 points.

We are trained to offer deal using lowest amount of points/ match opposition companys offer, then work up to final deal.

It is only possible to upgrade in the last three months, where the remaining time rolls over unless you are band 5 where you can upgrade any time by paying the upgrade fee (which ranges from 300pound to 100pound )depending on what month of the contract you are in. If you are band 5 and pay this your contract will not roll over, but basically no loyalty points will be available so it isnt reall worth uprgrading early.

Also it takes into account what month of the contract you are in and a few other factors (ie if your account has been creditted by orange due to a dispute/ mistake, it lowers your points) and an 18 month contract carries more points than a 12 month. Also the more points you have the cheaper the handsets show up on our system aswell.

You have your highest points value after the end of your contract and if you do upgrade before the end the remaining time is added to the end of your new contract, this is not always made clear! This new rule only started in feb so if you upgraded before then, well done!

If you are upgrading to a new tariff it uses up loyalty points (only since march) so the best tactic is to stay on the same tariff and either get discount or we can add loyalty mintues/ texts equal to what you currently have.

So for example if you are currently on a 12 month contract 300mins 100texts for 20 pound a month, we could offer to add, say 300 mins 100 texts and discount 5 pound off a month.

The loyalty points can be used to either:

Discount the handset, move to a new tariff including all orange tariff+ special retention tariffs, add credit to 1st bill, add monthly discount, add minutes, texts, or get a free accesory, posted out within 28 days(memory cards, in car sets, or sometimes a gift such as at the moment an ipod touch 8gb)

Typically a low band customer at the end of a contract will have 200 points, 100 before the end.

A high band customer will have 400+ points at the end and 200+ leading up to the end.

Its always best trying to stay on the same tariff with discounts/ extra mins/texts rather than moving to a new tariff. For example if u r on the 500mins unltd text deal for 35 pound a month and have been spending say 45 pound a month , you could potentially have 400 pooints so stay on the same deal and get 20 pound off a month- 20 times 18 = £360 = 360 points!

As I said you are not guaranteed a large number of points if you have been pending alot as the system uses other things to determine amount of loyalty points (as i said if u have been goodwill creditted u are in trouble!) Also Eq tariffs and virgin tariffs/ everyday tariffs have no points on them so ur best off getting a new number and starting again.

Finally if you have had an existing loyalty bonus we cant always match it as we can only add minutes/ texts equal to what you have at the moment for your standard tariff.

So anyone with the old 2000mins/text bonus dont expect to keep it as orange has shot itself in the foot here. When your contract finishes, you loose it, so if u try and get a new deal we are inevitebly not going to match it, but always remember its best not leaving because most of orange retentions deals are alot better than what a new customer for any company could get.

So even if you have the 500mins unltd text deal with 2000 minutes loyalty for 35 pound a month. Its alot better getting 1000 minutes(as we can add up to existing minutes) unltd texts for 30 pound a month with a free phone than alot of new deals.

Oh and one final point, try and bargain for more minutes/ texts/ free phone/ free accesorys rather than a massive reduction in your monthly bill as when you come to upgrade next time you will have hardly any points as higher monthly spend = more points = better value for orange!

Hope that helps people even though it is a bit long winded!

Have fun...