Orange misleads consumers and poor customer service

[jnicholsonsmith]

My complaint centres around the purchase of 2 new Blackberry Curve 8520 which were ordered on 24th May 2011. These were purchased from Orange's website – although at the last minute I had to call the telesales team to buy the offer on the website. I took screenshots of the website offer as you scroll through the pages. In short the offer was to buy the phones for £129.99 with the Dolphin Pay as you go package. I would receive free BBM and if you topped up £10 per month you would also receive free internet and free unlimited texts.

 

After receiving the phones (and activating them) it became apparent immediately, that the internet was not working. I called Orange on the evening of 26th May. I was informed that I must pay £5 per month to Blackberry to activate the Blackberry Internet Service. If I did not do this, BBM would not work. I informed the agent that I purchased the phones on the basis of the advert and in my mind FREE means FREE. The first agent told me that Orange don’t charge any extra - its Blackberry. I refused to accept that argument – my contract is with Orange - Orange made the offer and I accepted it. I was then told that I should know that Blackberry charge £5 per month and its not Orange’s responsibility. I refused to accept that position especially considering I had not owned a Blackberry before. Eventually I was put through to the supervisor Victor on extension 63742. He listened to my complaint and asked for 30 minutes before calling back.

 

At 8.02pm on 26th May 2011, Victor called back. He accepted the basic premise that if Orange had advertised the offer, then I should get it. He asked if he could discuss with the other departments in Orange and come back to me the following day. He was back on shift at 1.30 when he would expect to have received replies from the other 9 departments.

 

At 3.30 pm on 27th May I spoke to Mayur who told me that Victor was not signed in. He tried to handle the complaint but it was like going back to the beginning all over again. He clearly did not understand the issue and was of no help at all and I could not get to speak to a supervisor.

 

At 4.10pm on 27th May I called again because I had not been called back, I spoke to Avhi. He was also of no help at all and in fact he told me that the website clearly did refer to the BIS service and cost and he tried to show me where it was. When we came to the page he told me the bit he was referring to was on his screen and implied it must be my computer’s problem. I told him it was the same on 3 of my computers at home. I said I wanted this sorted right now. Still of no help at all and I could not get to speak to a supervisor.

 

At 4.40pm on 27th May Victor called me. He had looked at the website and agreed with me that Orange had indeed advertised the phone as free BBM and free internet and texts when you top up with £10 per month. He explained that the matter had caused a great deal of discussion at Orange. Apparently he had also discussed the matter with his boss Tauseef ext 66924. Due to the abnormality of the issue, he needed more time but did not want me to suffer as a result of Orange’s mistake. He offered for Orange to pay £5 for both of the mobile phones to be activated on the blackberry internet service for the first month whilst Orange found a way to find an amicable resolution for me. He said he would need a couple of days only. I explained that I was on holiday the following week. I would call on my return if I had not heard from him.

 

I heard nothing.

 

On Saturday 4th June, I called and was told that Victor was not signed in. I asked for Victor to be emailed to call me.

 

On Monday 6th June, I called and was told that Victor was not signed in. I asked for Victor to be emailed to call me.

 

On Wednesday 8th June, I called and was told that Victor was not signed in. I asked for Victor to be emailed to call me.

 

On Saturday 11th June at 10.33am I lost patience waiting for Victor. I called and spoke to Nir. Victor was still not signed in. I made a formal complaint about the lack of response and a complete failure to deal with the issue. I demanded specific performance of what was advertised. I wanted to speak to Victor’s boss and was refused. I asked for an email address so I could send the screenshots of the adverts for your records. She told me that she would keep trying Victor and I would receive lots of texts telling me that she was still trying. We received 1 text in the afternoon and that was all. No one called.

 

On Sunday 12th June at 5.19pm I called again. After a protracted discussion with an agent I was finally put through to a supervisor Rashid Ext 67506. He agreed that if that was what was advertised, I should get it. He needed 30 minutes to read through all the paperwork. I was going out so I asked him to call back at 8.30pm.He agreed.

 

No phone call at 8.30pm. I therefore called again at 21.55 on Sunday June 12th. I was told that Rashid was not signed in. I was told that Victor was not signed in. I asked to speak to the supervisor. I was told the supervisor would call back in 10 minutes. There was no call back.

 

On Monday 13th June at 5.10pm I called again and spoke to James Ext 62543. James was very pleasant but I had to go through the whole matter all over again. I asked to speak to the supervisor. James told me that his supervisor was on a call and would call me back. I said respectfully that I did not believe he would based on past performance. I asked for his name – Chandan ext 62342. I asked when I would receive a call and he said within 24 hours. I said that was not good enough and I wanted to write in and make a formal complaint – I asked for an email address. James told me that only Chandan could give me the complaints email address. I was not happy. Again I said respectfully that I did not believe I would receive a call back. James said that he came back on shift at 1.30pm the following day and would see to it personally that I was called back. I said I would call back at 5.40pm if I had not heard anything.

 

No Phone call.

 

I called again at 8pm on Tuesday 14th June. I spoke to the agent and reminded him that this was now the 15th call I had made. James was not signed in, Changdan was not signed in, Victor was not signed in, Rashid was not signed in. This was ridiculous. I asked to speak to another supervisor. I was told I was being put through. The line went dead.

 

I called back again straight away (time 8.15pm). This time the agent put me straight through to a supervisor called Tauseef 66924. Tauseef told me that Victor had come to him for help on 27th May and he had put notes on the account then. He informed me that there had been a mistake on the UK website and this had affected 20,000 customers. Orange UK were looking into the matter but the size of the issue had made it more difficult to come up with a proper solution. He told me that the account notes clearly shows my complaint and also shows that both Victor and Tauseef had looked through the website and agreed that I was correct in my interpretation of what was advertised. £5 had been credited to each phone as a goodwill gesture to pay for the blackberry internet service whilst the matter was resolved. It was unfortunate that a solution had not yet been found. I explained to Tauseef that I was very cross with the dreadful response I had received since speaking to Victor and all the broken promises about calling back, He took the details of the agents and supervisors I had spoken to and said he would ask them to explain themselves. Broken promises to call back was an unacceptable lack of integrity. Tauseef has put a note on the account relating to my complaint and also stated that if I have not received a satisfactory response by 26th June, that a further gesture to pay the next month’s blackberry internet service for each phone will be required. However at this time he could do nothing until Orange UK had decided what they were going to do.

 

My Complaint

 

·I wanted specific performance of what was advertised or something that achieves the same effect at the advertised cost for my children’s phones.

·I wanted an apology for the dreadful service I have received. I have been a loyal customer to Orange for many years (in fact I was forced to move my account to Vodaphone for about 18 months by my main customer) but moved back to Orange as soon as I could. If it was not for this loyalty, I would have told you to take the phones back for a full credit and moved the whole lot to O2 whilst reporting Orange to Ofcom.

·I want recognition for the time I have had to spend handling this matter. I estimate that I have spent over 10 hours on the phone to your company on this issue alone. For the record I am a freelance Finance director and I charge £850 per day for my time.

 

I emailed the executive office and Tom Alexander personally. After lots of warm words Orange flately refused to honour what was advertised and explained that it was MY RESPONSIBILITY to research the phones and work out that FREE did not mean FREE. I now have to send the mobiles back for a full refund. I will now take out a 24 month contract with someone else for free phones (and cashblack) and £10 per month contract for 30 minutes talk time, unlimited texts and 100mb of data (I assume this will be plus the £5 BIS).

 

I am now also seriously considering moving my business accounts as well.

 

Orange are both dishonourable and their customer service is disgraceful!!!

[BankFodder]

from what you say here, you are completely in the right and if you sue them in the County Court, I expect that you would win all of the BlackBerry fees for the entire period of your contract plus reasonable recompense for the time and expense you have been put to.

 

Of course, you've done all of this communication on the telephone and you haven't recorded any of it, have you?

[watchinginvestigation2011]

My complaint centres around the purchase of 2 new Blackberry Curve 8520 which were ordered on 24th May 2011. These were purchased from Orange's website – although at the last minute I had to call the telesales team to buy the offer on the website. I took screenshots of the website offer as you scroll through the pages. In short the offer was to buy the phones for £129.99 with the Dolphin Pay as you go package. I would receive free BBM and if you topped up £10 per month you would also receive free internet and free unlimited texts.

 

After receiving the phones (and activating them) it became apparent immediately, that the internet was not working. I called Orange on the evening of 26th May. I was informed that I must pay £5 per month to Blackberry to activate the Blackberry Internet Service. If I did not do this, BBM would not work. I informed the agent that I purchased the phones on the basis of the advert and in my mind FREE means FREE. The first agent told me that Orange don’t charge any extra - its Blackberry. I refused to accept that argument – my contract is with Orange - Orange made the offer and I accepted it. I was then told that I should know that Blackberry charge £5 per month and its not Orange’s responsibility. I refused to accept that position especially considering I had not owned a Blackberry before. Eventually I was put through to the supervisor Victor on extension 63742. He listened to my complaint and asked for 30 minutes before calling back.

 

At 8.02pm on 26th May 2011, Victor called back. He accepted the basic premise that if Orange had advertised the offer, then I should get it. He asked if he could discuss with the other departments in Orange and come back to me the following day. He was back on shift at 1.30 when he would expect to have received replies from the other 9 departments.

 

At 3.30 pm on 27th May I spoke to Mayur who told me that Victor was not signed in. He tried to handle the complaint but it was like going back to the beginning all over again. He clearly did not understand the issue and was of no help at all and I could not get to speak to a supervisor.

 

At 4.10pm on 27th May I called again because I had not been called back, I spoke to Avhi. He was also of no help at all and in fact he told me that the website clearly did refer to the BIS service and cost and he tried to show me where it was. When we came to the page he told me the bit he was referring to was on his screen and implied it must be my computer’s problem. I told him it was the same on 3 of my computers at home. I said I wanted this sorted right now. Still of no help at all and I could not get to speak to a supervisor.

 

At 4.40pm on 27th May Victor called me. He had looked at the website and agreed with me that Orange had indeed advertised the phone as free BBM and free internet and texts when you top up with £10 per month. He explained that the matter had caused a great deal of discussion at Orange. Apparently he had also discussed the matter with his boss Tauseef ext 66924. Due to the abnormality of the issue, he needed more time but did not want me to suffer as a result of Orange’s mistake. He offered for Orange to pay £5 for both of the mobile phones to be activated on the blackberry internet service for the first month whilst Orange found a way to find an amicable resolution for me. He said he would need a couple of days only. I explained that I was on holiday the following week. I would call on my return if I had not heard from him.

 

I heard nothing.

 

On Saturday 4th June, I called and was told that Victor was not signed in. I asked for Victor to be emailed to call me.

 

On Monday 6th June, I called and was told that Victor was not signed in. I asked for Victor to be emailed to call me.

 

On Wednesday 8th June, I called and was told that Victor was not signed in. I asked for Victor to be emailed to call me.

 

On Saturday 11th June at 10.33am I lost patience waiting for Victor. I called and spoke to Nir. Victor was still not signed in. I made a formal complaint about the lack of response and a complete failure to deal with the issue. I demanded specific performance of what was advertised. I wanted to speak to Victor’s boss and was refused. I asked for an email address so I could send the screenshots of the adverts for your records. She told me that she would keep trying Victor and I would receive lots of texts telling me that she was still trying. We received 1 text in the afternoon and that was all. No one called.

 

On Sunday 12th June at 5.19pm I called again. After a protracted discussion with an agent I was finally put through to a supervisor Rashid Ext 67506. He agreed that if that was what was advertised, I should get it. He needed 30 minutes to read through all the paperwork. I was going out so I asked him to call back at 8.30pm.He agreed.

 

No phone call at 8.30pm. I therefore called again at 21.55 on Sunday June 12th. I was told that Rashid was not signed in. I was told that Victor was not signed in. I asked to speak to the supervisor. I was told the supervisor would call back in 10 minutes. There was no call back.

 

On Monday 13th June at 5.10pm I called again and spoke to James Ext 62543. James was very pleasant but I had to go through the whole matter all over again. I asked to speak to the supervisor. James told me that his supervisor was on a call and would call me back. I said respectfully that I did not believe he would based on past performance. I asked for his name – Chandan ext 62342. I asked when I would receive a call and he said within 24 hours. I said that was not good enough and I wanted to write in and make a formal complaint – I asked for an email address. James told me that only Chandan could give me the complaints email address. I was not happy. Again I said respectfully that I did not believe I would receive a call back. James said that he came back on shift at 1.30pm the following day and would see to it personally that I was called back. I said I would call back at 5.40pm if I had not heard anything.

 

No Phone call.

 

I called again at 8pm on Tuesday 14th June. I spoke to the agent and reminded him that this was now the 15th call I had made. James was not signed in, Changdan was not signed in, Victor was not signed in, Rashid was not signed in. This was ridiculous. I asked to speak to another supervisor. I was told I was being put through. The line went dead.

 

I called back again straight away (time 8.15pm). This time the agent put me straight through to a supervisor called Tauseef 66924. Tauseef told me that Victor had come to him for help on 27th May and he had put notes on the account then. He informed me that there had been a mistake on the UK website and this had affected 20,000 customers. Orange UK were looking into the matter but the size of the issue had made it more difficult to come up with a proper solution. He told me that the account notes clearly shows my complaint and also shows that both Victor and Tauseef had looked through the website and agreed that I was correct in my interpretation of what was advertised. £5 had been credited to each phone as a goodwill gesture to pay for the blackberry internet service whilst the matter was resolved. It was unfortunate that a solution had not yet been found. I explained to Tauseef that I was very cross with the dreadful response I had received since speaking to Victor and all the broken promises about calling back, He took the details of the agents and supervisors I had spoken to and said he would ask them to explain themselves. Broken promises to call back was an unacceptable lack of integrity. Tauseef has put a note on the account relating to my complaint and also stated that if I have not received a satisfactory response by 26th June, that a further gesture to pay the next month’s blackberry internet service for each phone will be required. However at this time he could do nothing until Orange UK had decided what they were going to do.

 

My Complaint

 

·I wanted specific performance of what was advertised or something that achieves the same effect at the advertised cost for my children’s phones.

·I wanted an apology for the dreadful service I have received. I have been a loyal customer to Orange for many years (in fact I was forced to move my account to Vodaphone for about 18 months by my main customer) but moved back to Orange as soon as I could. If it was not for this loyalty, I would have told you to take the phones back for a full credit and moved the whole lot to O2 whilst reporting Orange to Ofcom.

·I want recognition for the time I have had to spend handling this matter. I estimate that I have spent over 10 hours on the phone to your company on this issue alone. For the record I am a freelance Finance director and I charge £850 per day for my time.

 

I emailed the executive office and Tom Alexander personally. After lots of warm words Orange flately refused to honour what was advertised and explained that it was MY RESPONSIBILITY to research the phones and work out that FREE did not mean FREE. I now have to send the mobiles back for a full refund. I will now take out a 24 month contract with someone else for free phones (and cashblack) and £10 per month contract for 30 minutes talk time, unlimited texts and 100mb of data (I assume this will be plus the £5 BIS).

 

I am now also seriously considering moving my business accounts as well.

 

Orange are both dishonourable and their customer service is disgraceful!!!

 

 

 

Anothr cagger accurately described dealing with orang uk as MENTAL GYMNASTICS.

 

They seem to have a habit of saying they will not honor when they make a mistake and push the blame to the customer.

 

You need to make complaint to:

 

executive.office@orange.co.uk

 

From that complaint if they again fobb you off and blame you ring request deadlock letter, then take the matter to cicas.

 

To be honest though it this truly has affected up to 20,000 I would ring the newspapers THEY WILL WANT TO KNOW xx

[locutus]

.... ring request deadlock letter...

 

Surely you mean WRITE!

 

Do you still have the email from the "executive office" refusing to honor the deal? It would be a nice thing to send a complaint to the ASA here

[watchinginvestigation2011]

Yep you are right, should be write xx:madgrin: Hhahahaha:) But if ever do ring, RECORD

 

 

Contact the newspapers now adn then if you do it I will call the same reporter and tell them my woes..................xx

 

You can do both you know news and cicas, as imagine how many might come forward and imagine how many might not yet know the mistake to be later fobbed off that it is your responsibility..........

 

Do orange ever take responsibility?

 

 

 

 

Perhaps rogue traders should cover them?

[watchinginvestigation2011]

I have told the daily mail.

 

We dont want you treat like me now do we all 20,000 poss of you.

[watchinginvestigation2011]

I have informed site team the daily mail may be interested in this one and my saga.

 

I have given them my phone number op perhaps you could give them yours or respond to their contact.

 

Good luck

 

We may be 1+1+1 but you know sometimes they add up to 20,000

Edited August 3, 2011 by watchinginvestigation2011

[watchinginvestigation2011]

Notice who is going to be marketing the new blackberry tap? Daily mail article, money section.

 

 

Youve guessed.