Orange Broadband (You couldn't make it up)

[jimfishybob]

I have recently switched bank accounts, (those of you who have seen my Smile threads will know why).

Consequently, in the transition some of my direct debits became...shal we say...buggered up. I missed a couple and as soon as it was brought to my attention I called the lender/provider and duly paid up.

After 2 months of missed payments Orange contacted me by mail to ask about paying my bill. As I have with the others I called and gave them my card details, specifically asking when my account would be clear. I was told to give it 24 hours, (I want to upgrade my speed but can't until the balance is clear).

After 24 hours my account still showed an outstanding amount. I called and asked why.

"We can only take payments on the fifth of the month", was the reply.

I explained that I had been told different on the previous call but she was insistent. At the end of the call I decided to try a little experiment and called back, (different person at the other end obviously), and asked the same question.

"I'm not sure, there's no reason why it shouldn't have cleared, give it another 24 for hours".

I did.

Still an outstanding balance. I called back.

"We can only process card payments on a Wednesday"

Hmmm...I asked to speak to a supervisor and was put through to a guy called Paul. He explained that they could only take payments monthly as they had no facility to process card transactions. I asked why I had been told several different things, he avoided the question and just kept telling me they could only take payments on the fifth of the month. I asked if I could speak to his supervisor:

"I am in charge of this department"
"Great, can I speak to the person who's in charge of you?"
"There isn't anyone"
"There isn't anyone in Orange PLC of a more senior position than you?"
"There is but they don't have a phone"
"Aren't you a comms company?"
"Yes"
"And your senior members of staff don't have a phone?"
"No."
"Right, and you also don't have payment processing facilities that my local paper shop has?"
"No."
"Not instilling me with a great sense of confidence here are you?"

And so on.....(the conversation finished with hin telling me to put it in writing).

3 Days later and I get a call at 8.30 p.m. It's Orange collections department asking me why I haven't paid my bill? I ask them if they are being serious and rather terse conversation ensues which ends in me giving them my new account details as the fifth was only a few days away anyway.

The fifth comes and goes with no money leaving my account...I call again...they have tried taking the money out of my old account and are now threatening to disconnect the service.


God I hope they do.

[chesham]

It's bizarre, because I have had Orange broadband with absolutely no problems at all.

As for the card payment services, that is absolute rubbish because I have paid occassionally by credit card and the amount is taken out within 24 hours and my balance is cleared off.

I'm sorry you have experienced such bad service when I have nothing but praise for them!

[jimfishybob]

Originally Posted by chesham

As for the card payment services, that is absolute rubbish because I have paid occassionally by credit card and the amount is taken out within 24 hours and my balance is cleared off.

I'm quite sure you're right. The problem is, I can't get them to come up with two consistent answers.

[lilal]

we signed up to orange mobile with free broadband after being with them as wanadoo ,and now pay for the phone by bank giro and never missed a payment so when we got this email we were a bit baffled. Dear lilal
We have tried to contact you about your Wanadoo Broadband account, but unfortunately we have had to close it.
If you would like more information on why your payment wasn’t accepted, please contact your bank or credit card company. Your rights under data protection law mean we’re unable to discuss this with you directly.
You can still get access to the Internet and your Wanadoo Pay As you Go connection.
Yours sincerely




John Sills
Director
and my reply
dear john can you tell me where your HEAD is at? my broadband account IS
NOT IN ARREARS AS IT IS FREEEEEEEEEEE WITH MY ORANGE PHONE.i ring your
call centres and am told that we owe nothing ,but then get told by
another operative that we do owe you money.what ever is going on best
thing i can suggest that i cancel this contract and go with a decent isp
then we had this

Hello
Your Any Time account no: xxxxxxx
We recently emailed you about the outstanding balance on your Any Time account. We've not heard from you, and because you've now missed a second month's payment, we've taken another £5 late payment fee from your account. We've also had to suspend your service, which means you won't be able to get online at the moment.
To get you up and running again you'll need to call us with details of your credit card or bank account straightaway. Ring 0870 872 0099* between 8am and 10pm, any day of the week.
If we don't hear from you, or if you have not paid in the next few days, we'll have to close your account and take legal action.
Thanks.
Customer Support
it must be at least 5 times i rang ,1 even said that it was our fault we were bad debtors,cheeky fooker ,service was supposed to be suspended and was checking online banking whilst i spoke on the phone to another operative who told me that i couldn,t get online because of this .then spoke to someone else and he finally admitted that it was their fault as orange mobile hadn,t passed on the details to orange broadband .the service was in the end terminated and sorry but we can,t reverse it once this process has been activated you need to re-register.what a cock up was even told that we would need a new email.however it seems that they still don,t know what the hell they are talking about,we,re back online and still using the same email .orange have offered 18 months unlimited broadband and to credit next months phone bill

[jimfishybob]

Seems I'm not the first.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...uthorised.html

[lilal]

anybody need a orange livebox? .parcel force delivered 1 this morning with a letter welcoming us to orange ,nothing wrong with the one i already have .the scary bit is a flyer with it promoting a set up service by pro,s for only£69.99 if you find it all to confusing ,which undoubtedly you will after having any contact with an orange call centre

[superam]

Are the liveboxes anygood?

[chesham]

I think they are really good - never had a problem with them. Look quite stylish and you can now plug in the adaptor and a normal phone to make calls over the internet and they have USB ports to plug in USB devices to use wirelessly through the box. I also believe they are updating it in the future for more functionality. One small downside - I switch mine off every now and again when it starts to get a bit clogged up, but it's sorted out!

[rose123]

laughed so much i nearly passed my fags round..and i dont smoke pmsl

[ian cognito]

Sorry Jimfishybob can't help you but thanks, haven't had such a laugh in ages!!!

[itsamomentintime]

does anyone know how i can get my wireless laptop to recognise the livebox? when i try to connect it says 'limited or no connectivity' even though the box is 3 feet away from the laptop. also, spent 2 hours on their broadbad 'help'line only to be told that they cannot help me

[chesham]

I did have this problem as well, but the technical helpline seemed to sort it out for me.

If you run through all the steps on the set up CD, does it manage to connect with it wired up first of all? Have you managed to actually receive an internet connection wired?

If so, then the next step would be to put the livebox into pairing mode (switching off, holding down button number 1 and switching back on again). One of the red lights should flash, and then try to connect with your laptop. You will need to enter the WPA key, which is found underneath your livebox on the barcoded sticker. Then it should connect ok - but you need to check you can do it with wires first of all.

[itsamomentintime]

the red light doesnt flash when i hold down the number 1 (i take it that the red light is behind the number 1 button....?) - faulty box?

[jimfishybob]

Originally Posted by itsamomentintime

does anyone know how i can get my wireless laptop to recognise the livebox? when i try to connect it says 'limited or no connectivity' even though the box is 3 feet away from the laptop. also, spent 2 hours on their broadbad 'help'line only to be told that they cannot help me

Open your browser and type 192.168.1.1 into the address bar. It should come up with a password screen, providing you've not changed these yourself it will be USERNAME: admin PASSWORD: admin. (This is the password for your 'livebox', not to be confused with your account password)

This should open up the settings pages for your livebox. If it does, then your laptop is connected to the router but the router isn't connected to the internet. This would indicate either a problem with your account username or password or that there is no signal detected by the box.

Let us know how you get on.

the red light doesnt flash when i hold down the number 1 (i take it that the red light is behind the number 1 button....?) - faulty box?

The red light is on the 'spine' of the box.

[itsamomentintime]

the livebox can be located by my laptop but i get the message 'limited or no connectivity' when i try to connect.

sending a letter to orange today, does anyone have a complaints address for orange broadband please?

[JOHNNYWOW]

This is like group therapy! It's brilliant. I was getting paranoid that it was only me. I have also been made to feel mentally defficient. It's such a weight off my mind to realise that i'm not being singled out by Orange. Sure, it doesn't sort my broadband problems out, but you guys have given me a feeling of well being that alchohol, Orange hold music and the customer services "team" never could. Thankyou all

[dee1954]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I'm sure someone will point me in the right direction.
Received a call from Orange in November 2006 offering Broadband, unlimited downloads and free livebox for £5 a month because my bills were more than £30 a month. As i was planning to buy kids laptop for xmas said i would think about it in Jan (home pc pretty old and no wireless capability). Was told offer only on for next couple of days so agreed. Discussed if i left orange would have to pay £14.99 for this but said my contract up in a couple of days,was planning to upgrade and had no intention of leaving as tried other networks but not good service in this area. I asked what was the catch and she said there was no catch!

Went to upgrade my phone yesterday and told contract does not run out until Nov 2007. It appears when i agreed to this offer i also agreed to extend my contract for a further 12 months and if i want an upgrade have to pay £250! There's the catch then!! Have e-mailed Orange and asked for recording of this conversation as i know i would not have agreed to this. Has anyone else had similar problem?

I would like to say that the Orange helpline for broadband have, on the whole, been exremely helpful and patient, apart from one or two who have terminated the call because they could not understand what the problem was!