orange ripoff

[royzor]

hi
i am trying to sort a problem with my friends orange mobile contract i hope someone can help.
she took a 12 month contract out in July 2005 which was on the yp120 plan. she was originally getting 120 anytime minutes and 250 text. in may 2006 she upgraded , but asked if she could change the plan to the £30 plan which would give her more mins and text as she was going over her on the original plan. she was told that if she stayed on the £25 plan but for 18 months she would gain 120 mins and 100 text free each month for 6 months as there was a promotion on. she agreed and was completely happy with this. but for the past 2 months her bills have gone well over the £25. this months bill was £75 when checking this months bill she was being charged for her text messages. we contacted orange and what i picked up from their explanation is when she took the very first contract out with them it was for 12 months but they gave her 250 text free for 18 months . then when she upgraded she was given 120 extra mins and 100 extra text free for 6 months. the promotion from the 2nd contract ended November 06 and the 1st contracts promotion finished in December 06 even though the first contract no longer existed. so they are now saying that although she took a £25 12 month plan with the mins and text included the first time she is now paying the same price for an 18 month contract but with only 120 inclusive mins.
she was under the impression that when she upgraded she was getting the same inclusive mins and text as she already had with the 1st contract but with 120 mins and 100 text extra for a limited time.
but orange have stopped all text even the ones that was included in her plan without given her notice.
i don't think anyone would take out an 18 month contract offering less than a 12 month for the same price. i thought that you got a better deal if you took the plan over 18 months.
they have totally confused me with their explantion. my husband took out the same plan as my friend round about the same time and is still receiving the 250 text messages that they are telling my friend was not included in the plan.
where does she stand if she was to cancel the contract due to her not receiving the goods she agreed she would pay for.
also she did not sign any contract with them it was all verbal.

thanks in advance for any advice

[buzby]

Contract benefits change constantly. I'm on one that has free line rental and I only pay for calls, and Orange are doing their best to get me to 'upgrade' but if/when I do, the free line rental will end - and no replacement contract will offer me this, so upgrading will leave me worse off - so I don't. Also, the 'industry standard' contract period has evolved - driven by the networks - to 18 months, not 12 - so again, you are disadvantaged.

The problem here is when upgrading the clock and tariff is restarted, so the earlier tariff vanishes to be replaced with the new one. The difference between what you and someone else get depends on the promotion running at the time the contract is erntered into, 4 weeks can make a big difference.

Cancelling the contract is not an option - but negotiating is, providing she can prove the arrangement she signed up to was not the one actually provided, but it is fair to say many things happen at the point oif sale, the buyer is overwhelmed, mainly with the new phone - NOT the agreement, so imsonceptions occur. It doesn;t matter nothing was signed, the supply of the phone and use of it is agreement enough - and also explained in the T&C which was provided with the phone.

[survivor]

Originally Posted by buzby

Contract benefits change constantly. I'm on one that has free line rental and I only pay for calls, and Orange are doing their best to get me to 'upgrade' but if/when I do, the free line rental will end - and no replacement contract will offer me this, so upgrading will leave me worse off - so I don't.

Just for info, my parents got a mobile each with Orange many, many moons ago. they started on the Everyday50 tariff - 50 mins per day to any orange mobile or uk landline - they paid £15.50 per mobile per onth. They have both upgraded handsets, but have remained on the same tarif as there is nothing to touch it these days - even staff in the orange shop are telling them to keep on the same tariff..

Survivor

[royzor]

surely £25 per month for 120 mins call time on an 18 month contract is a bit ridiculous when you can get the same for £15 on a 12 month contract. no one in their right mind would accept this. the plan she was on and the one she upgraded to are both the same plan which is stated on her bills. also reading through the terms and conditions it states you can only have one promotion/special offer on an account at any one time, if they are saying that the text were a promotion then that would have been two promotions on the account at the same time. i can't work out how they can make a 18mth promotion last 18mths when it is only a 12mth contract. when she upgraded she was told to keep the same plan as she would get her original 120mins and 250 text as well as an extra 120 mins and 100 text for 6 months. so she was getting 120+ 120=240 and 250 + 100=350 for 6 months.she at no point agreed to a different plan, i hope that explains a little better.