Orange rant - any advice?

Ephemera

Hi all,

Here's my story... you might want to grab a cuppa first!!

I had an 18 month contract with Orange that ended at the end of December. I ordered a pay-as-you-go SIM as I did not intend to carry on with pay monthly - I had sorted out another, cheaper deal with O2. :rolleyes:

As I had not realised that I had to register the SIM in order to change over to PAYG, (I know, should have read the blurb that came with the SIM . I had wrongly assumed that my phone would cut off and then I would change to PAYG.) it took a little while before I realised that my phone was not going to cut off, so I rang Orange to find out what was going on.

I was informed that I needed to register the SIM, which I duly did that day, and I asked Orange what my outstanding bill was, I was told about £20.

I cancelled my DD, expecting a bill from Orange.

Cut to six weeks later. I receive a bill out of the blue from Orange for nearly £100, with the threat of transferring the debt to a debt collection agency! I rang them (not a free number, waited 15 minutes to talk to a drone in Mumbai who ended up transferring me to the UK, and explained what had happened. I asked them to send me copy bills as I wished to dispute the charges. I also asked them to suspend the transfer of the debt while the bills were in transit. This was agreed.

I received the bills yesterday (Thursday) and then saw where the bill had come from. Orange bill after the invoice date and I had missed two payments, that was OK. (ish... as they told me I only owed £20 but they had NOT included the outstanding amounts!!)

What really got my goat was the change in the package after the 18 months had finished. From the end of December to mid February my monthly payment only included 300 minutes and 100 texts, whereas before that it was 600 minutes and 1000 texts. The additional cost was due to texts that I did not know I was paying for! I have not at any point received from Orange any correspondence telling me my terms and conditions were changing from what I had signed up for! :mad:

I tried to call Orange last night to pay, and find out why/when my text allowance dropped and why they did not inform me of these changes, but after waiting 15 minutes and getting transferred to the UK again, I got cut off. Unwilling to spend more time on an expensive call I decided to wait till the next day to allow the steam now emitting from my ears to dissipate before my head exploded. Grrrrrrr! :wall:

Oh, and today I received a letter from said collections agency threatening court action if I did not pay within 7 days. Orange broke their verbal contract. I have now paid the bill but am VERY angry and upset.:doh:

WHEW! Rant over.

Any thoughts???

(oh and thanks for reading!! )

Ephemera

Bumped in vain hope!!

proplusplus

unfortunately as soon as the debt is with the collections agency, you cant request Orange put the debt on hold.

contact the collection gency and see what they say - i know this isnt probably what you wanna hear, but try not to let the costs spiral... they tend to once transferred to debt collection agency (their fees, their letter fees, their court summons costs etc.)

Not saying pay it off - but if it's something you actually owe, then maybe?

with transfer to PAYG it is very much the case that if you do not register the sim, you contract rolls 'til you do so.

also, you pay the line rental charges + any previous bills etc. which have not been paid.

What really got my goat was the change in the package after the 18 months had finished. From the end of December to mid February my monthly payment only included 300 minutes and 100 texts, whereas before that it was 600 minutes and 1000 texts. The additional cost was due to texts that I did not know I was paying for! I have not at any point received from Orange any correspondence telling me my terms and conditions were changing from what I had signed up for!

sounds like you had an 12/18mth retentions deal. or 'bonus/loyalty' mins/texts. These last for a set period, then just drop off. they do not change your T&Cs. the talkplan reverts to its original at the end of the loyalty term.

Your previous bills probably showed:

Tariff - £x. 300mins, 100sms.
1000loyalty sms
200loyalty mins (loyalty/reward...something similar)

I know this doesn't help write-off your debt, but i feel this is the situation you'll find yourself and the money will most likely need to be paid.


best of luck


proplusplus

hamzramz

Oo, I thought Orange was better:eek: ! I had an Orange sim, which was payg, good because I got free texts every time I topped up:j , then I went to O2 because of my new phone, then discovering it was 25p for first three minutes then 5p (for long talkers), so it's sour grapes that most of my calls last less than two minutes, switched back to orange, largely text, got 300 txts with 10 pound top up one month, ran out in the same month, topped up again, no extra texts, called Orange and they said it would credit the texts next month!!!:eek: :eek: Orange have had other problems, due to the texts problem I decided to buy an extra for £1, 20 texts, my texts cost 10p each normally this extra makes texts half priceat 5p. So I try and buy the extra, they say they cannot add the extra due to a problem with one of their systems, which has been going on for weeks, I have had the same problem when I buy Orange World extras, I am going to complain to them to get this sorted out.

Ephemera

Update:

I have paid the bill, after it was transferred to a collections agency (despite Orange promising not to until I had received a copy of my bills). Orange have magnanimously offered to amend my credit record after screwing it up.

I am writing a strongly worded letter to Orange 'customer service' to tell them their staff lied to me. I will check my credit record too. If I find my record has been damaged in any way I will be taking legal advice, and may take legal action if necessary.

Ticked off? Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

proplusplus

glad to hear that things *kinda* are getting sorted.


keep us updated if anything changes as can serve to help others in your situation.


proplusplus