Backdoor charge by Orange
Discussion
[rant]
I used to be ok with Orange until this month. I switched talk plans at on eof their shops and had all the spiel about what charges would apply etc etc. No problem. Now they've decided to charge me because I do not pay by direct debit!! I've had a contrcat with Orange for over 5 years, never paid by DD, and never had to pay a fee because I did not.
The assistant in the shop never told me about this and Orange customer services cannot do a thing.
I'm well p*ssed off.
Currently on Talk 200 with 2 phones (200 inclusive any phone minutes, £30 line rental, circa £15 for the additional phone).
Can anyone recommend another similar plan on another network, please.
Orange now officially suck as they want money off you without telling you. I'd have no problem if somebody actually informed me but out of spite I think I will now change networks.
After that call I went to town to mouth off at whoever was in the Orange shop (cos that's what Orange customer services told me to do).
Explained to the guy in the shop that I'd spoken to customer services and that I knew (from the helpline) that if you pay in a shop or by direct debit then no 'direct debit fee' applies.
So what, I don't want to have to pay £3.00 parking just so I can not be charged £3.00 direct debit fee, nor do I want to pay by DD full stop cos I wanted to pay thru their website by credit card like I have been for the last xxx years.
I even spoke to the guy who dealt with me when I changed tariffs!!!
He admitted that I should have been informed about the 'unless you pay by direct debit then we wil charge you an extra £3.00 per month'.
I re-iterated that I was not told, and if I was, would it not be reasonable to expect an offer to do the direct debit mandate there and then as I did the tariff upgrade way back when.
Rhetorically I said to him, "Isn't it a real kick in the teeth, to have been with Orange for several years, liked the service, then get stung by a charge they, and you may I add, neglected to tell you?".
Silence.
"I remember siting just there (pointing) with you whilst you explained all the new call rates, line rentals, benefits etc etc, except the fact that I would be charged for not paying by direct debit. Why should I pay because you and Orange have been either incomptetent or simply neglected to tell me?"
After going back stage to 'speak to my colleague' he gave some cr*p excuse like "the operator should have reminded me to tell you" and "it's a new thing from Orange and I might not have known about it". I argued that's it's not my problem that somebody in Orange is forgetful and asked him why he was selling me stuff which he knew nothing about!!!
At least I managed to tie him and his other colleague up for 30 mins and I helped them wave goodbye to 5 or so customers
So, I paid my bill and had the fee deducted. "If I ring up this shop to pay will the fee be deducted?", I asked. "Er, no, you have to come in". It took him at least 5 mins to rebate my CC (cos they can't just chop the right amount off the bill!!) and fill in numerous forms. Good efficient use of paper and time in my view.
'Steve' the manager is supposed to call me, whatever good that will do.
It might only be a few quid but it's a real sneak-it-in-the-backdoor way.
[/rant]
I used to be ok with Orange until this month. I switched talk plans at on eof their shops and had all the spiel about what charges would apply etc etc. No problem. Now they've decided to charge me because I do not pay by direct debit!! I've had a contrcat with Orange for over 5 years, never paid by DD, and never had to pay a fee because I did not.
The assistant in the shop never told me about this and Orange customer services cannot do a thing.
I'm well p*ssed off.
Currently on Talk 200 with 2 phones (200 inclusive any phone minutes, £30 line rental, circa £15 for the additional phone).
Can anyone recommend another similar plan on another network, please.
Orange now officially suck as they want money off you without telling you. I'd have no problem if somebody actually informed me but out of spite I think I will now change networks.
After that call I went to town to mouth off at whoever was in the Orange shop (cos that's what Orange customer services told me to do).
Explained to the guy in the shop that I'd spoken to customer services and that I knew (from the helpline) that if you pay in a shop or by direct debit then no 'direct debit fee' applies.
So what, I don't want to have to pay £3.00 parking just so I can not be charged £3.00 direct debit fee, nor do I want to pay by DD full stop cos I wanted to pay thru their website by credit card like I have been for the last xxx years.
I even spoke to the guy who dealt with me when I changed tariffs!!!
He admitted that I should have been informed about the 'unless you pay by direct debit then we wil charge you an extra £3.00 per month'.
I re-iterated that I was not told, and if I was, would it not be reasonable to expect an offer to do the direct debit mandate there and then as I did the tariff upgrade way back when.
Rhetorically I said to him, "Isn't it a real kick in the teeth, to have been with Orange for several years, liked the service, then get stung by a charge they, and you may I add, neglected to tell you?".
Silence.
"I remember siting just there (pointing) with you whilst you explained all the new call rates, line rentals, benefits etc etc, except the fact that I would be charged for not paying by direct debit. Why should I pay because you and Orange have been either incomptetent or simply neglected to tell me?"
After going back stage to 'speak to my colleague' he gave some cr*p excuse like "the operator should have reminded me to tell you" and "it's a new thing from Orange and I might not have known about it". I argued that's it's not my problem that somebody in Orange is forgetful and asked him why he was selling me stuff which he knew nothing about!!!
At least I managed to tie him and his other colleague up for 30 mins and I helped them wave goodbye to 5 or so customers
So, I paid my bill and had the fee deducted. "If I ring up this shop to pay will the fee be deducted?", I asked. "Er, no, you have to come in". It took him at least 5 mins to rebate my CC (cos they can't just chop the right amount off the bill!!) and fill in numerous forms. Good efficient use of paper and time in my view.
'Steve' the manager is supposed to call me, whatever good that will do.
It might only be a few quid but it's a real sneak-it-in-the-backdoor way.
[/rant]
You can't beat a good bit of consumer terrorism when these bastards try to shaft you.
Orange are shit. End of.
Go to Vodafone, or whichever network most of your friends and family are on.
If they're all on Orange, tell them about your experiences and persuade them to change to Vodafone too.
Orange are shit. End of.
Go to Vodafone, or whichever network most of your friends and family are on.
If they're all on Orange, tell them about your experiences and persuade them to change to Vodafone too.
I dumped Orange after many, many years (I was one of their first customers!) ealier this year because of "calls and texts" appearing on my bill that were not made by me, or on my handset.
On closer investigation, I found this had been happening for a few months. (One of the numbers "called" was a premium rate service!... I mean, no one with an ounce of common sense calls one of those from a mobile!)
Orange refused to investigate, stating that their "technology was infallible" and either myself of someone known to me "must have made the calls"
I am now a very happy O2 customer, with the same number as before, 200 minutes talktime and 50 inclusive texts per month. Biggest bill to date has been £31.
The only drawback is that you have to pay extra for itemised billing.
Oh yes, and the coverage appears to be better (particularly inside buildings)
On closer investigation, I found this had been happening for a few months. (One of the numbers "called" was a premium rate service!... I mean, no one with an ounce of common sense calls one of those from a mobile!)
Orange refused to investigate, stating that their "technology was infallible" and either myself of someone known to me "must have made the calls"
I am now a very happy O2 customer, with the same number as before, 200 minutes talktime and 50 inclusive texts per month. Biggest bill to date has been £31.
The only drawback is that you have to pay extra for itemised billing.
Oh yes, and the coverage appears to be better (particularly inside buildings)
meeja said:That is pure b
Orange refused to investigate, stating that their "technology was infallible" and either myself of someone known to me "must have made the calls"
xs. Cloning is easy and well known about, and takes 2 minutes of log trawling to detect. If you can be arse you should inform OFTEL about the problem - they are oblidged to investigate it....
J
meeja said:
I dumped Orange after many, many years (I was one of their first customers!) ealier this year because of "calls and texts" appearing on my bill that were not made by me, or on my handset.
I've had this a couple of times, and have also been charged for calls as non-inclusive minutes when they were. Orange have at least admitted it and refunded me though.
Podie said:
been with Orange since day dot basically... NEVER had a problem that hasn't been resolved, quickly and effeciently...
Same here, until this morning. Resolution is one thing I don't think I will get because 1) Customer services say they cannot waive this charge, whoever hey speak to; 2) Orange shop in WOKING, say they cannot wive this charge despite them admitting tht they should have informed me about this charge to be incurred (when in fact they did not!).
All in all, the attitude I got was a bit apologetic but "yep we made a mistake and did not fully inform you, but we're going to charge you for this wonderful benefit anyway" !!!!
On saturday, I might go there to complain again (with my mother who always like to complain!!) and spend a morning encouraging customers to go to 'The Link' directly opposite or 'Vodafone' on the same floor.
Vodophone - No!!!!!
I was on Orange but switched to Vodophone when I moved house because there is no Orange coverage here.
Their customer service is apalling. I'd happily pay an extra £3 a year not to have to deal with them. No welcome pack - nothing. They forgot to turn the service on. The shop that transferred my number waited 45 minutes to talk to Vodophone and was told he was lucky as the average call waiting time was a lot longer. That was one of several call that were required. The shop swore they would never do another port to Vodophone. I've faired little better; I've even had my mobile run out of batteries while call waiting for Vodophone Customer Services!
At least now it is up and running I don't have to talk to them Vodophone Customer Services too often.
I was on Orange but switched to Vodophone when I moved house because there is no Orange coverage here.
Their customer service is apalling. I'd happily pay an extra £3 a year not to have to deal with them. No welcome pack - nothing. They forgot to turn the service on. The shop that transferred my number waited 45 minutes to talk to Vodophone and was told he was lucky as the average call waiting time was a lot longer. That was one of several call that were required. The shop swore they would never do another port to Vodophone. I've faired little better; I've even had my mobile run out of batteries while call waiting for Vodophone Customer Services!
At least now it is up and running I don't have to talk to them Vodophone Customer Services too often.
Podie said:
Same here. A few years back went to Gozo on holiday, when I got my next bill I queried the cost of some calls. They apologised, credited ALL the calls made on holiday as compensation for having made the mistake. I pay no line rental, cheap calls, what more do you want?
Ivan
Podie said:
Until recently (this summer) the same applied to me. Any issues I did have were always dealt with (and resolved) quickly and painlessly.
bobski said:
Didn't this feature help uncover dodgy billing with ORANGE?!!!!
Yes it did.... so I do have itemised billing with O2... I just have to pay for it (which is a bit of a pain) But the overall service I have had, i am very happy with.
joust said:
If you can be arse you should inform OFTEL about the problem - they are oblidged to investigate it....
I made a formal complaint to OFTEL about it..... they will investigate further, but to quote their last communication to me... "These things take time!"
Edited to add the OFTEL bit
>> Edited by meeja on Thursday 9th October 17:42
...//P//was with one to one for years then had the mistry call and shit service.
so told em to stuff it.
and moved to orange for 3 years there no probse then they started the same shit. told them to stuff it.
and moved to O2 every thing fine for now no dout there start later and can stuff it as well when they do.
so told em to stuff it.
and moved to orange for 3 years there no probse then they started the same shit. told them to stuff it.
and moved to O2 every thing fine for now no dout there start later and can stuff it as well when they do.
edc said:
'Steve' the manager is supposed to call me, whatever good that will do.
Looks like this won't happen today then as promised - another disappointment.
Looks like I will actually have to visit the Orange shop again on Saturday and redirect potential customers to other outfits after voicing my complaint again and of course informing them that they did not call as promised.
>> Edited by edc on Thursday 9th October 17:46
CarZee said:Vodafone? Surely you jest? If you wanted a one-word dictionary definition of the phrase "poor customer service" you would be hard pushed to come up with a better word than "Vodafone".
Orange are shit. End of.
Go to Vodafone, or whichever network most of your friends and family are on.
My wife was with them when I first met her. She used to settle her bill by cheque each month (I introduced her to the concept of Direct Debit very quickly). One month they lost the cheque and threatened to cut her off so she paid again by credit card. Then they cashed the cheque. So she tried to get them to refund it and they referred her to the "Payment Difficulties Department". WTF?
Took months to get the money back. At my recommendation as an Orange customer since 1995 she switched to Orange and has never had any problems. Neither have I.
I guess everyone has had problems with every supplier, but in conversations with others it would appear that many people feel that Orange are better than most.
Still, each to their own I guess, but I wouldn't use Vodafone if they were the only mobile phone supplier in the UK. I'd probably buy a few multi-packs of baked beans and some balls of string and construct my own superior communications network.
I've been having loads of problems with orange regarding billing of incoming/outgoing calls in the channel islands ( upto £1.30/min to recieve!) orange have admitted they had a problem.
4 months on & 4hours worth of calls to the curiosly named customer services dept, it's still unresolved.
Staff now refuse to give their surnames ( required due to the fact that your call may be routed to any one of a number of call centres & saying you spoke to "john" last week gets you an obvios result - fcck all).
When i raised the "no surnames" issue with one of the call centre managers, he said they are now allowed to refuse on the grounds of their own safety, as some irate customers had traced staff & attacked them!
Fantastic! If this does not send a message to orange that they have a major service issue & need to kick the staff where it hurts from time to time, then i give up.
Orange. Utter shite.
Darren.
4 months on & 4hours worth of calls to the curiosly named customer services dept, it's still unresolved.
Staff now refuse to give their surnames ( required due to the fact that your call may be routed to any one of a number of call centres & saying you spoke to "john" last week gets you an obvios result - fcck all).
When i raised the "no surnames" issue with one of the call centre managers, he said they are now allowed to refuse on the grounds of their own safety, as some irate customers had traced staff & attacked them!
Fantastic! If this does not send a message to orange that they have a major service issue & need to kick the staff where it hurts from time to time, then i give up.
Orange. Utter shite.
Darren.
I was with Voda back in the old analogue days, switched to Mercury One2One as it was back then and they were great because I got loads of cheap calls (it only worked in London, Birmingham and Manchester though, IIRC but his was no biggie as I was a student in the city). Went to Orange in '99 and they've been fine with me.
I phoned them up a few weeks back, threatened to go to Hutchison 3G because of the stonking deals. They tried to put me off saying 3G was a load of tripe. I told them that's bolx and it's too good a deal to miss etc etc and they gave me an upgrade to a brand new handset (T610) for £20 and matched 3G's tariff (500 minutes X-net and 30 texts a month) for £25/mo. Bargain. Oh, and I kept my number too - Result...!
Roop
I phoned them up a few weeks back, threatened to go to Hutchison 3G because of the stonking deals. They tried to put me off saying 3G was a load of tripe. I told them that's bolx and it's too good a deal to miss etc etc and they gave me an upgrade to a brand new handset (T610) for £20 and matched 3G's tariff (500 minutes X-net and 30 texts a month) for £25/mo. Bargain. Oh, and I kept my number too - Result...!
Roop
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