Orange 'Free' Broadband

I too have received this from Orange. A broadband customer since the Freeserve / Wanadoo days, I have had the free orange broadband offer since 2006/7. Every time I have come to renew my mobile contract I have been careful to confirm that I would still be eligible for the free broadband. Despite constantly reduced monthly costs, I still have had access to the offer all these years (The original offer was for £30 a month or more contracts, mine has since reduced to £16 a month and still is (or was!) allowable.)

I guess my point is that Orange have been pretty reasonable about continuing the offer until now to those on lower contracts than the offer originally stipulated (even to Pay as You Go customers it seems) so although annoyed, I can't see how they are totally in the wrong. Also the original terms and conditions do state that they have the right to change or withdraw the offer.

Anyway, I have just called Orange and have decided to take up their new offer which is essentially the same, except I will be paying the line rental and getting my landline calls via Orange instead of BT. In theory it should make little or no difference in terms of service and cost and I still get free broadband.

Time will tell!

I too was very upset to receive the letter from Orange regarding broadband as this is the second change since I last renewed my contract yet I have no rights to cancel. I too have been a mobile and broadband customer since wanadoo days.
On the third attempt, I did get to speak to someone at Orange who started by explaining that BT had increased their charges to Orange and that Orange could only afford to continue to provide me with free broadband if I moved my line rental to them at no additional cost to me. In fact they would evwn discount my line rental by £2.50 for the first three months so a saving of £7.50. I was on the verge of saying yes when I remembered that my BT phone costs me £14.60 per month including evening and weekend calls. Orange wants £18.50 for this and as good as told me take it or leave it and offered me a MAC code so I could move but said no one could provide me at a better price than Orange.
If you check out the Orange website they are offering any Orange or T Mobile customer broadband with phone line and evening and weekend calls for £18.50 and as an incentive £40 in Marks and Spencer vouchers. Maybe my maths aren’t that good but I can’t see that I am being offered anything but a price increase and at a higher price than a new broadband customer.
Needless to say I will not be taking up their offer. I would sooner pay more to another provider and as soon as my mobile contract comes to an end that will be moved as well.

passatrider wrote: »

You don't work for Orange by any chance?;)

No I do not work for Orange (I know it's my first post which may seem suspicious, but I was intrigued to find out what other people thought of the letter and felt compelled to respond).

I just wanted to give a slightly more reasoned response than some and point out that if you are willing to pay your line rental to Orange instead of BT then you won't actually be any worse off (financially at least - I can't comment on the landline service yet) and still get your free broadband (which is uncapped as opposed to before which was apparently capped at 2gb a month so the Orange operator told me - not that I was ever flagged for going over that).

If that qualifies me as some kind of Orange PR mole, then sorry!

They can’t be trusted!

I received the letter and email informing me my free broadband was going, that I did not have a mobile registered to my address and that I can keep my free broadband by moving my line rental on the home phone to Orange.

Like many of you I renewed my mobile contract to keep the broadband – I actually did an upgrade in the carphone warehouse to get an ‘unbranded’ mobile. I have met the same resistance from Orange as the rest of you and accused them of miss selling – their broadband dept blamed their mobile department, the mobile department blamed the car phone warehouse. When I did the upgrade I got the carphone warehouse to ring orange to confirm the free broadband for the length of the contract. So I have rang the carphone warehouse and told them the tale, I have my receipt and the salesman remembered making the call for me (took him 40 minutes the day I did the upgrade to get an orange manager to confirm). The carphone warehouse have rang orange on my behalf and have received the same tale as orange tell us – no more free broadband with a mobile for anyone unless you move the home phone line rental to them.

I have been with them since 2005, I now have a mobile contact for £30 a month until October 2013. During the years they have removed the free livebox 2nd line, increased prices and now are removing my broadband. So you sign a contact with this company and they change the rules/terms without a thought for customers.

For those of you who think it’s still a good deal to move the line rental to orange to get your free broadband – it’s not a good deal! The basic line rental charge is competitive however I have anytime with BT and if I want that with orange or evening and weekend calls it costs more than BT. Also are you aware that by moving your line rental you will be creating a new Contact with Orange? For 12 months – but as they don’t tell you this it could even be for longer! And of course this contract will not be timed as your mobile contract creating further future complications if you want to move one or both of the services in a years time!

This company have shown they cannot be trusted to sign your line rental to them after all they have done what should you expect? I would expect further changes to the terms over the next year, more price rises and more changes. They have cheated us and will do it again.

I now have my MAC code – however after reading other Orange horror stories on the net I have decided to let my broadband expire on the 15/10/12 and then sign up with someone else – why would I do this and have the inconvenience of no broadband for a few days? Because I suspect that orange will charge a cancellation fee of the broadband! Yes this is mentioned on the net elsewhere they charge a cancellation fee if you move broadband with the MAC code! And they bill you for this after you have moved. They say this is because you have moved during your contact and they consider a rolling contract which is what I am on to be the same – so I think that they will consider my contract to run until my mobile contract expires in October 2013 – so I will let the service end on 15/10/12 and then sign a new contract with BT or plusnet. I simply cannot trust a company that has done these things, I would expect them to try and extract more money from me.

This company is a disgrace, I am gutted to be paying for my mobile and to be stuck with them on it for another year plus. They have totally shafted and miss sold to all of us – I have filled in the Ofcom form, but even if we won I would not want to use this company again, they have proved that they cannot be trusted and have no morals.

Everything Everywhere – in your dreams Orange.

Benno1uk wrote: »

No I do not work for Orange (I know it's my first post which may seem suspicious, but I was intrigued to find out what other people thought of the letter and felt compelled to respond).

I just wanted to give a slightly more reasoned response than some and point out that if you are willing to pay your line rental to Orange instead of BT then you won't actually be any worse off (financially at least - I can't comment on the landline service yet) and still get your free broadband (which is uncapped as opposed to before which was apparently capped at 2gb a month so the Orange operator told me - not that I was ever flagged for going over that).

If that qualifies me as some kind of Orange PR mole, then sorry!

There is/was a cap but Orange have never enforced it.