Orange Contract Issues - HELP

[ediin]

Upon recieving my last statement from Orange I have found out that I have been charged for every text I have sent, even though, I have a free bundle of 500 texts per month. It seems that this has not been taken into consideration at all. On my communication with Orange they have advised me that my original agreement has expired where I was entitled to 200 min and 500 texts before charges commence and that I am now on a basic contract and am not entitled to any texts any more.
Bearing in mind all this, I have upgraded couple times with orange for a new phone and I haven't been aware of any alterations to my original agreement. My understanding that once I upgrade for a new phone my contract would be extended from then onwards for the period in the offer. They seem to disagree with this and state that they have sent me a letter (which I have never seen) and also I would of been informed on my previous bill (which again I havent).
My statements with Orange are always in excess of £150.00 per month beside the allowances and my bills have never been missed so I would consider myself a worthy customer to Orange.
They have given me back the 500 texts as a gesture of good will. But I still have to pay my previous bill for text messages.

Is there any way that I can tackle this as I haven't been informed of any changes and also when you upgrade for a new phone it does NOT mention any changes to your previous contract or a new one for that matter. Upgrades were dont online with Orange as well as the original contract.

If anyone can make any sense of this and help it would be much apprecied.

Thank You

[diddypony]

Hi
Am an ex employee of Orange and worked on contracts, when you upgraded it may have been done through a 3rd party organisation that you weren't aware of as they usually stated that (believe me it happened frequently) and Orange would put you on a tariff that the 3rd party would have requested, usually the customer was not aware of what tariff had been requested. It may also have been that Orange did this and did not discuss your options at point of upgrade, very unusual for this to happen as Orange would go through all options that would have suited your needs i.e inclusive text etc!! If it was Orange then Cust Service Rep needed sacking!!!!
All calls are recorded and have time and dates on, you could pursue it and ask for your call to be found (if you are sure it was done through Orange).
Be aware that if a 3rd party upgraded your phone, when they call you they often give the impression that they were calling on behalf of Orange, this was nearly always the case and customers were easily deceived, in which case our advice was to phone the 3rd party direct to rectify your problem.
Hope this is helpful.
Regards

[daveroberts]

Hi guys,

Having probs with Orange too. They did not disconnect an old phone when I upgraded and charged me line rental on both phones for 4 months. Now they have cut off my new phone as I will not pay the 4 months line rental on the old handset. have written to them but they will not acknowledge my letter. I can feel a day in court coming.

Would you happen to know who is the man at the top ?

[ediin]

Hello diddypony. Thanks for your advice.

My original contract and every upgrade for that matter has been done through orange.co.uk site. I understand that their website is a different entity to orange call centre??? What do I do now? Do I have any grounds to request from Orange to prove to me if I have agreed to anything and also can I get a copy of my old agreement that was set in place originaly? I mean my contract stating original terms of the offer?

Thank You

[diddypony]

Hi Dave,
It looks like you had a new connection, with a new contract, rather than an upgrade. This was probably done via a third party dealer, if this is so, which is usually the case, then Orange would not have been aware that you wanted an upgrade. The third party dealers get commision on new contracts and presumably you have a new phone number , as you can only keep an old one by upgrading. To do an upgrade third party dealers have to pay (or buy from..!)Orange the remainder of the cost of your line rental for the length of time remaining on your 12 month contract ( which none of them want to do)
In brief go back to the company that started your new contract they are the ones who will have to sort it out, probably not Orange.
Hope this helps.
BEWARE of third party phone dealers !!

[daveroberts]

Cheers Diddy,

im on the case