What Can I Do (RE: Orange)

gazza1988

i got a phone call from orange 2 months back saying my contract will be up can i interest you in another one.

so after a lengthy discussion i was told that this racoon 25 plan was for me because it included all the minutes and texts i was usually using and i was wasting my money, so i opted for this racoon 25 plan and first month i got a bill of £1.34 so i thought hey i like this. the seller gave me £50 of credit to my account plus 500 extra free messages a month for sticking with orange.

they failed to mention the 500 free texts were for one month only (on my old one they were on for the full 18 months) so now thanks to them assessing my usage (which hasnt changed for the last 6 months btw (give or take a few messages/calls))

i now owe them £135.04 all thanks to them saying id save money by lowering my plan by £10 a month i now owe them £100 a month more.

doing some math i worked out how much my £1.34 bill would have been. i used 487 of my extra messages(i was told id receive 500 extra messages free for staying which was included in this bill but not my second one) so thats 487x0.12= £58.44 that+£50 free credit= a whopping £108.44

now how is this saving me money? i was using the same amounts on my old contract and only had £40 a month to pay.

i even received a text message saying they had reviewed my usages and told me i was on the perfect plan for me! how can they say that when i would have been charged well over £100 for the pleasure?

i know their job is to get money but what i want to know is:
1. am i stuck with this for the next 18 months or can i swap to another plan, ( the dolphin 35 plan is perfect for me?
2. is there anything i can do/say to lower the amount on the bill?
3. i was promised 500 extra texts a month, just like my old contact, but i only received them for one month am i entitled to complain?

any help would be appreciated

p.s. i am aware now what i should have done.

glitterstar

I would ring them and complain, i dont really know where you stand with it, but i would let orange know how you feel about it.

I've had alot of problems with my network provider (not orange) since taking out a contract with them. In the end i threatend to leave them (even though i wouldn't of as it would of cost too much for me to pay them back the rest of my contract.) They backed down, gave me £50 credit, sorted my problem out and let me have a very early upgrade.

reehsetin

was it definitely orange that you spoke to?
usually id say (if it was orange and not a 3rd party) they should have a recording of the call to see what you were told
they may question though that you havent contested it for six months

you can increase your plan at any time just not lower so going upto dolphin 35 shouldnt be a problem

gazza1988

im 99% sure it was orange. the other 1% is because ive slept since then :rotfl:

my second bill (on the new deal) was dated 15/12/2007 which was yesterday (or today if you count the day of my original post). so i havent contested it for 2 months, will that matter?

i hope they sort this out, i think the best route would be to inform them tomorrow that i will be upgrading to dolphin 35 (which i will easily be in my allowance each month, id rather pay £35 than £135) after which i will not be extending my contract with them after this unless that bill is sorted out.

because of the date the money wont leave my account untill the new year so i still have time to get them to lower it.

gazza1988

i just got off the phone to them,

ive been told that i must wait up to 3 days for a phone call from the head of their "outbound" department. to discuss why the bundles offered didnt appear in the second bill. and any credit they can offer me to lower the bill, and why i was sent a text saying i was on the best plan when they potentially could cost £100+ each.

because of oranges confusing menu options when phoning 150 i went to billing (after all it was a bill enquiry) she said the text has nothing to do with her department which is why she seemed confused as to why it was sent (if she was acting then shes in the wrong line of work )

when i mentioned i wanted to change plans, she said it would confuse matters with the current predicament, plus i have just started the new month and the new plan wont come into effect untill the next month. she said to wait untill this is sorted in 3 days then change plan. she informed me that i have untill 10th jauary 2008 to change the call plan.

diamonds

Orange's " best plan " advice is exactly meant to be what it says on the tin - if they dont sort your a/c out i'd lodge a complaint with OFCOM, and consumer direct for false advertising - they moved you on to the BEST plan to make them money, is that really what " best plan " means ? or is it meant to be the best plan for you ?

I'm sure Orange will sort it out...they are good with correcting errors compared to my experience of the other four networks

I have made a Adobe download copy of Orange T&C from the website today, & on page 16 & 17 " Orange best plan " T&C are there

Download here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/j4dq9p


EDIT

direct Best Plan T&C link http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_plans/paymonthly/bestplan_terms.html


downloadable Adobe version of webpage above here : http://www.sendspace.com/file/wyzi5m



Current Best Plan info pages on website as downloadable Adobe files:


bestplan overview: http://www.sendspace.com/file/mu0re

bestplan how it works: http://www.sendspace.com/file/emvjb2

gazza1988

thank you for that information diamonds.

more ammunition to throw at them if they say they cant do anything about it,

diamonds

No prob Gazza - thats why i posted it

nowt like the consumer proving the comapny ( they pay ! ) WRONG lol

then watch & laff as the backtracking begins PMSL

i am naughty but I am nice