A disgrace...Orange to charge for itemised billing

Woby_Tide

pricefighter wrote:

Are you a OVP customer,or are you on a normal tariff?

Second guessing pricefighter here but going by the other post about an OVP O2 contract looks like it could well be Orange matching T-Mobile like for like i.e. Orange are going to say "If you were with T-mobile they would charge for itemised billing, so now we will too."

Davey_s2

Hi. I'm an OVP t-mobile customer and have had the same note on my bill. I was going to send back my upgrade phone but couldn't as I was just outside the 7 days, it's really annoyed me- seems like an absolute liberty. When I rang Cust services, they seemed to think that it was for all customers, not just ovp ones. I have cancelled my itemised billing, and may well just ring up customer services each month and get them to run through over the phone all the chargeable items on the bill which makes it more than the standard line rental.

My orange bill date is the 12th of the month I think if it helps anyone.

Oh and surely if t mobile let people end their contracts prematurely because of this additional charge when they added it, and orange are just following t mobile, then surely we can end our contracts prematurely...?

charlie12

Davey_s2 wrote:

When I rang Cust services, they seemed to think that it was for all customers, not just ovp ones.

Usually when changes like this occur, not all service reps are briefed fully, so you might get a different answer from someone else. No doubt we'll get official confirmation from Orange soon.

I have cancelled my itemised billing, and may well just ring up customer services each month and get them to run through over the phone all the chargeable items on the bill which makes it more than the standard line rental.

That's a good idea as long as the call to customer services is free (I think it is for most contract tariffs).

Oh and surely if t mobile let people end their contracts prematurely because of this additional charge when they added it, and orange are just following t mobile, then surely we can end our contracts prematurely...?

Orange contracts are still subject to Orange's T&Cs so it's not as straightforward as that unfortunately. I think they have a get-out clause that someone mentioned earlier.

Sim_2

Just as a side bar, if you register with Orange Your Account you can access your bills and service your account. Last time one of my accounts was OVP'ed to O2 I declined itemised billing. My paper bills were not itemised but my on-line ones (pdf format btw) were fully itemised.

Sim

charlie12

That's a good sign Sim, thanks. As long as they keep the online bill itemised then I'll be happy.

Harry_Azol

Sim wrote:

Just as a side bar, if you register with Orange Your Account you can access your bills and service your account. Last time one of my accounts was OVP'ed to O2 I declined itemised billing. My paper bills were not itemised but my on-line ones (pdf format btw) were fully itemised.

Sim

Yup, I was going to mention this, but you already did for me..

rabialiones

had orange contract since may on ovp voda, when i was told that i would be charged for itemised billing, so cancelled it and can now view bills online and can print them out if i want.
havnt they always charged for itemised billing?

seaniboy

Woby_Tide wrote:

terminating your Contract because Orange has changed its terms

4.3 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). However this option does not apply if:

4.3.1 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; or

4.3.2 the variations we have made have been imposed on us as a direct result of new legislation, statutory instrument, government regulation or licence; or

4.3.4 the variation relates solely to an Orange Additional Service, in which case you may cancel that Orange Additional Service in accordance with Condition 15.1

15.1 When you Register you are asked to choose a Service Plan and to indicate which Orange Additional Services you require. You may switch to a higher Service Plan at any time. You may switch to a lower Service Plan as often as you like after 6 months following your Connection to the Network. In the event you do switch Service Plan and add to or cancel Orange Additional Services you must give us not less than 10 days notice before your Billing Date (subject to the terms of any promotional offers you have accepted). We do, however, reserve the right to vary the terms of this Contract from time to time and to make changes to your Service Plan. We acknowledge that if we do increase the Charges, withdraw Orange Additional Services or introduce new mandatory Charges - or if your contractual rights are affected to your detriment - you may terminate your Contract in accordance with Condition 4.3. If you do not give notice within one month of our notifying you of any change(s), you will be taken to have accepted the change(s).


I'm guessing they are classing Itemised Billing as an additional service and it will fall under 4.3.4 and you can cancel and save the £1.. Though these are the current T&C's so if you have a long standing contract it may be different terms

If you dont have internet access ( and even if you do ), orange are buggered...ie get out of contract clause exists, Orange cannot say well itemised billing is free online as an excuse for denial of cancellation, unless your with Wanadoo they cant check if you have internet access even then if you do its another thing for them to try and deny your right to cancel as Otelo will laugh at Orange for breaching its own T&C and rule in your favour

it was never chargeable or a chargable additional service under your original T&C, but now that free service has " introduced new mandatory charges " of £1.00

if it was 50p then increasing to £1 then Orange would have a leg to stand on but it wasnt, Orange are charging for a service which when you signed your contract was mandatorily free..... thats 100% increase in charges if you calculate £0.00 to £1.00 = get out of contract clause applies


only wish I was with Orange ya lucky buggers!! and Orange wish they had never implemented this charge as they are away to lose thousands from MSE
alone, pass the info on to all them Orange customers

Woby_Tide

seaniboy wrote:

it was never chargeable or a chargable additional service under your original T&C, but now that free service has " introduced new mandatory charges " of £1.00

if it was 50p then increasing to £1 then Orange would have a leg to stand on but it wasnt, Orange are charging for a service which when you signed your contract was mandatorily free..... thats 100% increase in charges if you calculate £0.00 to £1.00 = get out of contract clause applies

The problem is though, it's not a mandatory charge, it's an optional service

(and a 100% increase on nothing, is er nothing!)


also the terms I originally quoted were th orange normal terms, now we've actually had more info that it concerns OVP plans only by the looks of it, they have different terms including

3.7 OVP Plans will replicate the charging structure & minimum call charges of the Competitor's tariff including, but not limited to, service charges for itemised billing, non-direct debit payment, access charges for short message service, charges for calls to Customer Service and charges for calls made to freephone numbers (including, but not limited to, those prefixed 050 & 080).

8.3 We reserve the right to vary these terms & conditions at any time. Please call Orange Customer Services to confirm

So all a bit woolly, but reading it I guess they can say they've always had the right to charge for itemised billing(as that is what the original network does) but they haven't and now they intend to do so.

Will be interesting to see how it pans out

nightshot

ok, heres the deal:

i work for orange and so can clear this up for you. basically the charges being applied for itemised billing will be applied to accounts that have itemised billing and are on such talkplans that include a charge for itemised billing, basically orange has a program that will run through its 14 million+ customers database and identify anyone fitting into the above bracket.

you will not be able to get out of your contract because you have started to be charged for something that you should have been charged for when either starting the contract or changing onto applicable talkplan. the main reason you havent been charged in the past is down to lazy operators not applying the relevant charges in the first place.

its very similar to the recent discovery of customers not paying by direct debit and not paying a direct debit charge. at the end of the day orange sees this as just getting the money its owed, its not a rip off and you should look at the other side of the coin because you got away with x amount of months not paying the charges you should have!

i hope this helps clarify whats going on.