Orange Denying I Cancelled Contract

[ArchiFad]

Hi, I've been browsing the internet for a while to see if anyone has had a similar problem but haven't come across it. So I shall start at the beginning:

 

After some initial inquiries at my local Orange store in July about cancelling my rolling contract (my 24 month contract expired earlier this year) I called 150 on August 29th to cancel my phone as I was moving abroad for the year, where I am currently. I was advised that there would be a 30-day cancellation period and that my contract would terminate on 28th September. It seemed a remarkably short and simple conversation but as I was leaving the country, crossed it off my list and moved on. What I did realise though was that I hadn't arranged for a forwarding UK address, so I called again a few days later, explained the situation and informed the member of staff of my forwarding address. I left the UK during the first week of September and for a couple of weeks used my Orange phone to send texts back home.

 

In October I received emails from my forwarding UK address telling me that Orange bills and advertising were being received via my old address and that the new tenant in my old house was forwarding them on. So I used the chat feature on the Orange website to correct the change of address and received a confirmation text on my still active phone that this had been done. However on inquiring when I should expect to receive the final bill I was told that there was no notification on my account that I wished to cancel my contract. I was advised to call the 150 number again, which I did, but apparently my account was still being used so I left my foreign mobile number so that I could be contacted. Naturally, I have not received a phone call.

 

I called 150 again on 10th October and after explaining my case to three people ie that I had already had my 30 days and therefore I should not need to pay Orange any more money, I was then told there is no record of me calling 150 since July, despite the three calls I mention here, and apparently any calls are "automatically logged on the system". Consequently I was advised that my phone contract termination date would be in November. I told the member of staff that I would not pay after 28th September and I will be cancelling my direct debit. I was then informed that I can expect to receive letters regarding debt collection from an agency that Orange use. I said I wanted to complain, suggesting email to ensure I log everything in writing, but was informed that complaints could not be dealt with as their email is currently being upgraded and I could not be given a date as to when this process would be completed. For the record, I emailed them anyway including images from my Call History to prove I called 150 when I said I did, and it has been over 3 weeks and I am still receiving automated email messages saying Orange's email service is being upgraded.

 

I contacted the executive office but they sent me a template "you have not been through the proper channels" email. They suggested I send an email to @everythingeverywhere.com, which I did but no reply. I have checked my recent bill online (turns out my account is still active even though I received texts telling me it wasn't because I wasn't using it enough) and it proves that after 28th September my phone was inactive apart from my calling 150 a few times, but I have incurred a £10+ roaming fee on the dates when I switched my phone on to call them again, which I do not understand and am frankly not prepared to pay.

 

We are not talking massive amounts of money here but I am having trouble getting my side of the story across and the last thing I want is for my UK forwarding address to receive threatening letters from a debt collection agency, which could effect mine and their credit rating (so I've heard). Although I have now received a letter confirming that I am leaving Orange, in a minor rage of principles I cancelled the direct debit after they had collected the October payment (inclusive of 28th September by a week or so) which means they cannot get the November (final) one. I'm not sure whether to regret doing that or not.

 

My next step is to send a letter, which I can do through the UK, and after then I will have to wait til 8 weeks are up from the 10th October (which I'm counting as when I began complaint proceedings) to contact CISAS, but with potentially no formal response from Orange at all, and what could effectively be considered my word against theirs. So I guess my question is whether I should pursue it because I'm so annoyed that they used this tactic to swindle me out of more money (they still didn't manage to change the address btw!!), or just pay up and move on.

 

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[locutus]

Ignore any DCAs. Check your credit file and register for noddle (it's free)and maybe get a free trial from creditexpert. If your credit file is clear pay orange directly using a debit card if you can, but inform them that you are paying under protest and ask them to put notes on the account to show this. Also record your webchat (copy and paste all the text to note pad) If you must phone, record the call by putting your phone on hands free, use a mic in a PC and "sound recorder" in "accessories" will do the job just fine.

 

When it comes to time to escalate the complaint, you want them to refund the amount that you have overpaid and compensate you for wasting your time and the call costs.

 

I know it grates against everything to bow down to their bullying tactics, but a ruined credit file takes a lot to sort out!

[ArchiFad]

Ignore any DCAs. Check your credit file and register for noddle (it's free)and maybe get a free trial from creditexpert. If your credit file is clear pay orange directly using a debit card if you can, but inform them that you are paying under protest and ask them to put notes on the account to show this. Also record your webchat (copy and paste all the text to note pad) If you must phone, record the call by putting your phone on hands free, use a mic in a PC and "sound recorder" in "accessories" will do the job just fine.

 

When it comes to time to escalate the complaint, you want them to refund the amount that you have overpaid and compensate you for wasting your time and the call costs.

 

I know it grates against everything to bow down to their bullying tactics, but a ruined credit file takes a lot to sort out!

 

Thank you for taking the time to advise! This is actually the second time we have been caught out by this sort of thing, last time was with a popular satellite TV company and their "determination period" was 2 months payment which we very nearly paid twice. We didn't cancel the direct debit that time though until one of their senior people advised, and that took 12 weeks and writing to the ombudsmen to get 95% of our money back. Not sure if it's bad luck or actually a very common practice :x:x

 

Well I have a feeling there will be a fight but with the mysterious "roaming charges" and VAT my Orange bill is probably approaching £50, which I want in my pocket not theirs!

 

Thank you again and wish me luck!

[locutus]

I would pay it, then claim it back tho. Make sure you have proof that you inform them the only reason you are paying is to keep your credit file clear (record the call or webchat), then either take it to CISAS or reclaim it thrugh the courts.

 

I know this time of year cash can be tight, but I feel if you don't pay they're gonna trash your credit file.

 

Keep us informed with any developments.

[ArchiFad]

I would pay it, then claim it back tho. Make sure you have proof that you inform them the only reason you are paying is to keep your credit file clear (record the call or webchat), then either take it to CISAS or reclaim it thrugh the courts.

 

I know this time of year cash can be tight, but I feel if you don't pay they're gonna trash your credit file.

 

Keep us informed with any developments.

 

Thank you, I will report back. I'll reinstate the Direct Debit and hope that I can get the money back retrospectively and use the advice you have given in the letter of complaint. Hope it doesn't resort to going through the courts though as like I say, I am abroad and it's not that easy for me get back to the UK at the moment! :|

[ArchiFad]

Thank you, I will report back. I'll reinstate the Direct Debit and hope that I can get the money back retrospectively and use the advice you have given in the letter of complaint. Hope it doesn't resort to going through the courts though as like I say, I am abroad and it's not that easy for me get back to the UK at the moment! :|

 

Well, the latest is that after three and a half weeks of emailing the address that is (still) on the Orange complaints procedure page on their website, and after receiving automated responses that they are updating their email system and could not be contacted in this way, I actually received an email from someone with an Everything Everywhere address saying I should call 150 to discuss the matter. Quite remarkable! But I thought - one last try.

 

So I turned my phone on (again) and explained everything from scratch (again) because of course 150 is a generic number and naturally I could not be put through to the person who had replied to my email. I was passed around for a while, until I settled on someone who said they did not have the various details in front of them (of course) but he tried to explain that the November bill wouldn't be very much; the costs would only be applied to when I had used the phone as the line rental is paid in advance (first time I have heard of this!); and was refusing to acknowledge that any costs were only because I had been calling THEM to resolve the matter and my phone had otherwise been switched off since 28th September (and could be proven via the current online bill). After about ten minutes of going round in circles I eventually said: "so what you're telling me is that you cannot help me at all, and I should continue to go through the complaints process." This got him in a bit of a flap and he said he would get his manager.

 

He then came back and said: "You say you have evidence that you called 150 in August - what is this evidence please?" to which I said: "Photographs of my call history", which is of course what I have been sending them since this all began. He then asked me to send all the information again to (what I presume was) his personal email address. After about a week, I checked my account balance online and saw that it had been terminated on 10th November (which was their date), but that my final bill had been rectified to "Good Will" status and I am now remarkably and quite ridiculously in credit by £7.50 or so.

 

I then thought, I will wait to see what comes through the post on the paper bill, just in case they put a cheque at the bottom of the bill for this sum of money. There wasn't. And in fact this is another practice I have come across with three separate companies since leaving the UK, that if you are in credit when you terminate your account, you don't automatically get refunded the money. You are just in credit with them until you decide to reactivate that account presumably (?!) So with Orange, I very much doubt it will automatically be transferred to my bank account even though they have been debiting from there for years, but at least I have not been threatened with debt collection and hopefully I will not have to deal with them again for a very very VERY long time!!

 

Thank you again for taking the time to advise.